SE Electronics SE8 Vs Oktava MK012 Pencil Mic
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- Опубликовано: 6 окт 2024
- Bothe the SE Electronics SE8 and the Oktava MK-012 are excellent pencil mics and to be honest, I can't really choose between them, they're just different.
The biggest advantage of the Oktava is the fact that it's a whole system of mics, if you want it to be. There's even a large condenser head for it!! Fact is, if you buy just the boy, you can choose which capsule to buy for it.
The capsules do sound different, along with their different polar patterns.
The SE8 is a pure cardioid. It has quite a weighty sound for a pencil mic and in my opinion, does better a little further back with regards to its sound.
I choose the Oktava capsule according to the polar pattern and the sound that I want. Generally, for groups of people.... the omni, for close speech, the cardioid, and for booming, the hyper cardioid.
These are mid priced microphones so not really a budget option. Both sound great.
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Thanks so much for this review, Ian. It's hard to pick a winner since both are really spectacular, but I think I like the red shirt just a tad more!
A lot of people mention my shirts! The reason. I wear them is that they dry really quickly and don’t have to be ironed. It’s a practical thing really!!!
3:53
Hi Ian! Thanks for sharing.
Recently I found Oktava actually has separate upgraded body (preamplifier UP 012) for MK-012 which has 10/20 dB pads and hi-pass filters (75/150 hz, slope 12 dB/oct ). Unfortunately, it's purchased separately.
That’s interesting. So, another variation . Pity they don’t give the option of one or the other with the heads.
Great video again Ian and thanks for showing us how they sound when boomed 👉
Both really nice mics!
Hi Ian, thanks for making this review. I have the SE8 and am super happy with it. Nice low noise, nice low end - for a pencil condenser. Like your new intro too! Cheers.
It’s a great mic. Glad you like it.
good comparison, thanks 🎬🎥
I have to choose between these two microphones. The video really helped, but I still can't decide. We'll use this mic for my wife's story channel on youtube (she tells stories with relaxing sounds on the back ground), and for my quena & bansuri recordings (for a meditation music channel). We record with Focusrite 2i2 in our home studio. If you had to pick one, which one would you prefer? Thank you very much in advance :)
If you don’t prefer one for its sound ….SE8 for its quietness. Low self noise.
@@iancraig In some comments, you mentioned that Octava is more silient, despite technical data proclaiming lower self noise for SE8. I think I like Octava more.. Your video helped very much. Thanks! :)
I didn’t test the mic scientifically and self noise is a funny thing. Some things you might notice it more and may be down to what frequency the noise is at. So at first, I felt the Octava was very quiet but with long term use, I think I got slightly quieter results in most situations from the SE8. I guess other factors like room sound, electronics in line, external quiet sounds etc, which can easily be taken as self noise when it’s not.
If you can differentiate the sound of them, then I also like the relative richness of the Octava sound. I always presume that people who ask me which mic would I pick aren’t able to hear the differences in sound so in that case, I’d get the cheapest!
Do the microphone capsule threads match the second microphone?
Unfortunately, no.
Thank you for this video. However, I´d like to ask you something nobody ever answers in these reviews - how would these microphones perform outside? Imagine I´d like to use them as a stereo pair for capturing atmospheres. Would they perform well? From what I understand, pencil mics have ´neutral´ sound to them - but how about a sensitivity? Birds, winds, river.. simply sounds in the exteriors. How would that go? I am intrigued because they usually sell as pairs and I am tempted to record "wider" sounds, placing the mics further away from each other - and stuff like that.
I guess the reason that no one mentions this is the fact that they are almost ‘over sensitive’ to wind. Not really designed to be used outdoors because the capsule is right at the top. They are designed as instrumental mics, indoors.
They would work inside a blimp.
Pencil mics can be noisy too, so for ambience, you might need too much gain for them.
@@iancraig thank you so much. it didnt occur to me at first (the fact about the wind sensitivity), but - i think i will try that anyway. i think a good windscreen could work outdoors and i wouldnt record in a too windy situations anyway so hopefully its gonna work!
I love the videos but sometimes the background music gets really loud. If you could fix it, please do
You probably mean at the start. I was trying an experiment with upping and downing the video with the gaps in my voice. But for the tests there is no music. Just the start and finish.
I just checked it with my ipad and found the music no louder than the adverts that preceded it and was able to hear what I was saying fine. Maybe the fading up and down was a bit too much? Don’t know.
I level my speech to -18LUFS, but maybe I’ll level the music to the same as well next time. I didn’t check the music levels, just used it as it was from epidemic. While speaking, it was set at around 6% which is actually quite low but I think you mean the fading in and out actually.
