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Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: mrlynn
Date: September 08, 2020 10:39AM
I have a Sennheiser microphone I bought back in 1968 that I'd like to connect to my iMac. It has no model number, but looks like this:



The cable I have connects the three pins at the back of the mic to a ¼" phone plug.

The question is, what adapter can I get to put the phone plug into USB? And do I need a pre-amp? The mic was originally used with a Uher portable reel-to-reel tape recorder, so I'm thinking pre-amp not necessary.

I do have a Griffin iMic, which I can use with a ¼" phone plug-to-RCA plug adapter. Maybe that's the solution. Anyway, advice welcome.

/Mr Lynn



"Hillbilly at Harvard"
Honky-tonk Country and Bluegrass
Founded in 1948 by Pappy Ben Minnich
Saturdays 9am - 11am Eastern
WHRB-FM, Cambridge, MA
Streaming at [www.WHRB.org]
Be there!

The HAH weblog: [hillbillyatharvard.wordpress.com]

Topical weblog: [walkingcreekworld.wordpress.com]

On the river in Saxonville.
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Re: Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: mrbigstuff
Date: September 08, 2020 11:11AM
I'll let the pros here answer the specifics, but you will need power and an audio interface can provide that. Which one? Dunno, anything with an xlr input, most likely.



And I recall in spring
The perfume that the air would bring
To the indolent town
Where the barkers call the moon down
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Re: Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: Fritz
Date: September 08, 2020 12:05PM
could be an early 421. perhaps a 411 or 412.
post a pic of the connector end and clip.
the iMac might work, but I suspect you need and actual audio I/O.



"one door closes and another window opens"
Vlad the Impailer.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2020 12:07PM by Fritz.
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Re: Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: mikebw
Date: September 08, 2020 01:04PM
Sounds like you already have a solution. Mic - XLR - 1/4 - griffin iMac adapter - iMac

Let us know how it turns out!
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Re: Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: Bixby
Date: September 08, 2020 01:06PM
Looks like it's a MD 21U.

You'll need an audio interface with a mic input (preamp). Often this is a USB device. Many have the mic input as an XLR (3 pin) connector. So you may need to look for a device that also takes mic level in on TRS, or get a proper XLR to XLR cable.
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Re: Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: August West
Date: September 08, 2020 01:34PM
Something I've recommended before, probably overkill if you have a solution at hand (IMic), but in case of future reference, Shure X2U XLR Microphone to USB adapter.



Early evening, April four
A shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride
In the name of love
In the name of love
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Re: Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: mrlynn
Date: September 08, 2020 02:12PM
Quote
Fritz
could be an early 421. perhaps a 411 or 412.
post a pic of the connector end and clip.
the iMac might work, but I suspect you need and actual audio I/O.

Here's the back:



Mounts on a tripod.

/Mr Lynn
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Re: Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: mikebw
Date: September 08, 2020 03:51PM
Quote
mrlynn
Quote
Fritz
could be an early 421. perhaps a 411 or 412.
post a pic of the connector end and clip.
the iMac might work, but I suspect you need and actual audio I/O.

Here's the back:



Mounts on a tripod.

/Mr Lynn

Tripod mount looks like a standard 1/4-20 mount, but the electrical is a very much not standard (at least not anymore) connector. I would guess compatible with XLR, but have never seen that before, so it might not be?
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Re: Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: August West
Date: September 08, 2020 04:08PM
Might be able to pull out the current output hardware and resolder with a standard 3 pin XLR, but that is pure speculation without more info.



Early evening, April four
A shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride
In the name of love
In the name of love
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Re: Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: JoeH
Date: September 08, 2020 04:43PM
Connector might be an Amphenol, but only found pictures of 1, 2, and 4 connection models so far. Not XLR or DIN as best as I can tell from what the picture shows.
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Re: Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: JoeH
Date: September 08, 2020 05:27PM
Not an Amphenol, but a different DIN connector than I am used to, a DIN-41624 connector. Pictures and adapter cables sold on this site - [www.hinton-instruments.co.uk]

Looking further, Amphenol also manufactured connectors to this standard.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2020 05:38PM by JoeH.
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Re: Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: Fritz
Date: September 08, 2020 05:28PM
what Bixby said. And perhaps what August said.



