heinschultz
Hi, I recently moved from multi-effect units to separate pedals - which I strongly advise anyone to do cause it makes a world of difference, especially the analogue pedals - they SWEET!
Now the hiccups! ???
1stly, I'm super clueless when it comes to powering these things up. Until now I've used batteries but they expensive and you never know when they gonna "conk" out. So, I bought a 5-way cable splitter from one power supply - but as I've learnt the hard way the ma (milliamperes?) need to be quite high. I've been told to rather invest in a power block, so thats the next step.
2ndly, even if i power my Morley bad horsey wah with the power supply alone it makes a disgusting hum whenever the pedal in pressed. I've checked online, some guy on you tube found out that the power supply unit is interfering with the Morley electronics - only way around this is to invest in metal sheets and place them between the pedal and the power supply unit BUT my unit does not look nearly the same as that guy's and also its very var away from the wah. I've checked the 9v +- bits as well as the milliamperes and they all good, but it wont shut up the hum! only works fine with battery.
3rdly, what power block is the best to invest in? Boss, ....uhm are there any others? can one set different voltage +- settings on one power block to power other pedals that need different settings? eg. powering up a dd7 as well as a 12v -+ unit??
hope all this makes sense. PM me if you need more detailed explanation.
many thanks in advance
heinis
AlanRatcliffe
The hum thing sounds like an earth loop. Are you sure you don't have the other pedals hooked up to the power supply (even if they are bypassed)?
For power supplies, the best one that's easy to get hold of is the Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2 Plus. Isolated outputs and all the common voltages.
http://www.voodoolab.com/pedalpower_2.htm
If you need something even better to power multiple high current pedals like TC Electronic and Eventide, the CIOKS are the brand to go for.
heinschultz
Hi Alan, thanks for the reply, ill check out those options.
Yea im pretty sure the other pedals arn't plugged in. I plug the adapter into the wall, then just the adapter's power lead to the wah, jack it up and hum! I don't get it. I've been on morley's site to check if there is a solution to this problem but they only give the solution of the guy on you tube with a similar problem, but his power block resides under his pedal board structure with his wah right above it - thats when he gets the hum. he solves it by installing metal sheets (hard foil of some kind) between the powerblock and the wah, and that solves it.
My problem isn't like that, like I said the power supply is plugged into the wall and the wah is far away from it.
I'll keep searching a bit, otherwise i'll stick to batteries in the wah at least.
thanks again
AlanRatcliffe
What power supply is it? Some are always noisy, especially those made for "general" electronics...
MIKA-the-better-one
I bet you buy a voodoo labs or some pedal power with Isolated inputs your hum will disapear, it just sounds like you are powering way to much off a wall wart
heinschultz
Its a KORG KA189 AC Adapter 9V 600mA
At the moment I'm only using it to power the DD7 as its the only pedal its quiet on. the others DS1, MXR super comp and wah seem to not like it. b.t.w im not using all on one psu, just the psu and a pedal at a time. the wah hums the most, DS1 second.
MIKA-the-better-one
My best suggestion is based on my past experiences.... I use to run 4 wall warts, got alot of buzz and hum
Switched to a pedal power, and gone! So thats my best bet, also good patch cables
AlanRatcliffe
Definitely the power supply then. There's no real solution for a badly designed supply, short of replacing it with something decent.
heinschultz
cool, many thanks guys, seems like its THE way to go.
happy weekend gigging!
hein
Mr-M
heinschultz wrote
Its a KORG KA189 AC Adapter 9V 600mA
We sell those and I will freely admit that they are not a great idea for daisy chaining as they tend to be noisy with more than one pedal.
Rather go with a power supply that has isolated outputs as everyone as been recommending.
G-Man
Hi, sorry if I'm hijacking a little bit...
I have 3 boss pedals (in my sig) and I have the same issue with buzzing. I am using normal wall warts (lol thanks for that, never heard them being called that before ? ), the adjustable voltage / polarity type (which are not very good).
The guy at my music store said I should buy a boss power supply that comes with the daisy chain connectors, but he said I should buy the red label one and not the blue label. Do you guys know what I'm talking about? The next thing is that it costs R399-00, for a power brick. That's more than what I paid for my chorus pedal. :/
MIKA-the-better-one
I dont know... hey R399, if it does the job sounds good to me.... I payed R1500 for my pp2
Think about it like this your pedal power is the most important part of your rig.
you house would be useless without reliable power to it so that all your appliances funtion correctly.
So think about it that way
AlanRatcliffe
Imagine if you will, your cheap power supply blowing and sending 220V to all your pedals and taking them all to the electronic scrap heap in the sky. How much is a good power supply worth now?
To be honest, I don't even regard the Boss supplies as good. Decent maybe, but no more. The good supplies are Voodoo Labs, CIOKS and very few others.
G-Man
Yeah you are right, I'm just being cheap ?
Next month I will buy the boss/roland PSU and some more patch cables to get it all sorted properly. (maybe even make a tiny pedal board!)
Thanks for the input ?
MIKA-the-better-one
?
CerealKILLA
Alan Ratcliffe wrote
The good supplies are Voodoo Labs, CIOKS and very few others.
Alan, how does the Dunlop DC Brick DCB10 compare to these supplies you mention? I read about isolation of the 9V supplies on the Voodoo Labs but cant seem to find any info regarding isolation on the DC Brick or is it a standard feature on these top end supplies.
MIKA-the-better-one
The brick is not isolated, but runs pretty good provided you dont exceed 55milliamps per socket
CerealKILLA
MIKA the better one wrote
The brick is not isolated, but runs pretty good provided you dont exceed 55milliamps per socket
Thanks MIKA, I'm using a standard 9V Boss PSA power supply with a 5 point daisy chain and when connecting some pedals together I get poor sound from one or the other pedal. Example, if I have the metal core and the metal zone together in the chain, the metal core sounds crappy, almost like the sound comes and goes and sounds muffled. But when its on its own its fine. Also have noticed this when all my pedals are connected in a chain. Also if I have a few pedals connected inline then when I connect the power supply, some pedals switch themself on, without being depressed. This also happens when I connect / remove a pedal from the chain when plugging in or out the pedal jumpers.
I thought its most likely a power issue of some sort so thought of getting a DC Brick DCB10 as I can get one new for about R1400. But if its not isolated, would it be a problem?
Sorry for derailing the thread....
ActionArnie
CerealKILLA wrote
when connecting some pedals together I get poor sound from one or the other pedal. Example, if I have the metal core and the metal zone together in the chain, the metal core sounds crappy, almost like the sound comes and goes and sounds muffled
That may not be power supply related at all but good ol' buffer tone suck. Try them with batteries and see if they sound better, that'll tell you if the power supply has anything to do with it.
CerealKILLA
ActionArnie wrote
CerealKILLA wrote
when connecting some pedals together I get poor sound from one or the other pedal. Example, if I have the metal core and the metal zone together in the chain, the metal core sounds crappy, almost like the sound comes and goes and sounds muffled
That may not be power supply related at all but good ol' buffer tone suck. Try them with batteries and see if they sound better, that'll tell you if the power supply has anything to do with it.
Mmmm, dont have any 9V batteries, will go pick up a few to try. Damn things are so expensive. If it is tone suck, what's the solution, if any. Sounds like this is going to get complicated for a n00b like me ?
