Oktava MK012, opinions on self noise

J

Jema

Well-known member
Hey everyone!

As I've been going through the audio threads here I've picked up a lot about the budget friendly oktava, and I've also used one some time ago for music and quite liked it for that. Pretty much everything seems to have been brought up about this mic, but one thing is still a little unclear to me - it's self noise (unmodded original version). It states below 18dBA, which I would consider a bit noisy for indoor use. Of course, all noise can sound differently, and I've seen several post stating that it's pretty quiet. Could someone comment on this, and if possible compare its self noise to for example MKH416, ME66, or ME64 that I'm more familiar with (self noise of 10-13dBA).

Thanks in advance!
 
I have used an oktava unmodded and modded version. What I have found out is it makes a big difference on what you are recording to. For example. i was using a tascam DR100 and it had horrible self noise issues. I then hooked it up to a Fostex FR2 with the Oade Brothers super mod it sounded fine. Virtually no noise with the unmodded oktava mk-102 with hypercardiod cap and a cut off filter..

I know the Dr-100 is a cheap little unit but it was just too noisy with the Oktava's to be useful. On the other hand the the Fostex with the mod was crystal clear..

I don't know if that helps you. But I had the same issue with the Oktava and this is info that was useful to me.
 
Sounds to me like more of that was due to the recorder than the mic. The mic didn't change so...

I have found Oktava's to be very quiet.
 
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Cyberfilm - as Noiz says that's probably becouse of the recorder preamps, but it's good that you solved your issue.

Hmm, just checked the self noise on the ME64, and it's not around 10dBA as I thought, but 16dBA (must have had it confused with another mic). That just proves how different and noticable the noise can sound, as I thought it was lower than the 13dBA 416 (maybe a lot of noise around 2-4kHz?). While noticable, I thought the noise of the ME64 was ok, so the oktava might not be as noisy as I thought.
 
A nice Oktava alternative is the AT4053A (or the newer "B" which just has slight material changes for greener manufacturing regulations); they go for around $500 new but turn up often used (got mine for $100). Nice hyper mic that seems more forgiving for handling noise.
 
Where can I get one used for a $100, nice deal!

Michael Carter said:
A nice Oktava alternative is the AT4053A (or the newer "B" which just has slight material changes for greener manufacturing regulations); they go for around $500 new but turn up often used (got mine for $100). Nice hyper mic that seems more forgiving for handling noise.
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on the other hand i just purchased 2 MK-012 at a pawn shop for $50, so they can be found as well, and I love these.
 
Whoa! I would love to go on a serious shopping spree in the US! As I've stated quite a few times before in my posts (starting to feel like a really whining baby) I live in Sweden, and everything is about 50% more expensive here new, and being a small country they rarely show up used.

Anyway, I will probably go for something a bit higher in quality than the oktava when I purchase a hyper, maybe a 4053 (but AT is overpriced here). It would have been nice with a mk012 as a cheap plant mic though, and if I ever go into the music business.
 
Jema said:
Anyway, I will probably go for something a bit higher in quality than the oktava when I purchase a hyper, maybe a 4053 (but AT is overpriced here). It would have been nice with a mk012 as a cheap plant mic though, and if I ever go into the music business.
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I'm not sure "quality" is the right word here. Oktava is a very high quality mic. It's a bout 5dB less sensitive than a a Schoeps and sounds very close to one. The others like the 4053 are also very high quality mics. There are idiosyncrasies with all mics and you should pick the mic that matches you best but it isn't really a quality issue.

What you might be able to do is talk to someone coming to university from some place where prices are better and get them to bring it with them. I know they have a good film program and are fairly sound focused. A friend went over for 6 months to teach a sound class last year and was hopping to repeat this year but there were budget issues.

Or maybe take a vacation conveniently close to a store in a cheaper country...

Cheers
SK


Scott Koue
Web Page
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Noiz on Noise
Bug’n out of Babylon
 
Prexdealer: Thanks for the tip, but I'm afraid things are a little more complicated than that. Anything imported to sweden from a country that isn't a part of EU, must be taxed - even used items. What's worse is that the tax is counted in on the whole sum after shipping and customs. It's often not worth it. Things can be shipped marked as a gift to avoid tax, but only things worth below 100 dollars or so - if it's more and customs find out, there will be fines.

I think I'll have to search ebay more though - if it's cheap enough it might be alright.

Noiz: Yeah, Iv'e thought about that too. I don't go abroad much, but as soon as someone I know goes to a "cheaper" country I'll be giving them a list :)
 
I've not checked out the German Ebay for 'film equipment', but for the Wife, she has gotten a number of typewriters that are not available for collecting in the US (or even more expensive than sales+shipping price coming from Germany).

