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KM 184 or?
Jul 27, 2021 11:26:53 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by skav on Jul 27, 2021 11:26:53 GMT -6
Besides great sound, other important criterias are:
1. A reputable well trusted brand
2. Easily resellable
3. Not a clone
4. Good quality build
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Post by mrholmes on Jul 27, 2021 12:08:52 GMT -6
OR THE OCTAVA MK012! If you get a pair or a single one you like, you will be surprised. I often mix KM184 with the MK012. But I will get a second MK012 ASAP. THE MK012 is true bang for the buck. In many cases, I pick it over the Neumann KM 184, and I am an N. jerk because I live in Neumann-Berlin-TOWN. ... IF QC would be more strict, and without VODKA on Monday, the Russians could hurt Neumann in the SDC market.
PS:
Get the OMNI capsule too, a dream in MONO on Acoustics. It's just 80 BUCKS...
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Post by gwlee7 on Jul 27, 2021 12:13:21 GMT -6
I have Microtech Gefell M295s but I also think people are starting to get jammed up on the 184s not being “84s” thing. I have come to the conclusion that if you use a really good sounding guitar and record it with a really good mic using really good mic placement, you are going to get a really good result. So IMO, enjoy your new mics, experiment with placement until they sound good to you, and then make yourself some great acoustic guitar recordings.
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Post by svart on Jul 27, 2021 12:14:18 GMT -6
MK012 is a pretty good mic. It's just different. KM184 has few competitors unless you get one of the Gefells or Schoeps mics, or KM84 of course. Beyer MC930 seems to get great reviews too.
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Post by Blackdawg on Jul 27, 2021 13:07:37 GMT -6
Schoeps MK4 or the MK21
DPA 4011a
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Post by Chad on Jul 27, 2021 13:15:14 GMT -6
Soyuz 013 Fet also.
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Post by EmRR on Jul 27, 2021 13:23:04 GMT -6
add Sennheiser MKH to the list
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Post by bradd on Jul 27, 2021 13:31:00 GMT -6
Beyerdynamic MC930. I upgraded to these after having KM184s and was very happy. I also kept them after getting a pair of KM84s. They are excellent mics.
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Post by bowie on Jul 27, 2021 13:33:22 GMT -6
This is not meant to make you feel bad about your purchase but... one of the best things I ever did was to stop fighting with the 184s and move on to other SDCs. There's a top end glare, which indirectly causes the mids to always sound thin. I want an SDC to capture what I'm hearing, not to apply a pre-EQ like the 184s seem to. But, they're Neumann and they're popular so I blamed my technique and tried to make them work for years. These days, I'd happily take an Oktava 012 pair over the 184s. Very well-balanced and versatile.
I ended up investing in a pair of Schoeps CMC6 with various capsules and haven't desired anything else since. Incredible detail and, as long as the source sounds good in the room, the Schoeps make mic set-up effortless. Always captures what I'm hearing and I'm never fighting with them, ever.
That said, if you can find a decent Oktava pair, they are nuts for the money. They just aren't consistent so do a bit of research before buying.
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Post by Quint on Jul 27, 2021 13:54:00 GMT -6
This is not meant to make you feel bad about your purchase but... one of the best things I ever did was to stop fighting with the 184s and move on to other SDCs. There's a top end glare, which indirectly causes the mids to always sound thin. I want an SDC to capture what I'm hearing, not to apply a pre-EQ like the 184s seem to. But, they're Neumann and they're popular so I blamed my technique and tried to make them work for years. These days, I'd happily take an Oktava 012 pair over the 184s. Very well-balanced and versatile. I ended up investing in a pair of Schoeps CMC6 with various capsules and haven't desired anything else since. Incredible detail and, as long as the source sounds good in the room, the Schoeps make mic set-up effortless. Always captures what I'm hearing and I'm never fighting with them, ever. That said, if you can find a decent Oktava pair, they are nuts for the money. They just aren't consistent so do a bit of research before buying. Can you elaborate on the inconsistency thing? I have a pair of the MK-012 that I've had forever. They're un-modded. I quite like them as is, but I had considered picking up another, newer pair eventually and getting them modded. What specific parts of the mics are inconsistent? Is this something that has always been the case or is it only with newer ones or older ones? I've only ever owned or used the pair I have, so I wouldn't really know what sort of research to do to determine whether or not a pair I might be interested in are sufficiently consistent. |
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Post by phdamage on Jul 27, 2021 14:02:08 GMT -6
I have little experience with KM184s but I thought the Josephson c42s were supposed to be close to KM84s and I absolutely love mine for overheads or for acoustic guitars or strings.
