okay, after talking to taylor at the sound room, here is some further information and insight into the oktava mics.
> it's
> rumored that the people who put the oktavas together
> will often substitute any old part for the recommended
> component if they don't have it right there. as such
> some of the mics are made with inferior (or even
> incorrect?) components. do you know if there is any
> truth in this, and how does your quality control
> differ from it?
The Oktava plant in Tula has been known to substitute parts for ones of
different values - YES. However their quality control has become better
now
and they do have access to better parts suppliers.
When we "match" a set of mics; we match the ma/p output of the bodies
in
milliamps, then we separately match the capsules for both MV/pa
(millivolt)
output and frequency response.
Then, we ship the sets together withabels on the bodies and on the
capsule
sets.
You see it is a nickel-plated diaphragm and it has a tendency to be a
bit
corrosive after about 7-10 years, as well as not passing the same
voltage
unless they are tensioned carefully.
We use the services of RTT - the owners of 1/2 of the Elation lab in
Moscow,
so we have Alexander Schribeman doing the testing and matching. He was
the
one who invented the MC012 and still owns the license.
> secondly, do the pre-amp bodies have to be "matched"
> as well or is it only the capsules?
Yes, the current bodies, while better are pretty easy to get two out of
5
that will be close in ma/p output - close enough to be within 10% of
each
other, but the capsules from OKTAVA differ tremendously.
> when i first bought these mics ~1.5 yrs ago, one
> of the preamp bodies was cosmetically and structurally
> inferior to the other. you sent me a replacement but
> i have no idea whether you matched it and neglected to
> ask as i was so pleased with the service.
all of the pre-amp bodies we use here are between 11 and 11.1 millivolt
output. That means your bodies (if they both came from us) -even from
different "matched" sets - should be within 1-2%
> finally, for personal reference, are the -10dB pads
> matched also?
NO - and I would do everything in my power to NEVER use one.
> yikes...i've been using these quite often as the mics
> seem to be fairly sensitive. what is "bad" about
> them?
They are a simple buffer-use capacitor design. About as sophisticated
as
using a steel collander (spaghetti seive) to make a shower head.
Capacitors
are not matched and they not only lower the signal strength, but affect
(color) the sound in un-natural ways.
> two new questions and then i will leave you alone for
> a while
> 1. have you heard of the modification to the mc012's
> written about in the latest recording magazine? any
> input on the benefits of this?
I am aware of many mods. First, based around the use of a Toshiba
2SK170-BL
FET for the front end. Scott Dorsey does some EXCELLENT mods
(kludge@xxxxx.xxx) and I had two of his bodies on my test bench for 3
years - also used them in the studio. Now that I make MY OWN mics
(totally
different electronics design and capsule design) these babies are with
Elizabeth in the Florida studio.
> 2. have you in fact researched, and would it be
> possible, to have "active" cables to go between the
> cap and the body? similar to neumann km140's or
> schoeps kcy actives, i mean.
IMPOSSIBLE, OKTAVA electronics are not set up for this - the mod is
inconceivable without a complete redesign and all new housing and
capsule
mountiong system. It is not worth the time or effort except as a
"leraning
experience" in how to build an active front end for a microphone and
then
end up with something that sounds inferior to many other products out
there.
However, my own T.H.E. mic bodies ARE set-up for goosecks, knuckles,
collette cables, etc. We will bring out these accessories next year.
Regards,
Taylor
So there ya go....hope this answers some questions for you