However, even in the US. Some of offerings are somewhat non-bargains. When the Oktava new is a bout 300, I've seen some of the ebay auctions close at 200+ dollars... to me for 'used' equipment the end price has to be under at least 1/2 what the 'new' price is (at least for items that are still being sold new...).

So, that would mean that an MK-012 should be under $150 US for it to be a 'bargain'... above $200 US, given that a new device at least comes with some sort of manufacturer's warranty, or at least some form of reasonable 'return' policy... it's not worth it...

In the particular case of Oktava, there is a German distributor. Sometimes it's not clear who has the 'distribution' rights, or whether a company is really offering chinese knockoffs... but I think that company is legitimate...
 
j1clark@ucsd.edu said:
to me for 'used' equipment the end price has to be under at least 1/2 what the 'new' price is (at least for items that are still being sold new...).
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Wouldn't that be nice. And this is true of most things... Unfortunately sound gear isn't something you'll find at 1/2 price used.
 
Mitch.Kear said:
Wouldn't that be nice. And this is true of most things... Unfortunately sound gear isn't something you'll find at 1/2 price used.
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Really? That depends a lot on the particular gear and where your buying it. I have often bought things at less than 1/2 new. But again it varies a lot. High end mics tend to stay pretty high, electronics boxes tend to drop fast unless they become the new rap/hiphop/whatever toy, and then they zoom back up.

Mic Pres would be another item hard to find at a bargain. Things people don't get fetishy over can be good bargains. And anytime you can find something that the seller is really not interested in...

eBay is hard because of the big visibility the item has. Garage sales though can be gold mines and newspaper classifieds used to be good, tough probably everyone is using eBay now.
 
Mitch.Kear said:
Wouldn't that be nice. And this is true of most things... Unfortunately sound gear isn't something you'll find at 1/2 price used.
Click to expand...

Ebay is somewhat of a fishing expedition... perhaps I should rent a boat at a local WIFI enabled lake and wait for a 'good deal'... because I hate actual fishing...

But I have had to wait, in a couple of cases a month or so, for a 'deal' I wanted to do to come along... and the delivered items seem to be in 'fine' shape... ok... I've not tested the Bolex 8mm that I got a while back... but I mainly bought it for a prop... (same is true for some 'vintage looking' mics that I bought for props that were listed as 'non functional'.)

On the other hand the Bell 302 phone I bought is in fact functional... but unfortunately it was modified to have the 'ringer' in the base, which gives the phone an added inch or so from the original.
(Back in the oldendays the phone ringer would be in a box close to where the phone line came in from the pole. (well that's how it was on my mother's house when I was young...))

As for 'garage sales'... I use ebay mostly because there is a method for dealing with defective or falsely advertized items. But occasionally I do check out craigslist. However, in that case, I only go to where I can drive to inspect, or have the equipment demonstrated working before I buy... could burst in to flames the moment I get home... but at least I knew it was working once...
 
I got my AT by accident - bored one day and searching for various stuff on my want list; the guy had two of 'em with BIN's of $150. I grabbed it within an hour of it going live, just sheer luck. He asked if he'd charged too little - I told him they were desirable film mics (the hyper cap makes musicians a little iffy on them) and to reconsider the BIN on the remaining mic. I've seen them go for under $200 from time to time (my son's been looking for a deal, future sound guy it looks like).

With eBay, take your wish list, do a search for each item and then save the search with email notification; I've found a few things that way, but it can take months.
 
Yes, there are german and english Ebay-sites, but they are limited compared to the US (at least regarding things that can be shipped internationally).

The thing about sweden being a small country it it has both positives and negatives when it comes to buying things. High-end gear is usually very expensive as the demand is so small, and they are rarely sold used. When they do though, there is a pretty big chance to get it for a really good price, as there aren't that many who are interested. I've bought a lot of mid-range gear/hi fi for about 1/4 of the value new. You just cannot rely on finding what you want/need unless you're prepared to search regularly and wait for several months.

Anyway, this thread is really going off topic. Does anyone have any more opinions regarding the self-noise on the oktava, or can compare it to other mics?
 
Without looking at the spec sheets, I recall the self-noise and sensitivity of the (original) Neumann KM84 to be about the same as a 'good' 012. I've never had any issues with either mics in terms of self-noise. As was previously stated any noise complaints can probably attributed to a preamp and/or recorder.
 
I haven't used a KM84, but once a KM150, and that was pretty quiet.

Anyway, it seems like the scool I attend might be testing an Oktava as an indoor mic in the not-to-distant future, so I'll be able to check it out myself. If so the I can get back to this thread if there's anybody interested.
 
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