Power help.

D

drumandbass

New member
Hi guys,

I would like to know how your manage the power (electricity) in your home studios. I have 2 wall outlets. Both has an extension with 6 outlets. One extension is used to power my computer, harddrive, monitors, interface, etc. The other is only used to power my monitors. I'm using KRK VXT6's. I think these draw alot of power from the current extension. I am purchasing some rack gear and I;m wondering how I'm gonna power those up.

Any idea guys? Need a great deal of help.


Thanks. (:
 
amps? as in ampere? ok this one i'm not sure cos i'm noob at electronics. basically the 2 popular brands is Samson (I'm using a samson powerstrip) and Furman. basically they're power conditioners and to ensure that the power that goes into your audio interface is "clean" . you know how in the middle of recording some one in the house turns on or off the light and the recording goes "click!" ? so if i'm not wrong power conditioner settles that problem.

besides, most power socket extension have up to max of 7 or 8 outlets. my powerstrip has 10 IEC behind and 1 infront. so what happens is I'll power up my #1 monitor / #2 pc / #X rack gears / #X some kettles/microwave/fridges also use IEC (and u know i'm joking) / guitar or bass amps etc. and use an IEC > 3pin power socket converter and add another 7 extension to charge handphone or plug in 2 pin small adapters like 1spot 9v adapter etc.

as long as there's no power trip or smoke or anything that smells weird coming from it, should be safe. make sure you have a fire extinguisher on standby and pay the fire insurance.
 
It is a voodoo art. I have tried lot of power product. But some tweak you could do. Switch off fridge, tv, radio anything that is not used temporary. Pluck out the plug if you have to. You will find that your studio sound better. Next call an electrician to do a separate MCB box just for your home studio. I think it is about $300++. There are two are the better tweak before you move too power product. Power product just break into two class, filter/conditioner and regenerator. Note that all power product reduce dynamics of your system. Note that good power product cost in thousands. Our electric power is very stable and good, a power product is not subtle to make a difference.

There again there is something you could tweak but you must have basic electrician skill. Remove all the light in the power strip. These light are noise generator. By pass all switch and hard wire them, but you must know the danger of doing this.


However, before going into power thing. Find the best position between you and monitor if you have the luxury to do so. I would say it matter 60% of the time.
 
Last edited:
if u are gonna buy expensive equipments, the best is to buy a power conditioner.

Equipments that will benefit from the power conditioner are preamps, monitor speakers etc, as clean power will reduce the noisefloor. making ur recordings or mixing clearer.

And they also regulate the power, making sure a surge doesn't fry ur gears.
 
Thanks man! Gonna give it a shot. Had a scare when my right monitor suddenly switched off once. I was afraid it got fried. But works fine now.
Any idea where to get these products?
 
Power amp and studio monitor should not be treated first. You have to do A/B test. Power amp(even built in) has better power filtering than small devices. Other equipment, it is ok to treat. Note that many conditioner give a sense of "black background". You may perceived as noise reduction. Do take note you may lose macro detail and top end extension when that happen. Also sluggish sound will happen. You have to do A/B test. What work on other doesn't work on yours. Normally best to get voltage stabiliser to have you a constant voltage, but voltage stabiliser price jump when on higher VA.

What is good power product round? Normally, do not come from audio industry. They are all voodoos (almostly).They come from heavy industry. Locally, I know is Oneac. You can get 500VA for a few hundred on second hand market.
 
Last edited:
sorry I bought my powerstrip from sweelee about 5 years ago so you can try ask there again.

kongwee's methods is in details and electrician experience is required if you're gonna DIY and costing around $300+ , definitely recommended if you're building a serious studio (in my past experience working with a studio with electrical grounding problems)

however the powerstrip if i'm not wrong cost $200 if not under. you can give that a shot first as it's wallet friendly,user friendly. cost efficient.
 