"one door closes and another window opens"
Vlad the Impailer.

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Re: Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: mrlynn
Date: September 08, 2020 06:16PM
Quote
JoeH
Not an Amphenol, but a different DIN connector than I am used to, a DIN-41624 connector. Pictures and adapter cables sold on this site - [www.hinton-instruments.co.uk]

Looking further, Amphenol also manufactured connectors to this standard.

As I mentioned, I have the female connector to that flat-bladed Y connector on a cable with a ¼ inch plug (mono, I assume). Here's the photo:



Looks like it could take the round-pin version in photo JoeH found, too.

And, to my amazement, there on the tripod base is the model number! MD21 it is.

That cable plugged directly into the battery-operated tape recorder without any external hardware.

I don't have female ¼" to RCA adapter, so just ordered one from Amazon. So I'll see if it works. Was not a bad mic, as I recall.

/Mr Lynn
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Re: Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: JoeH
Date: September 08, 2020 08:03PM
The 1/4" plug could be mono or stereo. The extra ring of a stereo plug was sometimes used to carry power for microphones requiring phantom power.
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Re: Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: mrlynn
Date: September 08, 2020 08:51PM
I just did a quick search and discovered that this microphone is still being made today!

[www.whitenoisestudio.com]

[martinmitchellsmicrophones.wordpress.com]

Omni-directional. I'll post more when I get the adaptor cable.

/Mr Lynn
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Re: Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: mrlynn
Date: September 08, 2020 09:06PM
[Deleted—wrong thread]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2020 09:08PM by mrlynn.
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Re: Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: mikebw
Date: September 09, 2020 10:08AM
Quote
mrlynn
I just did a quick search and discovered that this microphone is still being made today!

[www.whitenoisestudio.com]

[martinmitchellsmicrophones.wordpress.com]

Omni-directional. I'll post more when I get the adaptor cable.

/Mr Lynn

It seems we are looking at a 3-pin Tuchel connector. Never heard of that, but as you already have an adapter you won't need to worry about it too much.

[www.soundonsound.com]
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Re: Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: mrlynn
Date: September 09, 2020 11:17AM
IT WORKS!

Plugged into Griffin IMic, can record into Audio Hijack or Audacity.



Levels are somewhat low, even with System Sound and Audacity inputs up to maximum, so maybe it would be best to run it through a board or preamp. Would the Shure X2U be the best option? Does have level adjustment. It's $100, plus I would need the Tuchel-XLR adapter that mikebw mentions (thanks!).

Reason for resurrecting this mic is in case my temporary exile from WHRB (see here: [hillbillyatharvard.wordpress.com] ) extends too long. If I had to start creating radio-show content here at home, I'd need a small board, plus professional-level CD player(s) and turntable(s), but that's down the road at this point. Not yet; for now something like that Shure will do.

/Mr Lynn

PS I've got an old Fender guitar amp, which someone gave us to use with a Theramin I bought for my wife (didn't really work, sadly). Would that be adaptable as a mic preamp? I'm assuming not.
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Re: Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: mikebw
Date: September 09, 2020 11:59AM
Guitar amp as mic pre probably won't work. The Shure looks fine for your current needs, but if you're looking at potentially needing to add more channels to the mix you'd be much better off getting a small separate XLR mixer with real mic pres, and levels for each channel / master.
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Re: Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: JoeH
Date: September 09, 2020 12:49PM
Quote
mikebw
Quote
mrlynn
I just did a quick search and discovered that this microphone is still being made today!

[www.whitenoisestudio.com]

[martinmitchellsmicrophones.wordpress.com]

Omni-directional. I'll post more when I get the adaptor cable.

/Mr Lynn

It seems we are looking at a 3-pin Tuchel connector. Never heard of that, but as you already have an adapter you won't need to worry about it too much.

[www.soundonsound.com]

The site I linked to above describes it as Gross Tuchel to distinguish it from a KleinTuchel connection, DIN-41624 and DIN-41524 respectively. Image of the two side by side -

That site says the Klein Tuchel is smaller in diameter than XLR and the Gross Tuchel diameter is slightly larger than XLR.

It is not clear if Tuchel is a brandname or something else, from another page I came across it appears Amphenol also manufactured connectors to the DIN-41624 standard and possibly to DIN-41524.

