If only two mics... ?

[emrr]

The Oktava MK-012 hyper is their best capsule; very flat response, even off-axis. It's pattern is a bit odd, though; rather closer to cardioid, but not supercardioid either . . .

Ya know, NOW everyone is saying that, but for a solid 20 years it was the omni everyone thought was best, and I still think so today. I dumped the hypers as fast as I could. FWIW!

 

[k brown]

Ya know, NOW everyone is saying that, but for a solid 20 years it was the omni everyone thought was best, and I still think so today. I dumped the hypers as fast as I could. FWIW!

I don't know if they've changed or not, but I got mine as hand-culled matched pairs via the now-defunct Sound Room, about 20 years ago. A pair each of the omnis, cards and 'hypercards', and the hypers were the clear winner as far as flatness of response (the only one of the three which has no lift at the top; that lack of lift leads many to find it dull); and the hypers are far flatter at 180 degrees than the cards.

The flatness at the top makes them excellent for Classical spots.

The omnis are very nice as well, but can be a bit bloated and 'wooly' at the bottom.

 

[emrr]

I don't know if they've changed or not, but I got mine as hand-culled matched pairs via the now-defunct Sound Room, about 20 years ago. A pair each of the omnis, cards and 'hypercards', and the hypers were the clear winner as far as flatness of response (the only one of the three which has no lift at the top; that lack of lift leads many to find it dull); and the hypers are far flatter at 180 degrees than the cards.

The flatness at the top makes them excellent for Classical spots.

The omnis are very nice as well, but can be a bit bloated and 'wooly' at the bottom.

My hypers were from the first stuff brought into the US in 1996, I selected 'best' and 'matched' sets of capsules out of a lot of 30 mics. They were all thin and spikey sounding compared to cardioid and omni. The omni's I use the most by far. Both definitely need HPF or low shelf cut to deal with air movement or handling noise. I do have a newer set of omni capsules from about 2010, pretty much the same as the 1996 sets I have.

The omni's get used on piano on a live broadcast gig, preference of the producer over the MKH20's I used to bring; the particular piano needs some softer wool to his ears, I don't disagree.

I mainly just think it's interesting I'm reading multiple pref for the hyper recently and that was never the case in what I read previously.

 

[k brown]

My hypers were from the first stuff brought into the US in 1996, I selected 'best' and 'matched' sets of capsules out of a lot of 30 mics. They were all thin and spikey sounding compared to cardioid and omni. The omni's I use the most by far. Both definitely need HPF or low shelf cut to deal with air movement or handling noise. I do have a newer set of omni capsules from about 2010, pretty much the same as the 1996 sets I have.

The omni's get used on piano on a live broadcast gig, preference of the producer over the MKH20's I used to bring; the particular piano needs some softer wool to his ears, I don't disagree.

I mainly just think it's interesting I'm reading multiple pref for the hyper recently and that was never the case in what I read previously.

That's really interesting (and a bit alarming) - mine are the exact opposite; buttery smooth, obviously less low end than the omnis but the least 'spiky' of the three, and the least 'spiky' of any SDCs I have. In fact they are touch midrange-y. They're my preferred spots on violin concerti!

They sound pretty much exactly like these plots show, except for having a bit less bump near the top: