wrinkled oktava mk012 capsule.

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Svart

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
Messages
5,134
Location
Atlanta GA USA
I noticed the other day that one of my mk012's output was lower than the other one.  I swapped the capsule and it moved with the capsule.

I removed the outer screen so that I could see the diaphragm through the brass plate and noticed that one corner of the capsule is wrinkled like it has come loose, like the head of a drum that has a couple lugs too loose on one side.

Anyone else seen this problem before?  I was using this mic a couple weeks ago and it was fine.  I haven't moved them from their stands and the humidity/temperature in the studio has been constant.

 
anyone?

Man what's the deal with Oktava capsule prices too?  A few years ago I was looking around for other capsules and they were cheap.  I didn't buy any though.  Since the other day I started looking for a replacement for this capsule I noticed that these things are outrageously priced now.

Uggh.
 
lets hope so.  I bought my oktavas when they were 39$ each at GC.  A few years ago I did a PCB layout to replace the PCBs in the mics because the traces were coming up off of the boards..

???
 
I bought mine 13 years ago when they were over $400 apiece.    They still look a bargain.  Weren't a lot of the GC pieces counterfeit? 
 
emrr said:
Weren't a lot of the GC pieces counterfeit?

yes indeed. some Chinese "subcontractor" decided they had a stake in the brand as well. Law-technically they weren't even counterfeit, just not affiliated with the original russian oktava factory...

There were several websites with instructions on how to tell them apart.

[EDIT]

Oh, google found this, http://debris.com/journal/1274

and the detailed account of this whole farce, http://debris.com/journal/1280
 
Honestly, this whole mess has kept me from even venturing down the Octava road.
 
Yes I've researched these mics before.  These are real Oktavas for sure.  The bodies are very well machined out of brass and the capsules are the real deal, they aren't the Transsound capsules that are being used by the copies. 

The PCBs on these were pretty shoddy though.  They used wiring between the XLR and the PCB and when you plug/unplug a hundred times, the XLR would wiggle and the wires would end up breaking off again and again.  The PCB traces couldn't stand even a moment of heat and would immediately come loose from the actual fiberglass when you tried to solder/desolder something.


 

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