Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: bandmaster188 on January 19, 2012, 11:17:21 PM

Title: voodoo lab power 2 plus
Post by: bandmaster188 on January 19, 2012, 11:17:21 PM
anyone had any experience with the voodoo lab 2 plus power supply?
i'm experiencing a noisey pedal board and am wondering is it worth paying out £150 for one of these.
also looking at the carl martin power supply. what are your thoughts people.
Title: Re: voodoo lab power 2 plus
Post by: Telerocker on January 19, 2012, 11:31:39 PM
They have a good reputation. You could also have a look at a Burkey Flatliner.
Title: Re: voodoo lab power 2 plus
Post by: Frank on January 20, 2012, 12:14:15 AM
Wow, £150 for a "hand-made" regulated power supply. Now I've seen everything.

It's a transformer, some diodes, a couple of capacitors and resistors and a voltage regulator, total cost of parts is about £20. Hand made? Is that meant to be an advantage? Hand made electronics like this will probably be LESS well made than something spat out of an automated soldering machine. There'll be nothing special about the circuit compared to other regulated supplies.

tl;dr - ripoff.
Title: Re: voodoo lab power 2 plus
Post by: Frank on January 20, 2012, 12:15:41 AM
From the product website

Quote
simply makes you sound better!

pinch of salt please, table 1
Title: Re: voodoo lab power 2 plus
Post by: juansolo on January 20, 2012, 07:21:34 AM
http://www.johnnyshredfreak.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8&products_id=12 (http://www.johnnyshredfreak.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8&products_id=12)

Hard to touch these, 1.5a 9v PSU. Will drive almost anything and most of it's friends.
Title: Re: voodoo lab power 2 plus
Post by: Matt77 on January 20, 2012, 07:45:29 AM
Depends on your pedals. I had the diego powersupply and the johnny shredfreak one, but I had some hum from some pedals and some popping sounds when others were turned on. I couldn't get to the bottom of it so I got the voodoo lab, it is expensive, but it's tidy and all the hum and popping went away. There is also quite a bit of flexibility with voltages which can be useful depending on your pedals voltage requirements.

I'd try the johnny shredfreak one and see how you get on. I sold mine as it was redundant since the voodoo lab arrived, but definately a god product.
Which reminds me... I need to ebay the diego one which is just the same as the js but a lot more expensive.
Title: Re: voodoo lab power 2 plus
Post by: Zaned on January 20, 2012, 09:12:48 AM
I have one, and have nothing but good things to say about it. The outputs are all isolated and all behind their own fuse.  I have pedals also in the fx loop, which can easily lead to hum.

-Zaned
Title: Re: voodoo lab power 2 plus
Post by: BigB on January 20, 2012, 12:35:22 PM
It's a transformer, some diodes, a couple of capacitors and resistors and a voltage regulator, total cost of parts is about £20.


isolated outputs - means one transformer per output.

tl;dr - ripoff.

Disagree. I used to think the same, powered my PB with a good ole Boss PSU and a daisy chain, and really had some buzz, noises and weird interaction issues (even with a total current draw way below what the PSU could handle and nothing in the amp's loop). Then I bought a TC Nova Repeater, 24V 300mA, comes with it's own PSU, and the ground loops just ate my tone.  Pulled the trigger for a Voodoolab ISO5, couldn't be happier - no more buzz, no more strange issues, clarity and dynamic were back... Oh and even more since I can now feed my booster and ODs with 18V, which greatly improve the dynamic. Finally sold the Nova Repeater (too complicated and too cold for me) but kept the Voodoolab, this thing changed my life.


@bandmaster188:  you want something with isolated outputs - that's what prevents ground loops and other "interaction" issues - and preferably with toroidal transformers.  There are quite a few isolated outputs PSUs so check the specs  to find out which one fits your needs (power outlets count, current supply values, voltages, etc).

NB : You can still daisy chain 2 or more pedals on a same power outlet once you know which ones do work together and which ones don't, the main point is taht when 2 pedals don't get along fine (ie you get buzz, ticks, weird noises or even unexpected signal distortions when they are daisy chained that you don't have when testing each pedal in isolation), you have the option to feed them from distinct outlets, which is usually enough to solve the problem.

Title: Re: voodoo lab power 2 plus
Post by: bandmaster188 on January 20, 2012, 04:23:31 PM
cheers folks. it does sound like a winner but 150 quid for a power supply! OUCH!!!!
i think i'm gonna go for it though.
Title: Re: voodoo lab power 2 plus
Post by: BigB on January 20, 2012, 06:32:35 PM
cheers folks. it does sound like a winner but 150 quid for a power supply! OUCH!!!!

Yeah, it hurts. But well, what about 150 quid for some dead simple dirtbox that you could build for less than 40  and a couple hours soldering ?

I really thought the price tag for a serious PSU was a "total ripoff" unless you had dozens or more pedals, now I know the difference it can make I just won't go back.
Title: Re: voodoo lab power 2 plus
Post by: jpfamps on January 20, 2012, 07:17:26 PM
You also need to bear in mind that mains driven power supplies have to go through expensive approvals for sale worldwide.

This adds significant expense.

I don't think that £150 for a mains driven power linear supply with multiple isolated outputs is outrageous.

It is certainly less outrageous than the price of some boutique distortion pedals.
Title: Re: voodoo lab power 2 plus
Post by: Oli on January 20, 2012, 10:25:24 PM
It's a transformer, some diodes, a couple of capacitors and resistors and a voltage regulator, total cost of parts is about £20.

isolated outputs - means one transformer per output.


I think it'd be one transformer with multiple secondaries-- I don't know if you'd be able to fit 8 transformers in there-- either way, it wouldn't be cheap :)
Title: Re: voodoo lab power 2 plus
Post by: jpfamps on January 21, 2012, 11:33:56 AM
Yes it will be one transformer with multiple secondaries.

This is unlikely to be an off-the-shelf part (I can't find any with more than two low voltage secondaries), so will need to be custom ordered.

Title: Re: voodoo lab power 2 plus
Post by: horsehead on January 21, 2012, 06:37:18 PM
There's these available

http://www.musicstore.com/en_EN/EUR/Guitars/Power-supply-units/Fame-DCT-200-Multi-Power-Supply-/art-GIT0019066-000