Hi, I'm not sure if this has been posted already, but I thought I better post it anyway.

There are fake oktava microphones being produced in China at the moment. I think they might be cropping up in Ebay and are known to be sold by Thomann. Watch out!

I've heard some positive reports of the chinese ones, but many complaints too such as this one:

"BTW, the typical roll off for the russian MC012 is at 17kHz and around 3dB roll-off until 20kHz. There IS a difference in this respect, but I personally think the balancing is the biggest drawback with the chinese. And of course the assembly - the screws anr only fastened in plastic. I believe that this is not a good design, and that it will not stand the wear and tear of a long lifetime."


Have a look here:

http://oktava.tula.net/fake/

The counterfeit microphones are being made for McKay, Oktava's distributor. They are claiming rights to the name "Oktava." If you see Oktavas reappear at Guitar Center, they are probably the counterfeit ones!!!

i bought an mc012-01 about a year ago (love it to pieces). now, from the looks of it im starting to suspect that it may be a fake. there is no serial number, and the -10db pad doesn't have the dimpling affect. it came with all the documentation and what not, and everything else looks fine, but im just not sure.

does anybody know more about the older versions? im assuming that this could be an OAO oktava as it is an mc rather than an mk, but they don't say on the site wether these older versions (OAO versions that is) had serial numbers.

any help would be seriously appreciated.

That sounds like a real one. The Chinese ones don't come with -10dB pads - they don't make them. Also, they provide no documentation. If your one came with a passport / manual then I would definitely assume it is genuine. Does yours have the metal clip?

Remember that Oktava are renowned for changing their designs on a regular basis.

it does have a metal clip, but i can't remember if it came with the 'manual'.
i have a tendancy of storing important things like manuals in very safe places. you know the type, so safe that not even you can find it when you want to.

thanks for the reasurance, Rodabod.