Does a power brick help?

Excalibur

New member
Hi guys,

Been wondering if a power brick helps eliminate hiss / noise.
What's the difference between a power brick and one spot adapter with daisy chains?

What I know so far is that it helps regulate the voltage. Is it worth the buy? Would appreciate any advice given :) Thanks!
 
most bricks are unregulated like the onespot so it wouldnt make a big difference if you wanna clear hum

only the power supplies with isolated outputs (voodoo labs pp2) can reduce hum but its pricey

another thing to look out for would be whether the hum/hiss is coming from your high gain or just from your pedals
 
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Thanks dude, it's just a question I've been pondering over the past few days. My guitar's well shielded and I use quality cables. No hums for me :)

So the one spot regulates power supply too? Through daisy chains? Sorry if you find my questions dumb, just wanna know if there really is much difference. My friend uses an artec power brick and told me it regulates the voltage thus improving your sound quality. Was suggested to get it, but... hmmm... I don't really know.
 
Very helpful indeed. Many thanks Jr-V :)

If I do get it right, a one spot is better or just as good to the artec power brick in this case. Both are regulated, the artec power brick isolates each output to 100ma. The one spot doesn't so this would mean that it would not put so much strain on the pedal. "you can never have too much power"
 
That website's helped my countless times when it comes to power supplies.
Other than the voodoo labs pp2, the BBE Supa Charger and Fuel tank are also isolated.
 
Yep, i have to agree the link is very helpful indeed. Hey kerplunk, does that mean isolation is better? Like if you isolate to 100ma each, what if the particular pedal needs more or just nice 100ma?
 
" The one spot doesn't so this would mean that it would not put so much strain on the pedal. "you can never have too much power"

the strain wont be from the pedal. If theres any strain, it will be on the adapter.

one spot doesnt has limit on how much each outlet of the dc chain can provide. As long as all the pedals connected through the same dc chain, their total current drawn doesnt exceed beyond the 1700mA rating, the adapter shud be safe.

With those isolated power supply, bascially each outlet is like having its own 9v supply for the pedals(thus the term isolated output). In these kinda power supply, usually there will be mutiple transformers that do the stepping down from main supply to provide individual 9v for our pedals. For current rating(how much juice it can give to the pedals) that will depend on the transformer used. Heres a diy isolated pedal power supply, some pics and info in there are quite useful

http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/Spyder/spyder.htm

For adaptor like one spot or dc brick etc, theres only 1 9v supply(230vac from main, thru adapter, step down to 9vdc) and the only thing thats distributed is how much current it has, to be drawn by different pedals for powering up

"Like if you isolate to 100ma each, what if the particular pedal needs more or just nice 100ma?

each pedal will only draw whats needed, to be powered up, no more no less. If the supply cant provide enough, either pedal dont work or worst case, the adapter be gone. Most gain pedals wont need much to power up(double digit mA or so usually). For modulation pedals, it can go up to several hundred
 
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Most gain pedals wont need much to power up(double digit mA or so usually). For modulation pedals, it can go up to several hundred

Gain pedals take like... what... 7 mA? 10 mA?

Only the digital modulation pedals take up the several hundred ya?




And to the TS, yes, an isolated power supply can reduce hum/noise. You pay for what you get. A cheaper alternative to the Voodoo Labs PP2+ would be the BBE Supa Charger. 8 isolated outputs.

Btw, the Fuel Tank doesn't have isolated outputs. Its the Fuel Tank Jr.
 
Also, some pedals have what they call poor "power filtering" one such line is the line6 tonecore pedals. As such, when daisy chained, they do create some noise

cheers
James
 
Gain pedals take like... what... 7 mA? 10 mA?

Only the digital modulation pedals take up the several hundred ya?




And to the TS, yes, an isolated power supply can reduce hum/noise. You pay for what you get. A cheaper alternative to the Voodoo Labs PP2+ would be the BBE Supa Charger. 8 isolated outputs.

Btw, the Fuel Tank doesn't have isolated outputs. Its the Fuel Tank Jr.

Btw shredcow, if you don't mind me asking. How does the daisy chain distribute the power to each pedal? Just divide total ma by number of pedals? Thanks.
 
nope, it will put out the "right" amount to each pedal.

If im not wrong, if a pedal requires 5mA, it will take 5mA from a 1spot.

The one spot gives 1700mA, but i read somewhere that you should not exceed half of that.
 
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