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Post by ragan on Jul 27, 2021 14:06:41 GMT -6
This is not meant to make you feel bad about your purchase but... one of the best things I ever did was to stop fighting with the 184s and move on to other SDCs. There's a top end glare, which indirectly causes the mids to always sound thin. I want an SDC to capture what I'm hearing, not to apply a pre-EQ like the 184s seem to. But, they're Neumann and they're popular so I blamed my technique and tried to make them work for years. These days, I'd happily take an Oktava 012 pair over the 184s. Very well-balanced and versatile. I ended up investing in a pair of Schoeps CMC6 with various capsules and haven't desired anything else since. Incredible detail and, as long as the source sounds good in the room, the Schoeps make mic set-up effortless. Always captures what I'm hearing and I'm never fighting with them, ever. That said, if you can find a decent Oktava pair, they are nuts for the money. They just aren't consistent so do a bit of research before buying. Can you elaborate on the inconsistency thing? I have a pair that I've had forever. They're un-modded. I quite like them as is, but I had considered picking up another, newer pair eventually and getting them modded. What specific parts of the mics are inconsistent? Is this something that has always been the case or is it only with newer ones or older ones? I've only ever owned or used the pair I have, so I wouldn't really know what sort of research to do to determine whether or not a pair I might be interested in are sufficiently consistent. Worth noting that I believe the factory Oktavas now incorporate the common mods. I’ve been thinking about picking up a pair myself. I miss mine, particularly with the omni capsules. |
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Post by mcirish on Jul 27, 2021 14:10:22 GMT -6
Have a listen to the clips on this thread. Then send me a PM and I will give you the "what's what" info. You might be surprised by your own conclusions. SDC mic comparisons |
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KM 184 or?
Jul 27, 2021 14:10:50 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by Quint on Jul 27, 2021 14:10:50 GMT -6
Can you elaborate on the inconsistency thing? I have a pair that I've had forever. They're un-modded. I quite like them as is, but I had considered picking up another, newer pair eventually and getting them modded. What specific parts of the mics are inconsistent? Is this something that has always been the case or is it only with newer ones or older ones? I've only ever owned or used the pair I have, so I wouldn't really know what sort of research to do to determine whether or not a pair I might be interested in are sufficiently consistent. Worth noting that I believe the factory Oktavas now incorporate the common mods. I’ve been thinking about picking up a pair myself. I miss mine, particularly with the omni capsules. I have the cardioid caps and that's it, but I've always wanted the omnis. I had been considering picking up a complete set pair (mic bodies plus all of the cap varieties for a pair) and getting those modded. But if the new ones have the mods already incorporated, even better. I'd be curious to know what Bowie was talking about inconsistency. I hadn't heard that before. I'd also wonder if it was meant to be specific to the new ones or old ones or both. I know this. Even in an un-modded condition, I LOVE the pair that I have. I think they are great sounding mics. |
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Post by enlav on Jul 27, 2021 14:13:00 GMT -6
add Sennheiser MKH to the list Are we talking 8000 series or MKH40/50 options? (Or all of the above?)
I've always relied on Sennhesier for doc/narrative work (mkh416, mkh8060), but I've never had a chance to use any of their MKH cardioid offerings on musical applications.
