I have finally modernized both the LOMO 82A-5M Y2 and Oktava MD-66A with XLR connections so they can be used in my current recording set-up. In case you’re curious, there is an earlier blog post called ‘Sovetakan Mikrafon’ with some initial thoughts and photographs.
For the LOMO 82A-5M Y2 I ordered two parts. The first was a microphone stand adapter and the second was a 3-pin DIN to XLR both of which I ordered from Russia, paid entirely too much for, and was assured they would be exactly what I needed. Turns out, not quite. The microphone stand adapter worked perfectly but the 3-pin DIN added ground hum indicating that a couple of the pins weren’t soldered the way I needed. I found the Soviet connectors to be exceedingly difficult to use and disassemble for re-soldering so as a result, I went back to the original 3-pin DIN to XLR cable I made and the ground hum disappeared. I only ordered the connector cable from Russia for aesthetic reasons and because I wanted to be able to screw the connectors together. There’s different threading on them than on the connector I made so my homemade cable looks worse, but sounds better.
For the Oktava MD-66A I ordered a foot of Mogami quad-core microphone cable and a XLR connector. Inside the microphone there were two leads and what I figured had to be the ground. Not wanting to spend too much time on something that might not even work, I made an educated guess at the leads for hot (+) and cold (-) (if I got it wrong it’s my understanding that the phase would be flipped) and soldered the three connections. It proved to be more difficult than I expected because the microphone itself had varying hole sizes that I had to feed the microphone cable through. This meant stripping more than I would have liked to of the outermost part of the cable as well as having really long leads going through the microphone up to the point of soldering. At any rate, in the end, what I did worked.
After a year, it’s incredibly exciting to get both of these vintage Soviet microphones working. I made two listening example videos— one for each microphone and I’m thrilled with how they sound, especially the Oktava MD-66A.
A couple of notes for anyone who might find themselves in a similar situation of modernizing vintage (Soviet) microphones. The LOMO 82A-5M Y2 microphone adapter is a peculiar size (2/8” to 5/8”)and you likely won’t find it on Amazon or any other place (I tried and it didn’t fit). Even the adapters that claim to fit vintage mics like AKG etc. aren’t the right size. It seems you need to find an adapter for LOMO specifically, I had to order from Russia for this. Also, be aware that some Soviet gear tightens to the left and loosens to the right— for example a part of my Oktava MD-66A does this. Finally understanding connector pin configuration is critical. Modern 3-pin XLR is pin 1 ground, pin 2 hot (+), pin 3 cold (-). The 3-pin DIN on my LOMO 82A-5M Y2 was different than that and therefore I had to compensate when soldering the connections. The LOMO 82A-5M Y2 connector had small numbers for the pins but there seems to be some variety/inconsistency as the person I bought the parts from had conflicting information to what I researched and personally experienced. As a starting point, here is a link to DIN connectors on wikipedia which might prove to be useful. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIN_connector
In the end, there’s only 3 pins on these microphones so not too much can go wrong even in a ‘guess and check’ situation. Of course you can be more precise with a voltmeter.