DOA Oktava MK012
 

I just received an Oktava MK012 "Bello Nero" mic with the hyper-cardioid cap today (from The Sound Room, sound_room.com), and it is DOA. Hooked it up on my field mixer, and it produced nothing but a loud hum. swapped cables, no change. Moved it to my Mackie desk mixer, and no change. Same cable and channel on both mixers produced a clean signal with my NTG-3.

Another minor thing, is that on their website, they say they ship the mics in a cedar box, but mine came in a really crappy plastic box. I've got an email in to them about fixing this problem, but haven't heard back from them yet. Granted, its only been a few hours. Anyway, just wanted to put my story out there. Anyone else have dealings with this company?

Re: DOA Oktava MK012
 

Sounds like you got swindled. Good luck.
1) The genuine Sound Room (who has been importing Oktava to the US for decades) is at The Trusted Source for Genuine Russian Oktava Microphones, Heil Microphones, Grado Labs Headphones and much more!!!!
If you really bought it from them, they will likely be happy to resolve the problem in short order. They have a good rep.
2) sound_room.com is not even a valid URL.

Re: DOA Oktava MK012
 

Sorry about the mis-typed URL. It is indeed, sound-room.com. Your link leads to the page I bought the mic from. At any rate, I've just heard back from Paul Kezmarsky from their company, and he told me to ship the mic back to them and they will replace it and credit me for shipping costs. So kudos to them for quick customer service. Hopefully the replacement mic actually works!

Oh, and he also told me the guy who made the cedar boxes is no longer working for them, and they are looking for a replacement for those boxes. Until then, they ship in the original crappy plastic factory box.

Re: DOA Oktava MK012
 

'The Sound Room' (located in Mahwah, NJ) is a reputable company and would not ship a non-working mic. I know they will certainly replace it if it is faulty. I'm surprised the mic could be damaged in shipment w/o seeing some obvious external damage to the mic and/or shipping box.
The wooden case however may only be included with the multi-capsule stereo set.

- Are you sure you had Phantom Power activated on your mixer(s)?? The 012 is a condenser mic and needs to be externally powered.
- Try a different mic cable. Sometimes a faulty cable will pass signal without issue with a dynamic, but will make noise or not work at all with a condenser.

Re: DOA Oktava MK012
 

Rick, that was why I purchased from them. Their reputation is great. No visible damage to the mic or the box it was shipped in. At any rate, phantom power was on on BOTH mixers I tried it on, I used three different channels on my field mixer, and four on my Mackie mixer. All cables and channels worked fine with my NTG-3. I just shipped the mic back for replacement. Paul has been very helpful.

Re: DOA Oktava MK012
 

Good to know they are still a great operation and are supporting you.

I wonder with this weather we're having if it could have been a heat and/or humidity issue during shipping or first days of trying to use it after delivery?

I admit I'm a bit nutty, but I don't even order mics this time of year...

Also, did you need to assemble the capsule to the body or did it come already together? In either case, did you clean the center contact or just try re-seating by a quick loosen and tighten of the capsule?
It doesn't take much oxide buildup to kill the signal from the capsule.

Good luck with the replacement and let us know how it goes.

Re: DOA Oktava MK012
 

Jay, your thought about the high heat had occurred to me as well. The came with the capsule and -10db pad separate from the mic body. I didn't try cleaning the contact point, but I did remove and reattach the capsule several times. Anyway, the Sound Room was on top of it, so that's reassuring.
Its funny because I've never had any issues with mics or other gear showing up defective, but this is two in a row for me now! The last mic I bought (Rode NTG-3) was defective as well.

Re: DOA Oktava MK012
 

I got the cedar box with mine... and I immediately stuck it in a drawer and have never had it out again. Nice enough box, i suppose, but who carries wooden boxes around in the field?

On the upside, my drawer smells nice.

-a

Re: DOA Oktava MK012
 

I wish my drawers smelled nice.