[TowerTalk] Connector Tolerances and Quality

[Jim Brown]

On Tue,9/6/2016 8:33 AM, Zivney, Terry wrote:
> To my dismay, I could not  get the two connectors to mate!

For nearly 20 years, I've been a member of the Audio Engineering Society 
Standards Committee Working Groups on Interconnections, on EMC, and on 
Microphones. Precise dimensions, and tolerances, are a critical part of 
making connectors work or not, be reliable, or not.  Neutrik, based in 
EU, and Switchcraft, based in the US, are the two major manufacturers of 
pro audio connectors worldwide, and their products are of high quality. 
Both have reported problems with knock-off and counterfeit connectors 
that don't work because dimensions aren't right. Likewise, major 
microphone companies like Shure and Sennheiser have reported 
counterfeiting of their products.

I've seen exactly the issues discussed in this post -- threads too 
short, so that the connector either does not mate or is difficult to mate.

The metals and insulating materials also matter. I bought a bunch of 
miniature DIN connectors (no relationship to the coaxial connectors 
being discussed here) that JA rig mfrs have long used for accessories. 
The contacts wouldn't take solder and the dielectric melted when I tried 
to solder them. When I contacted the vendor, RF Connection, to complain, 
I was told, "hams are cheap."  Switchcraft sells this line of 
connectors, and I believe they import them from EU. They cost a lot 
more, but they solder well and the dielectric doesn't melt. :)

73, Jim K9YC