I am needing a multiple voltage power supply.....what is the best?

Mr. Majestic · #1 04-29-2011, 10:08 AM

I have been building a new pedalboard and have been wanting to purchase a power supply that works the best. I mainly have 9 volt stuff, but also 12volt and 18 volt, and was wondering what would work and supply power to all of the pedals. I currently have a Dunlop DC Brick, but it is 9 volt only. I am kinda leaning toward the T-Rex Fuel Tank Chameleonbecause of the size, but thought I would throw this question out to the "professionals".

Here is a picture of where the pedal power supply will be mounted on the board, on the left side between the top of the board and the back:

warwick.hoy · #2 04-29-2011, 10:56 AM

The Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus is a good alternative to the T-Rex.

The ACA ouputs have a dip switch that you can change from 9v to 12v.

You can "stack" the ACA 9v outputs for you 18v pedals (if you switch them both to 12v,...then you can stack and get 24v for pedals like the EHX Q-Tron).

http://www.voodoolab.com/pedalpower_2.htm

ChrisPbass · #3 04-29-2011, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Majestic

I have been building a new pedalboard and have been wanting to purchase a power supply that works the best. I mainly have 9 volt stuff, but also 12volt and 18 volt, and was wondering what would work and supply power to all of the pedals. I currently have a Dunlop DC Brick, but it is 9 volt only. I am kinda leaning toward the T-Rex Fuel Tank Chameleonbecause of the size, but thought I would throw this question out to the "professionals".

Here is a picture of where the pedal power supply will be mounted on the board, on the left side between the top of the board and the back:

Nice work....

someparts · #4 04-29-2011, 01:26 PM

The PP2 is one of the best pieces of gear I've ever bought.

TOOL460002 · #5 04-30-2011, 12:33 AM

+1

I got two voodoos. They're great and can do 9 12 18v. You need to order a y cable for 18v, so that'll take up 2 spots. However, you can also get a different y cable to power two pedals off one spot. Voodoo sells them but I don't think they're listed. I need a couple, and I think you have to just email them.

Then there's also the reverse polarity cable. And the other ac plug in the back. Its a quality unit. Just remember that it wont come with all the cables you may need, so order accordingly. It sucks having it set up and then having to wait another week for some stupid cable.

Mr. Majestic · #6 04-30-2011, 08:55 AM

The between the two designs, I might have to go toward the T-Rex over the Voodoo 2. The main reason is because of the side they bring on power and sound. It looks like the Voodoo 2 power in/out is on opposite sides, and I think the T-Rex power in/out is to the right/left of each other. That should make the T-Rex take up less space(corded up), but I would like to check them out against each other. If I layed the power supply flat, it would be fine, but it is going to be verticle........still might could turn it sideways.

Thought I would post the pics to show the power supply side design difference:

scotch · #7 04-30-2011, 09:01 AM

I'm not sure hot to quantify "best", but the Burkey Flatliner Pro is certainly amongst the most flexible & expensive!

Flatliner PRO E

scotch · #8 04-30-2011, 09:04 AM

Always worth consulting:
Power supplies

Ba55Man1ac · #9 04-30-2011, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Majestic

The between the two designs, I might have to go toward the T-Rex over the Voodoo 2. The main reason is because of the side they bring on power and sound. It looks like the Voodoo 2 power in/out is on opposite sides, and I think the T-Rex power in/out is to the right/left of each other. That should make the T-Rex take up less space(corded up), but I would like to check them out against each other. If I layed the power supply flat, it would be fine, but it is going to be verticle........still might could turn it sideways.

The T-Rex doesn't have a mains courtesy loop-through outlet in case you were counting on it.

warwick.hoy · #10 04-30-2011, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Majestic

The between the two designs, I might have to go toward the T-Rex over the Voodoo 2. The main reason is because of the side they bring on power and sound. It looks like the Voodoo 2 power in/out is on opposite sides, and I think the T-Rex power in/out is to the right/left of each other. That should make the T-Rex take up less space(corded up), but I would like to check them out against each other. If I layed the power supply flat, it would be fine, but it is going to be verticle........still might could turn it sideways.

