Any try a 1-spot 9v adapter

[guilds100]

I'm looking for a 9 volt power supply to power a few pedals with as little hum a possible.  Anyone using one of these?

[DougH]

Yup. Works great.

[jpm83]

Same here, works like a charm.

Janne

[Mark Hammer]

You can pretty much expect that if a PSU bears the name of the company that hopes to sell you all those pedals that the PSU will power, the company will take pains to assure that the PSU is going to make those pedals sound good.  Or at least not make them sound like less than they really are,

All companies will turn out individual stinker products once in a while, but precious few will turn out something that makes their other products seem inferior.

Having said that, the 1-Spot is a switching supply, and some folks here have noted in past a tendency for switching supplies (in general, NOT the 1-Spot in particular) to sometimes cause noise when used to daisy-chain power several digital pedals.  You could look at this as a problem with switching supplies, a problem with digital pedals that don't anticipate daisy-chain cables, or a problem with daisy-chain cables, or simply a gap in product demand that has not been filled yet.  Note that those same supplies will do a great job with individual digital pedals, or an all-analog pedalboard.  The problem only seems to arise when there are several independent clocking circuits linked together by power lines.

I may be remembering this wrong, though.

[Processaurus]

I use a couple of them, probably the best feature is that the cord is heavy, and actually long enough to get from the wall where your amp is plugged in to your pedals, something that other adapters just don't do with their piddly 6ft cords.  When the little cable breaks on my boss PSA adaptors next time I think I'll steal their idea and put a ultra long cord on it.

[aron]

One spot is great. It does not give you a perfect 9V, but rather something a little higher (at least for me).

It's positive on the barrel (along with everything else except my DIY pedals). I never know what to do with the extra barrels that are unused since they can short on another pedal. hmmmm

[moro]

It's positive on the barrel (along with everything else except my DIY pedals). I never know what to do with the extra barrels that are unused since they can short on another pedal. hmmmm

Ha! I thought I was the only one who had this problem. Sometimes, I'll be moving some stuff around, one of the unused plugs will touch an enclosure, and...DEAFENING POP. Does anyone make a little plastic cap that fits over the plugs?

But I love the 1-Spot. I have three: two for negative ground and one for positive ground.

[scaesic]

It's positive on the barrel (along with everything else except my DIY pedals). I never know what to do with the extra barrels that are unused since they can short on another pedal. hmmmm

Ha! I thought I was the only one who had this problem. Sometimes, I'll be moving some stuff around, one of the unused plugs will touch an enclosure, and...DEAFENING POP. Does anyone make a little plastic cap that fits over the plugs?

But I love the 1-Spot. I have three: two for negative ground and one for positive ground.

I got a godlyke power all, which is practically the same product, it comes with 3 or 4 little plastic caps. i havnt seen them available to buy on their own though.

[JasonG]

You could always put shrink wrap tubing over the unused plugs.

[aron]

You could always put shrink wrap tubing over the unused plugs.

Yep, but sometimes I want to use the plug.

[jayp5150]

I wonder if you could find the right size of plastic light bulb cover at the auto parts store (the colored ones).

Or for that matter, vacuum line caps.

[guilds100]

Thanks for the advice. I just purchased the adapter. I hope it lives up to its name as I eventually hope to power 14 pedals with it.

[GravityRobert]

It does seen to alter the sound of the pedal from my experiences. I prefer battery powered but my Boss Hm-2 chews through batteries so I use adapters for practice, batteries for recording.

[aron]

The #1 to me that an adapter - or is it adaptor, is great for is to make your pedal sound the same through different gigs. With battery, it always seems like a moving target as the battery dies.

The regulated adapter is very good at keeping things at a stable point.

[stumper1]

Or for that matter, vacuum line caps.

That's what I use - works great.

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

It does seen to alter the sound of the pedal from my experiences. I prefer battery powered but my Boss Hm-2 chews through batteries so I use adapters for practice, batteries for recording.

The only differences could be
1. the power supply output impedance is lower, or
2. the power supply voltage is regulated at 9v but the batteries sag.
Maybe you could wire up a resistor inside the effect box, so that it is in series with the supply from the external adaptor, but not the battery.
For most effects, the lower the power supply impedance the better, and the more constant the 9v the better, but of course for some distortions & fuzzes, this may not be the case.

[moro]

A related question: if all I ever use is a 1-Spot or a battery, do I need to put power filtering caps in my pedals?

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

Well, I would put that filter cap in the board. And even a .1 ceramic bypass in case tehre happens to be a bit of stray RF coming from somewhere.. Because it will help if you ever (God forbid!) lose your One Spot, or if your battery goes a bit flat.
I mean, it's not like a MAJOR expense, even for me..

[moro]

Well, I would put that filter cap in the board. And even a .1 ceramic bypass in case tehre happens to be a bit of stray RF coming from somewhere.. Because it will help if you ever (God forbid!) lose your One Spot, or if your battery goes a bit flat.
I mean, it's not like a MAJOR expense, even for me..

Ok, thanks. I'm all for making my pedals as robust as possible. What do you mean by a ".1 ceramic bypass?"

And it isn't so much a cost issue--it's just that the extra components complicate the layout a bit. With something like a booster or a fuzz, the filtering cap is about 20% of the footprint of the board.

[Ben N]

Having said that, the 1-Spot is a switching supply, and some folks here have noted in past a tendency for switching supplies (in general, NOT the 1-Spot in particular) to sometimes cause noise when used to daisy-chain power several digital pedals.  You could look at this as a problem with switching supplies, a problem with digital pedals that don't anticipate daisy-chain cables, or a problem with daisy-chain cables, or simply a gap in product demand that has not been filled yet.  Note that those same supplies will do a great job with individual digital pedals, or an all-analog pedalboard.  The problem only seems to arise when there are several independent clocking circuits linked together by power lines.

Yup, been there, with a couple of Line 6 pedals, and Echo Park and a chorus--bad news on the noise, even when bypassed. However, part of the problem was apparently in the interaction between the two digital pedals themselves, as when I tried to power them from separate wallwarts instead of the 1-Spot, the noise improved but was still a problem. Eventually I decided that until I go stereo, I prefer the sound of my CE-2 to the Line6 anyway. Voila--problem solved. The Echo Park gets on fine with sharing the 1-Spot daisy chain.

Beyond that, I have compared my board with the 1-Spot to a wall wart, and there is no appreciable difference in sound, no noticeable switching noise. Works great, and now a simple power strip can also handle my other AC stuff.