Powering a Deep Impact

smeet · #1 10-04-2007, 12:41 AM

I'm thinking about putting together my first pedal board.
I have Akai Deep Impact and Unibass pedals, both of which take +-9volts.

I would rather not use the wall warts. Which (if any) power supplies can power these pedals?

niftydog · #2 10-04-2007, 12:49 AM

Virtually any 9VDC adapter/power supply will work just fine. Just make sure you have the correct polarity.

Are you thinking about products like the Voodoo Labs Pedal Power etc?

evhest · #3 10-04-2007, 05:35 AM

I power my Deep Impact with a VisualSound OneSpot and it works like a charm.

gillento · #4 10-04-2007, 06:57 AM

The Deep Impact is very sensitive to current power.
I had to use a 9.6V power supply to keep mine working.

Dragonlord · #5 10-04-2007, 07:18 AM

Both work fine for me with an OneSpot.

assboglin · #6 10-04-2007, 08:37 AM

A Dunlop DC Brick always worked for me.

eshears · #7 10-04-2007, 08:45 AM

When I had my Deep Impact and a UniBass on my board, I powered both with a Godlyke PowerAll...worked perfectly!

JanusZarate · #8 10-04-2007, 11:52 AM

Any power supply advertised to power multiple pedals should work fine, such as:

- Visual Sound 1 Spot
- Godlyke Powerall
- Gator BUS-8
- Dunlop DC Brick
- BBE Supacharger
- Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2

...and all of the similar ones.

Don't bother getting the original Akai adapters or those annoying Boss wall warts - while they will work fine to power those pedals, they're limited because their maximum current rating (mA) is low, and not helpful when powering more than those two Akai pedals.

For the cost of the original wall warts, you can easily get a 1 Spot and have tons of power to spare for running more pedals in the future.

Toasted · #9 10-04-2007, 01:53 PM

I found my Deep Impact very sensitive to power supply, and it would sound best with the Akai wallwart.

smeet · #10 10-04-2007, 03:04 PM

Thanks for all the responses!

If I get the OneSpot, do I need any special adapters to plug in the Akais? Since they need both + and - 9v, I mean.

Also, is there any advantage to the big expensive power supplies over something like the OneSpot? The OneSpot's price is certainly right.

Currently I'm thinking Pedaltrain PT-2 and a OneSpot, for these boxes:

Akai Unibass
Akai Deep Impact
EBS Octabass
DOD 250 overdrive
TBD dirt box (Fulltone/ValveDrive/Blowtorch?)
TBD chorus

Does that seem doable and still give me a bit of room to grow?

JanusZarate · #11 10-04-2007, 03:58 PM

Sounds like everything will fit.

Regarding power supplies: we've had lengthy discussions about it before.

Generally speaking... the Godlyke is no different than the 1 Spot - it just costs more. The Gator BUS-8 and Dunlop DC Brick are the same thing as the 1-Spot, but in brick form. The advantage is that they have 18VDC outputs (a plus if you have 18VDC MXR pedals) and built-in circuit breakers. Is it worth the price difference? Unless you power 18VDC pedals like the Blowtorch, I'd say no, generally.

Now, the Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 is something else entirely... I'd search for recent threads on it, as it takes a while to explain, and requires you to know what "isolated outputs" are. To say the least, it's VERY impressive, but it might do more than you really need. I love mine, though!

nemo · #12 10-04-2007, 04:20 PM

I lost the original Akai supply at the gig. Since then I started using some generic 9V adapter and the DI sometimes unpredictably acts weird, LED numbers are flickering, sound is suddenly quiet, etc.
I don't know if it is directly caused by the non-original adapter (I hope..), but I will probably try to get the original Akai MP9 again.
I have read many times that DI is sensitive to powering.

JanusZarate · #13 10-04-2007, 04:26 PM

Hmm... I never had power issues when I briefly owned it. But then again, I didn't use it on a daisy chain.

If it really is sensitive like that... it'd probably be best to use an isolated-output power supply (like a wall wart or Voodoo Lab PP2+), to ensure output stability for your Akai pedals.

Other isolated-output power supplies like the Voodoo Lab one exist, but I'm not familiar with them. I believe the BBE Supacharger is one.

Higgie · #14 10-04-2007, 05:18 PM

I'm pretty sure the Deep Impact doesn't need both +9 and -9v, other wise it wouldn't work with normal 9v supplies.

bongomania · #15 10-04-2007, 05:20 PM

Yeah, the "+-9V" looked off to me... maybe just a typo.

bassbrad · #16 10-04-2007, 05:27 PM

I have a OneSpot and it worked ok with the Akai pedals but they but were at times problematic. Since I went back to powering them with their own wall wart I have had no problems.

smeet · #17 10-04-2007, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bongomania

Yeah, the "+-9V" looked off to me... maybe just a typo.

The silkscreen on the effect itself says that above the jack, so I assumed it needed +-. I'll have to look more closely when I get home.

I guess at worst I can use the OneSpot for everthing else and use the original wallwarts for the two Akais.

Does the PT-2 have room inside/under for a power strip with a couple of wall warts?

Higgie · #18 10-04-2007, 05:55 PM

That label is showing you that the adaptor needed for the pedal must have a negative tip, with a positive sleeve. Some pedals use the reverse of this, but negative tip is the Boss standard, and the way it's done on most pedals.

smeet · #19 10-04-2007, 06:04 PM

Doh! Thanks, Higgie.

JanusZarate · #20 10-04-2007, 08:45 PM

Yes, you can mount a power strip underneath the Pedaltrain 2. There's enough room to do it... assuming your wall warts aren't too big. It's tricky to mount securely, though. Try mounting it sideways (so the wall warts are going sideways instead of facing down) - that should be a bit easier to mount. Zip ties work well for this, but you'll need to buy some - the ones that come with the PT-2 are too short for this.

You'll need a slender power strip to do it either way - don't use any of those oversized ones!