robertor Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Hi all. I have 14x Sennheiser G2 EW300 radios, with DPA 4066-F mics. The mics were purchased over two orders, half had the microdot connector, with a locking minijack - microdot adaptor (DAD6034). The other half had the Sennheiser locking minijack connector terminated directly onto the mic. Has anyone used these connectors before? They all seem to be manufactured by DPA because I have never come across them before. The locking rings always get stuck, and eventually get so tight, they cannot be used. Some have broken inside the connector, but as they are moulded, I cannot re-solder them. I have had to re-terminate every mic, with Canford locking minijack connectors, which is just annoying and a bit expensive. I just wondered if anyone had used these connectors before. I haven't spoken to many people who use the adaptors. I guess the mics are designed to be used with the microdot connector, and the adapters are an afterthought. It would be nice to hear peoples experiences with the DPA's and cheap-ish transmitters. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shez Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Maybe I'm just easily confused, but exactly which connectors did you have the problems with? The cabled 3.5mm locking jacks, the microdot - minijack adapters or the cabled microdot connectors? I regularly use cabled locking minijacks with G2 packs and have never had problems with them. I've also used cabled microdots with adapters to a different pack connector (can't remember off the top of my head which one) for a few runs without issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason.fallon Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Hi I Had exact same problem on same dpas. ended up doing the same with the canford connectors. make sure to steel clear of the connectors that sennheiser supply as the lock rings come off quite easily. 18 of my dpas now on canford connectors and havent looked back. also much cheaper than getting equivalent in microdot to senn adapters. P.S the lock rings on the 300s are the bain of my life. Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertor Posted December 30, 2008 Author Share Posted December 30, 2008 Hi Shez, sorry I didnt see your reply there. Maybe I'm just easily confused, but exactly which connectors did you have the problems with? The cabled 3.5mm locking jacks, the microdot - minijack adapters or the cabled microdot connectors? The original microdot connectors are all fine. The first problems were with the adaptors (Minijack-Microdot), which meant I had to cut off the micrdot connectors, and terminate with my own locking minijack connectors. The other batch of mics, were terminated by DPA with their own locking minijack connector. These also all broke! Hope that makes sense now :P P.S the lock rings on the 300s are the bain of my life. Hi Jason, Thanks for the reply. I'm glad it is not only me with problems. How did you heatshrink the cable coming out of the connector? The cable is so thin, and the connector does not have a gland or any form of strain relief, apart from the wings on the connector grounding, the best I could do, was a bit of drain wire heatshrink on the tip connection, slightly larger heatshrink around the cable exit, to thcken the cable a bit, and then larger bit of heatshrink, over half of the connector casing, and half around the cable exit. I am sure there must be a better way of terminating these mics?I have nothing but problems with the sockets on the G2 TX's. Have you managed to sort out Sennheiser's famous spinning jack socket issue? Thank You Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason.fallon Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 I havent sorted it but the rep in sennheiser ireland gave me a nice tool to tighten them which seems to be a bit a more effective than ringing the crap out of them with a leatherman. I put one layer of thin heatshrink over the cable. then a slightly bigger layer over the cable & the holder in the connector. I also find taping them back on themselves with a bit of electrical tape tends to relieve some of the wearing on them. between that and a bit of pre show tightning, they seem to be holding up quite well through this panto madness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertor Posted December 30, 2008 Author Share Posted December 30, 2008 I put one layer of thin heatshrink over the cable. then a slightly bigger layer over the cable & the holder in the connector. I also find taping them back on themselves with a bit of electrical tape tends to relieve some of the wearing on them. between that and a bit of pre show tightning, they seem to be holding up quite well through this panto madness. That was a quick reply! Are you blue-room-ing during a show too? :P I was told that the G2's used to come with a locking washer, which sits below the minijack nut. Do you have these? Somebody mentioned that Sennheiser can supply these washers. I called them, and their chief engineer for radio mics said that they had never been supplied with any form of washer. I have tried a few different types of locking washer, from RS, but they all seem to be too thick, which means the locking minijack plug dosen't lock properly on the socket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason.fallon Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 That was a quick reply! Are you blue-room-ing during a show too? :P I am indeed. :biggrin: some panto fun The guys here never mentioned to me about any washers although judging by their attempt at a connector for it, they're obviously not aware of a problem like that existing. To be fair, the canford connectors seem to hold much better than both the senn connectors and microdot adapters. As you mentioned, their downdall is the strain relief. That taken into account though, I'm about 30 shows into the run and I've only lost one mic to a loose connection with the canford connectors touch wood. Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Owen Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 If I remember rightly there are two types of Sennheiser Mini Jacks. One is ace and one is rubbish. One is black and one is silver. The problem is I can't remember which is which... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Owen Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Just checked - Silver Senny Minijacks Good, Black Senny Minijacks Bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason.fallon Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 well if you say the silver ones are good then id hate to see the black ones. Canfords are far the best. The silver ones are the ones that the lock ring on them keeps slipping off and once its off once thats it the connector is useless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Owen Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Never seen the Canford ones but the Black Sennys are TERRIBLE! They crackle like a ###### - we had to re-term an entire shows worth straight after soundcheck. Not a lot of fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertor Posted December 31, 2008 Author Share Posted December 31, 2008 Never seen the Canford ones but the Black Sennys are TERRIBLE! They crackle like a ###### - we had to re-term an entire shows worth straight after soundcheck. Not a lot of fun!Thanks for the info Gareth, Do you know who supplies the silver connectors? I might give them a try. Thank You Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason.fallon Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Try at your own risk. I've sent 10 of them back so far because of the rings falling off. They are sennheisers own connector. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertor Posted December 31, 2008 Author Share Posted December 31, 2008 Try at your own risk. I've sent 10 of them back so far because of the rings falling off. They are sennheisers own connector. I agree, the Sennheiser ones are rubbish but I have only had experience with the moulded ones supplied on Sennheiser ME2's for example. Could Gareth be talking about a different connector? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Owen Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 It would seem I am probably talking about the same silver senny connectors which Roberto and Jason are suffering with. Maybe I should clarify my exact position here : We own a pile of Sennheiser G2s which are modified to 3-Pin Lemo. For this years panto period we found ourselves 50 channels or so of radio short so we bought more G2s. Unfortunatly we didn't have time to modify them from Minijack to 3-Pin Lemo before they went out so we re-termed a load of DPA 4061s with the mixture of black and silver minijacks we had in stock. The silver ones worked fine, the black ones crackled under stress and had to be re-termed to silver. Now, these mics were sent out on two different pantos, neither of which have come back to the stores yet and neither of which have yet to report any significant mic failure rates. However, all mics and connectors were brand new less than six weeks ago so the longtem failure rate of the silver senny minijack connector has yet to be determined. It is very likley that both Jason and Roberto are quite corret in suggesting the silver ones are prone to failure when used for any length of time. Maybe my final suggestion would be to ditch the minjacks completly and modify your packs to 3-pin lemo? My understanding is that the top panel of the unit (the one with the connector and the switch on it) can be slotted out once the pack is disected. You then remove the minijack and replace with a chasis mounted 3-Pin Lemo. Goodbye dodgy mini jack problems... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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