Topic: DPA 4061 use with 1/8 minijack preamps

[Ultfris101]

I recently picked up some 4061's still with the standard microdot connectors and everything which comes with one of the Instrument Mic Kits. I like my Church Audio mics a lot but ran across a deal on ebay so decided to give them a try as well. I wasn't prepared for just how small these things are...

I would like to be able to use the 4061's with the Church Audio preamps I have which have 1/8" minijack inputs.

Seems there are two basic options:
  - Utilize a string of adapters to get converted to minijack, seems unwieldy and subject to breakage in a pocket, kind of defeats the whole simple, low profile idea
  - Have mics reterminated to a single minijack

The last option seems simplest although I lose ability to do a really wide split but I don't think that's likely to be necessary and I value commonality with the existing gear I have as well. I haven't located anything like a simple Y adapter going from microdot >  minijack.

Is there something I'm not thinking of to make this work? Seems like reterminating is the way to go.

[terabyte23]

You can have Chris make you a Y cable - he has the female microdot connectors and can do it to your preferred cable length.  As far as Y cables go it ain't cheap, but if you want to preserve the microdots on your DPAs, it's a good way to go.

If you want the simplest, most low-pro approach, get the DPAs terminated to a single minijack.

[acidjack]

You can have Chris make you a Y cable - he has the female microdot connectors and can do it to your preferred cable length.  As far as Y cables go it ain't cheap, but if you want to preserve the microdots on your DPAs, it's a good way to go.

If you want the simplest, most low-pro approach, get the DPAs terminated to a single minijack.

If I were you I'd strongly recommend getting an adapter cable rather than having them reterminated permanently (mine are, but they began life as a "Coresound set that was already terminated to 1/8", so I didn't have the option of keeping the microdots and instead Chris reterminated mine to 1/8").  The microdots are a better, more secure connector, and work with the DPA proprietary preamp that's designed for the mics.  Even if you never intend to run one, it will help your resale value.

That said, the mics will work fine with 9V from the CA preamp, or any 9V or less battery box.  If you're having Chris do a Y-cable, might as well grab  one of his inexpensive and handy CA-UBB battboxes too...

[jlykos]

I was just in the same situation as the OP and contacted Chris Church for a solution.  He is reterminating my Core-Sound 4061s into a single 1/8" jack and is building a CA 9200 preamp to use instead of the Core-Sound battery box.  I went this route because while the 4061s worked great for the metal shows that I usually tape, they did not have enough gain for a lot of the quieter shows.  The preamp allows me to have more flexibility while retaining the small form factor.  While microdots would have been nice, I would rather shell out $179 for one of Chris's amps than $600 for the dpa version that reportedly sounds extremely similar, if not the exact same.

[swordfish]

I was just in the same situation as the OP and contacted Chris Church for a solution.  He is reterminating my Core-Sound 4061s into a single 1/8" jack and is building a CA 9200 preamp to use instead of the Core-Sound battery box.  I went this route because while the 4061s worked great for the metal shows that I usually tape, they did not have enough gain for a lot of the quieter shows.  The preamp allows me to have more flexibility while retaining the small form factor.  While microdots would have been nice, I would rather shell out $179 for one of Chris's amps than $600 for the dpa version that reportedly sounds extremely similar, if not the exact same.

2nd the above ...and Chris did built me a 9200 with Microdot connectors and 1/8 output..so I can all my mics with 9200 and there was noc need to reterminate the DPA 4061...

[Ultfris101]

Thanks for the input. I'm now leaning towards getting a microdot > minijack Y adapter cable thus keeping the microdots but allowing me to use my 9000 and 9200.

[Ultfris101]

So while I'm waiting on the microdot > mini plug Y adapter I've been casually gathering some other adapters as well.

I had a microdot > sennheiser locking miniplug adapter that came with kit so I ordered another off eBay, ordered two female locking mini > male standard mini 6" adapter cables , and a miniplug stereo to L/R mono breakout cable which achieves the same thing in a very convoluted way with lots of opportunity for breakage and bad connections.

Summary: microdot senn adapter > locking mini female > standard mini male > L/R mini breakout > stereo mini male

Premade locking miniplug adapters and cables seem hard to find unless I'm just missing them. Might be a good learning exercise to make my own at some point.

Question (if anybody reads this far): what's the best way to make this chain a bit less fragile and still practical for less than open taping?

Two ideas I had

• heat shrink connector points and then maybe techflex with the split material for pre-terminated cables
• sort of ball the connectors next to each other and gaff tape together with minimal amount of flex on cables possible. Seems about size of a CA Ugly battery box this way. Or maybe leave them flat next to each other and rubber band to side of CA preamp

[Gutbucket]

I built my own 2 X microdot > 3.5mm TRS stereo mini plug 'Y's to preserve the microdots on a couple pair of 4060s.  I rarely disconnect them since I can do something like a 10' spread with them that way, and have gaff taped wrapped around the microdot male > microdot female connections to keep them from inadvertantly loosening overtime without me noticing it (which happend a few times before I taped them).  Those 3.5mm stereo mini plugs connect to short input pigtails terminated with female 3.5mm mini jacks which I keep 'permanently' gaff taped securely to the CA-UGLYs, just like the microdot 'Y's are 'permanently' gaff taped.   When I connect the mics to the CA-UGLYs I just plug the stereo minis together and gaff tape that connection to keep it secure (and insert the battery to turn the preamp on, my UGLYs do no have seperate power switches).   If not using the CA-UGLYs I can plug the stereo mini from the mics into pairs of Niant PFAs which are similarly terminated to 3.5mm stereo jacks, and I then gaff tape that connnection.

I leave the securely taped connections free (unbundled) most of the time unless setting up a semi-permanet preset rig with everything prewired and all cables chased and snugged.

It's improtant to keep stereo mini contacts clean, especially if there are multiple connections in the chain.  Alcohol works, but Deoxit or ProGold is better and I haven't had any connection intermitancy problems since starting to use that on occassion a few years back.  It will lubricate the connection however, making it slighly more prone to coming loose, so the gaff tape connection 'lock' is something I always do.  My techique in gaff taping the connections is to stretch the tape slightly while wrapping the connection to pre-tension it closed slighly.  Doesn't take much tape or require more than a 1" wide piece making 1-1/2 wraps around.

I'm probably going to transition all my in-line stereo mini connections except the terminal ends which interface to the recorders or the UGLYs to locking mini-xlrs which sould be more secure and require no taping (and can support additional channels through a single connector which is important for me).