Fake Oktava MKL 2500 from GC hum, fixed !

ORIGINAL: LixiSoft

My buddy bought 3 of them. He seems to think it is a grounding problem with the PS. He also thinks the multicore plug that connects to the mic might not be a good match, the pins are too short and narrow to match with the mic. He is going to fool around with it over the next few days. He said he will change the ends on the PS to mic cable to neutriks and see if they mate better. He may also connect another ground line to one of the unused pins. He says the PS is of good design and parts with good solder joints, so he is going to try some mods to the cable and ends.

Here is a clue ! If I touch the XLR case (unpainted thumb lock push button) on the mic end directly to a grounded part of the mixer like the edge of a 1/4" jack the hum goes away.

No more hum !!

ORIGINAL: daniel5017@aol.com

hey ohhey

i don't mean to hijack your highly useful/helpful thread but...

curiosity triggered by the behavior and usefulness of the oktava mic, have you had any experience using small diaphragm condensors on vocals? i don't own any, nor have i directly tried them out; only as a third party casual observation.. from what i remember, the one observed picked up high frequencies better than the large diaphragm that day.

bottom line, if any of them are overall anything like oktava mic, then i would want to try them it out.

thanks in advance(if you are helpful )

ORIGINAL: hottlungs

I've been looking all over for a forum that talked about these mics. I just picked up 3 of them (one for myself and 2 for a friend) and I believe i came up on the most bazzar bunch that any GC had. First off, all three microphones used the 7 pin xlr connection (not bazzar), but the cable they provided for all three mics had a 7 pin male xlr on one end and a 6 pin female xlr on the other (very bazzar)! These cables wont even connect the mic and power supply. I can make a cable no problem, im not worried about that, but im a little confused about the pinouts for the cable because they jimmyrigged the 6pin somehow and i can't infer how to transfer that to a 7pin connector. Will one of you guys send me a schematic for the pinout? Also, do you guys suggest i purchase good quality cable and just construct my own? I don't know if its safe to trust their work if they can't even put the right connectors on the damn thing. Now let's move onto bazzar find #2. I checked out the pictures you posted, ohhey, and i was surprised (i don't know why, it's oktava we're talking about) that your mic is drastically different than mine. Instead of what seems to be circuit board where your capsule is mounted to, my version uses a metal plate. Then, it hit me... the capsule in your mic is the same capsule that is used on the MK-319 and MK-219!!! Wait until you see what mine looks like. Not only is the diaphram a considerable amount smaller, but it does not have the shield covering it. Finally, the mic casing has a russian character that is different than my standard english text casing plus yours is actually the legit matte black finish where mine is some weird ass grey color. Between me and you, i think you lucked out and got a Russian verison. Mine is Chinese to the Max. Did yours come with documentation at all, or no docs and the grey black case with the Oktava logo sticker? I wonder how many like yours are out there?
...

ORIGINAL: hottlungs

So i took back the chinese MKL-2500's and picked up the last 3 in stock at another guitar center location. That took a lot of research and communication with Oktava Russia, but at least i didn't get stuck with a knock off. I did the cable grounding fix today and everything is sounding good. Eventually i am going to make my own cables for these mics, but for right now i can handle the provided cable.

Here's a warning for all potential buyers of the MKL-2500... make sure you're not getting a fake. There are tons floating around at various GC locations so if the mic looks sketchy and has 7 pins on the mic output, pass on it. Another thing i found out through communication with Oktava Russia was the fact that the power supplies that are provided with the mic are all chinese PSU's. Russian mic, Chinese PSU... better than Chinese mic, Chinese PSU, i guess.

ORIGINAL: Orwell247

Hey Everybody,

I'm glad to have stumbled on this forum and man do you guys know your stuff!

So....today I fell prey to the Labor Day sale at GC and I picked up the Oktava MKL 2500 for $70.00. I was siked cuz I thought I got such a great deal. Of course when I got home tonight and went to test it out I got the hum you all mentioned. SUCKAH!!

Thing is, I'm totally new to all this stuff. I don't know jack and I've looked at all the links you have attached in the forum. I have no idea how to do anything as this is my first mic and I don't even own a soldering tool. I got a bic lighter and thats about it.

My mic does have the 7 pins as Hotlungs mentioned and the Mic head does have the wierd Russian Lettering "MK?-2500". So I'm guessing I got a fake one.

Should I find someone who can do the soldering for me? Would I be best to just trade this in for a different Oktava? I saw someone else on the thread recomend the 2001. Or is the 319 comparable? Or would you recommend a different mic in the same price range(Can't afford more $.)

Just kind of lost and could use some valuable input .
Thanks guys and thanks for the great thread.

ORIGINAL: Orwell247
I'm gonna run back to GC today and see if I can switch it up for the 2001.

ORIGINAL: Nate


FYI Guitar Center Raleigh has 3 of the fake knockoffs for $70 right now. They say $99 up front, but if you ply them with *Ohhey* info they cave.


LOL !! Yeah.. tell them I charge at least $20 to fix the cable.

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AKG is a "can't go wrong" brand name at least in their higher end stuff. I haven't tried the 100 but I'm sure it's a great mic. If you get a chance to try them both just pick the one that's best for you. For vocals the better quality mic is not always the best choice depending on the tone you want. For example my voice is a bit nasaly so a mic that would bring a mellow voice forward in the mix would just cause my voice to sound worse and require more EQ to kill that nasal range.