I'm interested in getting a few guitar pedals primarily for processing a nice raw sounding (if a bit bland) mono synth and possibly for an emerging guitar chain down the line too (home recording application).
My guitarist friend has lent me an overdrive pedal powered from a single Boss 9v power supply.
I really like what it seems to offer the signal over the overdrive/distortion/saturation DAW software emulations I have hence this approach.
The pedal ive borrowed works but is buzzing a bit which is annoying.
Excuse my ignorance and whilst appreciating there is a lot on the market, can anybody recommend a multi power supply for ie powering around 4 units or so?
There's seems a reasonable amount of swing in pricing.
I'm mulling over adding more pedals potentially going forward even.
Secondly, I assume most pedals are wired for the 9v negative inner type of connection/polarity with the same type of plug end size - is that fair to say?
I see some bigger pedal board supplies offer a bit of a variety of supply connections options.
I'm not sure what exact pedals im gonna go for going forward hence.
Thanks for any help...
Guitar pedal multi power supply recommendations/options
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For all tech discussions relating to Guitars, Basses, Amps, Pedals & Guitar Accessories.
Re: Guitar pedal multi power supply recommendations/options
Analogue pedals use a lot less current than digital pedals, so it's best to have an idea of what sort of pedals you plan to get. Reverb and delay pedals vary in size and processing power, and power consumption could be well be between 80mA and 600+ mA depending on what you go for.
The thing you really want with a power supply is fully isolated outputs where the 0v output rail isn't tied to ground. It will get referenced to ground within the pedal via the sleeve connection of the TS cable back at the amp or audio interface (grounding of an audio interface isn't always guaranteed without extra work if you are using a laptop with a non-grounded PSU).
If all the power outputs of the pedal power supply have a common 0v ground, then you've got another ground path that's in parallel to the one between the pedals from the TS cables. This is rarely a problem with all-analogue pedals, but digital ones can put out differing levels of noise on the two ground paths, and you can get ground loop noise. If your synth is digital (or mainly analogue with some digital effects), then that too can become a source of ground loop noise.
However, working out which pedal power supplies are truly isolated isn't easy/ Many will say in their description 'fully isolated outputs' when they mean 'a short circuit on one output will still allow the others to work' rather than fully galvanically electrically isolated/floating.
There are just too many power supplies out there now to say which ones do have fully isolated outputs. The expensive ones like the Voodoo labs series are properly isolated, but there are now many of the cheaper ones that are.
One other option which might exclude some supplies is whether you want the power supply to be mains powered and have an IEC socket on it (and sometimes an IEC outlet for local daisy-chaining of power supplies) or whether you are happy with a power supply powered by an external PSU (either wall-wart or in-line lump).
My own preference for live guitar work with a pedalboard is an IEC input, then I can make up a long mains lead for it and aren't limited by the length of the captive power lead on the external PSU. But if this is for the studio, then that may not be an issue.
The thing you really want with a power supply is fully isolated outputs where the 0v output rail isn't tied to ground. It will get referenced to ground within the pedal via the sleeve connection of the TS cable back at the amp or audio interface (grounding of an audio interface isn't always guaranteed without extra work if you are using a laptop with a non-grounded PSU).
If all the power outputs of the pedal power supply have a common 0v ground, then you've got another ground path that's in parallel to the one between the pedals from the TS cables. This is rarely a problem with all-analogue pedals, but digital ones can put out differing levels of noise on the two ground paths, and you can get ground loop noise. If your synth is digital (or mainly analogue with some digital effects), then that too can become a source of ground loop noise.
However, working out which pedal power supplies are truly isolated isn't easy/ Many will say in their description 'fully isolated outputs' when they mean 'a short circuit on one output will still allow the others to work' rather than fully galvanically electrically isolated/floating.
There are just too many power supplies out there now to say which ones do have fully isolated outputs. The expensive ones like the Voodoo labs series are properly isolated, but there are now many of the cheaper ones that are.
One other option which might exclude some supplies is whether you want the power supply to be mains powered and have an IEC socket on it (and sometimes an IEC outlet for local daisy-chaining of power supplies) or whether you are happy with a power supply powered by an external PSU (either wall-wart or in-line lump).
My own preference for live guitar work with a pedalboard is an IEC input, then I can make up a long mains lead for it and aren't limited by the length of the captive power lead on the external PSU. But if this is for the studio, then that may not be an issue.
Reliably fallible.
Re: Guitar pedal multi power supply recommendations/options
Thank you for that concise info and help.
I'm not 100% of what exact pedals im going to go for but just wanted to try to future proof as much as possible and is realistic.
I'll look again better informed now
Cheers again!
I'm not 100% of what exact pedals im going to go for but just wanted to try to future proof as much as possible and is realistic.
I'll look again better informed now
Cheers again!
Re: Guitar pedal multi power supply recommendations/options
You'll get as many recommendations as there are multi power supply brands.... but I'll kick the can first by recommending Cioks power supplies, of which there are many. I have a DC7 and a cioks 4 expander, powering a range of boss, ehx, mxr, and moogerfooger pedals (mostly on synths).
https://cioks.com/power-supplies/
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/cioks-dc7
However, whatever brand you choose, there are some useful things to think about in selecting a suitable supply.
