Oktava is a microphone manufacturing company located in Tula, Russia, about a three hour drive directly south of Moscow. They were one of two large manufactures of microphones in the Soviet Union, also making hearing aids, PA speakers, and telephone parts. They were a government owned company, but in the post Soviet era they became a JSC (OAO in Russian) Joint Stock Company; That means there is stock publicly traded, but with government co-ownership. Tula is most famous for the Automatic Machine gun designed by Kalishnikov in 1947 (AK-47), which is still manufactured there not far from the Oktava factory, as well as other weapons throughout the centuries. They are also famous for the Samovar (the ornate Russian tea pots), shortbread cakes (the apple flavor tastes like a Fig Newton but better), and as the birthplace of the "keyboard" accordion.
As is widely known after the Soviet invasion of Germany in 1944, the Soviets turned the place upside down and took everything that wasn't screwed to the floor. In this time the Soviets famously stole all the high tech info they could from the Germans, along with truckloads of art. The US did something similar to a lesser extent, and didn't truck as much back home. The Soviets in this time had a great technological leap. Even after this time Communist East Germany would regularly share tech info with their Soviet brothers. It was in this time that Oktava microphones suddenly got much better. It's widely rumored that Oktava took a page out of the Neumann's and AKG's book, perhaps literally, in their design of the large diaphragm condenser microphone.
Years of Soviet stagnation and communist business structure didn't do much for development, but it was great for industries that didn't need development, like large diaphragm condenser microphones, elaborate teapots, AK-47's, shortbread cakes, and other Tula products, that were good just as they were, and these businesses prospered. Furthermore without the capitalist pressures of lowering production costs annually, the Oktava microphone technology was preserved for generations.
As the Soviet Union neared it's end, Oktava was fledgling. However a couple of Englishmen by the name of McKay got their hands on an Oktava 219 large diaphragm condenser and liked it. They approached Oktava, who was rumored to be discontinuing the mic, and the both agreed that the McKay's would be the international distributor of Oktava products as A.S.M. That's why there's probably an A.S.M. stamped on the back of your Oktava. Not only was the 219 saved, but in partnership with the McKay's Oktava began to produce the 319, an updated version in a more "German" looking body, and the legendary 012.
Due to the abysmal Russian economy, and the British tradition of milking abysmal economies, the Oktavas were produced and sold for outrageously low prices. From a street price of around $500 each initially, to an "on sale" price of $75 in 2003. ASM was able to sell a lot of Oktava mics for a very low price, which created an incredible demand on the Oktava factory. I was told they were moving an average of 500 mics a month at their peak. McKay famously sold tens of thousands of them to the Guitar Center/Musician's Friend operation, who sold them cheap and wanted more, more, more.
They needed more then the factory could produce. So the McKay's got super creative, or super shady, depending on how you look at it. Being the copyright holders of the Oktava name and "bear" logo in the West, they thought they would commission another factory to make this microphone as well. They also claimed the designs were theirs anyway, a claim that Oktava denies to this day on their official website. It's true that the ASM 219 is a little bit electronically different than the original Oktava 219, and the 319 and 012 came after the partnership was developed. So ASM got a Chinese company to make an almost exact knock-off of the Oktava microphone, a very convincing one at that, and used these to supplement their supply from Oktava. This was done unannounced to anyone at Oktava, according to anyone Oktava. Since both legitimate and illegitimate microphones were sold simultaneously, and are very similar in appearance, they are very hard to tell apart. For more on telling them apart check the "Spotting a Fake" section of this blog.
So eventually the gig was up. Oktava was furious, and immediately stopped selling to A.S.M. A.S.M had a very good grip on them contractually, but a contract is only as good as the gun your enforce it with in Russia, especially when you're dealing with a state run or partially owned company, and of course, Tula's got the guns. Although it never did come to guns, Oktava strangled A.S.M. by refusing to ship to them, contract or not, and they went under. Guitar Center sold their Oktava inventory on super close-out, and no longer stocks Oktava products. And their sat Oktava with a large building full of mics, and no US distributor.
