EEVblog Electronics Community Forum
Electronics => Repair => Topic started by: sanman on March 10, 2017, 09:35:24 pm
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Greetings!
I'm trying to replace this 5-pin XLR connector but I don't recognize the vendor. I tried a Neutrik equiv but it doesn't quite fit.
Thanks for the help!
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Slightly reminiscent of the old SHURE logo but it is almost certainly not it.
(http://i.imgur.com/Sl3P1xX.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/mpnhUUR.jpg)
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Switchcraft? They were the original big manufacturer of XLRs before Neutrik stole their thunder and that logo looks like an 'S'. Plus, Switchcraft XLRs used to have annoyingly loose pressed metal release catches but with die cast cases like the one you show.
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Thank you very much. I will check out Switchcraft!
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No.... Your picture isn't Switchcraft. Your jack probably wouldn't have failed if it were a Switchcraft... They make by far the best XLR connectors, IMHO. I use them on all my professional and industrial gear. Certainly much more reliable than Neutrik (though they are at least decent and way cheaper than Switchcraft) which is why they are used pretty much everywhere on mid-range gear.
I've seen your mark before, probably on really cheap XLR cables and gear, I honestly can't recall but I have a feeling it must be some cheap Chinese manufacturer and I have no idea what the name is so I didn't respond before. :)
Why can't you just make the hole a little bigger and use the Neutrik you got?
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Your jack probably wouldn't have failed if it were a Switchcraft... They make by far the best XLR connectors, IMHO.
Differs from my experience. I've found Neutrik to survive both the studio and the road better than Switchcraft by quite some distance. That includes mistreatment by roadies, rock musicians and students - but not classical musicians, they can break anything. >:D
The two things that I found wanting about Switchcraft were cable entry (both strain relief and security of fixing) on cable mounted connectors and the 'push' release tabs on female chassis sockets. A telling thing is that at one point (don't know if you still can) you could buy packs of the release tabs as spares from Switchcraft which strongly suggests that I wasn't the only person to find this a regular point of failure.
Also, Switchcraft had too many fiddly little separate bits that needed several tools and a clear workbench to work on effectively. By contrast, Neutrik were mechanically simpler and better thought out (e.g. cable clamps that you could fit with no tools at all) and much easier to repair in the field. When you're behind a stack of gear trying to fix a lead in time for curtain up, you don't want to be hunting for the damn tiny grub screw that just fell on the floor.
One caution - perhaps Switchcraft have improved in recent years. I gave up using Switchcraft in the early '80s and stuck to Neutrik exclusively from that point onwards.
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I have seen that logo too but can't remember where, although it wasn't on an XLR connector. Given that it does have a logo, I'd guess it is a pretty well-known manufacturer but just can't find it at the moment. A lot of the cheaper ones don't even have a logo.
This is Switchcraft's logo: http://www.pdf-manuals.com/photo.php?picture=339760 (http://www.pdf-manuals.com/photo.php?picture=339760)
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Try doing a crop, maybe rotate and Google reverse image search...?