Ordering soon... should I get a matched pair Oktava MK 012, or other?

[Big_Bang]

Hey guys!

Suggestions needed. Basically for steady OH duties and strings sometimes...

I've got some decent pre's, so maybe there might be something else more interesting in this price range? (300€)

Any suggestions welcome. I am not paranoid about being matched as I don't have a big room full of life, but then again at this price point I can think of no better than the Oktavas.

What say ye, oh gear mongers?

:D

[Big_Bang]

Seriously? No one gives this one shot?...

[ljona]

You should go for it and get them modded.

Award-winning microphone engineering from Michael Joly

I have a unmodded matched pair and they are guite good as OH and on strings.
Have a B/K4006 but like Oktava better on strings

[mcgruff]

In that price range the Oktavas are a good choice. The only other option I'd be thinking about would be a couple of ADK A6, or maybe ADK S7.

[Big_Bang]

Yeah... I had this in mind, that theses Oktavas are really really the best in this price range, actually having a wonderful low mid-range and great highs.

But it was so long ago, I thought maybe a new contenter came along...

If anyone cares to chime in, be welcomed!

[Big_Bang]

And here I was thinking this thread would lead into a healthy debate.



Well, at least my mind is at ease about buying something I've never heard

[grrrayson]

Can't go wrong with the Oktava 012 pair. I have an unmatched, unmodded pair I got at Guitar Center for $50 each many years ago and I still come back to them even though I have Schoepses and ribbons and fancy stuff now.

[wallygaudy]

I've been looking at these oktavas as well can anyone recommend a good place to buy them? Is ebay the go?

[drbob1]

Check this out:

Award-winning microphone engineering from Michael Joly

[Gamelan]

OK, here's some debate for ya...

I really don't understand the hype around 012's for OH use. People seem to love them around here, but they're among my last choices for OH. I find them to be quite cloudy on cymbals. I like them for some other things. They make great tom mics for instance and can do wonders for an overly bright acoustic guitar, but they don't have the clarity or high frequency definition to do justice to a good set of cymbals. If out of focus and grainy is your thing, then I guess they're great. But, I use almost anything else before the 012's. I imagine the modded version is better, but stock they just don't cut it for me.

[grrrayson]

Originally Posted by Gamelan

OK, here's some debate for ya...

I really don't understand the hype around 012's for OH use. People seem to love them around here, but they're among my last choices for OH. I find them to be quite cloudy on cymbals. I like them for some other things. They make great tom mics for instance and can do wonders for an overly bright acoustic guitar, but they don't have the clarity or high frequency definition to do justice to a good set of cymbals. If out of focus and grainy is your thing, then I guess they're great. But, I use almost anything else before the 012's. I imagine the modded version is better, but stock they just don't cut it for me.

You're not too far off from my opinion... sometimes you don't need all that detail. Sometimes you don't need a perfect reproduction of that funky reflection off the glass or a perfect capture of just exactly how clangy those cymbals played that way by that drummer are. When I need that detail, I have the Schoepses. When I don't want that detail, I have the Oktavas.

However, that's not all of it: sometimes I still use the Oktavas on good sources too where I want that treble smoothness, or "cloudiness" as you put it. I have lots of beautiful expensive mics that could simply never do that kind of "cloudy". Cloudy is a valid texture that I may want sometimes. The 012 pair have a certain warmth to them while still sounding and operating basically like small diaphragm condensers should. Not a ribbon, not a DPA: somewhere in between.

(I can agree that they have a relatively relaxed focus but I don't find them grainy at all. And while I disagree with you in that I like them on drum overheads a lot, I agree with you in that they are great on over-bright acoustic guitar.)

[ScottTunes]

I have a pair of Joly modded MK012s and quite like them for more than just overheads.

If I had my "druthers," however, I'd buy a matched pair from The Sound Room, THEN have Michael Joly mod them together. Now that WOULD be a special pair!

And by the way, mine do not sound "cloudy" or "grainy." Very smooth. Not as crisp as the Neumann 184s, but the Neumanns can sound more strident to my ears. The 012s aren't as clear and bright as the EV RE200s either. But most sources (and listeners) can't take THAT much truth!!

The Sound Room is the best source for matched pairs of 012s, and Joly is the Go-To modifier.

[The Listener]

Among the cheap SDCs the only ones that really amazed me were the Line Audio CM3s... that's something that really delivers much more than it costs.

Oktava's are a very OK mic, but I can very well relate to the opinions of "grainy", "clouded", etc. but I had them here just for a short time before deciding not to buy them and I also tried the MK101 head, which was smoother and "warmer" than the Rode K2 I had at that time, but also sort of not detailed enough or a bit "muffled" or "grainy" as people like to say around here , not really what I was searching for.

Line Audio CM3 should work great as drum overheads. And at least in Europe they cost even less than the new Oktava MK012 pair costs.

I also preffered Shure SM81 over the Oktavas for acoustic guitars, percussion OH, etc.