The definitive - how to get the quietest pedalboard thread.

[ammalato]

I thought that might get some attention...

Question is, how do you guys with all of your various pedals (preferably 8 or more) get your rig to stay quiet and free from all of the nuisances like "clock whine" in Chorus'/Flangers, Powering multiple pedals noisefree and audio signal path tips...

I'm running into problems with my rig with clock whine, hum and pedals not sharing the same power source happily and think it's time to upgrade my board, power supply and connectors...thought this could help everyone though...

 

[rickenbackerkid]

My basic answer is have every single pedal on a isolated power souce, that can supply at least the mA that the pedal requires.

Then it is vital to use top quality patch cables.
Also I prefer the two core + shield cables for my guitar - pedals cable.

If you have a long chain of pedals you only use for one song or so, consider putting them in a TB loop so you don't run through all the patch cables, ect.

Also consider a buffer or two, as driving long cable/pedal runs from single coil strat pickups can lower the noise floor significantly.

So for my rig, the noise isses were solved by a PP2+, Lava ELC patch cables, a input buffer, and a buffered pedal last in the chain. Now my rig is very, very quiet, unless I use my fuzz pedal.

I have tried noise gates, and haven't liked the results. I think of them as a patch, rather than a solution.

 

[ammalato]

So the Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2+ Comes up the winner again. What other Isolated Power supplies are out there? I'm looking at the PP2+ however I'm already at 9 Pedals and growing so I'm wondering how to handle them all, possibly daisy chain a few together off one 9v jack as long as the play nice together.

 

[todd richman]

L.A. Sound Design-trust me, a custom built and wired board by David and Martin is whisper quiet and simply amazing.

 

[nibus]

Juicebox!

 

[Mike9]

I have a Pedal Board Junction "Union Station" - has tuner out, and two loops - main loop that I load into the front of my amps has wah, comp, and two drive pedals and the secondary loop has all my time based effects in. I use a VHT Valvulator1 tube buffer to drive my chain. Pretty quiet rig now - I also have a BBE Supa-Charger power supply and believe me that is key. I used to daisy chain off a couple of One Spots, but that was very noisy. Isolated power is like a new lease on life - :BEER

 

[rickenbackerkid]

So the Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2+ Comes up the winner again. What other Isolated Power supplies are out there? I'm looking at the PP2+ however I'm already at 9 Pedals and growing so I'm wondering how to handle them all, possibly daisy chain a few together off one 9v jack as long as the play nice together.

I daisy chain a dedicated buffer with a compressor in my rig. Those two pedals are pretty low draw and daisy chaining them doesn't seem to introduce noise.

 

[BugSlayer]

Juicebox!

+1 for the Juicebox!

 

[Sikor]

What other Isolated Power supplies are out there?

I have BBE Supa-Charger, very nice.
There is also T-Rex Fuel Tank Junior and Burkey Flatliner Pro and Flatliner Six and a lot other s

Check out this comparison table:
http://www.stinkfoot.se/andreas/diy/power/psu.htm

 

[RobertKeeley]

Another +1 for the Juicebox. It is a Really great design. Pedal Power II (+) is a fine unit as well.
Those units will solve many of the problems you have described. There are in effect dedicated supplies to each unit as bbrunskill talked about. Proper grounding and well designed and constructed cables are a must too. If the grounding of your system or the ground/shield of a cable comes in to play you're going to have noise. Hum can be an indication that you are not giving a pedal enough voltage or more than likely it is not regulated well for that load (current/voltage requirement).
rk

 

[908SSP]

I use PPII and daisey chain some of the pedals that I don't run at the same time. Make sure everything on your rig is grounded in the same place. I run a larger heavy duty power strip and everything plugs in there. That helps eliminate some ground loops.

 

[cbpickin]

So the Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2+ Comes up the winner again. What other Isolated Power supplies are out there? I'm looking at the PP2+ however I'm already at 9 Pedals and growing so I'm wondering how to handle them all, possibly daisy chain a few together off one 9v jack as long as the play nice together.

You can easily run more pedals off the PP2+, just depends on the mA draw. You can get Y cables to run 2 pedals off of the higher output outlets from Stomping Ground. You just have to be sure the pedals themselves can share a power supply. I split the power between thngs that wouldn't really be used together, like my wah and tuner.