Potentially DUMB Oktava question...

Rick Meyer

Rick Meyer

Veteran
I am convinced that my second mic should be an Oktava Mk-012. I plan to mostly use it for interiors and mounting to my camera. I will begin to start doing a search on accessories for mounting etc. My potentially dumb question...
http://sound-room.com/customer/product.php?productid=196&cat=&page=
The only difference between this Oktava and the one that most love is that it comes with a hyper cap standard AND it's black, correct?

Thanks!

Rick
 
Yep. Doesn't look like there's a difference between that one and the one I have (besides the color).
 
the black would be better option less reflection during booming from light or shooting against windows
 
True exile, but then you also have the issue of a black microphone dipping into frame and not easily being spotted if it blends in with background. One solution to that is to put a piece of white tape on the mic so you can see it easier. But the reflection thing is a possibility. I guess just use dulling spray (I'm kidding, please no one run out and get dulling spray for their mics). Either way, you can have issues to work around. I don't think you'll go wrong with either version of the mic. I do wonder about mounting it on the camera though. Make sure you have a very good mount for the camera because it does pick up a lot of rumble I've noticed.

Steve
 
excuse me, what color is your foam?


the microphone in the frame is not my or my booman problem after rehearsal - period .
this is dp/operator-problem , and if you so scary about that you just can put bright color .
5$ will make your fear go away:-)
 
Foam tends to be black, which is why we put a piece of white tape on it. Wasn't trying to say one mic color was better than the other, just that you'll find issues either way and nothing you can't work around. In other words, if someone was selling a genuine Oktava to him for say $75 and it was silver, there would be no reason to turn that down to get a black one for full price.

Steve
 
thanks guys. you've given me some good advice. based on this audio thread, the Oktava is a great interior mic for the money. And, I will look into getting a good mount to put it on the camera. I wanted to kill two birds with one stone. I have two DVXs. I wanted a good interior mic, but for now, I was hoping I could use it to double as a shotgun. Just for the short term...
 
By the way, tell that to your grumpy director that it's not your fault the boom got in the shot and see what he says. Remember, the sound guy tends to be underapprecaited on set, even now. Yes, rehearsal is important and it should be dealt with then, but when in the editing room, I've heard directors ***** out the sound guy because the boom was in the shot. Sound guys have monitors too, so sometimes it is their fault. So, I say do whatever you can to save yourself the bitching later on. If you have to mark the mic with tape to make it easier to see, then do so.
 
i dont use monitor for that issue and nether my booman , if there is a line which was choose in the rehearsal, that is operator fault by making different shot or he didn't sow the mike and dint stop the shot or grip stand or whatever .
and believe me i ate all the stories in my life:-)
i know asshols which shout boom when it was outside of 1/85, so what .
maybe you work out of glass , my boman and me working out of frame .
the dark mikes are better in all these ocations when you have reflections , they are not worse or better if they come in to the frame :-)
 
Ahh, now we are a topic I can relate to. :) Idiot producers or AD who see the mic come into the 4:3 on the video assist and start waving my boomman to pull his mic up. I have even explained afterwards but they continue to do it....I think they have some queer need to feel useful, "Look, I saved that shot!"

It only aggrevates the situation when you have a boomman without much confidence and wants to please the producer.

If your mixer has a monitor...leave the boomman alone!!!

Anyways, had to get that off my chest. :happy:
 
wabbit said:
Ahh, now we are a topic I can relate to. :) Idiot producers or AD who see the mic come into the 4:3 on the video assist and start waving my boomman to pull his mic up.
Click to expand...


If I had a $1 everytime that happened to me.... I'd probably have like... at least 9 bucks.
:)
Damn that's annoying.

I once had a shoot with a producer who was interviewing a politician. He stopped her in the middle of an answer to chastise me for having the boom in the shot (he was looking at the monitor). We were shooting for 16:9 and I was well in the limits... I tried to gently explain it to him but didn't want to make a scene in front of the subject. In the end I wound up having to keep the mic out of the 4:3 frame until the interview was over, just to keep him from looking bad.

Killed me for each and every second that I knew we weren't getting the best sound we could.
 
Being more into sound the first thing I say to the boom guy is don't worry about dipping the mic in frame... If I don't tell you to raise the mic at least once you weren't close enough.

As for the other subject. Pick a color. I have silver Oktava and black Oktava... I like the black better just because once you go black you never go back.:cheesy:

How many black MK41's have you seen? The silver Oktava isn't metallic anyway, it's satin at the most. No biggie. I like the black and I'd be surprised if you didn't also. They look really nice, but then again I had only silver for a couple years... so maybe that's it.

And to address the concerns of people buying these things, you need to understand something. At $165 each these mics are PEANUTS! If you get the hyper and good shockmount and windprotection (which you need for ANY mic) then you can use it indoors and for some close-range exteriors. If anybody ever gets one of these mics and tells me they don't like it I'll eat my shoe.

