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Power supplies: Let's have it out!

#41
I can appreciate different voltage and current requirements, which can be very tricky to match given the relationship between the two making it a bit of a balancing act, but that simply means that if you're going to use an adaptor that isn't manufacturer-specified, you simply need to spend the time finding an adaptor with te correct specifications. It does NOT mean that the brand name on the adaptor is relevant ro judgement such as this.
 
#42
sooooooo...... who said it matters what brand name you're using on your stuffs? that's kinda..... weird.

although, i wouldn't buy a power distribution unit from Behringer. but i don't trust them for anything outside of their mixers.

yah. different power/voltage requirements, and the fact that some pedals either hate being in a chain or get weird with random things in front or behind them (giggety) means to me it's worth it to buy a decent isolated output system just to not have to deal with all that silliness.

whoever makes it.

as long as they're not Behringer.

'cause.

you know.

Behringer SUCKS.
 
#43
I use a fancy and expensive power supply that weighs a ton - a Burkey Flatliner. My entire motivation for getting this was the fact that I continually flipped pedals, mainly bought from the US and had to keep finding solutions to pedals that would ship with 120v power supplies if they weren't 9v (Australia is 240v). Once I had a board with a Rusty Box needing it's own 24v supply, an EBS Valvedrive needing an AC solution, a DHA VT1EQ needing a specially high mA supply and a couple of one spots, it all started to just get too messy for me....One gig with dodgy power to the stage created hum for me and I had no idea where to start looking for the issue....

I bought the Burkey and immediately became an awesome player and have been in a chart topping band ever since. I now have a huge fanbase and am told it is because I can power my over-elaborate board with a single kettle chord that doesn't hum. I can't believe this EXACT outcome hasn't happened for everyone else :)
 
#44
mmbongo said:
I love my OneSpots. The way I see it, if they cause noise in any of your pedals, dump that crappy pedal and get a good one with a proper power section.

I use two OneSpots to power my 14 pedals. I'd have to buy two Voodoo labs supplies to do that. That's over $300.
Click to expand...

I haven't finished the thread yet, but this seems like the perfect spot for a question I have. I have also been running 12 pedals off of 2 One Spots. But the wiring was a challenge, and I also have two wall warts for non-9 volt pedals. So I bought a Voodoo Labs power brick. I will probably still use one of the On Spots.

My question is this: can I plug one of the One Spot daisy chains into one of the 2 250 mA taps on the Voodoo Labs, running 5 low-draw pedals off of one tap? I know you can do this with the Fuel Tank products, and it seems like it should be fine with the Voodoo Lab brick, the Power Pad 2 is the actual product name IIRC, but I was hoping someone here with experience / know-how might confirm this for me. Thanks. And if that is the case then you wouldn't need 2 Voodoo Labs supplies for your 14 pedals, mmbongo, which would be good news.
 
#48
Tendollarcat said:
I bought the Burkey and immediately became an awesome player and have been in a chart topping band ever since. I now have a huge fanbase and am told it is because I can power my over-elaborate board with a single kettle chord that doesn't hum. I can't believe this EXACT outcome hasn't happened for everyone else :)
Click to expand...
Can you get the Burkey in the US? If so, I'm on it! Stardom and cred, here I come!!!
 
#49
mmbongo said:
I love my OneSpots. The way I see it, if they cause noise in any of your pedals, dump that crappy pedal and get a good one with a proper power section.

I use two OneSpots to power my 14 pedals. I'd have to buy two Voodoo labs supplies to do that. That's over $300.
Click to expand...

As mentioned, you can daisy chain pedals with isolated supplies just as if each output were its own 1-spot. IIRC, the Voodoo Labs products have relatively low mA ratings on each output which limits daisy-chaining to some degree depending on the draw of your particular pedals, but my CIOKs AC-10 as well as their DC-10 and other supplies have some more robust isolated outs that are ideal for a chain of non-special needs pedals (my AC-10 has one output that does 9v 600 mA that I use for my Boomerang III, but would also be great for a daisy chain- then you still have 4 9/12 volt outputs and an AC output, the DC-10 has no AC output but better DC options). I try to limit my daisy-chaining generally because it eliminates the potential for noise and cutout problems that I have experienced in the past- and fortunately I don't really need to do too much of it now given my current setup and the versatility of the CIOKs.

For me, the use of isolated supplies isn't about tone as much as functionality- if you don't see a use for the particular functionality of one of the isolated supplies, then by all means save your money and use 1 Spots as I did for many years! I just like to be able to power everything I have (9V,12V,18V, AC) with a single wall connection and to be able to use quirky pedals without the extra noise they can sometimes bring (EHX I'm lookng at you!).
 
#52
I will say this about power supplies. It only seems to matter when you have a larger board. I used a One Spot for two years with most of my pedals and had no issues. This year I upgraded from a PT-2 to a PT-Pro and added a lot more pedals, the One Spot kept getting weird popping sounds and such and was not working as great as I expect. So I purchased a power supply that can do 12 pedals at once and I have Voodoo Labs Iso 5. Both max out on power usage and sound great!

I now use the One Spot as a single adapter to mostly test single pedals before I board them.
 
#56
The Voodoo Labs PP2+ has two 250 mA taps- while not a ton of current, that's still enough to adequately daisy chain 5 dirt and fx loop pedals together.

I'm a bit surprised that their "high current" taps on the Mondo only go to 400 mA. I would have picked at least 500, and maybe more like 600 - 800 specifically for daisy chaining.
 
#58
MONDO
POWER!

My big pedalboard uses a power strip loaded with three wall warts, a PP2+, then with a 1Spot in the auxiliary plug of the PP2+. It's a lot a cordage to manage and also a significant amount of weight to power 15 pedals. That Mondo would save two walwarts but looks MONDO heavy as well. It's just on the verge of being rack gear.
 
#59
I ran 14 pedals at one time with 2 1Spots. I had zero issues with that setup. Personally, I think all those "nicer" power supplies are nothing more than smoke, mirrors, and some seriously good marketing. I had a Voodoo Labs for a week before I discovered that it didn't power my pedals any better than the 1Spot. I sold it and made my $100 back.
 
#60
mmbongo said:
I love my OneSpots. The way I see it, if they cause noise in any of your pedals, dump that crappy pedal and get a good one with a proper power section.

I use two OneSpots to power my 14 pedals. I'd have to buy two Voodoo labs supplies to do that. That's over $300.
Click to expand...

Oh wow, someone did the exact same thing as me!

That was also my same logic. At the price of two VLabs I could get two 1Spots and two nice, used MXR-level pedals.
 

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