Choosing the Best Pedalboard Power Supply for You

Mason Marangella from Vertex Effects digs into the nuances of powering your effects pedalboard, and presents a range of pedalboard power options to suit practically any size pedalboard on any budget.

0:00 - Intro
0:51 - Linear Power Supply
2:08 - Switch Mode Power Supply
4:33 - Cioks Power Supplies
6:32 - Hybrid Supply
7:52 - Budget Power Supply
8:57 - Pedal Power Needs
9:48 - Pedal Space Management
11:50 - Thanks For Watching!

#Sweetwater

[sweetwater]

Fuel your fun, worry-free! Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe if this video helped you!

[anthonypinto]

My dude did a phenomenal job explaining everything, bravo

[Firstinversion]

Mobile rig w/ CIOKS 4 & a laptop power bank. It works! Pretty silent, runs 7 pedals (2 digital - GFI Specular Tempus & Boss RC500) plus Morningstar MC8. I get 7 or so hours on a 27, 000 Milliamp power cell, powering about 800 milliamps of current. That and my fishman loudbox mini charge, and I’m completely A/C-free.

[ricky]

i went to an iso brick from a daisy chain after watching this, all the noise problems are gone, iso brick is good, my brother went with a truetone cs12 recently and he got rid of all his noise too. both of those seem like a great option

[drumnotdrum]

The MXR 238 has two transformers on the power pcb. They look like in house custom jobs with a nice Dunlop label.

It looks like one tap from one transformer and the 4 remaining outputs from the other transformer feed each board, there are two distribution boards leading to the panel outs, one inverted above the other, it looks very nice inside, but I couldn’t separate the three boards to have a good look! (Good solder joints not a board connector.)

Money well spent.

The selector switch on the one spot, only applies to the mains input voltage, the 9Vac regulated out on the front is always 9Vac.

Minor points I suppose!
Have a good day.

[Snibborwocky]

Great breakdown and info on power supplies. This video definitely changed my mind on what I think fits best with my pedalboard.

[FURDOG]

9:00 More current in MA that the power supply puts out than pedal requires in MA. This won't harm the pedal, just make sure that the power supply matches in Volts what the pedal requires. If the pedal is a 9V, then the power supply must be at 9V. If the pedal requires 12V, then the power supply must match that requirement at 12V.
The pedal only draws in MA what it needs to run properly. Just make sure that the pedal does not draw MORE than the power supply puts out.

[mjb]

This is the type of a doctor that will prescribe you the most expensive medicines

[markallen]

I have a 2-Notes Le Clean that draws 500mA/12Vdc, an Eventide H90 that draws 1, 000mA/12Vdc and an Alesis SR18 drawing 500mA/12Vdc. That is a total of 2, 000mA and I haven't said anything about the 9Vdc pedals I have. All of my pedals are large What do you recommend for a pedal PS?

[Burnt_Gerbil]

I use the CIOKS DC5. It’s solid, can adjust between 9v and 18v, and it’s quiet. Works for me. 😬

[cpfs]

I got a Pedal Power 3 Plus from Sweetwater. Unless it blows up, I will never need another one.

[dailupwarlord]

Just got a Cioks DC7 to use with my HX Stomp and a couple of drives and a MIDI controller I pair with it. Love the low profile and easy mounting, perfect for putting under a smaller board like a PT Nano or Metro

[ghostline]

mason explains everything so well, it's awesome, sweetwater is for the people

[topfloorstudio]

Oh that's very interesting! I always say that I can learn something new every day and today is no different! So the linear ps like my 3 VoodooLabs are all utilizing a small transformer that can introduce small amounts of noise/hum when in close proximity to my effect I knew this but I *didn't* *know* that the ones with a steel case were impervious to this problem because the heavy case shielded it versus the *aluminum* version (which I didn't know they switched production from steel to aluminum shells) and for that I thank you for educating me! Love your

[cardbored_]

I ended up buying the Cioks Ciokolate because of this video. Went from a Pedal Power Plus 2 and a Voodoo Labs 4x4 to just the Ciokolate, way less noise.

[Finom]

When you contact Sweetwater ask for Aric Ficek Sweetwater Sound Sales Engineer!!! He has helped me many times and is very knowledgeable, great person and has great communication skills!!!

[ilgilgg]

Super helpful AND timely video. I’ve been totally overwhelmed at the different PS options that are now available. Now I get it. And who getter to explain the differences!? Thanks, Mason. 👍🏼

[Nick-pgfg]

Excellent info. I got a little confused about the power supply technology description.

In the electrical engineering arena, we typically think of a switch mode supplies as noisy. This is because they literally switch on and off to reduce the voltage. Linear supplies are often though of as “quiet” or “low noise” because they don’t switch; they drop voltage by dissipating the energy as heat.

I’ll definitely have to look into how these work. Thanks for sharing.

[Supernautiloid]

I bought the MXR Iso-Brick from Sweetwater last year. Worth every penny.

[theodorek.b.]

I'm totally getting a Cioks for my bass rig! More RIG DOC please Sweetwater!!!!