Topic: DPA 4021 connection troubles? Need help

[TheImplodingVoice]

Last night I ran stealth DPA 4021s > Oade M148 > Edirol R-1 mod.
I had the M148 in a back brace and there may have been some stres on the XLRs but
I've *never* had this problem before. I ran the same rig open for The Smashing Pumpkins
at 9:30 Club in July with zero issues. So, it has to be a connection problem.

http://www.tomjroach.com/fow2007-08-08_clip_of_connection_issue.mp3

The problem on this clip goes away later in the show and comes back less and less
but it was still there. Does anyone know what this problem is exactly?
The M148 only has XLR jacks, so maybe I stressed one or two plugs.

It was also very humid and outdoors so maybe I let the M148 get too hot
under my clothing?

Thanks,
Tom

[TheImplodingVoice]

OK, I did some home testing and came to my own conclusion 

The noise on my recording was caused by the 1/8" mini plug rotating just slightly inside my fanny pack. I tested it at home and the only source of noise is when I rotated the mini plug itself, and whether in the Mic In or Line In, it's the same exact problem. I rotated a little and the connection is crippled, then I roted a hair and it's fine, and so on. I must have had the plug in the perfect spot to cause this issue because it's difficult to replicate the cable issue at home.

I concluded there must be a problem in the dual XLR (F) > 1/8" mini cable at the point where the wires are soddered to the 1/8" plug. I bought it from Cascade in July, 2002 and it's seen a good amount of use so I'll just order a new silver cable from someone else. For the record, the cable worked very well for me for five years, so it just needs some repair.

-Tom

[TheImplodingVoice]

the mini plug section was manufactured by Hosa. The XLR plugs were soddered on by Cascade Media, and the problem is definitely only in the 1/8" section, so I'm blaming Hosa for using weak soddering 

[gewwang]

as much time as you spend researching your rig, i'm surprised you had a hosa anything in use.

[TheImplodingVoice]

I ordered the cable over the phone in July, 2002 and the guy told me he would use a HOSA brand 1/8" plug. I distinctly told him I'd be using Neumann mics and I wanted a good 1/8" plug and cable and asked him if it was the best he had. He replied that it was fine and said something to the effect that it's just a 1/8" plug so not to worry about brand names or quality. I also made sure he used Neutrik plugs, which are perfectly fine of course. Damn, HOSA cables. Five years of very light use and it crapped out on me.

I'm going silver clad.