Why does my Boss RC-2 whine?

[reentune]

I've owned this pedal on two separate occasions now, and both have emitted a high-pitch whine, regardless of the placement.

Does it just boil down to my building's electrical wiring or my power supply, or is this a common problem with RC-2s?

[Super Locrian]

What power supply are you using for the pedal? If it's the digital switching type, you probably need to replace it with a power supply that has better regulation and filtering.

[reentune]

I have it running off a Furman SPB-8 pedal board or a One Spot.

[Super Locrian]

The One Spot is the digital switching type, not sure about the Furman. If it doesn't whine when powered by the battery, the problem is the power supply.

[randprix]

i have the same problem and found that the noise was still there with the battery. it's something i can deal with live but i make sure it's out of my chain in a recording situation.

[MrBoZiffer]

I had mine on a 1Spot and it whined, but only when it was bypassed. The whine was gone when it was in use. I put it on it's own separate power supply and it stopped altogether. I'm going to put mine back on the 1Spot and give the pedal it's own loop so I can bypass it. The whine won't bother me that way.

[reentune]

Thanks, everyone, for the responses.
I'll see what happens with a battery.
This is the only pedal I own that whines, which is why I sold the first one. But it's just such a useful tool, that I'll keep this one, whine or no whine.
It's good to know it's not just me.


While I'm asking, are there any of you out there who don't get, and have never gotten, this sound?

[Peeb]

Originally Posted by reentune

Thanks, everyone, for the responses.
I'll see what happens with a battery.
This is the only pedal I own that whines, which is why I sold the first one. But it's just such a useful tool, that I'll keep this one, whine or no whine.
It's good to know it's not just me.


While I'm asking, are there any of you out there who don't get, and have never gotten, this sound?

I'm not getting that sound running with a battery or with the boss ac-adapter.

It really IS a useful tool, eh? Love mine.

[johnrambo]

they like to be on there own power supplies and not daisy chained. i bought a separate boss adapter for mine and the noise went away.

[kevinsaari]

Originally Posted by johnrambo

they like to be on there own power supplies and not daisy chained. i bought a separate boss adapter for mine and the noise went away.

QFT.

The RC-2 takes a lot of current. It needs it's own, isolated power supply. Like a PP2+.

[reentune]

I'll try isolating it with its own supply.

I've been using it into it's own separate amp, which I treat as a kind of subwoofer.
My signal is split to A) a stereo amp setup and B) the "subwoofer" (it's kinda like a computer or home-theater concept; the third amp really fills out the low end).

I speculated that I just had too much stuff going at once, and that the whine was some polarity problem or something. But I will say that even when I run it into a single amp (with it's own One Spot supply) it still whines. Both on and off, BTW.

Again, thanks for the responses, and please keep them coming.

[drolling]

Mine's whine-free (whineless?) using the standard BOSS PSA power supply. Never even thought to try a battery, as my old 2 second sampler (which took TWO 9v batteries) wouldn't get me thru' a set without the adaptor.

How many hours use would I get from a battery powered RC-2?

[reentune]

very few

[radcliff]

i got rid of the RC2 because it was similarly noisy

[reentune]

Still whinin'.
It is a bit distracting.
Lame.