Suggest a PSU

Nomad

I'm considering getting a power supply for my pedals. I can solder and do (fairly uncomplicated) electronics, so this is something of a toss-up between spending time making a PSU and spending more money on a ready made one. Suggestions for a ready made one to suit the following would be appreciated...

Must be a single box that connects straight to the mains (no wall wart), fully isolated outputs, reliable and noise-free.

Primary pedals...
Boss Foot Wah FW-3, 9V, 5mA
TC Nova Drive, 12V, 380mA
MXR Tremolo, 18V, 20mA
TC Hall Of Fame reverb, 9V, 380mA
TC PolyTune 2, 9V, 50mA

Extra/occasional pedals that might change...
Pearl GE-09 graphic EQ, 9V, low current
Boss Heavy Metal HM-2, 9V, 10mA

So, I need two high current outputs, one 9V and one 12V, and a low current 18V for the tremolo. Everything else is fine with the 9V 100mA outputs that most PSUs seem to have. I'd rather not have all outputs used up with the current set of pedals, and I'd prefer to have each pedal isolated (no ganged connections).

The Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 4x4 is just about there - has 9/12V high current outputs, and two of the 9V 100mA outputs can be connected in series to give 18V. The downside is that there would be no spare outputs (and it's not exactly cheap at around 180 quid). I have no idea what it's like for reliability or noise (but I suspect it's fine).

Any others I should consider?

joeyowen

Look into cioks and trex

Yes there is a cost, but both are very highly thought of for a reason

fretmeister

Gig Rig Generator and Distributor / Isolater pack.

http://www.thegigrig.com/acatalog/Power.html

Brilliant modular idea.

RaymondLin

Cioks DC10, it has two 400mA sockets, both of them can so do 12v.

You can get a 9v to 18v cable for the tremolo, it will half the mA in the socket so use a 100mA one and you still have 50mA.

http://www.thomann.de/gb/cioks_booster_flex_type_1.htm

ChrisMusic

I just checked the Gig Rig site for the first time, thanks for the link @fretmeister.

I notice that their recommendations seem to have an isolator used in almost every instance.  Is this just up-selling to get you to buy more isolators than you need ?   Or are the sort of effect chains quoted really in need of that level of isolation ?

It looks to me like there are a lot of analogue pedals, which from the wisdom shared on here in other similar discussions, should be quite happy running from a non-isolated distributed supply.  Or do I have that wrong ?

RaymondLin

fretmeister said:

Gig Rig Generator and Distributor / Isolater pack.

http://www.thegigrig.com/acatalog/Power.html

Brilliant modular idea.

won't he also need the 9v to 18v doubler? 

fretmeister

ChrisMusic said:

I just checked the Gig Rig site for the first time, thanks for the link @fretmeister.

I notice that their recommendations seem to have an isolator used in almost every instance.  Is this just up-selling to get you to buy more isolators than you need ?   Or are the sort of effect chains quoted really in need of that level of isolation ?

It looks to me like there are a lot of analogue pedals, which from the wisdom shared on here in other similar discussions, should be quite happy running from a non-isolated distributed supply.  Or do I have that wrong ?

Depends entirely on your pedals. If they are happy on a shared daisy chain then they still will be..

I find using the daisy chain for pedals in front of the amp and for pedals in the loop has a far greater chance of being noisy so if I didn't have a Gigrig system then I'd be using separate daisy chain supplies, or something else with isolated outputs.

I have a Voodoo Labs PP2 for my bass board as none of the pedals on that need a lot of current, but my guitar board is a bit mental so it's all isolated.

ChrisMusic

Thanks @fretmeister, that's pretty much what I reckoned.  With everyone saying that the GigRig system was prohibitively expensive I hadn't got around to looking at it.  It seems there is value in the flexibility.  It's not time yet for purchasing anything, but I am learning about the options, so I should be pretty well prepared when the inevitable time comes.

shuikit

I have a 4x4 and am totally happy with it, just works. You can also get these splitter cables that are ground lifted so you can plug two pedals into one tap.

http://www.hotroxuk.com/voodoo-lab-ppav-voodoo-lab-split-output-adapter.html

Nomad

Thanks for the pointers, folks.

I wasn't aware of the 9-18V booster-upper-thingy cables, and hadn't thought of a ground-lift daisy chain. I'm still inclined to have every pedal on its own isolated supply because it strikes me as more future proof if I change pedals to unknown kit later on.

I'll look at the PSU offerings from the other makers in more detail, while continuing to muse on DIY possibilities (home use only, so I'm in no rush).