Voodoo labs PP2+ vs Pedaltrain 1250

I'm a long time Voodoo Lab supporter for power supplies. I've had a PP2+ for 15+ years and have never had an issue - even when I hooked it up incorrectly. Customer service is awesome, and the PP2+ has been enough power for just about every pedal situation. My recommendation is to get that one.

Looking at the Pedaltrain, it looks like a decent unit, however has different capability for future expansion than the PP2+. Voodoo Labs has some other power options as well, some more comparable to this one.

What you should consider is your power requirements for each individual pedal you have and want. Newer pedals tend to have more consistent power requirements than old ones. This reduces the demand for a Swiss Army knife power supply. If you have all boss or similar pedals and plan to only have that type, either PS will be fine. If you plan to have some 18V pedals, high demand digital pedals (strymon, eventide etc) and some vintage EHX, I would look at a Pedal Power 4x4, PP2+ or another of theirs. The reason I say this is because if their service and how well established and proven they are. If you are self sufficient and understand electronics then you could get away with the Pedaltrain and some cables from Voodoo Lab to power different pedal demands. If you like to experiment with pedals, and building boards the PP2+ is great and meets just about every pedal's needs. The SAG and higher power options are nice features, but only if you are upto experimenting.

The main thing to learn is what current is, and voltage. Lots of pedals run at 9 volts and under 100 mA of current. Daisy chain cables allow you to connect many pedals to one source upto the maximum current rating of the source. The PP2+ has 6 isolated sources that supply 100mA at 9V, or 60mA at 12V. The other two isolated outputs supply more current, 250mA if I'm not mistaken. The Pedaltrain has 4 isolated outputs that supply 9V at 210mA (with one that switches to higher voltages). The other 4 outputs are a daisy chain with a total of 500mA available. This might create noise problems in some scenarios, but will be fine for most others.

Voodoo Lab sells cables to double current and a separate one to double voltage. This requires using more outputs on the unit, but is quite effective at keeping noise at bay.

I find it odd that Pedaltrain put the power cable connection on the side and not the back. Most of their boards were designed with the PP2+ in mind and it's just odd to me that they would change their own form factor and reduce compatibility or at least mounting location options. I think it's so that it fits the small boards, because the outlets on the PP2+ crash into the rails on the underside of the boards. This is fine with the brackets that come anyways, but using a PP2+ on a mini or nano is hard to do cleanly. Both have a courtesy outlet, but the Pedaltrain does look to be a but more international friendly.