noob power supply question

riccosuabe

hi there,

ive recently upgraded my pedalboard setup and im wanting to get a reliable power supply for it.my question is (as dumb as it may sound) is, a power supply such as a voodoo lab 2 plus advertises 8 connections on the supply, will each connection run a standard 9v pedal? as from the description on the voodoo it says 4 at standard 9v, 2 at higher 9v, 2 9v with sag and 2 at 18/24v . im assuming each connection will take at the minimum a standard 9v pedal but some can go to higher voltage if need be? (im only asking as all my pedals are standard 9v and i want to know if i can use all the connections)
thanks

Corvus

The 18/24V are for pedals that can take that voltage, not 9v-only ones - some pedals can take more than 9v but don't run them there without being sure they will - ask here, check specs etc.
The sag outputs are for vintage fuzzes and the like, simulating knackered batteries but it looks like you can use them as normal 9v/100ma outputs (looking at the specs, don't own one).
The 'higher' 9v outputs give more current for heavier-current-draw 9v digital pedals for instance which need more than 100ma.

So you might have a 9v digi delay with say 140ma draw on a 'higher 9v' line, analogue overdrives & compressor with low current draw off the 9v/100ma outputs. Any pedals which can safely run at 18v could live on an 18v output.

Digital pedals mostly like their own isolated source or noise happens. But analogue 9v pedals usually have low current draw so can be daisy-chained off a single 9v output if needed, you could run several off one 9v/100ma output, if you run out of individual outputs per pedal on the board.

riccosuabe

Ah right i have the boss bcb 60 at the moment but ive upgraded to a pedaltrain so i wanted to get a decent one, didnt think i could run a daisy chain off it. I currently have a 
A.N Big bloom,
dunlop band of gypsys fuzz,
Custom Audio Electronics Dual Inductor Wah,
Marshall guvnor mk1,
Marshall bluesbreaker mk1,
Mesa boogie throttle box,
Ibanez ts10 classic,
Way huge aqua puss.

They run fine off the boss power supply but theres a slight bit of noise and im not sure of how much i trust it with the pedals in the long run but you will probably know a lot more than me about it

Corvus

I'm no expert but familiar with most of those except the Big Bloom, the rest at least are low current draw things I think, so no worries there. Don't know if any can take more than 9V but maker's pages will say if they can. The BCB60 looks like a non-isolated power supply so an isolated one would be a step up, definitely if you add digi stuff later. Don't know if it'd help with noise for sure though.
So long as all the boxes on a daisy run don't draw more in total than the output gives it's all good (analogue ones, any digi ones on their own output). I've a few on a daisy chain because of too many pedals vs the outputs I've got off my power supply.

EricTheWeary

Corvus said:

The 18/24V are for pedals that can take that voltage, not 9v-only ones - some pedals can take more than 9v but don't run them there without being sure they will - ask here, check specs etc.
The sag outputs are for vintage fuzzes and the like, simulating knackered batteries but it looks like you can use them as normal 9v/100ma outputs (looking at the specs, don't own one).
The 'higher' 9v outputs give more current for heavier-current-draw 9v digital pedals for instance which need more than 100ma.

So you might have a 9v digi delay with say 140ma draw on a 'higher 9v' line, analogue overdrives & compressor with low current draw off the 9v/100ma outputs. Any pedals which can safely run at 18v could live on an 18v output.

Digital pedals mostly like their own isolated source or noise happens. But analogue 9v pedals usually have low current draw so can be daisy-chained off a single 9v output if needed, you could run several off one 9v/100ma output, if you run out of individual outputs per pedal on the board.

That seems pretty comprehensive. Just to underline that you should never run a pedal from a supply with too high a voltage. If you plugged a 9v pedal into an 18v supply you could easily fry the innards of your pedal. 
If you use too low a voltage (9v supply into an 18v pedal for example)it probably just won't work. Some pedals will take a range but they will be clearly marked. If you have a pedal that can take a range generally speaking the higher voltage will be better but it's a fairly small difference in sound. 
There is a That Pedal Show video on pedal power basics that would be worth watching. 
Here we go:

riccosuabe

thanks for the help guys, i think i sort of get it now.ideally i want an isolated output to each pedal to cut down on noise but if need be i could daisy chain from one of the inputs as long as it doesnt max out the max draw for that output.so realistically the VL plus 2 probably isnt gonna be the best power brick for me as i have 8 pedals currently but am on a mission for more haha and that pedal only has 4 outputs (maybe 1 or 2 more) i think that really fit my pedal collection. anyone have any recommendations on a reliable power supply with say around 10 standard 9v outputs that will fit under a pedaltrain? or is there even such a one?

again many thanks

Corvus

The noise thing is mainly digital pedals that don't like to share power, but I have had odd noises with analogue ones once or twice on their own outputs, where I had to shift the order around to tame it. Some pedal not liking some other I guess, a buffer maybe, can't remember now. The VL looks like 8 outputs at 9v if the sag thing is optional, so a daisy chain would cope with more, the pedals will only take the amps they need, so it doesn't matter if it's a 250ma line and the pedal only wants 10ma. The 250ma would cope with say a 100ma digital reverb or something like that.

riccosuabe

ive been looking at the harley benton junior as it has 5 isolated 9v inputs all with draws of 120ma,i could fit 2 under my board easily enough and is an absolute steal! it fits the criteria of that vcpi acronym from the pedal show video so im gonna give them a try.thanks for the input guys