4 pin DIN plug

[hillmanie]

I have a number of 'fixers' minus microphones and in a other cases have a surplus of wrong mike plug types. I can of course buy the correct plug and re-wire it to suit the recorder - or get an adaptor to convert to type. I prefer to re-wire. For the mikes that require a 4 pin DIN plug as per some of my recorders the pins are equally spaced and form a 'square' of pins. Can't find many of these on eBay unlike the 5 pinners which are plentiful and which I've bought for some plug re-wiring. On eBay there are some 4 pinnners like the attached pic but these have the pins offset and obviously won't work. Q - is there another name for the 'squared' type pins layout besides '4 pin DIN' ?
My final proposal is to insert a 3.5mm socket alongside the native mike socket and use cheap China mikes that invariably go 3.5 plug
Thanks
TT

[Dave Moll]

Would a five-pin domino DIN fit if you amputated the centre pin?

[hillmanie]

Very interesting. Thinks I have one of these lying around on which I'll try a little butchering
Thanks
TT

[quiberon]

There is a 5-pin DIN that might suffice if you can remove the centre pin. This pic is a screen snip from Wikipedia.



Snap: Dave Moll, you beat me to it.

[hillmanie]

Looks like the one I've got. Same as Dave mentioned?
Rgds

[quiberon]

I would think so, yes.

[Sideband]

We always called them domino plugs at Philips. As far as I recall they were four pin with a keyway.

[Craig Sawyers]

They are the same type that is used on the Quad 33 preamp for the output that goes to the 303 power amp. All the other DIN sockets on the 33 are conventional 5-pin 180 degree ones.

Available from Cricklewood https://www.cricklewoodelectronics.c...SABEgLWtPD_BwE

[quiberon]

Don't think that's the correct one, the OP is looking for with the pins mounted in a square, rather the 270 degree one you link to at Cricklewood.

[McMurdo]

Deltron's part number is 611-0410 but I can't find anyone that stocks them online. The cricklewood ones look like offset pins, not domino?

[arjoll]

Originally Posted by McMurdo

Deltron's part number is 611-0410 but I can't find anyone that stocks them online. The cricklewood ones look like offset pins, not domino?

According to this datasheet the 592-0401 is four pins in a square configuration, and available from element14 as order code 1194049 for NZ$6.53 each with 4-5 day delivery, which I think means Singapore (UK warehouse is 5-6 days).

That looks like a locking one but in the worst case you could probably put the connector body itself in a different shell.

[ricard]

That last one is a weird one, the data sheet referred to clearly shows the 4-pin ("4-way") version as having symmetric pin spacing, i.e. a 5-pin "domino" configuration without the centre pin, whereas the element14 link at least to my eyes equally clearly shows the rather unusual 4-pin 72° configuration (second one from the left on the Wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIN_connector, and the same as in the OP's picture), which is to the best of my (albeit limited) knowledge primarily famous for its use as mentioned in an earlier post as the connector used between the Quad 33 and 303).

I'm surprised that any manufacturer would use the 'domino' connector for a microphone. The only use I've ever encountered is for headphones, with the idea being that thanks to a for this type of DIN plug unique cut-out in the circular metal shield, the plug can be inserted two ways into the socket, with one way cutting out a potentially connected speaker and the other not. The pins are wired in such a way that left and right are preserved no matter which way the connector is inserted. The middle pin is normally unused. Perhaps this feature is put to some use when the connector is used for a microphone, i.e. some feature can be switched on and off depending on which way the plug is inserted.

If the headphones are wired in such a way that the 'common' side is wired in parallel to two of the pins (rather than each phone being wired individually), the result of inserting the plug upside down is to generate a mono image (the two 'common' lines will then short circuit the left and right 'signal' lines, yielding mono). I seem to remember having a pair of headphones that behaved in this manner, but I can't remember if they were bought that way, or I'd re-wired the three-lead cord from the phones, originally connected to a 3-pin 1/4" connector, to a "domino" connector, with this side effect.

The only machines I've seen which use the "domino" connector are Philips and various German makes such as Blaupunkt and Grundig.

[Craig Sawyers]

Originally Posted by quiberon

Don't think that's the correct one, the OP is looking for with the pins mounted in a square, rather the 270 degree one you link to at Cricklewood.

OK - quite right. I had not appreciated the OP was looking for a totally square layout, something that I have never personally seen.

Craog

[ben]

In these cases, my modus operandi generally is: if the plug is old but still relatively common or easily found, (3 or 5 pin DIN) I just replace the plug. If, however, it is some proprietary or obscure NLA thing, I change the connector for something more common. Examples include the Revox 2 pin mains inlet (changed to IEC /kettle), the late 1960s Philips 2-pin mains inlet (changed to fig 8), the Sony 4-pin mains inlet of same era (fig 8 again), etc.

The next thing I will probably do is wire a 3.5mm jack (and remote jack) socket into my Thorn 3224 reel to reel, whose mike input uses a very odd variant of the DIN plug with a plastic stud in it! Made of pure unobtanium. In this case I will probably put the new sockets on the rear panel, leaving the original in situ.

[McMurdo]

That looks like a locking one

In the past I've just left the locking ring off, and the plug behaves as a standard one!

The farnell product page has the wrong photo on it, (an offset sort) but the datasheet shows the domino (or 'dice') layout for the 4-way. In these cases the datasheet is the thing to trust.

The connector is keyed of course so getting it upside down involves forcing it somewhat particularly the nice machined deltron bodies.

[emeritus]

The plugs in the photo of the original post look like the normal 4 pin DIN plug, where the pins are arranged in a trapezium rather than a square. The domino is the only type I have met with pins in a true square.

[julie_m]

I had a Ferguson tape recorder where I replaced the original 4-pin DIN mic socket with a more readily-available 3-pin (or possibly 5-pin) DIN socket.

You probably will need to use a matching transformer or preamplifier if you want to use a modern low-impedance dynamic microphone with an old, valved reel-to-reel machine, as the latter were invariably designed for high-impedance crystal microphones.

[Trigon.]

Just to add to the confusion - there are two conflicting datasheets for the Deltron 592-0401 ...

The one on the Farnell site is dated 1995 and shows the 'square' layout.

http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/59...226.1578649018

The one on the Deltron site is dated 2018 and shows the 'trapezoidal' layout (as per the Farnell image).

https://www.dem-uk.com/deltron-compo...-plug-data.pdf

Cheers

[quiberon]

Originally Posted by emeritus

The plugs in the photo of the original post look like the normal 4 pin DIN plug

The photo in the OPs original post is 270 degree as he explained they were the only ones he could find, hence the pic.

@hillmanie

You could also possibly use the 7-pin plug also by taking out the three intermediate pins.

I'm surprised that any manufacturer would use the 'domino' connector for a microphone. The only use I've ever encountered is for headphones

Was used on the BBC micro for serial comms, no need for a "twisted" cable, unfortunately the chap who laid out the board followed the circuit diagram that was wrong and the simple "turn over if it don't work" fix didn't. I know the chap and the original BBC layout is a red/blue tape up hangs on his wall. A work of art!