Topic: Please help my modify my DPA/MKE 2 mics

[taper666]

Hi everybody,

I'm a taper from Europe and I've been reading in this forum for month so first let me say thank you all for the information I could find here.

I'm using DPA 4061 and MKE 2 mics that I terminated to 1/8" mini jacks. Could anybody plesae explain how to mod them to 4,7k or show a circuit? I know that the Soundprofessionals and/or Chris can modify them, but as I'm not in the USA and I am good in soldering I would like to do it myself. Maybe this has been discussed in this forum before but I couldn't find anything.

Thanks in advance

[taper666]

no reply???

Is nobody having an idea how to mod a set of lavalier mics?

[John Willett]

Hi everybody,

I'm a taper from Europe and I've been reading in this forum for month so first let me say thank you all for the information I could find here.

I'm using DPA 4061 and MKE 2 mics that I terminated to 1/8" mini jacks. Could anybody please explain how to mod them to 4,7k or show a circuit? I know that the Soundprofessionals and/or Chris can modify them, but as I'm not in the USA and I am good in soldering I would like to do it myself. Maybe this has been discussed in this forum before but I couldn't find anything.

Thanks in advance

It's not clear what you want to do. 

If you want to modify them to be able to use them on a cable, the best option is to get the Canford Audio adaptor.

This will balance the mic. and also take in 48V phantom power and convert it to the unbalanced 5V plug-in power that the microphones require.

If the 3.5mm mini-jacks were for the Sennheiser G3 transmitters, they should have been wired as tip = signal, sleeve = shoeld and the ring shorted to shield to tell the transmitter it's a mic. and not a line input.


The 3.5mm version is the one on the right

[taper666]

Please see this link: http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=161777.0

I'm using 2 lavalier mics terminated to a 1/8 mini jack, the 4.7k mod seems to be for very loud shows where you need low sens mics...

[yousef]

I wouldn't be doing that to a set of DPA 4061s - if they're struggling with the levels, I'd be more worried about your ears than your recordings 

As for the Senns - I think my old pair had had the mod done by Chris before they got to me - I'm not sure how they perform without it. I'm sure I've seen generic circuits and photos for this sort of mod on here before...

[Gutbucket]

Doesn't the DPA have a coax cable?  A resistor mod will not be possible if that's the case, and I don't think it's necessary with DPA anyway.

Yes, the DPA miniature series microphones all use a two-wire output configuration, so the 'resistor mod' is not applicable.  Even if it was it should not be necessary with the 4061.  Here's the relavant specs for that microphone-

Sensitivity, nominal, ±3 dB at 1 kHz:  6 mV/Pa; -44 dB re. 1 V/Pa
Total harmonic distortion (THD):  < 1 % THD up to 123 dB SPL peak; < 1 % THD up to 120 dB SPL RMS sine 
Max. SPL, peak before clipping:  144 dB

I'm not sure about the Senn MKE 2

[darktrain]

DPA's do not need the mod.

[taper666]

well haven't tried the Sennheiser mics at extreme loud concerts but I will - soon - will see then if it works fine, thanks for your replys...

[John Willett]

well haven't tried the Sennheiser mics at extreme loud concerts but I will - soon - will see then if it works fine, thanks for your replys...

As far as I remember, the Sennheiser MKE 2 is already padded down compared to the original version - it was London's West End theatres who asked for it and it was then done as standard.

[aaronji]

Which version of the MKE2?  There are several.  But I think most of them can take pretty serious SPLs...Microphone Madness says their version is good up to 130 dB without a battery box.  I imagine that would improve with a BB.  The current version from Sennheiser is spec'd to 142 dB. 

[illconditioned]

I have experience with the MKE2.  There are several variants.  I believe they all have three wires (shield plus two inner wires), but some have the source wire shorted to ground *inside the capsule*.  In this case, the problem cannot be fixed.

If they are truly 3-wire, then the MKE2 can benefit from a source resistor.  A safe value is 4.7k, but you could go up to 10k probably.  If you do this you should run with a battery box.  The mod itself can be done nicely right inside the miniplug, but you'll need some very small resistors and some patience with the soldering.  If you don't want to do this yourself, Chris Church will do it for you.  His work is solid...

The OP was correct, DPA are already optimized for two wire.

  Richard

[taper666]

I taped a show last weekend with my unmodded DPA mics and the result had no distortions so I will not have to perform any mod I suppose. You wrote you're very experienced with the MKE2 mics. Can you please tell me if there will be any issues when running a pair of them terminated to a mini jack through a Tiny Box. I'll get a used one but I'm not sure if they can handle 16V? I found different specs saying operating power is between 7,5V (Sennheiser hp) and 48V phantom power so they should be able to handle 16V from the TB, right???

[John Willett]

I taped a show last weekend with my unmodded DPA mics and the result had no distortions so I will not have to perform any mod I suppose. You wrote you're very experienced with the MKE2 mics. Can you please tell me if there will be any issues when running a pair of them terminated to a mini jack through a Tiny Box. I'll get a used one but I'm not sure if they can handle 16V? I found different specs saying operating power is between 7,5V (Sennheiser hp) and 48V phantom power so they should be able to handle 16V from the TB, right???

The MKE 2 is based on the Sennheiser capsule KE 4-211-2 - the voltage requirements are quoted as 0.7-15V, so 16V would be too high.  The 48V phantom version includes extra circuitry to take on the balanced 48V and down-convert it to unbalanced voltage of 12V or less.  I would not want to power an MKE 2 with anything more than 12V nominal.

[taper666]

thanks