SwamiRob Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 Seen a few cheap power supplies on ebay and was wondering if they are gonna be ok or whether they are too good to be true. In particular there's one called from a brand/is branded by Caline or something similar, that has several 9V outputs, a 12V one and a 18V one, and claims they are all isolated. Have seen alot of decent reviews for it and there's a few gash ones but has anyone here got any experience with anything like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwamiRob Posted February 22, 2016 Author Share Posted February 22, 2016 m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Caline-CP-05-guitar-effects-power-supply-Euro-Plug-/151762698845 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 No experience of that psu but the higher voltage ones put out fairly low current so may not have enough oomph to power any digital pedals. Your bog standard boss type analogue pedals will be fine though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 I have the caline and its doing a decent job. I'm running a tuner, hartke bass attack, micro q tron, boss flanger, boss limiter enhancer and a zoom 506 off it right now, all holding up well. Good value for money. Not sure how it would handle a more exotic set up but there's room for more pedals should I want to add them on. I'd say go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfFrink Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 AFAIK these are not really isolated. OTOH most pedals don't really need fully isolated power to work well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderpaws Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 I have the Caline. Bought it from Amazon. It is pretty good for the money, better than the rubbish Diago one I had which failed, as did two of my band mates. No noise issues, I have a tuner, comp, two drive, a flanger and a looper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwamiRob Posted February 22, 2016 Author Share Posted February 22, 2016 Cool! Don't need anything fancy, just a tuner, distortion and an 18v compressor, although the distortion has some magic voltage doubling going on or something so hopefully that wouldn't mess anything up. In what situations DOES isolation matter by the way? As long as there isn't too much buzz I'm happy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorris Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 [quote name='ProfFrink' timestamp='1456175658' post='2986348'] AFAIK these are not really isolated. OTOH most pedals don't really need fully isolated power to work well. [/quote] The problem with multiple output power supplies being described as 'isolated' is a problem with terminology. In normal 'electronics language' "isolated" would mean galvanic isolation ie the "Ground" terminals of the outputs (as well as the positive terminals) are not commoned in the power supply. But some of the multi output power supplies available and described as "isolated" do have a common ground. The "isolated" aspect appears to refer too the fact that the outputs have independent protection against over current / short circuit etc - ie if one output is short circuited or asked to provide too much current then the other outputs shouldn't be affected. "independent" would be a better term rather than "Isolated". Oddly, the Thommann Powerplant does not have Isolated Outputs whilst the Powerplant Junior does (with fewer outputs than the Powerplant). I verified this with Thommann before purchase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorris Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 [quote name='SwamiRob' timestamp='1456182393' post='2986458'] Cool! Don't need anything fancy, just a tuner, distortion and an 18v compressor, although the distortion has some magic voltage doubling going on or something so hopefully that wouldn't mess anything up. In what situations DOES isolation matter by the way? As long as there isn't too much buzz I'm happy! [/quote] If you're running pretty much any sort of digital pedal ie it has clock signals inside it then you're likely to run into problems with non-isolated or daisy chain supplies. In this case the digital effect is causing noise which affects the other pedals. With non digital effects the situation is a bit more nuanced. With non isolated or daisy chain supplies you are , by definition, introducing 'Ground Loops' (since the patch lead between the pedals is providing a 'Ground' path in addition to the power supply ground). This loop is liable to have noise induced into it. Whether this happens to a significant degree depends on the geometry of the loop and sources of interference. For instance there may not be a problem until you are near a lighting rig / fridge / laptop etc. Minimising the loop area (basically short leads and lead dressing) will give best results. You can try various 'tricks' with the patch leads - inserting permutations of resistors and capacitors in the shield path to provide isolation at lower frequencies and continuity at higher frequencies - essentially a 'Ground Lift' approach - my advice is don't :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LewisK1975 Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 I worried about this for a very long time - bought the Voodoo labs Pedal power 2+ in the end and now I don't think about it any more. It's expensive but it gives me peace of mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 [quote name='rmorris' timestamp='1456224988' post='2986722'] If you're running pretty much any sort of digital pedal ie it has clock signals inside it then you're likely to run into problems with non-isolated or daisy chain supplies. In this case the digital effect is causing noise which affects the other pedals... [/quote] Cracking advice in both of your posts... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt P Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 I'm using the Harley Benton Junior (and the Palmer version of the same unit) the isolated nature of the outputs makes it easy to get 18V or 240mA, I'm running a blowtorch at 18v and the high current for my G30, I've had no issues and 2 of my friends are using the same units with no problems it's a bargain really! they both came with the current doubler cable and the 18v cable is easy to make if you've got a soldering iron Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorris Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 [quote name='Matt P' timestamp='1456231583' post='2986808'] I'm using the Harley Benton Junior (and the Palmer version of the same unit) the isolated nature of the outputs makes it easy to get 18V or 240mA, I'm running a blowtorch at 18v and the high current for my G30, I've had no issues and 2 of my friends are using the same units with no problems it's a bargain really! they both came with the current doubler cable and the 18v cable is easy to make if you've got a soldering iron Matt [/quote] [quote name='ahpook' timestamp='1456231010' post='2986801'] Cracking advice in both of your posts... [/quote] Thanks. and that's the other plus with isolated supplies - since they are 'floating' you can stack them up to give higher voltage (and parallel for more current if the design allows) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthaside Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 (edited) I've got one of these , i decided I'd grab one on a punt with some Amazon vouchers and it seemed the best well reviewed , Im very happy with my choice. . [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B010DLUSS4?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00"]http://www.amazon.co...ailpage_o01_s00[/url] So far no complaints with the actual function of the thing . minor niggles are the fact that its own power supply cable from wall to unit isn't particularly long ,but I swapped it for another identical one from another pedal with a longer cable. I'm using it to power a Zoom B3 , at 9volt BDI21 at 9 volt , digitech bass synth at 9 volt and a wireless unit at 18Volt , I was even using it to power my little hot-tone mini bass head which was also at 18 volt .. Another minor downside for me is that all the included power leads are the same length it would be nice if some were shorter ... but i was able to tidy cables up underneath pedal boards etc. It introduces No discernible noise in the chain ... its compact and being able to turn on all the LED's was amusing when we decided to turn the lights off in the studio to test how well we new some songs. Edited February 23, 2016 by synthaside Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwamiRob Posted February 23, 2016 Author Share Posted February 23, 2016 Awesome thanks for the advice guys, don't have any digital stuff so will probably try one out since they're only 25 quid or so and hope that none of my pedals or any mains I use disagree with it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwamiRob Posted March 6, 2016 Author Share Posted March 6, 2016 [color=#141414][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,] Got a cheap one in the end, but the build quality seems pretty decent and was well packaged and everything with plenty of options for leads, having one for each output and polarity flipping one and a mini jack output one for good measure. Only thing I had to do was get a 2.1mm to 2.5mm adaptor for my Trace compressor. Works very quietly and was great at the gig I played last night.[/font][/color] [color=#141414][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,] [/font][/color][color=#141414][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,] [/font][/color] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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