Will Isolated power outputs help this?

[bassman1185]

First off, Here's what I'm using:



Signal path goes: Bass - PW Strobe Tuner - NS-2 - Pigtronix Disnortion - (dirty output) VT Bass - LS-2 input // (Clean output) - Octave Multiplexer - LS-2 Return A // NS-2 return - EHX SMMH.

Right now, I am running all of these off of the Gator G-Bus 8 that came with my board, and everything is wired up with George L's.

My problem is that I have recently been noticing more noise than I am OK with coming through. From what I can tell, there are two culprits: The PW tuner and the SMMH. The SMMH seems to produce a digital ringing at a frequency that is controlled by the rate knob when it is bypassed. I don't really notice it when it is engaged. The bigger problem is the tuner. It emits a much louder ringing sound that seems linked to the LED display. There is no typical pedal hum when the NS-2 is engages (which is always), but the digital noise is starting to drive me nuts.

Since these are both digital pedals, will hooking them up via an isolated power supply remedy the problems with noise that I am running into? I was looking specifically at the BBE Supa Charger, mainly because it is available for a heck of a lot less than the PP2, and seems to have pretty similar specs.

[bongomania]

Yes, I def. think you will benefit from isolated outputs. I wasn't thrilled with the Supa Charger, but others like it just as much as the PPII. Whatever you get, make sure each outlet has sufficient current available for the pedal. That's the big downfall of both the BBE and the PPII, is low current available per outlet. I can't emphasize this enough: check the current ratings for each pedal.

Use the process of elimination to determine which pedals are interacting poorly through the common ground. Remove one pedal at a time, and carefully listen to the results. Then remove two pedals at a time, in random combinations, to see which ones may be incompatible with each other.

One thing this test may tell you is if there happens to be just one pedal causing problems with the others. If that's the case, then you can stick that one pedal on its own wall wart, and keep the rest attached to the Gator, which would be much cheaper than buying a fancy power supply.

The Disnortion is probably more of a culprit than you realize. I had a lot of trouble powering the Disnortion with anything other than its factory wall wart.

[bassman1185]

Yeah, the idea of isolated power outlets just occurred to me this morning, so I've been checking out the power draw on my pedals when I have free time. So far, the two that I was most worried about were the EHXs, and they seem to be just fine with the Supa Charger's 100ma or 200ma feeds.