DIN Connectors

DIN connectors are high frequency, multi-pin, electrical connectors that meet standards established by Deutsches Institut für Normung (DIN), a German national organization for standardization. The ends of DIN connectors are round, notched, and protected by a metal skirt to ensure that pins line up correctly. Both male and female DIN connectors are available. Male connectors plug into receptacles, jacks, and outlets and contain three to fourteen pins ranging in size from approximately 5/8” to just under 1” in diameter. Female connectors contain sockets for pins from other devices. The number of pins or sockets in a DIN connector corresponds to the number of wires in the coaxial cable. Often, DIN cables are referred to numerically so that, for example, a four-wire DIN cable is called a “DIN 4”. 

DIN connectors use either straight or right-angle connectors and a variety of mounting methods. Flange mounted DIN connectors attach to panels by bolting the flange or riveting it in place through holes in the flange surface. PC mounted and through-hole connectors are inserted into pre-drilled holes in printed circuit boards and then soldered into place. With pin termination, components are mounted on boards without soldering. Surface mount technology (SMT) solders components to the surface of small printed circuit boards that do not use pre-drilled holes. Typically, SMT is used in applications with small components that operate at high frequencies. 

Large or full-sized DIN connectors use between three and eight pins in seven different patterns. Two five-pin connectors are available. Some three-pin connectors fit five-pin sockets; however, not all five-pin connectors fit three-pin sockets. Small or mini-DIN connectors use between three and nine pins and are available in seven patterns. Some older DIN connectors use a polarized, two-pin unshielded plug for connections to loudspeakers and amplifiers. These DIN connectors contain both a central flat pin and a circular pin. By contrast, circular and cylindrical DIN connectors are multi-pin devices used for external interfaces in aerospace and military applications.

DIN connectors are used widely in audio, microphone, video, telephone, data, and network applications. Micro and nano connectors exhibit contacts with pitches as small as 0.05” and 0.025”, respectively. DIN connectors that are used with computers connect to microprocessors and plug into slots for random-access memory (RAM) cards such as SIMMs and DIMMs.