@@iancraig I think it was the fading up and down
OK, I thought so. I did it and rendered and tbh, since it was just the start, I left it! Live and learn.
For acustic guitar? Oktava or se8....?
It really depends on what sound you want. The Oktava has more self noise. The SE8 has a strong top end and Oktava, a resonant sound that might pick up the harmonics of each note a little more.
So I think a se8 with an oktava might be a good idea. One towards the 12th fret and the other towards the bridge to record in stereo and get the best of both.
how about?
Which would you put on the neck and which on the bridge?
The Oktava might sound great from 12th fret with the SE8 on bridge and get a balance between the two for the attack of the season and more mellow sound of the Oktava.
Wonderful test! Thanks a lot! But have you tried the sE7 before? They look like half the price.
This test was some time ago so maybe they were cheaper then?
@@iancraig Yeah this one sounds great! It's the newer model, the older one priced like around half the price (sE7) so was wondering if you got to test them by yourself. Seems like I'll just bite the bullet and buy the 2 pack set of $500.
In UK, we can buy them singly…..
@Ian Craig - Audio, Video, Reviews & Tips Yes! It's just I would love to have 2 in a situation where I need to film to people talking to each other or even for a podcast. Thanks a lot.🙏
Thank you. A further question: why do you prefer a small diaphram condensor rather than a shotgun mic. I think shotgun are design with all the featured you mentioned on SE 8?
In a room, shotguns can react to wall reflections in quite odd ways. Outside, this doesn’t happen.
Basically, reflections come back at the mic and the rejection slots (through a process called phasing) cancel out certain frequencies if they arrive slightly later via the slots.
This often results in the mic sounding different indoors compared to outdoors.
Shotguns are small diaphragm condensers too, just with interference slots on the barrel.
Long barrels outside, short inside ....
@@iancraig thank you.
Ile zaplaciles za swoje drewniane pudelko zawierajce mikrofon oktawa? Jak cena byla?
I can’t remember how much I paid for the Oktava Ravi. It came in the wooden box as a set but it is quite some time ago now.
Hello how old are you Oktavas? if they are in the last few years or so, they come "modded" straight from the Factory now
How are they modded?
Mine are two or three years old.
@@iancraig So basically the company took note of all the mods people were doing to them and a few years ago incorporated those mods into their production.
There were a few revisions but now the current models are basically similar to the jolly mods straight from the Oktava factory.
@@iancraig If yours were brand new 2 or 3 years ago then they should have these "mods" or "revisions" to them straight from the Factory.
@@levijessegonzalez3629 That's good to know. We got the MK12 about 1 o 2 ago.
How do you think the Se7 pencil condenser stacks up against the oktava? It's quite a bit less expensive.
I’m not familiar with the SE7, but I think I prefer the Oktava to the SE8.
Which pair would u choose for soft piano recording? Many thanks..really helpful for me. Im thinking Oktava.
I would use a pair of mics for stereo. Plus a large condenser to add warmth. Just for a mono recording, I think both would do really well TBH. The Oktava has more self noise than the se8. The se8 has a nice, robust bass though, so I might veer towards the se8.
For soft piano .. you want low self noise and for piano, a full bodied response. Even better, two se8 in stereo (x/y configuration) with a large condenser on the back if it’s an upright or slight pointing towards bass if it’s a grand. Then you have a nice stereo mix with a full bodied bass.
Ian thanks for your feedback. Gosh I was leaning towards the pair of Oktava,s but yes self noise would be critical. One thing I would miss from the oktava would be the hyper capsule. Mainly it would be nice to experiment with it should I choose to mic further away yet minimise room noise. Did you notice a big dif in self noise? At the end im a bit confused though lol as you state the oktava is lower in noise ? In your recording theres hardly any noise to my ears. !I will be close miking so no more than 3-6 inches from the pianos soundboard. Many thanks for your help! The Se 8 has also been in contention and I like some demos of it on piano in stereo.
I think the Oktava is actually very slightly higher in self noise than the se8. Maybe I was in a muddle in the video? Not sure what was going on in the video; I was puzzled by it then because the se8 has a better figure. With these noise levels, I think that some mics make noise at a different fequency that is maybe more detectable by the ears, but isn’t necessarily high. (If that makes sense?) some hiss very high up so we hear it less but it may measure worse, where another mic hisses lower down but more softly by measuring, but our ears hear it more easily.....
I’m not measuring them, but just going by what I hear so technically, very rough.
It’s very difficult to choose between them in all honesty.
The Oktava has a lovely tone and if you are recording 3 to 6 inches, noise won’t be a problem with any of them. I’m very focused on mic noise and can be over critical. So focused on hiss, that I have been missing the fact that my own editing software has been mashing all audio down to a low bitrate which destroys audio. I just assumed that RUclips was mashing it!
