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Question about pedal power and supply

#101
agedhorse said:
These days, how important is it that a pedal operate from a 9V battery (acknowledging that some simply can not) and is it worth paying more for a pedal that can support battery operation (even if it means <20 hours of battery life)?

As a follow-up, how many of you guys would suggest that the days of using 9V batteries is coming to an end?
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I like having the battery capacity in case something goes wrong with my power supply, but have never had to use it. I should add that although I have a reasonable pedal collection to mess around with at home, the only one that seems to work well live is the octaver. I run that off a power supply at home and live.

The nine volt battery still has one very important function that will keep them on shelves for years - smoke detectors. If not for those I think they'd be gone already. I'm pretty happy they are still around. I always carry a couple, because on occasion I'll still bust out one of my two basses that needs 'em - both have EMGs.
 
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#103
agedhorse said:
There have been a few discussions about pedals and pedalboards lately and it SEEMS as though most players aren't really using batteries anymore but instead are using either a stand alone power supply or a multi-output (and sometimes multi-voltage) power supply integrated into their pedalboard.

These days, how important is it that a pedal operate from a 9V battery (acknowledging that some simply can not) and is it worth paying more for a pedal that can support battery operation (even if it means <20 hours of battery life)?

As a follow-up, how many of you guys would suggest that the days of using 9V batteries is coming to an end?

I'm looking for comments from a player's perspective, one who uses amps and cabinets and not somebody who mostly uses them at home with their studio.
Click to expand...

I have zero use for batteries in a pedal. The only batteries I need are in my bass.
 
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#104
As long as there are solutions like the Pedaltrain Volto, a rechargeable power supply, I will never buy a 9v battery ever again.

None of my pedals have battery installed. I have a large board with a plug in power supply and a small board with a rechargeable battery pack that powers my tuner and a couple other pedals.
 
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#105
I’ll jump in the camp of no 9V option except tuners. They’re really kind of a pain. Let’s say your power supply dies mid gig (happened a time or two), I don’t have the time to put 9Vs into all my pedals. I don’t leave them in the pedals because many pedals draw when the input is plugged into which is a given on a board. I don’t want to worry about unplugging them all post gig so that the 9Vs don’t drain. Could I? Sure. Realistically though, I’ll forget.
 
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#106
agedhorse said:
There have been a few discussions about pedals and pedalboards lately and it SEEMS as though most players aren't really using batteries anymore but instead are using either a stand alone power supply or a multi-output (and sometimes multi-voltage) power supply integrated into their pedalboard.

These days, how important is it that a pedal operate from a 9V battery (acknowledging that some simply can not) and is it worth paying more for a pedal that can support battery operation (even if it means <20 hours of battery life)?

As a follow-up, how many of you guys would suggest that the days of using 9V batteries is coming to an end?

I'm looking for comments from a player's perspective, one who uses amps and cabinets and not somebody who mostly uses them at home with their studio.
Click to expand...
Hey Andy. I’ve been gigging consistently for many many years and rely on pedals. I can’t remember the last time I used a 9 volt to power a pedal. I always use a power supply, voodoo labs, etc.
One thing I hope manufacturers consider when building a pedal, is that it will be able to operate on 9v and low milliamps. Some boutique or digital pedals require 18v or high milliamps which aren’t always readily available on multi iso power supplies. Some offer a few outs like this, and some are dedicated to this, but then you are usually sacrificing more real estate in order to handle it (bigger multi iso or additional iso just for that).
 
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#107
fdeck said:
While remaining respectful of the CUP, I think that I can provide a bit of info, since some of my preamps are compatible with wall warts, and others aren't. My impression is that upright bassists, and those with only one device or pedal, are OK with batteries. Pretty much anybody with more than one gadget has switched to a wall wart.

An amp with a 9-V power outlet would be a nice touch.

Going digital pretty much dooms batteries at the present state of the art, unless you've got some secrets up your sleeve. ;) Also, there are the tradeoffs to manage, between current consumption, circuit complexity, and noise floor, which are a challenge for battery powered analog circuits. You can simply do more with a bigger power budget.
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This is my experience. My pedalboard (for bass guitar) has a power supply, but my Fdeck HPF used for upright runs on a battery.
 
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#109
agedhorse said:
This is why I asked this question here, looking for gigging users of pedals rather than collectors and aficionados. IME, this forum has a better representation of a cross-section of players.
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When I was gigging regularly, my only two batteries were in my wireless transmitter and my bass.
I replaced the jacks on all my pedals with stereo jacks and ran 9V into them on the ring with a stereo cable so that I wouldn't even need any extra cables to power them. I had the idea to do that in the mid-80s. I think somebody is doing it commercially now, I should have patented it.
 
