NPD - And it's too noisy :(

[gusman2x]

I got my twosome yesterday in the post.

I was really excited, but I hadn't sorted a power supply, as I normally run off batteries (I know, bad me). Anyway, I went to Maplin (electronics store in UK), and got one of these. http://www.maplin.co.uk/9v-power-bank-f ... dals-31292

On reading into it a bit more, it's got quite a bad rep, as it only delivers 450 ma total, and isn't isolated. However, I'm only powering (at the moment) the twosome on it, and when I switch it on, the hum/hiss it terrible. I'm using a Squier VM Jag, or a KC Mustang (with the JB), and a Laney VC15. The noise is a bit lower using the stang, but still not right.

I unplugged a load of things in the room, but that made no improvement. I also tried a ts9 and a metal zone on the power supply to see if it;s the psau at fault. There was still a bit of a hum, but I'd say at least a 5th of what I am getting with the twosome.

What I'm really asking I guess is, do you think it's worthwhile getting a different power supply to try (kinda don't want to be wasting cash though), or do you think there can be something wrong with the pedal?

Boo, I'm so disappointed, been looking forward to getting this

[sonidero]

Is it a brand new Twosome or a used one??? I'm not too sure about those power supplies but if it doesn't work well with your other pedals it's probably a crap supply... Move it around to other outlets if possible or see if you can exchange it???

[the_carl]

I say sell the TS9 and Metal Zone and get a quality power supply.

[Holy Schnikes]

^ This is solid advice.

Srsly tho, almost every instance of noise/hiss/hum I've encountered was traced back to shitty power supplies or things like light dimmers being present in the space...

[ryan summit]

i had noise issues
so freakin bad
onespot solved them
not even to "good enough status"
im talkin alot of shit on
and its dead quiet
if cash is an issue
spend the $30 on the onespot

[goroth]

One spot I think is arguably the quietest power on the market. I love Cioks, and roll with a Pussy Power and their Eventide model, but they are slightly noisier than the 1spot. It's awesome. But, it doesn't have isolated outputs of course, everything is daisychained, which is why I role with the Cioks stuff. But yeah. 1spot = cheap and rad. Should be good for daisychaining most analogue pedals no probs.

[gusman2x]

To check wheter the pedal is faulty, should I get/buy an individual 9v power supply? Does it matter what quality it is as long as it 9V DC centre negative?

I just need to know if the pedal is faulty, and if it is I'll need to send it back to the US from the UK

Boo hiss, I was sooooo excited too.

[Doctor X]

what noise is it?
hum and hiss?
there is going to be some hiss from a high gain fuzz, and some hum if you have single coils

[gusman2x]

what noise is it?
hum and hiss?
there is going to be some hiss from a high gain fuzz, and some hum if you have single coils

Yes, it's hum and hiss, but it is very loud. I tried plugging in a boss Metal Zone and after that a TS9. There was no noise form the TS9 when it was engaged, and only a bit with the metal zone. The twosome was about 5 times louder than the metal zone.

I'll try another power supply tonight. In fact, I'll see if someone at work will make be a battery clip.

[MEC]

To check wheter the pedal is faulty, should I get/buy an individual 9v power supply? Does it matter what quality it is as long as it 9V DC centre negative?

Quality definitely matters when buying a power supply.
The cheap supply you are using now is probably a big part of the problem.

Q. What kind of power supply should I use for my pedal?

A.One the cheaper end of the spectrum, we almost always recommend picking up a Visual Sound "1Spot". They're cheap, will power lots of pedals in a chain, will run those pedals quietly, AND that's what we use to test every pedal before it leaves the shop. If you have a bit more to spend, you really can't do better than the Pedal Power 2 Plus.

http://www.blackouteffectors.com/?page_id=125#t2

[gusman2x]

Quality definitely matters when buying a power supply.
The cheap supply you are using now is probably a big part of the problem.

Could it be that the cheap power supply makes my twosome noisey, but not any other pedals I tried (which were the MT-2 and the TS9)? Granted, the MT-2 was making a small hum/hiss, but the TS9 made none at all. Is the twosome going to be more prone to hiss than either of those other pedals for electrical/eectronic reasons?

[goroth]

The twosome has more gain than the ts9 for sure, and possibly the Metalzone as well. Depending on the filtering and other things there could be fairly radical differences in the noise floors of the pedals, and this is only going to be exacerbated by a cheap power supply. Both pedals in the twosome are pretty old noisy designs, so it isn't unthinkable that it's a fair bit noisier than the Metalzone. But seriously, a 1spot is never ever going to be money wasted, so you win by getting a super good power supply and by knowing whether your pedal is acting up.

[gusman2x]

The twosome has more gain than the ts9 for sure, and possibly the Metalzone as well. Depending on the filtering and other things there could be fairly radical differences in the noise floors of the pedals, and this is only going to be exacerbated by a cheap power supply. Both pedals in the twosome are pretty old noisy designs, so it isn't unthinkable that it's a fair bit noisier than the Metalzone. But seriously, a 1spot is never ever going to be money wasted, so you win by getting a super good power supply and by knowing whether your pedal is acting up.

Yeah, I think I will. Even if the peadl is faulty, then I'll get it replaced, and I'm planning on powering all my pedals from mains (batteries are staring to get expensive).

So how is the 1 spot better than most if it's still a daisy chain? I was under the impression, that what was desired was isolated supply for each outlet.

[goroth]

Well, isolated removes most of the problems with pedals interfering with each other, which mostly occurs when analogue and digital pedals are on the same circuit (or pedals with timers and stuff). As far as I know, all the major isolated power units (Pedal Power, Cioks) still use a common transformer, which means there can still be some risk for interference, even though the outputs are isolated from each other. It's not worth the weight and expense however to give each output it's own transformer. So yep, they're good.

Most of the other power supplies you get, like the 1spot, are "swtiched mode" power supplies. These are really efficient, meaning that you can get a lot of amperage from an exceedingly small, light weight power supply. But, pedals, especially high gain pedals, are particularly sensitive for power supply noise. The 1spot is reknowned as being a particularly good design, in that it introduces extremely little extra noise into the system. I can't speak as to the design of any of the other popular ones (like Godlyke or the new Diago one) but they work on the same principle. If your pedals play nice with each other (and there is literally no way of knowing this in advance) then you will get as good results from a daisy chain and a 1spot as you would from a Pedal Power or Cioks. The only reason to go with a more expensive unit would be routing/mounting options, and some redundancy (that is, if an outlet craps out you can still daisy chain from the remaining outlets on your PP2 or Cioks - if the outlet on the 1spot dies you're boned).

The only caveat I have about the 1spot is that you should if possible test it if you have any DSP based (espeically) and digital (less so) pedals you intend to daisy chain. When I owned an EHX freeze it messed up the noise in every other pedal when it was daisy chained on the 1spot. On the other hand, I ran a Z.Cat Big reverb (also DSP) daisy chained with no ill effects. So it's not a certainty that you'll get noise, but there is a risk you will. That risk is largely eliminated with a PP2 or Cioks.

Edit: I'm the happy owner of a 1spot for my home rig, 2x Cioks for the gig rig, and I sold 2 previous Cioks I owned (the non "professional series" ones) as they didn't cut the mustard. But they're also ok for home use, but a 1spot is lighter and better. And cheaper. So go the pro-series or a 1spot!

[ryan summit]

i thought the same thing about one spot
that i was gonna need one for each pedal
and with 3 noisy bastards
it wasnt such an economical choice
but i daisy chain 8 pedals off it
and its dead quiet
i dont have the delaylab in that chain
i cried about this for a bit here