Topic: DPA 406x MMCX termination pics

[dabbler]

The goal of this mod is to allow easily replacing cables and hopefully allowing DPA 406x mics to last longer by expanding/stiffening the area near the mic element as well as being able to break away if tugged too hard.

MMCX connectors are the same ones used by newer Shure and Westone IEMs, so you should be able to use any cables (usually 1/8" mini) for those IEMs with these mics.

[Edit: be careful about terminating your own cables, at least the Shure IEM
cable I have has spring-loaded male connectors.  The MMCX plugs I got from eBay were not spring-loaded and will cause dropouts and popping due to vibration or movement]

From what I've read, MMCX connectors are only rated at 500 mating cycles, so these connectors do wear out faster than mini plugs, but might only swap cables when they wear out (or maybe after a few dozen shows).

Getting the coax pin through with the inner DPA cable was tricky since it's soft, so I used a single strand of thick copper cable I had lying around in between the pin and inner DPA signal cable so it was easier to push the pin through.  There's a small piece of heatshrink to keep the inner pin from touching the shield.

The shield was easy with a crimper + some solder to reinforce.
Then I put some heatshrink on top of the crimp.  For the second (better looking) mic, I put a piece of drinking straw over the shrink wrap and used liquid electrical tape to reinforce the insides a bit more.  Then I put another piece of heatshrink over the straw.

I only used an inch of cable on the second mic, but for the first I gave myself some extra room with the first mic and used around 4 inches, folded over and covered in liquid electrical tape + heatshrink.  I didn't use a drinking straw with the first mic.

I'll update this if/when a mic completely dies

[shownomarcy]

Looks good. DPAs shall be used, would be a shame keep them unused. How much wider did it become? Can you send a picture for comparison?

[dabbler]

You can kinda see from my original how it's a little thicker based on the screen size and use of a straw.
I'll try to get a better camera and do step-by-step instructions of the next mic I do (maybe next weekend), which will hopefully be cleaner.  I might leave the short area between the capsule and MMCX connector flexible without the straw to ease mounting and relieve tension.  The increase length of stiff area actually has me worried about putting more strain on the MMCX connector.
I have a few shows from bands on LMA this week to record, though

[dabbler]

Here are some more pics of the process, I added much more heatshrink around it to give it some weight and hopefully extra strain relief.
My early DPA recordings had problems because the mics were lighter than what I was accustomed to and too easily moved (possibly even by strong subs when stack taping)
The last pic you can barely see the copper wire I added to have it work better with custom terminated cables which lack the leaf/flower springs of the Shures.
Haven't tested this extensively, yet...

[dabbler]

Fwiw, I've given up on this mod and reterminated the mics normally on Mogami W2368 with extra heatshrink for mass a few weeks ago.  The leaf springs on the MMCX cable seem proprietary to the Shure cables, and I got annoyed by the memory wire and extra bulk around them.