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#110
The only pedal I throw a 9V in is the cheap tuner pedal I have at my rehearsal spot. I use an Axe-fxII which has a powered footswitch, but when I use separate pedals, I always use a power supply for them. To me, I'm not fussed if a pedal has no way to be powered by a 9V.
 
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#113
agedhorse said:
There have been a few discussions about pedals and pedalboards lately and it SEEMS as though most players aren't really using batteries anymore but instead are using either a stand alone power supply or a multi-output (and sometimes multi-voltage) power supply integrated into their pedalboard.

These days, how important is it that a pedal operate from a 9V battery (acknowledging that some simply can not) and is it worth paying more for a pedal that can support battery operation (even if it means <20 hours of battery life)?

As a follow-up, how many of you guys would suggest that the days of using 9V batteries is coming to an end?

I'm looking for comments from a player's perspective, one who uses amps and cabinets and not somebody who mostly uses them at home with their studio.
Click to expand...
I never use 9V batteries in my pedals...I have never trusted just batteries to run my stuff so I use a multi output power supply that is part of my pedal board as you say.
 
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#114
I am in the "no batteries" on my effects and in my bass group. These are my reasons.
1. 9V batteries are expensive to replace.
2. They add significant weight to pedal board. Also weight and bulk of carrying replacements.
3. You will forget about it and they will leak in your pedal causing damage. Was the cost of the 9V worth it in your $300 pedal?
4. Digital effects sound awful or won't work at all with a failing battery.
5. You CAN power some analog effects with more than 9V to get more headroom increasing sensitive controls from it.
5. I don't time travel with my gear enough to the distant past for a gig. 100% of the places I have ever played has electrical power.
6. They are horrible in the landfills, no common battery recycling has been established on a nation level.
7. Even if you went with rechargeable, you WILL forget to recharge your replacement. This adds just another thing to plan on a daily/weekly basis along with practice/gig scheduling.
8. Most adaptors are universal now with a 2.1mm neg-cen plug. It can be used on other pedals.
9. If the electricity goes off at a gig and your pedals are battery powered... what about your amp? You are still in the same position just with $30 of batteries draining for no reason.
10. It's an annoyance to always unplug every input cable to save battery life.
11. Volt starving sounds good only on a very small fraction of effect pedals.
12. My reasons only go to 11, just in case you read this far.
 
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#115
Hi Andy :)

I don' t like batteries.

They are bad for the planet and one of them was bad for my Warwick. (what a mess!) :rage:

My current basses haven' t seen a battery for the last ten years.

The only pedal I use is my Korg DT10, which runs with an adapter (I carry a second one on gigs)

The only reason why I still carry 4 rechargeable batteries, a battery charger, a set of screwdrivers, my soldering iron and, and, and….

… is: Guitarists! :D

When something works with a cable, you can be sure that someone will forget to take it to the gig!:(

greetings

Wise(b)ass
 
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#116
I only have 3 pedals, tuner, compression and dirt. Tuner uses 9v battery, the other 2 don’t. I don’t keep the tuner in my chain, as I am lucky and my bass stays in tune really well, I usually tune before the gig and maybe once in an intermission, so no need to tune between songs. Having a battery in that one is convenient. But the other 2, no need really. Power supply cords seem to be fairly reliable these days and it’s sometimes cheaper to keep a backup cord rather than a couple of 9v batteries.
 
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#118
In the 1970’s, before pedals gad LED’s in them, I had a pedal board with 4 effects. I built a power supply for my pedals (that didn’t have power jacks) and wired it through the input and outpt jacks, because back then I thought batteries were a hassle. The first thing I do when I get a pedal that takes batteries is remove the battery, and the wires to it. I prefer pedals without a battery option, as it saves me that step.
 
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#119
I recently bought this Mugig power supply that will power several pedals from a cellphone battery pack. It is pretty inexpensive and working great for me.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07841Z83P?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title

I’d much rather bring my cellphone battery pack and this small adapter than deal with a bunch of 9v batteries.

However, I really like that my preamp can run off 9v batteries — that has been useful when sharing a stage and doing a quick change between groups.
 
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#120
Battery power can be cleaner with less chance of induced noise.

A lot of P/S these days are cheap switching types. A regulated one is much better.

You can easily tell the difference, the switching type is light weight while the regulated type makes a good paper weight.
 

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