I love the Oktava cardioid tone. The super cardioid has a thicker tone that works better further back.
The SE8 doesn’t seem to have quite the harmonic content of the Oktava which is perhaps not so good for piano which has a ton of overtones, thinking about it. There’s a gnat’s whisker between them.
The problem for me is that I don’t think about it because I have a lot of choice with my microphones, so I choose according to instrument. If you are relying on just one, it becomes more critical because it’s your only one.
For piano, you’ll get more of the string tone and harmonics from the Oktava. Minimally more self noise, but tbh, at such close distance, you won’t hear it. The super cardioid offers a thicker tone so at least you have a choice, so perhaps that is a better option for you. I would be trying both you see, and compare what I get.
I hate choosing mics for other people, because we all have different expectations. I have something like 12 pencil mics, which I choose for different sounds. Not one of them is ‘best’, just different.
I think you would like the Oktava though; especially the three head package.
Noise is easily got rid of anyway in post and you wouldn’t ever need to remove anything significant.
If it were my only mic, I think the Oktava is the best all round package tbh.
AWSOME! I Love that reply. Yes the piano I'm recording has loads of overtones,harmonics. It has an old balanced but typical deep warm German tone. It also can growl on the bass. Its an 1880,s kaps upright.
Funny about the harmonics I was listening to them the other night while playing and then stopping. I was thinking about mic positions to really capture them. I love all those details in a piano, sympathetic resonance etc. Those are the details I want yet a lot of engineers prob don't lol!!
I've been listening to as much mic comparisons as possible and my ears lean towards the oktava and se 8. They are darker sounding to me and not as sharp? But full like u say.I may get both or else two sets of oktavas. With one set all caps. It will be a permanent set up to always capture and record original improvisations. I watched a video of an experienced producer using two sets of oktavas on a grand. In other videos he was using AEA ribbons. So I thought the oktavas must be good! I'd love something as discreet as dpa but there dosnt seem to be a cheaper alternative. The tbone system maybe but not to sure. I was using a couple of primo em172 capsules with bma pre, taped to wire so I could angle at bridges(good sound there). A very poor mans dpa system for rough but okish mimum reflection room recordings: ) I was also looking at the line audio cm 4/om1 quite reasonable.
I also like the sound of ribbon mics and interested in one or pair of them. There's a few makes that seem descent but understand there can be noise issues with passive models. I want to capture the roundness of top piano with a stereo pair condensers and a pair for bottom with the cover off. There's a great sound coming from bottom. I was thinking of some added ribbons to capture the bottom end. I know that may sound like to many but I can learn from mistakes and reduce to 3-4 mics. It will most prob be an unconventional setup. I had also thought of boundary mics as part of a set up but have no clue what to choose. They could be discreet.
Anyways you have been more than helpful and i am super grateful u took the time to be so thoughtful and detailed. Its very hard getting sound and wise advice these days. Thank you.
I did a head to head this morning and the results again, are really puzzling. I don’t know why, but I’m getting less noise on the OKTAVA than the SE8. This is weird because the SE8 is supposed to be one of the quietest around but actually, I prefer the Oktava in sound as well tbh.
Just to tell you what I did. I recorded from both at -12dB and listened (and read) the noise level. The SE8 ‘looked’ lower but I could hear it more!! Must be something to do with what frequency the noise is at.
I then normalised both recordings to -19LUFS so the volumes were consistent and again, the Oktava was lower. (and richer sounding)
Based on what I was getting this morning, I think I would use the Oktava on piano. Rich sound and less noise. (Which I’m really puzzled by)
I’m wondering whether the se8 is reacting with my phantom power supply because I really didn’t expect that.
Just to give you an idea, the Oktava noise was showing - 60 to -55dB after normalisation and the se8 was showing pretty similar, but it ‘sounded’ louder on headphones.
I think two Oktavas will sound excellent on piano because it has this richness in its lower end and a sound that easily reveals stringiness. So for instance, when recording violin or double bass, you get a full bass with that sound of the bow going across the string. It’s slightly less synthetic sounding than the SE8 which gives plenty of low end but not that ‘string’ sound that you also get from good headphones or hifi.
In all honesty, the Oktava is my favourite pencil mic. I went through a box full of pencil mics this morning and the Oktava was top of my preferences. Believe it or not, the cheapo T.bone SC140 wasn’t far behind! Less body in its sound.
You got me going with regards to self noise and so I retested and again, got a surprise. The SE8 isn’t as quiet as SE Electronics make out in real recording imo.