Thought I would post the pics to show the power supply side design difference:

I see what you're saying. In you're case I'd go with the T-Rex then. It's a bit more expensive than the VLPPII+ (~$20 more).

I like that the T-Rex has available 300mA on the 9v outputs.(whereas the VLPPII+ has 100mA on the ACA ouputs,...of course there are two high current outputs but they are only 250mA). That should give you plenty of wiggle room for daisy chains.

EDIT,....that Pedalboard looks sweet btw. Can't wait to see it all loaded up.

Cava · #11 04-30-2011, 12:06 PM

I use the Chameleon and it simply works great, but the supplied cables have straight plugs and this caused me some trouble as it needs 1.8 inches circa of free space in front of it.

sunbeast · #12 04-30-2011, 01:41 PM

Don't overlook the Cioks DC-10 (or AC-10 either, if you ever plan to have any AC effects that you can power from the same source as the DC pedals!). I have the AC-10 and it is the bees-knees!

Mr. Majestic · #13 05-01-2011, 04:14 AM

I made some blocks, the exact size of a few of the power supplies, that have been mentioned. Unfortunately, I am fairly certain that the voodoo 2 is not going to have enough room. I wll say that the Cioks dc-10 or dc-8 will work great(two very nice power supplies).

Here are the pics........btw..the velvet Elvis in the background, likes the Cioks, also.:

sunbeast · #14 05-01-2011, 11:53 AM

Sweet- the biggest downside with the CIOKS so far was in actually purchasing it. They are a small European company and the only US distributer is Guitareffectspedals.com, and if your particular choice happens to be out of stock you may have to wait a while before they order/recieve a new shipment from Europe (I waited nearly a month, though I was in no hurry). Another future issue could be in getting a hold of extra cables should you ever need them (the power supply comes with all of them you'll likely need for now)- as the method that CIOKS uses to attach them to the supply is an RCA jack, which is different than the Voodoo and some other relatively easy to get a hold of cables. You seem to be pretty handy though, so you probably wouldn't have any trouble making your own cables by soldering parts together (that's my plan if I should ever need anything that didn't come with mine).

Britsie · #15 05-03-2011, 02:49 AM

Flatliner Pedalboard Powersupply

ga_edwards · #16 05-03-2011, 04:31 AM

You might also want to consider voltage adaptors from gigrig and godlyke that you may be able to use with your existing 9v PSU.
TheGigRig.com High Current Adapters
Godlyke Iso-Pump Voltage Converter | Godlyke Power Pump
NOTE: It does depend on current draw of your pedals and whether they are DC or not.

I'm using a couple of the gigrig 12v adaptors and their distributor block with a generic 1500ma PSU with great success and cheaper than buying a multi-voltage PSU.

sunbeast · #17 05-03-2011, 06:56 AM

I had never seen one of those GigRig supplies- pretty cool. My worry with that having considered buying some of those Godlyke converters in the past, is that the price, size and complication of my power rig just might not make it worthwhile. Each adaptor by itself is pretty pricey, and even once you have it all pieced together you are still running a daisy chain vs. a full-on isolated power distributer- the main decider with me was seeing how much less noise I get when using some pedals on their own power supply, as my EHX pedals in particular (though some others as well- even my Planet Waves tuner!) tend to add noise when sharing power in parallel with other pedals via a daisy chain. And with a multi-supply, everything is together conveniently in one package rather than needing to route little adaptors to different pedals. I also use two AC powered pedals, which made my needs much more specific, though I had been eyeing isolated supplies before I even knew they were made with AC options as well (I'm sure glad I found out about!).

That said, if I was only running a few pedals, none of them with noise problems and with a few that wanted or needed different voltages, I would probably look into one of those.