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How to shield power adapters

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voodoo lab
4K views 11 replies 6 participants last post by  Gudster 
#1 ·
hey all

Right now on my pedal board i have a boss ds-1 and a gt-8. I want to build a case for them, and add more pedals and footswitches. There's one problem. When i put my ds-1 on, there's a ton of intereference, which is because i'm using a power adapter on the ds-1. How can i stop this interference?

thanks
 
#5 ·
I just want to through in a second opinion here...

In my experience all linear type regulated power supplies will always introduce noise into your signal chain and the amount of noise will be dependant on how noisey your mains electricity is... your boss adapter for example is a standard 9v linear regulated power suplly

The only way to get around this is to use a switch type power supply...
switch type power supllies come with their own pit-falls too... have a look here ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched-mode_power_supply

Turns our lots of people are selling good quality 9v switch type power supplies.. and hence you should be able to get one for less than $10. Which will be less than 1/10th the cost of the Voodoo lab.
 
#6 ·
that's what i'm tlaking about Devo!! i DON'T WANT TO BUY AN SUPER EXPENSIVE PEDAL POWER! i just want to ellimate the hum from my power adapters. i don't need a voodoo power supply, i don't wnat one. i'm 14, i don't have cash to throw around like that

any other ideas?
 
#7 ·
forgot to add that Im 99% sure your problem isnt shielding...

the reason for thinking this is that if the problem was bad enough that shielding was an issue then you would notice it in the guitar first before it would effect the power supply...

so, in my opinion, the only thing you can do is buy a power conditioner or a switch type power supply that isnt affected by line noise.

If you had a rack of equipment all being effected then a conditioner is the way to go... if you have a single pedal then investing in a new switch supply will solve it

conditioners are hundreds of dollars switch powersupplies are 10's or less...
 
#9 ·
No, the problem is the filtering in the power supply. It doesn't matter how clean the AC going into the supply is, cheap power supplies don't filter the DC out enough to get rid of the ripple. Try a Visual Sound One Spot, it's relatively cheap and is a digital switching power supply. It won't get rid of 100% of the noise, but it's much better than 99% of the wall wart power supplies. Since it is a switcher, it's actually noisier than a regular wall wart, but the noise is outside of the range of the human ear, and probably alot of the circuitry of analog pedals. I use 2 One Spots and really like them, much quieter than the standard Boss power supplies for about the same price.
 
#10 ·
I'd like to know more specifics about the issue. It sounds to me like he's getting hum from the power supply, which could be:

a) a bad power supply
b) a noisy AC line in yoyo's residence
c) a bad cable going to the DS-1 or bad cables between all effects

Yoyo, you need to identify the source of the problem first hand. Did your amp make the same noise before you put the effects in? if it did, then the problem is the AC line and you'll definintely need a power strip (not a vodoo or a brick) that will have filtering capabilities, so it can get rid of the noise.

If the amp didn't , then try playing your amp with the GT-8 alone first and see if you get the same noise. Then, try running the amp alone with the DS-1 and see what happens. If no noise is heard with the DS-1 alone, or the GT-8 alone, then you can eliminate the power supply from the equation. Do the same as above with different cables to see if you can find the culprit. If everything is still sounding ok, at that point, invest 50 bucks on a humX to see if it'll get rid of the noise. If the noise persists, return the humX, get a line conditioner and it should fix your problem.

Ground-related noises can be a major pain to deal with. Having worked with high end home and car stereo systems before, I can tell you that it's a process and you have to be patient and try to isolate the problem in order to fixt it. If I suggested the Monster Pro 1000 bar was because of the little information you provided and I still think that it would solve the problem. however, seeing as you're only 14 and have no money to fix the problem, the best suggestion I can tell you is to try to isolate the problem first and then try one solution at a time and if it doesn't work, you can always go back to the store and return it.

If you do decide to get a surge protector with filtering capabilities, check out the monster ones:

http://monstercable.com/productdisplay.asp?pin=2143

Please post back with your findings.

Jimmy:smile:
 
#11 ·
thanks a bunch guys

JB - my gt-8 does not make noise, only when i have the ds-1 in the chain does it make noise. it's not the amp. When i have the ds-1 off on bypass, there is no noise. When i click it on, there is noise, and the noise gets louder when i turn up the gain.
hope this helps....
btw, my dad has said he'll help me build a pedalboard, so i think he would be willing to put in some extra cash to elliminate that kinda stuff, so anything 50 and under will do. but of course, the cheaper, the better
 
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