Out of the ashes came the German based Oktava-Online. Which is now Oktava's main international distributor. There never was an official US distributor. This hole has been partially filled by Oktava-USA, which get's all it's mics through Oktava-Online, their dealerships, and by the tens of thousands of Oktavas laying around somewhere in the US due to the market flooding. Also by acquiring the ashes of A.S.M. Electro-Harmonix had been able to forge a relationship with Oktava where-by they sell part of the Oktava line branded with their own screwy looking logo an name. Despite being IDENTICAL to the Oktava mics, the tend to sell for a bit more. I don't know the nature of the Electro-Harmonix deal, however it alway envokes a sigh from most Oktava representatives, and as of now Electro-Harmonix is selling their remaining inventory as a close-out.
Oktava-Online has a direct line to the factory in more then one way, in true Russian style, the owners are related to a former higher up in the company, and they seem to be content to have the market cornered instead of increasing market presence. Oktava itself seemed to get a shot in the arm in 2005 and began introducing new microphone lines to compete with the miriad Chinese make mics flooding the market, including tube microphones. Just before this time the Russian company AEG commissioned Oktava to make the capsule for it's remake of a legendary "LOMO" microphone. Lomo made the other famous Russian microphone. LOMO is a St. Petersburg based manufacturing giant widely known for their quality optics. Their microphones were exceptional too. They discontinued their microphone division which sprued the creation of Nevaton by ex-LOMO mic makers. Many of their new microphones use a VERY similar capsule. Leading many fans of them and re-sellers of the capsule to refer to it as the "LOMO" capsule, but it's never referred to as that by Oktava proper. The Lomo capsule isn't actually made by Lomo, or sanctioned by LOMO, who apparently couldn't care less about microphones, since the company's leadership has found more success in the politics than optics or microphones. This has helped contribute to the re-birth of the Oktava condenser mic line known as the 100 series. In addition Oktava still manufactures the 219, 319, and 012, and their as great as ever, and still a good value, some new tube microphones (also know as valve microphones by the the British) as well as a bunch of dynamic mics that make tremendous doorstops. Oktava has admittedly never been known for their dynamic mics, it's true, they actually admitted this to me on a visit I took to their factory, and although they have made improvements in these lines as well, it's the condenser mics that are a cut above.
The Future? Lenin once said, "it's difficult to predict, especially the future." In a conversation I had with Oktava they admitted to me that their US presence was currently a bit embarrassing, but they are confident in their designs and were at the time (June 2007) on the cusp of making a BIG deal with an American company to cure their US presence problems. The deal was so big, they couldn't tell me at the time, but by summer it will all come out, that and other deals have come and gone. Oktava-Online has forged a relationship with a Chinese manufacturer and may be hedging against a break-off with Oktava propper. For now, Oktava microphones are widely available in both the new and used market, so enjoy them while you can.
As is widely known after the Soviet invasion of Germany in 1944, the Soviets turned the place upside down and took everything that wasn't screwed to the floor. In this time the Soviets famously stole all the high tech info they could from the Germans, along with truckloads of art. The US did something similar to a lesser extent, and didn't truck as much back home. The Soviets in this time had a great technological leap. Even after this time Communist East Germany would regularly share tech info with their Soviet brothers. It was in this time that Oktava microphones suddenly got much better. It's widely rumored that Oktava took a page out of the Neumann's and AKG's book, perhaps literally, in their design of the large diaphragm condenser microphone.
Years of Soviet stagnation and communist business structure didn't do much for development, but it was great for industries that didn't need development, like large diaphragm condenser microphones, elaborate teapots, AK-47's, shortbread cakes, and other Tula products, that were good just as they were, and these businesses prospered. Furthermore without the capitalist pressures of lowering production costs annually, the Oktava microphone technology was preserved for generations.
As the Soviet Union neared it's end, Oktava was fledgling. However a couple of Englishmen by the name of McKay got their hands on an Oktava 219 large diaphragm condenser and liked it. They approached Oktava, who was rumored to be discontinuing the mic, and the both agreed that the McKay's would be the international distributor of Oktava products as A.S.M. That's why there's probably an A.S.M. stamped on the back of your Oktava. Not only was the 219 saved, but in partnership with the McKay's Oktava began to produce the 319, an updated version in a more "German" looking body, and the legendary 012.
Due to the abysmal Russian economy, and the British tradition of milking abysmal economies, the Oktavas were produced and sold for outrageously low prices. From a street price of around $500 each initially, to an "on sale" price of $75 in 2003. ASM was able to sell a lot of Oktava mics for a very low price, which created an incredible demand on the Oktava factory. I was told they were moving an average of 500 mics a month at their peak. McKay famously sold tens of thousands of them to the Guitar Center/Musician's Friend operation, who sold them cheap and wanted more, more, more.
