Sony ECM-77BC compatibility questions

[Brian Reynolds]

This may help you….
https://www.countryman.com/microphone-wiring

[Eric Toline]

The input connector is not a Hirose, it’s a standard 3.5mm TRS locking connector. Wire the lav to a male 3.5mm TRS locking connector as follows. ground & black to the sleeve/ground. White to the ring (yes to the ring not the tip)and all should be fine.

“I push the RECORD button and hope for the best”

[Antony Harvey]

Hi, I appreciate the reply to my post even on a Sunday.

If it was a 3.5 connector I wouldn’t have an issue. I can assure you that my UTX-B2 has a 4 pin Hirose input connector, see the picture.

I have spoken to Sony Pro helpline and they weren’t any help apart from confirming that the ECM-77BC will not work with the UTX-B2. Does anybody have and ideas for which mic might work with this pack with the 4 pin connection?

[Ty Ford]

Hi Anthony and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.

I’m going to guess that wiring is the culprit. It’s not unusual for two devices to use the same connector, but be wired incompatibly.

I suggest you call Shure first to see if their wireless service dept. knows.

Short of that, you can call a Shure dealer who may know the secret handshake to get the mic wired properly or confirm that it will not work with that Shure Tx.

If you are tricky and resourceful, undo the plug on the end of the mic and plug that plug into the Tx.
Make notes on which wire is connected to which pin. Desolder the wires and try again. The ground wire (shield) will probably not need to be desoldered.

Please let us know how you do so we can learn from your experience.

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

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[Bill Davis]

You’re probably better off just packing the unit and the mic up and sending it to one of the pro dealers that specializes in location sound. In fact, that’s where I’d start. Call Location Sound. They’ll be able to figure out what needs to be wired to what, and wire it correctly for you.

Basic rule. Unless you’re trying to become an expert in a subject – If you’re not sure how to do something – it’s usually smarter just to hire someone who is.

Good luck.

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[Antony Harvey]

Hi guys

Right, first off let me apologise for taking so long to repost and thanks for the advice. Here’s a brief run down of the saga.

I called Sony directly to find out what they had to say. After making sure the the system was working they told me to call some sales people at Sony authorised dealers to get the correct mic – he told me that tech support couldn’t advice me on the actual mic I needed, which I thought was a bit odd.

I called a few sales reps but they just told me I needed the mic I already had brought (the ECM-77BC). When I told them that was the one I had, they didn’t have any other ideas. Mostly a waste of time, but there was one absolute diamond -Rod at Canford – who told me that Sony had altered the wiring of the pins in the Hirose connector at some point not so long ago. So some packs would work with it but mine must be one of the older packs. He put me onto a company called Visual Impact Northern who could do the rewire for about £18

So it all worked out nicely in the end.

Thanks for trying to help out. Such a great community here on CC!