Edit: a bit of further research indicates Tuchel was the manufacturers name, and the connection to Amphenol is that Tuchel is now one of their divisions. as Amphenol-Tuchel.

P.S. My interest in these kind of things dates back to my college days. I worked as a assistant in an AV dept. on the campus, as part of that made up or repaired many XLR cables and sockets, as well as some non-current standard stuff waiting to be repaired before it could be put back into use.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/2020 01:37PM by JoeH.
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Re: Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: mikebw
Date: September 09, 2020 01:13PM
Boy if I saw that Klein Tuchel connector on a mic I would be very confused as to why an XLR cable would not fit in!
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Re: Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: August West
Date: September 09, 2020 03:13PM
Quote

Would the Shure X2U be the best option?

You apparently have a Analog to Digital usb converter already with the iMic, so you just need to boost the signal. This has already gone in and out of stock within a couple of days, but if you look for the Klark-Teknik CT-1, it will boost your dynamic mics 25db, if you can supply the CT 1 with phantom power from the iMic. CT 1 = $30, Fethead = $90, Cloudlifter = $150. CT-1 is a Behringer Chinese fethead knock-off, but if it is not for critical pro use, it will do the trick. For kicks, I added one to an SM7 for zoom.

B&H

ETA: Talking about Teuchel got me thinking about my Nagra, which is stored away somewhere, and for the CT 1, I signed up for an email from B&H for restocking, but actually found it available myself from bookmarking the link. B&H restocking notifications are reviewed every 2 weeks, and the price/quality ratio of the CT 1 is so appealing, it is regularly out of stock in days.



Early evening, April four
A shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride
In the name of love
In the name of love



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/2020 03:18PM by August West.
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Re: Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: August West
Date: September 09, 2020 03:50PM
CT 1 inline, outlined in blue. You till have to worry about the 1/4 inch TRS involved, and a cable getting from the CT 1 output to iMic.





Early evening, April four
A shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride
In the name of love
In the name of love
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Re: Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: mrbigstuff
Date: September 09, 2020 09:32PM
Can you get any equipment from the radio station to test it with a preamp? The Shure mic mixer is (or was) the standard.



And I recall in spring
The perfume that the air would bring
To the indolent town
Where the barkers call the moon down
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Re: Old Sennheiser Mic —> iMac?
Posted by: mrlynn
Date: September 09, 2020 10:12PM
Quote
August West
Quote

Would the Shure X2U be the best option?

You apparently have a Analog to Digital usb converter already with the iMic, so you just need to boost the signal. This has already gone in and out of stock within a couple of days, but if you look for the Klark-Teknik CT-1, it will boost your dynamic mics 25db, if you can supply the CT 1 with phantom power from the iMic. CT 1 = $30, Fethead = $90, Cloudlifter = $150. CT-1 is a Behringer Chinese fethead knock-off, but if it is not for critical pro use, it will do the trick. For kicks, I added one to an SM7 for zoom.

B&H

ETA: Talking about Teuchel got me thinking about my Nagra, which is stored away somewhere, and for the CT 1, I signed up for an email from B&H for restocking, but actually found it available myself from bookmarking the link. B&H restocking notifications are reviewed every 2 weeks, and the price/quality ratio of the CT 1 is so appealing, it is regularly out of stock in days.

Thanks August. I don't know whether the little I-Mic provides any phantom power or not.

An associate tells me he has a later-model Sennheiser like mine, and uses a PreSonus Audiobox USB interface to his computer, which will take a ¼ inch connector like mine. Amazon has them for $100:

[www.amazon.com]

So that's another possibility. The Audiobox has two inputs, so I could at some point plug a small mixing board into it as well. Reviews seem uneven (mostly complaints about software and USB connections); other suggestions welcome. I've used radio station boards for decades, but never consumer units.

A friend of mine had a Nagra back in the '60s—fabulous portable tape recorder. A Doc Watson concert he recorded back in 1963 at the Club 47 in Harvard Square was recently released (in 2018) by the Southern Folklife Center on the YepRoc label. I should ask him what mic he was using.

/Mr Lynn



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/2020 10:24PM by mrlynn.
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