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Pedal power supply help

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 7:32 pm
by VREEEEVROOOOOW
I don't know anything about this stuff…

I have a bunch of pedals that are all using 9v batteries. They've all got DC in, and most of them draw like 20-35mA (except the Distortion+ which draws like 2.4mA or something else ridiculously low like that).

Batteries are expensive. So now I want a pedal power supply.

We're looking at ten pedals. I have six now, and they're all as described above. Additionally I'm getting a volume pedal, a pitch shifting delay of some sort, and one of those BOSS tuners, eventually. Then I'd like to have one more spot, because, knowing me, I'll want more pedals.

So nothing extraordinary here. I'm just a newb.

Anyone have some good suggestions? I'd rather have cheap than convenient, if prioritisation is an issue there.


Pedal board suggestions welcome too.

Re: Pedal power supply help

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 8:12 pm
by retinal orbita
If you're going to invest in ten pedals I would invest a little extra cash and get an isolated one and treat them right. I used a one spot before and what they say is true. Hum, ground loops, and if you're playing out you run the risk of issues when playing live. I bought a PP2 and it rules. It's been flawless and worked with no issues since I bought it five years ago. And yo could probably buy an isolated brick for cheaper now since there's more on the market.

Re: Pedal power supply help

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 11:29 pm
by UglyCasanova
Youp. Never skimp on the power supply. Boring investment, but very important.

Re: Pedal power supply help

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 10:44 am
by VREEEEVROOOOOW
I don't know what "isolated" means in this context. The PP2 looks okay, but it doesn't have enough DC outs. I'm told you could split and have more than one pedal per DC out, but I don't know anything about how that works, nor how well. Thanks for the recommendation.

Saying that I shouldn't "skimp" doesn't really help me here. But I wasn't planning to. I'm just looking for what kind of solution(s) I need, and some specific suggestions for what to buy.

By the way, good to see a 銀牙 -流れ星 銀 avatar—very unsurprising that it's a Norwegian poster that has one.

Re: Pedal power supply help

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 10:48 am
by D.o.S.
Are you in the US? I could send you my Voodoo Labs PPD if so -- It's US voltage only so using it over here is a pain.

http://www.voodoolab.com/pedalpower_digital.htm

Re: Pedal power supply help

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 11:44 am
by nogodsnobedtimes
UglyCasanova wrote:Youp. Never skimp on the power supply. Boring investment, but very important.
I used cheap power supplies for a couple years then finally got over myself and spent the money on a nice isolated power supply. It was definitely worth it.

Re: Pedal power supply help

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 12:16 pm
by aens_wife
For what its worth, I hate the pp2. We have had a friend that was the stage manager on 2 big tours and they had 4 pp2 fail totally in one tour.

I have also had them create more noise than a 1spot. We also tested their voltage output and found it varied by 2-4 volts sometimes (we didn't have the equipment to test why it was happening).

That said, we have had really good luck with the 1spot brand brick and have heard really good things about the strymon one.

Re: Pedal power supply help

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 5:37 pm
by bigguitartone
VREEEEVROOOOOW wrote:I don't know what "isolated" means in this context. The PP2 looks okay, but it doesn't have enough DC outs. I'm told you could split and have more than one pedal per DC out, but I don't know anything about how that works, nor how well. Thanks for the recommendation.
Voodoo Labs sells splitter cables that will allow you to plug two pedals into one outlet as long as their combined current draw doesn't go over the output of that outlet. I think the one downside is that only one of the split connections is grounded but I doubt you'd ever notice.

Re: Pedal power supply help

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 5:56 pm
by hbombgraphics
Without knowing what pedals you are running now it's not super easy to answer the question

I have had great success with one-spots and with the Joyo/donner power supply that is around 35 dollars, play on a stage with pretty dirty power and generally don't have issues.

The only exception I have had is a few newer EHX pedals which are crazy fussy with power from what I have seen (Just reenforced my pre-existing EHX hatred anyway so all good)

link to the donner
https://www.amazon.com/Donner-Guitar-Su ... ZGWYZMWWHD


the new donner iso 8 looks pretty good as well

https://www.amazon.com/Donner-Guitar-Ef ... edal+power

you could daisy a few of the low draw pedals off a 300MA spot with no problems.

Re: Pedal power supply help

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 8:08 pm
by Benn Roe
Most volume pedals are passive, so you probably won't need to save a spot for that. I've been using a Strymon Zuma/Ojai. It wasn't cheap, but it's reliable, keeps my pedals quiet, and it's expandable (to help feed the habit).

Re: Pedal power supply help

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 9:06 pm
by Bassist_Diver
Cioks DC-10

/thread

Re: Pedal power supply help

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 10:25 pm
by comesect2.0
Having 3 or 4 one spots on a surge protector is ridiculous, and pedals with DC jacks on the side of its enclosure is even more ridiculous..
Daisy chaining out of a brick defeats the purpose right?
Never had a problem daisy chaining and purchasing a brick for just 5 pedals seemed tard...if draw is on point and you got 12 or more pedals could they all get their power from the same brick chaining off 3 of its outputs...?

Re: Pedal power supply help

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 10:57 pm
by crochambeau
VREEEEVROOOOOW wrote:I don't know what "isolated" means in this context.
It means separate. Some power distribution modules have separately rectified and regulated outputs that share NOTHING which prevents some issues from cropping up. You can think of them as being multiple power supplies in a single box.

In an unisolated string you are essentially connecting all of the pedals together at the power supply. Some pedals are bullies, some are pacifists, others get along quite alright. I like having multiple PSUs on hand so if one pedal gets uppity you can put it in solitary confinement. I know some of my builds lean toward being a pacifist (minimal or simple regulation and practically no common mode rejection due to my preferred topologies), I had a Zoom H4 recorder sharing a string and holy shit it was terrible.

Placing the Zoom on its own power supply alleviated the issue. So my low brow advice is to just collect everything you can and live in a mountain of useful junk.

Re: Pedal power supply help

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 10:59 pm
by actual
fwiw I use this little sucker, works great and pretty lights

Image

Re: Pedal power supply help

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 11:38 pm
by retinal orbita
Yeah but no "courtesy port" like the PP2

It sounds like a fancy bathroom at the train station :barf:

In all seriousness looks nice but getting the cables all nice looks like a challenge and no 250ma (or higher) ports?