Power supply recommendations

P

Pete Greenfield

Apr 22, 2019
140
153
4,531
#1
Hi!

I'm building a new pedal board at the moment with my new Darkglass Vintage Ultra, TC Electronic compressor, wireless receiver, tuner, Boss Chorus, Boss Looper and Boss DDR7 delay on board.

In the past I've powered everything, apart from the Darkglass, off the TU1000 tuner, but have decided it's time to get a proper grown-up power supply.

I need something decent that is well-regulated, work off UK flavoured mains power and won't let me down. The choice seems to range from run of the mill, but well rated Harley Benton ISO 2s at 50 quid to Voodoo Lab or Ojay units, with transformers hand wound on the thighs of maidens, at four or five times that price.

Just wondered what people used on here to get good quality sound though quite big PA systems. Where does practical quality end and marketing hot air begin?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Pete
 
#2
Pete Greenfield said:
Hi!

I'm building a new pedal board at the moment with my new Darkglass Vintage Ultra, TC Electronic compressor, wireless receiver, tuner, Boss Chorus, Boss Looper and Boss DDR7 delay on board.

In the past I've powered everything, apart from the Darkglass, off the TU1000 tuner, but have decided it's time to get a proper grown-up power supply.

I need something decent that is well-regulated, work off UK flavoured mains power and won't let me down. The choice seems to range from run of the mill, but well rated Harley Benton ISO 2s at 50 quid to Voodoo Lab or Ojay units, with transformers hand wound on the thighs of maidens, at four or five times that price.

Just wondered what people used on here to get good quality sound though quite big PA systems. Where does practical quality end and marketing hot air begin?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Pete
Click to expand...
Well you can use your tuner if you're not getting any noise or running out of power. I see pros with 1-Spots and the like all the time so why not a tuner and a daisy chain? But if you're getting noise, you'd want a true isolated power supply, and a lot of the cheap ones claim isolation but don't have real isolation. I use an MXR Iso Brick myself because it's very light, tiny, and has a butt-ton of power. They have a Mini Iso Brick now, too. A little less power and a few fewer inputs but still has some pretty big juice.
 
#4
Aloe said:
Ojai or other Strymon supplies are good. MXR ISO Brick is cheaper, but okay.

I also have a mini ISO brick and find the 600mA output makes noise in 9v mode. Full one is better if you can fit it.
Click to expand...

Thanks! That seems to be two votes for the MXR brick. Do you find the power supply okay? That's the only negative I can find. I was also considering Voodoo Labs models as they use an ICE cable. Would continue daisy chaining, but running out of milliamps and the new Darkglass seems to need very clean power. I've metre wide pedalboard, so should be able to wedge a supply in somewhere... Thanks for your advice!
 
#5
JimmyM said:
Well you can use your tuner if you're not getting any noise or running out of power. I see pros with 1-Spots and the like all the time so why not a tuner and a daisy chain? But if you're getting noise, you'd want a true isolated power supply, and a lot of the cheap ones claim isolation but don't have real isolation. I use an MXR Iso Brick myself because it's very light, tiny, and has a butt-ton of power. They have a Mini Iso Brick now, too. A little less power and a few fewer inputs but still has some pretty big juice.
Click to expand...

Thank Jimmy. Is the power supply robust enough on the MXR? I've run out of juice from the Boss TU-1000...
 
#7
Pete Greenfield said:
That seems to be two votes for the MXR brick. Do you find the power supply okay?
Click to expand...

yeah, I have mine for a couple of years. if you like the outputs, go for it.
if you need more 9V outputs, that would move you to move expensive power supplies, I believe.

ISO Brick was stable and quiet for me. the outlet that connects my Polytune developed a blinking LED: it turns on and off (or maybe it should work like this? IDK, but I seem to recall it was lit all the time when I bought the brick), but the pedal receives power and everything else is good.

I had an Ojai and could not complain about it (other than the big external power adapter), it was a top-level power supply, maybe even a tad cleaner and quieter than ISO Brick (this is a very-very subtle difference if exists, both sound great and clean, definitely an improvement over daisy-chaining).
 
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