I own an Oktava MK319, which is a large diaphragm made in Russia condenser microphone. It's laid around without getting use for a long time. I bought it back in my bedroom recording days. It just did not seem to give me satisfactory results on anything.
I now own a commercial recording studio. While I've upgraded I thought it was time to give a go at upgrading my MK319. I decided to try getting it modified by Michael Joly, who owns an online business called OktavaMod.com. I felt skeptical about the whole thing. But, Michael quoted me a price of $99. I felt I did not risk losing much if the mic came back without a significant improvement.
First thing... I found Michael to do the rarest of things for a techie. He gave me a fast turnaround. I think eight days went by from the time I shipped out my mic until it came back all modded out including a cleaned grille sans the dent that I shipped it out with. Thanks for the undent, Michael.
With my MK319 back in my hands, I wasted no time in getting to work. I recorded test tracks of the modded Oktava MK319 through an A Designs Audio P-1 mic pre and an OSA MP1-C mic pre. I tracked two different C.F. Martin guitars. The modded MK319 captured sounds from either guitar that I'd not encountered before whether tracking hard strumming or delicate picking.
I found the modded MK319 to be sensitive to position (moreso than I would have imagined from any mic in the less than $2,000 range). I found that moving the mic just ¼ inch produced dramatic changes in the tracked result. I compared the modded MK319 tracks to several other tracks recorded in the past with different mics including the Audio-Technica AT4033 and a Peluso 22 47. I generally liked the tracks made with the modded MK319 more than the others about 85 to 90 percent of the time.
I tested the mic on vocals. I cut several tracks of various male and female voices, in various musical styles. I found myself thinking of words such as clarity and power. The modded MK319 seems suited to vocal styles other than screaming rock. I liked it on middle and lower register voices. I did some more A/B'ing with some older tracks and found myself preferring the modded MK319 tracks when I wanted to hear "smooth."
I thought the mic seemed to sort of ooze a vintage sound. So, I went so far as to record a mono track of a small group consisting acoustic guitar with male and female vocals from about five feet from the sources. It worked. Playback revealed a sense of a small intimate living room concert.
I next tried the modded MK319 on electric guitar amp for a blues project. I set the mic up about 18 inches from the speaker and slightly off axis. I got keeper tracks, giving up that elusive smoky, old school blues sound. I thought the modded MK319 held its own on clean guitars, dirty guitars, and anything in between. It didn’t matter. I even gave it a whirl on Fender Rhodes. And, I captured that "tone" I equate with the greats of the electric piano such as Ray Charles.
As I gathered more and more experience with the modded MK319 I found myself thinking the mic close to the old FET U47 microphones. I did not say identical. I thought the vibe to be close.
I learned that different mic preamps imparted their character on the modded MK319. What this means to you is that the modded MK319 will accentuate any differences in mic pres, thus opening up your pallet of sound even more.
I got to talk to Michael Joly on the telephone about his history. I learned of his former work in mic design for David Blackmer, founder of Earthworks, and that he likes to think of himself as “an empirical engineer.”
I want to thank Patti Spurgeon Irvin for providing her extraordinary vocal talents in my evaluation of this mic.
The Bottom Line: If you own an Oktava MK219 or a MK319, then get it modded now. Not only does your mic deserve it, your clients and your recordings deserve it as well. The mods start at $99. Recommended.
Link relating to this review: OktavaMod.com
Ken Morgan operates out of Wireline Studio in Midland, Texas.
