Anyone have experience with this cheap power bank ?

George · Post by **George** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 10:35 am

with the hilarious number of rebrandings ranging from Â£28.99 to Â£69.99

► Show Spoiler

and that's not even the full list.

this particular "donner" version has grabbed my attention as it has 2 x 9v ports with 500ma on tap, as opposed to one on the other rebrands (the rest being 100ma), and the 12v and 18v ports are both 500ma (as opposed to 100ma on other brands). it's also the cheapest.

Donner DP-2 is upgrading of DP-1,DP-2 using better materials.DP-2 in the original foundation up and increase the output current, meet the needs of more,9V output two way is 500ma,12V output is 500ma,18V output is 500ma.

Specifications:
Material: Aluminium Alloy, light weight and portable.
Power: AC 100v-240V
Input: DC 18V
Output:
--6 way 9V 100mA
--2 way 9V 500mA
--1 way 12V 500mA
--1 way 18V 500mA
Dimension: 150 x 50x 30mm
Net weight: 520g
Color: black

Attention:
Incorrect polarity would damage this unit, please make sure correct positive and negative polar before wiring.

SHORT-CIRCUIT PROTECTION
All 10 outputs in this unit have separate short-circuit protection, i.e. short circuit in one channel won't affect other channels' function. Under the circumstances of all LED lights on, LED light of the short-circuited channel will off, while lights in the other normal channels are still on. This helps locating the faults when there were short circuits among many effects.

Package included:
1 x DP-2 Power Supply
1 x Power Adapter
10 x DC Power Cable
2 x Polarity Reversal Cable
1 x User Manual

i have the donner xotic rc booster clone, which is great, although a little cheap feeling.

i'm aware people are questioning whether it's actually isolated, and it's likely not going to be as amazing and reliable as a more expensive model, but probably good enough?

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 11:36 am

I don't think it's isolated, but I know a few guys that use it and have no problems. It's definitely a step up from daisy chaining but not quite as quiet as more expensive models.

You could try and pick up a secondhand cioks or trex power supply on ebay as another option?

George · Post by **George** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 11:52 am

that's reassuring - i take it these guys are able to gig without too much white noise?

i've got a saved search for more expensive options but i don't think i'm that concerned about it being deathly quiet (i have a boss noise suppressor which takes care of the noisiest pedals in high gain situations anyway). it's more that it works okay and has the power options i need, and at least improves on a daisy chain (currently using the ubiquitous johnnyshreadfreak 500ma).

having said that, might just wait for now...

timhulio · Post by **timhulio** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 12:22 pm

They're crap. Will be noisy with some pedals, okay for most. As a general rule, look out for power bank type things with a chunky 'wall wart' transformer for a plug.

Brandon W · Post by **Brandon W** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 12:39 pm

i love the voodoo labs one i use.. it has the power starve on the last two plugs also where you control how much power the pedal is getting and you can get that dying 9volt thing going.

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 12:51 pm

You don't wanna do that you wanna do this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151901317197

http://m.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_p ... 1466686192

Post by **Doog** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 1:28 pm

timhulio wrote:They're crap. Will be noisy with some pedals, okay for most. As a general rule, look out for power bank type things with a chunky 'wall wart' transformer for a plug.

ie, DON'T get ones that use a wallwart, right? Rather than "look out for them and buy them"

George · Post by **George** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 1:36 pm

this whole thing gives me a headache. so ideally we should be looking for all outputs individually isolated (mega bucks) or some sort of compromise where a power supply will have a bunch of 9v outputs that share common ground and a few fancy outputs that are individually isolated(less mega bucks)? what's this wall wart business?

Brandon W · Post by **Brandon W** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 1:41 pm

yeah mine is individually grounded and they call the starve feature "sag"..
link

George · Post by **George** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 4:53 pm

that sounds pretty sweet but a bit expensive over here

i think i like the look of the t rex chamleon

http://www.t-rex-effects.com/fueltank-chameleon/

the possibility of accidentally flicking the voltage and frying pedals is triggering though

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 5:09 pm

Remind me tomorrow to ask my colleague who bought the Nordell one when I'm sure it was cheaper.
Last year's thread

Brandon W · Post by **Brandon W** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 5:18 pm

t-rex makes cool stuff also.. they made a limited dandy warhol's pedal and i didn't know what it did exactly but i wanted one badly.

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 5:18 pm

George wrote:this whole thing gives me a headache. so ideally we should be looking for all outputs individually isolated (mega bucks) or some sort of compromise where a power supply will have a bunch of 9v outputs that share common ground and a few fancy outputs that are individually isolated(less mega bucks)? what's this wall wart business?

Wall wart implies one basic voltage which may result in cross-talk/noise between pedals in a poor design.

I have a cheap wall-wart powered 8-way power bank with common earth for all my normal pedals plus an AC wall wart for the Line 6 DL4, a 12v one for the keyboard and a separate 9v one for the keyboard's Line 6 rotary effect. I keep thinking about getting something better but can't justify it at the moment.

Brandon W · Post by **Brandon W** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 5:26 pm

wait am i endangering my pedals by using the sag feature?

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 5:27 pm

Not usually. Overvolts are the killer, not undervolts.

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 5:28 pm

Gabriel wrote:It's definitely a step up from daisy chaining

How? I thought that non-isolated supplies like this were basically the same thing as daisy chaining?

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 5:36 pm

Bacchus wrote:I thought that non-isolated supplies like this were basically the same thing as daisy chaining?

The difference is that each pedal gets its own earth run back to the PSU - this is called "star point earthing" - and its own power run back to the smoothing cap in the PSU, which reduces the interference between pedals. So although there is a common earth reference you should have greatly reduced the ability of one effect's power line to affect another's.

Post by **Doog** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 5:39 pm

Ahhh I always though the same as Paul..

TBH, I've been using a Diago / Johnny Shredfreak (lol) power supplies for like 10 years with zero problems, aside from physical wear on the cables making things intermittent. I think if you're using 'sensitive' boxes that demand to be isolate, fair enough, but everything else? Not so sure.

I guess you get better build quality with the beefy bricks (removable IEC power cables and what not) but depends how you expect to use it.

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 5:45 pm

The other fly in the ointment is the odd positive-earth pedal like the original PNP germanium fuzz face design, which needs an isolated or 9v negative output.

George · Post by **George** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 5:47 pm

It's a voltage/draw thing, my pedigree chum. The new delay I've got wants 12v positive centre, and the reverb can run up to 18v, so I want to give it a go. The rest is just frills, like limiting the amount of 9v pedals on one grounding - admittedly a small difference on a meagre board like mine, but still worth having a go at. The treble booster I've got HATES other pedals to the point that it's on a battery at the moment, and being the environmentally conscious man that I am it's keeping me up at night. Also the new band I'm with wants clean/jazzy moods going on, hence silent signal paths, which is maybe why gabriel was on this thread like a flash! (thanks gabe, btw)