For every newbie that's about to step into the world of better sound $165 is a pretty small step. I got $122 in custom cables from Trew and I don't think I'll use 'em and I can't return 'em. I won't lose one second of sleep over it though... Let me repeat $165 for a decent hyper is peanuts and I've never heard of somebody regretting the purchase. If you get one you'll use it all the time. I've got a $700 hyper and $1K gun and I still use the Oktavas frequently. It's not a risky purchase in any way... or any color.
 
Matt--

I've read many of your posts regarding the Oktava and it certainly sounds like a good mic to start out with. If a boom is out of the question, how well can the Oktava perform as a shotgun mounted on camera? I've read some complaints about it picking up every little camera movement. Is there any kind of mount that would make it usable on top of a DVX being handheld?
 
I don't think the handling noise is nearly as big of a deal as others do. If you get a K-Tek KSSM with soft bands you should be fine.

If you find yourself doing things to create handling noise then stop doing those things.

If you can't stop doing the things that are causing handling noise then I assume you hand out Dramamine before you show your videos.

Any pro gear and most amature stuff has a low cut option (mixers, etc) and if you have anything to cut bass under 80Hz then it's even easier to control and if you cut bass under 150Hz then it's a non-issue completely, but if you don't have bass cut right now I wouldn't worry about it.

You can mount an Oktava hyper on-cam and it will work 10x better then the built-in mic... plus it will give you a lot narrower pickup (by a lot)... but it won't be quite as good as a really good shotgun would be. 'Natch.

If you're buying a mic solely for on-cam use then it will be good enough anyway because you're not ready to get serious, so why spend too much. That is not a dig by the way... just facts. If you've only been exposed to doing sound in-cam you'll actually be really surprised at the improvement. There's no comparison... even though booming or getting the mic close some other way is preferred.

To repeat my earlier statement. Get one. You will not be dissappointed. Nobody is.

I didn't discover these little mics for myself... a friend of mine was talked into getting a pair from a friend of his, and then he told me how good they were... and so on. You've probably never seen an ad for these mics and yet there's thousands and thousands of them out there (and more being bought and used every day) just because of happy owners like me who couldn't believe what they heard for the price.
 
I have an Oktava hyper and that's the mic I reach for about 90% of the time. Most of the shooting I do is indoors, so it's a no-brainer. They sound great!
 
I am a big supporter of the AKG Blueline series, and really love my set up. I will say this... in an A/B comparison with the Oktava it takes keen ears to hear the difference and the Oktava is more than half the price. The AKG by the way is used in professional Hollywood type set ups...

The Oktava is the best bang for the buck microphone you can buy and if not for Matt I would never know about them or have one of my own...

Plus it's the only mic you will ever own that you will look at and actually think it looks cute, like a puppy.
 
If you already have a Schoeps MK41, in what situations, other than very loud and/or dangerous ones where you didn't want to risk the Schoeps, would you reach for the Octava instead?
 
That's a great question. I don't own a Schoeps, so I cannot answer with specifics to that microphone. I do own the AKG so I can answer regarding that.

The benefits of the AKG over the Oktava are minimal regarding sound quality, better handling noise, and size (I like things larger).

I just got my AKG back yesterday from repair (long story), and after doing some A/B tests in an isolated environment I actually prefer the tone of the Oktava. This is a personal preference, but I think that the Oktava sounds sweeter. The AKG has a fuller sound, but the Oktava just has this little zest in it's sound quality.

For me personally, whenever it is a stand alone dialogue scene I will reach for the Oktava over the AKG because I want the dialogue to carry the scene. If I am going for a scene where there is going to be a lot of ambient noise in the background, music tracks playing, or anything like that I will reach for my AKG. I know that is getting really specific regarding looking forward for which mic to use, but the Oktava sounds better in a stand alone situation.

I can't explain it, but it's just the way my ears are hearing it.
 
adaml said:
If you already have a Schoeps MK41, in what situations, other than very loud and/or dangerous ones where you didn't want to risk the Schoeps, would you reach for the Octava instead?
Click to expand...

Owning both a Schoeps and 2 Oktavas I can say I have never reached for the Oktava OVER the Schoeps. It's like you said, I would use the Oktava in dangerous situations or if I am lending a mic to a friend. They make for an interesting stereo XY pair. Oh and I have used as a plant mic for some very complicated scene when the Schoeps was on the boom.

Oktava does sound good for the money but they are not what I would call a quality goto mic. I still agree with Matt that someone looking for a mic in the sub-$300 range will not be disappointed in them. But once you have used a Schoeps, someone is gonna have to pry it from your cold dead fingers before you would voluntarily use a Oktava instead.

Best
 
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