Sony and Sennheiser locking plugs – Interchangeable?

[Brian Reynolds]

YES the plugs are interchangeable….. BUT the mics are NOT, you can’t run a Sony mic in a Senni TX and you can’t run a Senni mic in a Sony Tx.

There are some plugs that come from a world wide electronic supply company that look the same but don’t work in either as the thread is slightly different.
“Standard” non locking versions will work as an emergency.

The difference between Knowledge and Wisdom is… Knowledge is the knowing of facts…. Wisdom is the sensible application of good quality knowledge…

[Bruce Quayle]

Thanks for your reply Brian.
Just a little clarification please:
Is it a difference in impedance between the mics? Would you mind explaining just why they can’t be swapped? I’m afraid I’m really a bit challenged in this regard.

Also…does this mean that the same mics attached to two different transmitters will have completely different characteristics? I understand that certain transmitters will operate better that others in transmitting the signal, but do they also alter the way the mic performs?

IE: If I have identical mics on two different transmitters, can I expect a reasonable sounding match, or not?
Cheers,

Cheers,
Bruce

[Brian Reynolds]

Inside the 3.5 mm connector the wiring of the Senni mic is totally different to the Sony connections.

[Ty Ford]

Hello Bruce and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.

As alike as two lavs of the same model may be, they will each hear different things when they are placed on two different people. They will very likely not match when you do cuts only editing.

You need room tone or nat sound to bridge and mask the differences.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Cow Audio Forum Leader
Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide

[Eric Toline]

The connections inside the 3.5 mm TRS are the same for the Sony or Sennheiser mics. Positive to the tip, Shield/ground to the sleeve. What changes is if the mic is a 2 wire or three wire.

For a 3 wire lav the negative gets grounded to the sleeve. The trick is figuring out which wire is what on a 3 wire. Been there, done that with more different lavs than I can remember.

Eric

[Bruce Quayle]

Hi Eric,
Thanks for the further explanation.

So if I understand you correctly, if I have a Countryman EMW mic with a 3.5mm locking plug on it that is sold by B&H as a Sennheiser compatible mic, and another identical Countryman EMW mic with the same locking plug, but sold as being a Sony compatible mic, these two mics “should” be interchangeable between transmitters given that they should have the same three (or two) wire construction to their respective cables.

Or am I still missing something?
Cheers,

Cheers,
Bruce

[Eric Toline]

No you’re not missing anything. The EMW is a 3 wire mic. I’ve wired Sony lavs for Sennheiser G2/3 wireless the same way I’ve wired EMW’s for Sennheiser G2/3 and they work fine. They should work in either system. Try it and see.

Eric