How are the the mk012a's

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BigWilly1231

Active member
Haw are these mics for the following, Indoor shooting, Outdoor Shooting, ambiant room sound (tone).....I know that a shotgun is ideal for dialouge but I can get 2 of these for the same price as a AT shotgun, do my question is has any one used the omni cap and tried to get some audio...Or would it be smarter to go with just one AT shotgun mic...Im trying to get the most for the money, I am just doing independent shorts at the moment hopefully soon a feature...
 
Re: How are the the mk012a's

you will not be happy with this mic for dialogue. this mic is just a plain jane condensor mic, meant from things like micing hi-hats on a drum kit, or an overhead cymbal mic, or generic overhead choir mic.

"most for the money", you say... you dumped a pile of $$ on a dvx i'm assuming, and you are considering neglecting your audio, which is half your film, by only spending the equivalent of what a dvx battery would cost ?

think about it...

if you only want to spend what an AT shotgun costs, then get the AT !! you'll be far happier with it than the MK condensor. the AT is OK for the $$. if you are serious about making films with good sound, also make sure you get a proper boom pole and suspension system as well.

keep in mind, that a good, versatile audio rig can cost as much as your camera cost.
 
Re: How are the the mk012a's

thanks for your feedback, what mics would you suggest for making small independents, not a whole lot of money, what would your set up be like and be realistic, remember smaller budget...
 
Re: How are the the mk012a's

Alright Bigwilly, here's the deal on the mk012. They are actually really nice mics and they definitely can be used for dialog. That mic is one of two fairly cheap mics that effectively competes with high-end mics as far as sound quality. Another mic in that price range that I often suggest is the At3031, which is about $170. The 3031 has you locked into a cardioid only... so that's why I'd give the Oktava the nod. Personally I think the hyper-cardioid cap is the best use of the Oktava, but I still use the cardioids at times. You can buy the hyper cap from www.sound-room.com

On sound quality alone, you would have to get at least an 897 to compete with the Oktava, and the 4073a sounds even closer.

With the mk012 the issue is handling noise, and wind noise. So the Rycote BBG is really a MUST for using these mics. A BBG is $120 by the way. Then if you want to take the mic outdoors and it's fairly calm, no problem... if it's even a little breezy then you need the Rycote WindJammer which slips over the BBG. Those are $60. As for the handling noise I mentioned, you really should just get the K-Tek KSSM, which is $109 from www.trewaudio.com and be sure to get the SOFT bands. Don't look at the cost of the Rycote and K-Tek gear... consider the price difference between the cheapest reasonable solutions and you'll find that it's only about $100 extra to get the stuff that works.

Now I've given this same advice several times over and if you follow it you'll find the mk012 to be surprisingly capable.

What you gain in going to a shotgun is increased sensitivity and narrowed front pattern... longer reach and narrow pickup. That can be good in some cases and the Oktava can be better in others. I did an outdoor interview where the wind was really blowing through the trees and the Oktava had a good "close" sound, but my 4073a or 416 heard the whipping trees better then my subject!

You'd probably have to go up to a 4073a to get the full, rich sound of the Oktava. If you add up all the stuff that I use with the Oktava to make it work it's not a cheap solution! But if you DON'T get that stuff for the Oktava then you'll eventually be disappointed. Indoors you could probably get by with a cheaper windscreen, but I'd get the good shockmount no matter what... and if you DO go with the windprotection that I suggest then you WON'T be disappointed.

All things considered I'd say the Oktava is just another option, but not really comparable to a shotgun... I normally find myself in situations where there's a clear choice between the two.

I really need to update my audio page. The recordings at the top of the page (with the Oktava) had my dvx set at -60db and the recordings suck. The Oktavas don't need the extra juice. I popped 'em up there to make a point about the Oktava's sound... and they don't do it justice. One thing's for sure, the mk012 is VERY usable for video. The whole appeal of this mic is that nobody realized it early on. If you go into a Guitar Center or someplace like that and tell 'em you're going to use this mic for video you'll get the same reaction as the response above mine. They'll say it's an instrument mic. Fact is that there are a LOT of people besides me using that mic in professional video productions.
 
Re: How are the the mk012a's

i thought this mic discussion was over dialogue capture, not instrument capture ??

sure the mk012 will sound good micing an acoustic instrument (as in the audio clip) that's what it's designed for ! An acoustic guitar's sound naturally is fuller outside of the soundhole, so if you mic'd an acoustic guitar with a shotgun, it would sound only so so because a shotgun is so directional.

put an mk012 4 to 6 feet away from an actor compared to any shotgun and it will fall flat for dialogue capture.

so, yes, the mk012 is "better" than a shotgun in many cases, but never for dialogue capture for films.
 
Re: How are the the mk012a's

I've been using an Oktava MC012 with the hyper cap for dialog for a few months now. I've been very happy with the results.
 
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