Denecke PS2 Modification

Nice!!!!! Clean looking mod, sir.

But..... looking at the XLR's....aren't those a pair of females? Shouldn't one be a male as the original "Out"? What other mod did you make here?

EDIT: Seriously? A L/R Mod??????? VERY nice!!!!
 
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Yes, it is stereo. I performed the mod for Yoclay, another person on this forum.

The modification is a straightforward replacement of Denecke's stock dual 3-pin XLR output cable with an ordinary 3.5mm stereo jack.
I used a jack (vs. a captive output wire as the original) to make it easier to pack for transit and storage, and to give the user better flexibility for selecting the output cable length and even output connector.

Beachtek no longer makes an equivalent product (their product line appears to have had a major shake-up in recent times). But they make a nice curly-cord output cable for their products (where they used to use captive cables which needed replacement). We chose to use the Beachtek SC35 cable to connect the output of the Denecke box to the camcorder. Of course, there are longer 3.5mm cables available if that is more convenient, and the cable can be easily replaced without invasive surgery.

I learned the hard way that there is a significant voltage spike out of the Denecke unit when you insert the battery.
Enough of a voltage spike to damage the mic input circuit on my Sony HXRMC50U. It is now in the hands of Sony for repair. :(
So I added a 1N914 diode across each output to clamp the voltage spike to ~700mV.
Of course, that won't affect a mic-level signal that doesn't even reach 100mV, but it wouldn't be an appropriate solution for line-level.

I have mostly migrated to using higher-end camcorders (with XLR inputs), and while doing this mod, I realized that at least the camcorders I was using (Sony HXRMC50 and Sony DCR TRV950) don't have nearly the same gain available from the mic inputs as the higher-end cameras. IMHO this is one of the primary contributors to the rather disappointing performance of the 3.5mm mic inputs and the popularity of using outboard mic preamps.
 
Great job, Richard. Truly grateful. The perfect Sony PCM-D50 accompaniment. Great to see it so well documented as well.
 
the link on the details and with additional photos of the mod on Richard's site is obsolete. Is it possible to bring it back?

Does anyone know the details of the mini-jack mod? I know how to solder the cables together but where exactly do I add the 1N914 diode. Can anyone give me any details on this? Pics maybe?

regards
 
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