Pedal Power supplies/banks?

[Gabriel]

I've got the CNC adapter and its ok but fairly crap. Makes alot of noise and the cable is annoyingly short. I think I'm gonna get the Johnny Shreadfreak one. How is it compared to the diago? They look identical :S and more importantly is it as good at powering anologue delays?

[Thom]

I think I'm gonna get the Johnny Shreadfreak one. How is it compared to the diago? They look identical :S and more importantly is it as good at powering anologue delays?

They are the same. I have both and can't tell the difference.
They power delays just fine, I use it for my Carbon Copy and Memory Boy - even both together with a bunch of other stuff.

[Gabriel]

I think I'm gonna get the Johnny Shreadfreak one. How is it compared to the diago? They look identical :S and more importantly is it as good at powering anologue delays?

They are the same. I have both and can't tell the difference.
They power delays just fine, I use it for my Carbon Copy and Memory Boy - even both together with a bunch of other stuff.

Awesome looks good.

[Boab]

After using the JohnnyShreadfreak power and cables I can echo what's been said by everyone else here. It is an absolute bargain!

Thanks very much for the recommendation folks.

[Doog]

I clambered onto the bangwagon as my Diago Powerbank's power-to-daisychain cable broke and is proving tricky to fix properly..


It would appear the Johnny Shredfreak, as well having the worst brand name ever, is identical to the Diago, which costs about three times the price. I also grabbed a mega long daisychain cable from Ebay that has like 40cm between each connector- SCORE!

And for the record, a low gain Wolf Computer/Fuzz Face into a low gain RAT pedal is one of the finest sounds EVER.

[andershp]

So it looks like the Diago and the Johnny Shred freak are exactly the same, but if the Johnny Shred Freak and a daisy chain are you need to avoid hum and power all your pedal securely, why would anyone want to buy the Voodoo Lab 2 or the Dunlop DC Brick?

I've read that the important thing is that it's isolated and regulated, but is Johnny Shred Freak that?

(I hope it is okay that I borrow your thread)

[samuelcotterall]

So it looks like the Diago and the Johnny Shred freak are exactly the same, but if the Johnny Shred Freak and a daisy chain are you need to avoid hum and power all your pedal securely, why would anyone want to buy the Voodoo Lab 2 or the Dunlop DC Brick?

I've read that the important thing is that it's isolated and regulated, but is Johnny Shred Freak that?

(I hope it is okay that I borrow your thread)

The Pedal Power 2 has isolated outputs so you can run them at different voltages and run different polarities from the same source (I use the Johnny Shredfreak w/ daisy chain for all my pedals except old DOD, EHX and Tokai pedals). I think the isolated outputs reduce hum too.

But, yeah, for most people the Johnny Shredfreak thing is all you’ll ever need.

[Bill Oakley]

Isolated outputs are to break the common ground connection. Without breaking the connection, you can get ground loops which cause hum.

[andershp]

Isolated outputs are to break the common ground connection. Without breaking the connection, you can get ground loops which cause hum.

What do you mean by breaking the common ground connection? I thought you were supposed to get a ground connection. Sorry if I've misunderstood something.

The Pedal Power 2 has isolated outputs so you can run them at different voltages and run different polarities from the same source (I use the Johnny Shredfreak w/ daisy chain for all my pedals except old DOD, EHX and Tokai pedals). I think the isolated outputs reduce hum too.

But, yeah, for most people the Johnny Shredfreak thing is all you’ll ever need.

I think I will get the Johnny Shred freak one then, because I only have 3 (soon 4) pedals which all are 9 volts, negative tip polarity. (I think they are negative tip all of them)

[Doog]

Isolated outputs are to break the common ground connection. Without breaking the connection, you can get ground loops which cause hum.

What do you mean by breaking the common ground connection? I thought you were supposed to get a ground connection. Sorry if I've misunderstood something.

Common ground.

[Bill Oakley]

Here's a very basic illustration I just whipped up for you. The black lines represent ground and the green shows the ground loop. The power supply with the isolated outputs is drawn pretty basic. This isn't in reality how it is done but I just used basic switches to show how the ground would be broken for the different outputs just to show the idea of the difference between the two.



EDIT: The ground loop could also continue through your amp and back to the power supplies input power source.

[andershp]

Thanks for the illustration. I have bought the Johnny Shredfreak and a daisy chain anyway, so I hope I won't get too much hum. I doesn't sound like it from what I have heard in here.

[Bill Oakley]

Most people don't need a $200 power supply. Especially for at home. Some setups will get hum and some won't. I would try a daisy chain first also. If I got an annoying hum that was for sure coming from my power supply, I would look into something with isolated outputs. I use a Dunlop Brick at home at the moment and I get a little bit of hum from it. No big deal to me.

The only thing I would really like to say about the power supply topic is: DON'T use generic power supplies or ones from cell phones, toys, etc. You need REGULATED supplies. A generic unregulated supply can supply anywhere from 12-17v and could fry components and introduce hum.

[sp3k]

sorry for the off-topic, but do you guys know if there's a way to power the digitech whammy 4 without the expensive power supply it comes with? i know it uses AC, is there some kind of adapter to use on a dc daisy chain so it can power an ac pedal?

[Bill Oakley]

Don't know of any daisy chains that would supply both DC and AC. Check out the BBE Supa Charger. I think that supplies both. I think I remember wanting one for the same exact reason. I hate the separate power supply for the Whammy.

Edit: Looks like I was wrong. It doesn't supply 9vAC. Something I was looking at did. I'll keep looking and see if I can find what it was.

There is a Pedal Power AC which provides 9v AC and will power the Whammy. I'll keep looking though.

I found it! It's the Modtone Power Plant. It has one 9v AC outlet for the Whammy!

[Bacchus]

BLAMP!

So, I'm about to get some powah for a board I'm making. I have more than five pedals, can I just buy two of the daisy chain type things and stick one into the end of the other? Where's the limit on this? I'd assume I can't run fifty odd pedals off one block (not that I have fifty pedals).

[Haze]

for 5 pedals, just get a 1-spot and a 5-lug daisy chain. No need to spend money on an isolated psu unless you absolutely need it

[Bacchus]

Yeah, I'm all for spending no money. I'm going for this and this, the Johnny Shredfreak ones.

[Doog]

BLAMP!

So, I'm about to get some powah for a board I'm making. I have more than five pedals, can I just buy two of the daisy chain type things and stick one into the end of the other? Where's the limit on this? I'd assume I can't run fifty odd pedals off one block (not that I have fifty pedals).

Add up the current draw (rated in mA) of each pedal; you want your power supply to supply more than that. Most of the Shredfreak/Diago type power supplies can provide between 1000 and 3000mA (1-3A).

[Bacchus]

I've just done a quick count. 14 pedals. I'll do the adding up thing later.