Pedaltrain Volto...yay or nay?

[Cameronj279]

Going to invest in a pedaltrain mini board and was looking into a decent power supply that won't break the bank (too much).

I like the idea I'd this but do worry about it being essentially a large battery and worry a little about the battery life and how it operates when the battery isn't fully charged. At most I would be using it for maybe 6 hours a day and it would be powering 4-5 pedals (Tc Polytune, Darkglass B3K, MXR bass compressor (almost always on), MXR Envelope filter and possibly another pedal at some point)

Opinions from people who have used this before would be appreciated before I take a plunge

[skej21]

[quote name='Cameronj279' timestamp='1408997847' post='2535422']
Going to invest in a pedaltrain mini board and was looking into a decent power supply that won't break the bank (too much).

I like the idea I'd this but do worry about it being essentially a large battery and worry a little about the battery life and how it operates when the battery isn't fully charged. At most I would be using it for maybe 6 hours a day and it would be powering 4-5 pedals (Tc Polytune, Darkglass B3K, MXR bass compressor (almost always on), MXR Envelope filter and possibly another pedal at some point)

Opinions from people who have used this before would be appreciated before I take a plunge
[/quote]

I'll try and keep to the info but this is what I thought after using it:

Plus points are that it's not tied to a socket and can be recharged easily and quite quickly.

Negative points are that, due to it being a battery, the second you turn anything on you're not running at full whack. Additionally, the more pedals you use (or more power they require, like my 18v Aguilar TH pre amp pedal) the quicker it runs out. My test of the volto lasted approx 40 mins continuously using the Aguilar TH pre amp and TLC compressor.

The BIGGEST downside for me is that when the battery does run out, you cannot simply plug it back in and continue using it. It's kind of like having an iPhone. If you run the battery so low that the device turns off, you have a waiting time whilst it is on the charger before it will boot up and allow you to leave it plugged in AND use it. The volto is the same. So you somehow have to catch it before that point and plug it in if you think it is about to fail.

It's great in short bursts and I imagine it'd be great if your are a sales rep travelling and showing off pedals in short bursts or only use pedals for one or two songs in a set and don't require them to be on continuously.

For me, that wasn't the case so I ended up getting an MXR DC power brick which sits nicely in the recess under my pedaltrain nano :-)

Hope that's at all useful!

[Kirky]

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/219801-pedaltrain-volto/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/219801-pedaltrain-volto/[/url]

[synaesthesia]

I have used one for regular weekly gigs for over a year now, in Australia and here. It lasts about 5 hours for me - gigs are only ever 2.5 hours long but rehearsals have been long, 4 - 5 hours, and its still going. My bass pedal board comprises a Boss EQ-20, a custom made efx loop switch, Turbo tuner, and a Sony Wireless. I use it for my guitar pedals & powering my keyboard in one person studio. The guitarist I worked with used a Sanyo pedal juice. I'd pick up a spare if I had spare cash.

[Old Horse Murphy]

I have one too. It's lasted at least 5 hours in one go and easy to recharge from a laptop or car USB charger on the hoof if necessary.

A great bit of kit