It's interesting that they chose that connector. I can't see any reason why they would need the 16ga pins. {...}
I'm sure they didn't need the gauge, just the pins (the largest pin-count in a standard XLR connector I know of is 7, and this microphone would need at least 9).
{...} They could have just used a shielded catx cable and then it would have worked with any of the myriad of catx snake breakout boxes or other gear in that ecosystem.
I see two issues with this approach: first, to my knowledge, there is no extant EtherCON-compatible jack that could easily be made to fit into the end of the microphone (i.e. there's no free-hanging version of the EtherCON jack, only the plug, and D-size jack wedged into the end of the microphone would be bulky and awkward); second, as mentioned by Mike, the "myriad of catx snake breakout boxes" also have a myriad of different, incompatible pin-outs, negating much of the advantage.
-Russ