well, interestingly, that raises the question then, since Sennheiser has chosen its own proprietary five pin male connectors for the end of the extension cable why don't they just make a little five pin to three pin connector instead? I realize that is exactly what the body does but it is at the same time too long to plug directly into a preamp or all in one box thus necessitating the use of XLR interconnects, how about instead just a little five pin to three pin cap instead that could replace the body altogether AND fit directly onto the end of the five pin extension cable