They needed more then the factory could produce. So the McKay's got super creative, or super shady, depending on how you look at it. Being the copyright holders of the Oktava name and "bear" logo in the West, they thought they would commission another factory to make this microphone as well. They also claimed the designs were theirs anyway, a claim that Oktava denies to this day on their official website. It's true that the ASM 219 is a little bit electronically different than the original Oktava 219, and the 319 and 012 came after the partnership was developed. So ASM got a Chinese company to make an almost exact knock-off of the Oktava microphone, a very convincing one at that, and used these to supplement their supply from Oktava. This was done unannounced to anyone at Oktava, according to anyone Oktava. Since both legitimate and illegitimate microphones were sold simultaneously, and are very similar in appearance, they are very hard to tell apart. For more on telling them apart check the "Spotting a Fake" section of this blog.
So eventually the gig was up. Oktava was furious, and immediately stopped selling to A.S.M. A.S.M had a very good grip on them contractually, but a contract is only as good as the gun your enforce it with in Russia, especially when you're dealing with a state run or partially owned company, and of course, Tula's got the guns. Although it never did come to guns, Oktava strangled A.S.M. by refusing to ship to them, contract or not, and they went under. Guitar Center sold their Oktava inventory on super close-out, and no longer stocks Oktava products. And their sat Oktava with a large building full of mics, and no US distributor.
Out of the ashes came the German based Oktava-Online. Which is now Oktava's main international distributor. There never was an official US distributor. This hole has been partially filled by Oktava-USA, which get's all it's mics through Oktava-Online, their dealerships, and by the tens of thousands of Oktavas laying around somewhere in the US due to the market flooding. Also by acquiring the ashes of A.S.M. Electro-Harmonix had been able to forge a relationship with Oktava where-by they sell part of the Oktava line branded with their own screwy looking logo an name. Despite being IDENTICAL to the Oktava mics, the tend to sell for a bit more. I don't know the nature of the Electro-Harmonix deal, however it alway envokes a sigh from most Oktava representatives, and as of now Electro-Harmonix is selling their remaining inventory as a close-out.
Oktava-Online has a direct line to the factory in more then one way, in true Russian style, the owners are related to a former higher up in the company, and they seem to be content to have the market cornered instead of increasing market presence. Oktava itself seemed to get a shot in the arm in 2005 and began introducing new microphone lines to compete with the miriad Chinese make mics flooding the market, including tube microphones. Just before this time the Russian company AEG commissioned Oktava to make the capsule for it's remake of a legendary "LOMO" microphone. Lomo made the other famous Russian microphone. LOMO is a St. Petersburg based manufacturing giant widely known for their quality optics. Their microphones were exceptional too. They discontinued their microphone division which sprued the creation of Nevaton by ex-LOMO mic makers. Many of their new microphones use a VERY similar capsule. Leading many fans of them and re-sellers of the capsule to refer to it as the "LOMO" capsule, but it's never referred to as that by Oktava proper. The Lomo capsule isn't actually made by Lomo, or sanctioned by LOMO, who apparently couldn't care less about microphones, since the company's leadership has found more success in the politics than optics or microphones. This has helped contribute to the re-birth of the Oktava condenser mic line known as the 100 series. In addition Oktava still manufactures the 219, 319, and 012, and their as great as ever, and still a good value, some new tube microphones (also know as valve microphones by the the British) as well as a bunch of dynamic mics that make tremendous doorstops. Oktava has admittedly never been known for their dynamic mics, it's true, they actually admitted this to me on a visit I took to their factory, and although they have made improvements in these lines as well, it's the condenser mics that are a cut above.
The Future? Lenin once said, "it's difficult to predict, especially the future." In a conversation I had with Oktava they admitted to me that their US presence was currently a bit embarrassing, but they are confident in their designs and were at the time (June 2007) on the cusp of making a BIG deal with an American company to cure their US presence problems. The deal was so big, they couldn't tell me at the time, but by summer it will all come out, that and other deals have come and gone. Oktava-Online has forged a relationship with a Chinese manufacturer and may be hedging against a break-off with Oktava propper. For now, Oktava microphones are widely available in both the new and used market, so enjoy them while you can.
No comments:
Post a Comment