I've been using the 9" (I think) right angle stereo mini cable that came with a
Headroom Total Airhead headphone amp I bought a few years ago to connect the R-09 and mic pre. The cable alone is available inexpensively
here . That length works perfectly if the two units are taped or velcro'd together. If I use the two units that way every thing is neat & compact without protruding connectors to damage or snag. The ends are very low profile and the cable is very thin and flexible. Most importantly for me, the right angle jack on that cable fits nicely into the recessed area where the output jack is located on the DPA MMA6000 mic-pre, & I've had a hard time finding 1/8" stereo mini right angle jacks that fit in there.
Using a right angle cord is especially important when I put the pre-amp in a bag or in one cargo pants pocket (or large regular pocket) and the recorder in the other. Because the output jack is on the bottom of the preamp, a straight termination would stick out and not allow it to sit in the pocket or bag with the controls facing up. Unfortunately the Headroom cable is too short to reach to the other pocket where I keep the recorder, so I currently extended it using a RatShack headphone extender which has an
ooph straight end into the line in of the R-09. Though I've been gentle with it in use, it is in a pocket and finally went wobbly and intermitant a few weeks back. I've switched over to using the mic in jack since then as I have had things I wanted to record and haven't wanted to open it up or wait out a warranty claim right now.
Thanks to Leonard's pics I think I'll open it up and re-solder myself and probably epoxy the jack to strengthen the mounting. I've considered eliminating the jack for a pig-tail since lifted traces from a strong, well soldered jack that gets bumped too hard is a worse problem I'd rather avoid. Yeah, the pig tail could fatigue & break a conductor, but I could easily replace it with another.
Of course what I really need is a 3' version of the Headroom cable, or some other 3' cable with two 1/8" stereo-mini right-angle ends that fits the recessed line out of the MMA6000. That would make me more comfortable with re-soldering and strenghtening the exisitng jack. Hell, some of those right angle jacks are freaking huge and are often paired with thick cable sheathing that puts the input jack at risk as much as a straight termination. DPA makes one which is a good quality cable that fits i'm sure, but it's bit pricey, and none of the other right angle cables I've found that
do fit are as flexible or have ends that are as compact as the Headroom one to reduce the strain on the R-09 jack.