Neuman km84...would this be a huge improvement over my mk012

If the MK012 is the Octavia, then yes, I think so and would expect it to be so. But also keep in mind that you can use any mic a thousand times on the same type of instrument and have it do a great job, then comes a time when it is just awefull and won't seem to work for you at all.

I agree with AG, but stay away from the KM-85, unless it's a real steal, because the bass roll-off is so severe as to be almost unusable in normal SD mic applications.

It was meant for close vocal work, where the proximity effect of the 84 was too much.

The body is the same, but unless you can score another 84 capsule later to convert it,it'll just be a rarely used investment.

Worth noting is the difference in polar responses of KM 84s . . . I have what would be called a 'semi-matched' pair, where one leans toward hypercardioid and one goes toward omni . . . the differences really become apparent with close micing, with very different proximity effect buildups. Overall, they've aged very well in the last quarter century though.

The MC012s are the Soviet 'knock-offs' of the KM84s, with interchangeable capsules. The design is practically the same, so if you have a good pair of MC012s (there are fewer 'GOOD' ones than 'disturbing' ones), I would lean in a different direction ~ some other colour. Just because Neumann had better quality control doesn't mean it's an absolutely better mic. But they certainly add 'body' to the sounds ~ what I feel is lower mid distortion. Can be quite yummy.

Often one can buy a KM85 for less than a KM84. This rather unpopular model was designed for German Public Broadcast TV- announcers and could not be beat in that application.

Forunately, the only difference between the KM84 and the KM85 is the diaphragm plate ( the KM85 diaphragm has higher tension, resulting in a 10dB roll-off at 50hz)

The rest of the capsule head is identical in both models, so one can always swap out diaphragms down the road, or dial in a half-way point between the KM84 and KM85 low-end performance by readjusting the capsule capacitance.

It's not clear from your post whether you have or desire one model over the other- but as far as attenuated low frequency performance of a small diaphragm mic goes: it's hard to beat the acoustic/mechanical method of frequency attenuation.

Kind regards,
Klaus Heyne

Originally posted by Klaus:

The rest of the capsule head is identical in both models, so one can always swap out diaphragms down the road, or dial in a half-way point between the KM84 and KM85 low-end performance by readjusting the capsule capacitance.

It's not clear from your post whether you have or desire one model over the other- but as far as attenuated low frequency performance of a small diaphragm mic goes: it's hard to beat the acoustic/mechanical method of frequency attenuation.

Kind regards,
Klaus Heyne

Dear Klaus;

As I mentioned earlier, I have a pair of not-quite-identical KM84s, almost exclusively dedicated to recording acoustic instruments (my world seems to revolve around guitar, mandolin, and dobro right now) . . . I've been wondering for a while how much it would cost for you to 'go over them', and what can be done in dedicating them to guitars, etc.

Thanks for shedding light on an often 'folkloric' realm of science and art.

Love,

Steven