I envy you! I used to have a place that I played at regularly that made my onespot-powered board buzz like the proverbial beehive. Nothing I did could resolve it until I got the Cioks power supply.
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Power supply on or off the pedalboard?
- Thread starter IvanDrummer
- Start date
I've literally never had a noise problem with the 1spot. Not one single time. It's not about going a cheap route. If it didn't work or created problems, I simply wouldn't use it. It does it's job and just happens to be inexpensive. Doesn't matter if it's a dirty old rock & roll club or an outdoor street festival with a generator. It's just always worked well for me. The gear stays in a truck and is in constant transportation. It gets set up & it just works.
Nice! That's awesome you've been able to run it without problems. I haven't been so lucky. Tried both the 1Spot, and Power-All, and sadly both have had issues in certain venues. I've been gigging 15 years, and have been around the country, as well as international. It's incredibly rare, but it does happen! After having it happen once on a night where I *really* didn't need that unexpected stress, I've stopped using them outside of home/casual environments. For me, the peace of mind has been worth the extra cost of a fully isolated power supply.
I don't blame you there. One instance of trouble is enough to search for answers.
Out guitar player has a bunch of boutique pedals and he uses a much fancier power supply than I do. But he needs 9v, 12v & 18v, so it makes sense for him. Ironically, he has all kinds of problems. Noises & intermittent loss of signal are normal for him, lol. I feel fortunate to have a combination of gear & power supplies that work well. I feel even more fortunate after reading about the issues you guys have had to overcome.
This is why I passed them by when searching for a power supply. Ended up with a CS12. The dip switches on that are hidden under the mounting bracket.
Hidden how? I have a CS12 mounted under the board I use for guitar stuff, but it's mounted such that the dip switches are still accessible. I haven't had any issues with them being accidentally bumped to the wrong settings, but I guess it could happen.
My reason for passing on Cioks is that I wanted to be able to use generic 9V cables, not be locked into the ones with RCA plugs at one end. (I can see that the RCA ones would be less likely to come out by accident, but I've never had a problem with traditional plugs falling out of the CS12's jacks, plus having the option to use right-angle plugs is useful.)
To avoid ground loops between pedals (or other low voltage device such as active DIs) which share a signal 'ground', I put a Schottky diode between electronic the minus of the PS 9V of each output and the signal ground.
I lose 0.2V, no big deal but no ground loop.
I lose 0.2V, no big deal but no ground loop.
I can't remember which company I bought it from but it was linked in the description of a Vertex Youtube Video. I have it upside down because of how i wanted the power connections oriented. The mounting bracket has an open part where the white ONE SPOT lettering is but the dip switched are hidden under the aluminum sheet.
Very nicely done, kicky! How do you have the CIOKS mounted, since you're not using a Grip?
How about a top pic of your board?
I don’t know about kicky’s setup, but the Cioks power supplies have threaded holes in the underside of the power supply, and mounting bolts & a drilling template (to put holes in the board) supplied. That’s how my DC5 is mounted. The grip is a relatively new product.
One of the things i really like about Cioks is they have different bracket options. When I got my DC10 is 2016 or 2017 I got a handy mounting bracket that in now using with my DC7.
I think they had a pedal train bracket option back in 2015 or 2016 but I don’t know what it was called. I remember seeing some odd, yet hilarious, European guitar YouTuber talking to Mr Cioks about their stuff and he was showing the nano mounting bracket.
For what it's worth, the Truetone CS6 fits under the Pedaltrain Nanos and the like, and also comes with mounting holes and a template.
I got rubber table leg things at the hardware store to raise the back of my Nano+. I love the difference, but I find it too tall with them on to sit safely in the case. I wish there were a happy medium for that where I could attach risers permanently but not have to do surgery on the board since I already have the pedals mounted.
I got rubber table leg things at the hardware store to raise the back of my Nano+. I love the difference, but I find it too tall with them on to sit safely in the case. I wish there were a happy medium for that where I could attach risers permanently but not have to do surgery on the board since I already have the pedals mounted.
Power supply under the board for me. I have a Nano+ and I velcro a MXR Mini Iso Brick underneath - fits perfectly.
Thanks! I drilled holes in the board and mounted the included screws to the DC-7 through the board. It's relatively easy to drill through the board. Cioks basically gives you everything you need but the drill.
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Quoting myself cause I can't edit the post anymore.
@Fun Size Nick I stand corrected. I went back and found the video from 2015. The YouTuber is EytschPi42, an interesting person for sure. With the Nano and the Metro he drilled the top... it was the DC10 with the bigger PedalTrain boards that the bracket was used.
I was modifying my NANO+ as this thread was going on so I thought I'd provide an update.
On top, 6 pedals. The LD-3 is running at 24v, everything else at 9v. Current draw is highest on the Turbo Tuner but none of them are higher than 40ma or so individually... the Cioks DC-7 PSU is capable of putting out 660ma from a single tap if needed.
Here's the underneath. Since I had all audio cables up front, I was able to wire the power in the recessed area underneath the board, meaning that the lift kit, while convenient, would not have been 100% necessary. I still like it for flexibility and in case of a rogue beer spill. You can use rubber chair foot grips in a pinch instead.
Any time I run something other than 9v, I label it with my labelmaker as you can see here. The two white cables are voltage doublers sending 24v to the LD-3.
On top, 6 pedals. The LD-3 is running at 24v, everything else at 9v. Current draw is highest on the Turbo Tuner but none of them are higher than 40ma or so individually... the Cioks DC-7 PSU is capable of putting out 660ma from a single tap if needed.
Here's the underneath. Since I had all audio cables up front, I was able to wire the power in the recessed area underneath the board, meaning that the lift kit, while convenient, would not have been 100% necessary. I still like it for flexibility and in case of a rogue beer spill. You can use rubber chair foot grips in a pinch instead.
Any time I run something other than 9v, I label it with my labelmaker as you can see here. The two white cables are voltage doublers sending 24v to the LD-3.
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There’s more to it than that; you have to add up all the mA(milliamp)draw values; if the total is under what the wall wart in a daisy chain delivers, lucky you, but you may still have some of the other issues already discussed(i.e., isolated grounding).
Yet another mod for raising a board is to use rubber cane tips; make sure the opening matches the standard rubber feet width. Twist them on at the gig, take them off for transport.
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