Sony to Sennheiser Lav Adapter

[Peter C.]

I was thinking of building an adapter to enable me to use Sennheiser wired lavs for my Sony Wireless transmitters.
I saw someone sells them but it's unavailable I was trying to find the parts necessary to build one. What type of cable would I need? Strain relief?
https://wilcoxsound.com/product/wilc...eiser-to-sony/

The wiring seems like it should be simple because Sony is wires the hot to the ring and Sennheiser the hot is wired to the tip. But there is this big thread arguing what is the right way to do it.

https://jwsoundgroup.net/index.php?/...ith-sony-uwps/

The reason to do this in the first place is if I want to upgrade the lav mics. There are few options available for Sony. Once you rewired them it would be difficult to sell since Sony is the only company that uses that wiring scheme.

 

[Paul F]

I find strain relief to be the real bugger when dealing with lav connectors. I use marine shrink tubing to strain relieve the connection. Marine shrink tubing has glue on the inside of the tubing that melts when you shrink the tubing.

 

[Peter C.]

I find strain relief to be the real bugger when dealing with lav connectors. I use marine shrink tubing to strain relieve the connection. Marine shrink tubing has glue on the inside of the tubing that melts when you shrink the tubing.

Good tip thanks. Any opinion on building one

$4 male jack 3.5mm with locking ring
$4 female jack
$? cable/strain release/shrink wrap
$7 shipping

$17-20 total.

 

[Paul F]

I find it to be a lot of work and of questionable reliability. Finding good cable, striping and soldering those tiny wires and not mucking it up, getting a good strain relief. It's a job. I've done it many times. I'm a guy that does everything himself, but.........If I were in this business for a living and I could find a cable that has the connector strain relief hot-molded to the cable and connector, I'd seriously consider buying rather than making. I can't tell from the picture of the Wilcox cable if it is or isn't molded together.

You learn by doing. Give it a go on one of them and decide for yourself.

 

[Peter C.]

I find it to be a lot of work and of questionable reliability. Finding good cable, striping and soldering those tiny wires and not mucking it up, getting a good strain relief. It's a job. I've done it many times. I'm a guy that does everything himself, but.........If I were in this business for a living and I could find a cable that has the connector strain relief hot-molded to the cable and connector, I'd seriously consider buying rather than making. I can't tell from the picture of the Wilcox cable if it is or isn't molded together.

You learn by doing. Give it a go on one of them and decide for yourself.

The Wilcox is custom made in house.
I've done a fair amount of soldiering but never done a lav cable. I've seen how incredibly tiny those wires are. Tricky to secure them so there is no reliability issues.

I saw this on ebay but it's from China, it's expensive, and the added length.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/18433924271...Bk9SR_byhb20Yw

 

[Paul F]

It's important to see how the solder tabs are constructed. In this link (not suitable unless you want non-locking) you can see two styles of solder tabs. The right angle connector has a solder tab. That's what you want. The other one has a pin. It's just about impossible to solder properly to that style.

I've used these on my receivers. I like the right angle and non-locking for the receivers.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/32568...uctlist.main.4 9.283d6835hHC9Jl&algo_pvid=bcdc2f14-0586-4860-9243-9c0459b08aec&aem_p4p_detail=202402131241541470 351463410830007148706&algo_exp_id=bcdc2f14-0586-4860-9243-9c0459b08aec-24&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%213.00%212.70%21%21% 2 13.00%212.70%21%402101efac17078569145914849e4175%2 112000021820604655%21sea%21US%21738145724%21&c urPageLogUid=OwSDgUA1sgUF&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A&search_p4p_ id=202402131241541470351463410830007148706_25

Another style that is difficult to deal with are these. Having the solder tabs along the outside edge makes it difficult to cleanly solder and not have the soldered connections short to the outer shell. They usually include a plastic insulating insulating tube, but echh, it's a pain. https://www.ebay.com/itm/301493116112

I can't find a connector I would recommend. There are several on reputable sites like B&H and Markertek, but they don't show pictures of the terminals.

 

[Paul F]

The picture shows marine heat shrink tubing for strain relief and tiny plain tubing over the hot lead. The hot lead is slightly recessed to prevent shorting to the barrel.

 

[Peter C.]

Thanks for sharing the pictures.

 

[cyvideo]

I was thinking of building an adapter to enable me to use Sennheiser wired lavs for my Sony Wireless transmitters.

Hmm! Peter, I hope you have better luck than I did going down this rabbit hole. Never got a super clean signal. Always some hum to varying degrees. I tried all the suggestions at the link below plus quite a few other suggestions from specialist sound techs, but to no avail. I have successfully used Senny MKE2 mics with Rode TX units but with Sony TX units... I just gave it away and have stuck with Sony 77s and 88s. If you do work out a good solution for Senny mics to Sony TX units, please post back. Would love an answer to this one, as it's driven me nuts for years.

Chris Young

https://jwsoundgroup.net/index.php?...nheiser-g3-wired-mics-for-use-with-sony-uwps/

 

[Peter C.]

It occurred to me that correctly wired mic still might not be compatible with transmitter if it doesn’t supply the right amount of power and voltage.. For example my Tascam DR10L runs on 1aaa battery and provides less than a volt. Where as the Sony runs on two AA and provides 5v.

I have an extra Audio Technica AT899 that I’d like to adapt to the Sony.

I know the Voice Technologies offers a Sony termination so it must be compatible. Sony makes a lav that’s better than the one included with the system. Is that the 77 or 88 you’re referring to?

 

[cyvideo]

That idea occurred to me that even wire correctly the mic needs to be compatible with transmitter supplying the right amount of power and voltage.. For example my Tascam DR10L runs on 1aaa battery and provides less than a volt. Where as the Sony runs on two AA and provides 5v.

I have an extra Audio Technica AT899 that I’d like to adapt to the Sony.

I know the Voice Technologies offers a Sony termination so it must be compatible. Sony makes a lav that’s better that the one included with the system. Is that the 77 or 88 you’re referring to?

Yes, that is the Sony ECM-77s I am referring to. All the specs and voltages required to run them can be found on this BH page.

Chris Young

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/161264-REG/Sony_ECM_77BMP_ECM_77BMP_Lavalier_Mic_with.html

 

[Peter C.]

I decided to skip building an adapter and simply soldier a 3.5mm jack wired for Sony. It took a couple of hours to do, being extra careful and dealing with those tiny wires. Ran a sound test and it sounds exactly like the lav that came with the wireless unit. Only difference is the capsule is small, the cable is thinner and more flexible and nicer to deal with. Here's a picture.