we end up
having to special-order 2.5mm jack sockets (OK,
3/32" submini phone jacks to you) and quincuncial DIN plugs....
I heard that used to mean both five pins in an X shape (with
one in the centre) and five pins roughly equally spaced
around the circumference of a circle. But I've never heard
it with specific reference to a DIN plug - I've previously
always heard them called five-pin-DIN. I'll remember to
mention this when I'm next in Maplins ("What's a din then?")
Note that for some pin counts, there are DIN connectors
with the pins positioned differently. I'm not sure whether these
are really part of the DIN standard. For instance, there are at
least three different pin arrangements for 5-pin DIN connectors.
One has all five pins spaced around a 180 degree arc. One has a
240 degree arc. And one has four pins evenly spaced around the
full circle, with a fifth pin in the center. Similar variations
exist in the 7-pin connectors.
I think the 240-degree 5-pin plug can be mated with a 6-pin DIN socket,
but I have not verified that.
Some things sold as circular DIN connectors are compliant with the DIN
standard, some with an IEC standard, and some with neither. A few
minutes searching with Google did not reveal the designations of the
actual DIN and IEC standards, though I don't want to buy them in any
case.