Real Oktava's or Fake Oktava's?

[::XeS::]

Some years ago a friend of mine bought a pair of used Oktava's but he didn't use them anymore so I borrow them.
Initially I didn't find nothing weird but after watching a guide to recognize real oktavas and chinese oktavas I started to check them a little more.
They are 1 mc-012-01 and 1 mk-012-01.

The 2 mics

MC-012 strange cardioid symbol stamp

MC-012 left (no serial number) and MK-012 right (Serial number)

MC-012 inside

MK-012 inside

What do you think? To me the MK could be a real Oktava but the MC......I don't know.

 

[~BURNY~]

Looks like 1 fake, 1 real.
Could you resize the pics plz?

 

[JeffTD]

Left fake, right real. Serial number + dimpled connection = real.

 

[::XeS::]

Yeah...I think so. I have to check if the difference is very noticeable or not...

 

[Joshua Wickman]

Here is a quote from Micheal Joly who mods these when i asked him how to tell if they are real or fake....

"If your mics have small, silver slotted screws at the XLR end (and not black Philips screws) they are authentic Russian '012s. Forget everything else - MK / MC, serial number yes / no, ASM etc. Just go by the screws - end of story."

 

[Soundlurker]

^ That's good info inf it's true, although it probably isn't difficult to switch the phillips screws for slotted ones.

 

[::XeS::]

Mine have both silver screw....

 

[Let it burn...]

I thought MC were chinese fakes and MK were the real ones

 

[xmortumx]

Here is a quote from Micheal Joly who mods these when i asked him how to tell if they are real or fake....

"If your mics have small, silver slotted screws at the XLR end (and not black Philips screws) they are authentic Russian '012s. Forget everything else - MK / MC, serial number yes / no, ASM etc. Just go by the screws - end of story."

+1

I have some original ones and there MC(doesnt necessarily have to say MK that mean there just made somewhere else in Russia I believe.

Have you checked this link
http://recordinghacks.com/fake-oktava-mk-012-photos/

 

[::XeS::]

Yes...if I compare mines with those pics I would say they are both real oktava's...but the "black screw" thing is a little unsure...I mean, they can build another fake model with white screw...
As you can see, the contacts are both grey and not gold.
I don't know

 

[xmortumx]

Do they sound different?

 

[::XeS::]

This is a short sample from a recording session I did with them, OH's mics soloed
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1436721/Oktavas.wav

I think they sound pretty close and the differences come from the different cymbals sound

 

[~BURNY~]

They both sound real. No harsh hypertrophied chinese top end, no graininess, a nice shhhhhhh rather than a ugly crrrrr... They're fine.

 

[::XeS::]

That's fine!

 

[Let it burn...]

This is a short sample from a recording session I did with them, OH's mics soloed
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1436721/Oktavas.wav

I think they sound pretty close and the differences come from the different cymbals sound

Yeah, those are oktavas alright...