First, while most fx pedals need 9V DC, some need 12, 18 or even 24V DC, and some need 9 or 12VAC. So a supply that provides different fixed voltage outputs, or allows outputs to be switched as required, is a good idea.
Next, is polarity. The Boss format (negative inner) is common but not exclusive, so some means of changing polarity is important — as is the ability to use different plug types/sizes (there are several variations in common use, including different sizes of coaxial, 3.5mm and others).
And then there's supply current. Some pedals need only a few tens of milliamps, while others can require hundreds of milliamps, so differently rated outputs are handy. (Or a single high current output can sometimes be used to power several daisy-chained pedals).
Finally, there's the potential problem with all multi power supplies that each output might share a common ground path, and that opens the door to unwanted ground loop noises — which can be particularly problematic with high-current digital pedals alongside low power analogue ones.
This was a very common problem with cheap multi power units which often had separately buffered outputs (so shorting one didn't kill the others), but they all shared a common ground reference — meaning ground loops and noise was a regular problem.
The traditional way around that required a large, costly, bespoke mains transformer with lots of separate windings for each output. That ensured they were electrically isolated... but it's a very expensive and bulky solution.
Eg.https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/ne ... topus-plus
The modern way uses dc-dc converters in which a tiny low cost transformer operating at a high frequency electrically isolates the power output from the internal supply, ensuring no ground loops between different outputs.
So, my earlier Cioks recommendation is because their power units have selectable voltages for each output, and different outputs have various current capabilities.
They are also supplied with several different cable options to deal with all the plug and polarity variations (and are available as accessories if you need more/different).
Plus, each output is electrically isolated from all the others to avoid ground loops via dc-dc converters.
And they're very compact and slim units which fit nicely under pedal boards etc — with a proper IEC mains inlet.
...but other brands are available.
More info:
https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advice/pedal-power
More reviews:
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/t- ... -chameleon
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/mx ... nics-mc403
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/mi ... ering-529i and https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/mi ... eering-529
https://cioks.com/power-supplies/
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/cioks-dc7
However, whatever brand you choose, there are some useful things to think about in selecting a suitable supply.
First, while most fx pedals need 9V DC, some need 12, 18 or even 24V DC, and some need 9 or 12VAC. So a supply that provides different fixed voltage outputs, or allows outputs to be switched as required, is a good idea.
Next, is polarity. The Boss format (negative inner) is common but not exclusive, so some means of changing polarity is important — as is the ability to use different plug types/sizes (there are several variations in common use, including different sizes of coaxial, 3.5mm and others).
And then there's supply current. Some pedals need only a few tens of milliamps, while others can require hundreds of milliamps, so differently rated outputs are handy. (Or a single high current output can sometimes be used to power several daisy-chained pedals).
Finally, there's the potential problem with all multi power supplies that each output might share a common ground path, and that opens the door to unwanted ground loop noises — which can be particularly problematic with high-current digital pedals alongside low power analogue ones.
This was a very common problem with cheap multi power units which often had separately buffered outputs (so shorting one didn't kill the others), but they all shared a common ground reference — meaning ground loops and noise was a regular problem.
The traditional way around that required a large, costly, bespoke mains transformer with lots of separate windings for each output. That ensured they were electrically isolated... but it's a very expensive and bulky solution.
Eg.https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/ne ... topus-plus
The modern way uses dc-dc converters in which a tiny low cost transformer operating at a high frequency electrically isolates the power output from the internal supply, ensuring no ground loops between different outputs.
So, my earlier Cioks recommendation is because their power units have selectable voltages for each output, and different outputs have various current capabilities.
They are also supplied with several different cable options to deal with all the plug and polarity variations (and are available as accessories if you need more/different).
Plus, each output is electrically isolated from all the others to avoid ground loops via dc-dc converters.
And they're very compact and slim units which fit nicely under pedal boards etc — with a proper IEC mains inlet.
...but other brands are available.
More info:
https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advice/pedal-power
More reviews:
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/t- ... -chameleon
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/mx ... nics-mc403
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/mi ... ering-529i and https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/mi ... eering-529
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- Hugh Robjohns
Moderator -
Posts: 43691 Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 12:00 am
Location: Worcestershire, UK
Contact:
Technical Editor, Sound On Sound...
(But generally posting my own personal views and not necessarily those of SOS, the company or the magazine!)
In my world, things get less strange when I read the manual...
(But generally posting my own personal views and not necessarily those of SOS, the company or the magazine!)
In my world, things get less strange when I read the manual...
Re: Guitar pedal multi power supply recommendations/options
Appreciating many other products are probably equally as good/effective, I went for the Cioks Sol in the end given thats as much as my wallet can take at the moment and should cover my needs given the outputs/connectivity options.
It's completely noiseless, seamless and works super!
Cheers again
It's completely noiseless, seamless and works super!
Cheers again
Re: Guitar pedal multi power supply recommendations/options
Good choice! 
-
- Hugh Robjohns
Moderator -
Posts: 43691 Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 12:00 am
Location: Worcestershire, UK
Contact:
Technical Editor, Sound On Sound...
(But generally posting my own personal views and not necessarily those of SOS, the company or the magazine!)
In my world, things get less strange when I read the manual...
(But generally posting my own personal views and not necessarily those of SOS, the company or the magazine!)
In my world, things get less strange when I read the manual...