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Post by ragan on Jul 27, 2021 14:13:22 GMT -6
Worth noting that I believe the factory Oktavas now incorporate the common mods. I’ve been thinking about picking up a pair myself. I miss mine, particularly with the omni capsules. I have the cardioid caps and that's it, but I've always wanted the omnis. I had been considering picking up a complete set pair (mic bodies plus all of the cap varieties for a pair) and getting those modded. But if the new ones have the mods already incorporated, even better. I'd be curious to know what Bowie was talking about inconsistency. I hadn't heard that before. I'd also wonder if it was meant to be specific to the new ones or old ones or both. I know this. Even in an un-modded condition, I LOVE the pair that I have. I think they are great sounding mics. That may have been a more generally directed comment. The knock on Oktava (historically) has been inconsistency. I've had many 319s and 219s here and they did noticeably vary in tone and output level, particularly the 319s. Some commentary suggests Oktava cleaned up their act some years ago and that the current offerings don't suffer from the kind of variance they used to. I couldn't say one way or another. Edit: and I'll say, the pair of MK012s I used for years (bought in the great GC selloff) were very well matched. |
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Post by mcirish on Jul 27, 2021 14:14:13 GMT -6
Worth noting that I believe the factory Oktavas now incorporate the common mods. I’ve been thinking about picking up a pair myself. I miss mine, particularly with the omni capsules. I have the cardioid caps and that's it, but I've always wanted the omnis. I had been considering picking up a complete set pair (mic bodies plus all of the cap varieties for a pair) and getting those modded. But if the new ones have the mods already incorporated, even better. I'd be curious to know what Bowie was talking about inconsistency. I hadn't heard that before. I'd also wonder if it was meant to be specific to the new ones or old ones or both. I know this. Even in an un-modded condition, I LOVE the pair that I have. I think they are great sounding mics. The Oktava MK-012 (MC-012) is actually a great sounding mic at a very affordable price. |
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Post by ragan on Jul 27, 2021 14:14:29 GMT -6
Have a listen to the clips on this thread. Then send me a PM and I will give you the "what's what" info. You might be surprised by your own conclusions. SDC mic comparisonsI've been meaning to download those clips and do a proper listen. Good reminder! |
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Post by mcirish on Jul 27, 2021 14:17:08 GMT -6
Have a listen to the clips on this thread. Then send me a PM and I will give you the "what's what" info. You might be surprised by your own conclusions. SDC mic comparisonsI've been meaning to download those clips and do a proper listen. Good reminder! I think you'll find the results pretty convincing once I do the "big" reveal. I actually didn't even want to hide what they are but thought it might be fun to get opinions based on sound instead of brand/model. I certainly came away with a better appreciation of the various mics on different sources. |
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Post by jcoutu1 on Jul 27, 2021 14:49:02 GMT -6
I have 5 012s. I have 2 pairs that match up well and the 5th sounds like junk. 😂😂
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Post by the other mark williams on Jul 27, 2021 15:25:35 GMT -6
Hello there! I just ordered a KM 184 stereo pair new for a good price. Now that I am have spent the money and have yet to collect them I began thinking: what similar small diaphragm pencil mics you folks would consider superior to these? (Besides the vintage 84's) I don't want to go that route. My purchase is mainly directed towards acoustic guitar, but I would prefer something that can handle multiple sources. Q: What stereo pair SDC should I look into instead of the KM 184? Thank you The Soyuz 013 FET mics get a lot of love on this forum (I have a pair myself), but they're quite different than the 184 IME: more midrange, more "muscular," more attitude (to my ear, anyway). Something that hasn't been mentioned in this thread yet is the Telefunken M60. If I'm not mistaken, that won a shootout for me personally here on RGO a few months back in a test that included the Soyuz and maybe the Beyerdynamic 930, also. And yes, all the recommendations others have made in this thread are really nice sounding SDCs, too. |
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Post by notneeson on Jul 27, 2021 15:41:21 GMT -6
We had the Soyuz up as a drum room (pointed away from the kit) the other day. Great sound. It did strike me as pretty bright and modern, FWIW.
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Post by drumsound on Jul 27, 2021 15:42:22 GMT -6
The Røde TF5 are in a similar vain to the KM184. The Sound on Sound review of the TF5 has a bit about the differences between the 2 I believe. TF5s are nice mics, but I don't use them nearly as much as my MC012s.
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Post by EmRR on Jul 27, 2021 18:25:51 GMT -6
add Sennheiser MKH to the list Are we talking 8000 series or MKH40/50 options? (Or all of the above?)
I've always relied on Sennhesier for doc/narrative work (mkh416, mkh8060), but I've never had a chance to use any of their MKH cardioid offerings on musical applications.
All of the above, plus 406. They just stopped making 40's; I like the switch option flexibility on those, which the 8000 don't have. |
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Post by peterhess on Jul 27, 2021 19:08:06 GMT -6
I leave omni 012s up in rtof at all times, kinda anywhere in the room, and almost always go “whoa, cool”. Brings the room to life.
Just got a pair of 3U Warbler 127s and wondering if I should grab some omni caps for them too.
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