Power strip is easier to choose. Less light and tight grip is the formula. Grip is very important, it reduce electronic life when the contact is loose causing sparking. Surge protection is a must on landed property. Beklin one is better among those branded one. Wonpro is also good but the light keep giving noise.

If you know how to do ring circuit, then do it in power strip also can.

Those starting DIY, you must high silver content solider(Wonder Solder) and temperature control solder iron(Welder). It is good to learn to do cable and power cords. If you wanna use those Beldon cable, it is a must skill. Even you are doing commercial studio, it is best to terminate all plugs by yourself.

All my audio cable are DIY, me planning to DIY power cord too(if I save enough)

For a start, redo the power socket in your house. Sometime you notice that your socket is warm when running TV or fridge. It is cause by poor termination. Off the MCB board of your house, and open it up. Cut the wire ,and remove the useless wire.Strip contact of the wire again.Twist tightly if it is stranded type. Screw the wire back to contact on the socket. Make sure it is tight, but do not round it. You will notice the socket run cooler. It is good for all electronic and made a little effort on saving energy. Heat on the socket is a lost of energy too. You may wanna change to MK socket since you doing it. Hospital grade power socket is better but more work.
 
Last edited:
Woah woah woah. It's getting complicated.
All i want is for my home studio to be able to run all the gear I have now. In time to come, when I get a proper room for studio use, than I'll think of all the small electrical stuff.
But glad to know these now. Never knew it was so complex.

So I guess for now, the Samson PowerStrip will work for now.

KongWee, how do i calculate the load of power that I'm using. I understand that if i exceed, the power would trip. There is a way to calculate this right?
 
Normally amp will rate the VA. Note this VA mean Voltage x Ampere = Apparent power. Don't take wattage, it is not a good indication. Anyway, don't go beyond 2300 VA in a room. Most of our home studio don't use passive speaker so not a big problem. Anyway, we take VA size of the transformer if it is given.

Each pair of studio monitor max 300watt each.
That 600 wattage.
Add 20% to be safe approximate value for VA.
720VA.
This is max volume and power that drive you out of your room.
Give 100% overhead for starting peak current.
That is 1440 VA.

Leave you 900 VA for computer,mixer,preamps,processor.....etc.
These item you do not need to care about overhead as their transformer is too small to make a different.

My figure a bit too much as I treat studio monitor like an amp.
Those 10"inch studio monitor don't go beyond 200VA each.


Ideally, power amp/big studio monitor have a dedicated fuse/breaker in the main MCB board.
 
Last edited:
Thanks! So I guess I'm safe now.

How do i intepret this table?
HF: 30 Watts
LF: 60 Watts
3.15A 100VAC 50Hz
3.15A 110-120VAC 50/60Hz
1.60A 220-240VAC 50/60Hz

I'm currently using a extension multi plug thing. Something like the belkin. But cheaper low quality. Sometimes my monitor goes off without reason. And i have to plug out, wait awhile and plug back in. What's the cause of this?
Will the powerstrip solve this problem as well as power the rest of my gear. Eg, preamps and compressors. Which i checked, max was 150VAC.

Thanks.
 
It is power strip problem. Buy a better one.

VAC = Voltage in a.c current.

If cannot find he VA.
Take fuse rating x our current voltage.

This case 1.6A x 230Vac = 368 VA

Other way is by adding fuse current rating. In the room, don't go beyond 10A.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

V
WTS: KRK Monitor Subwoofer 10S
Replies
1
Views
850
vellfire
V
K
WTS: Alesis Trigger I/O
Replies
0
Views
698
kingjava
K
O
Say hello to Dynaudio newest Personal Reference Monitor
Replies
0
Views
2K
orphen
O
S
  • Locked
SOLD WTS - Behringer Eurorack Pro RX1602 rackmount mixer
Replies
0
Views
1K
sonosofisms
S
M
Gordius Big Little Giant 2 Midi Foot Controller
Replies
0
Views
790
mechanevil
M

Latest posts

Share this page

Back
Top