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The Perfect PSU for PT Nano / Metro Boards?


Al Krow

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There seem to be very few isolated PSUs that will slot underneath the shallow depth Pedaltrain boards i.e. the Nano and Metro series.

I've been using a Ciocks DC5 which does fit snugly and easily as you can see below and has the outputs helpfully located at the 'ends' rather than at the 'side'.

I've failed miserably in keeping my pedals to a compact Nano+ board (in the picture) and have taken the plunge to upscale to a Metro 24 (with hard case for added protection). I've got a fair few pedals that are quite power hungry and are a happier with 200mA / 300mA so the DC5 will likely be insufficient in terms of power draw (5 isolated outputs & max 900mA) for my needs on the larger Metro 24 board.

So I've been looking around at options and have come across the TrueTone OneSpot CS6 which has same width and height as the DC5, but is a little longer - which is fine in terms of slotting underneath. It has six outputs and, critically, delivers 1,600mA. It's also slightly cheaper than the DC5 (£120 from Bax). I've ordered mine, but still waiting delivery (apparently there's been a bit of snow... :))

If you're already using the CS6 (or indeed moved it on) or have other alternatives that work well underneath these shallower PT boards, then please do share your thoughts on this thread.

AK

Ciocks DC5.JPG

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Great to hear. I had the Truetone CS7 when I had a larger board. Since I downsized to a Nano I have been getting by with a OneSpot. However, in my heart, I know I won't be happy until I have a 'proper' power supple attached to the Nano.

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My seemingly never ending quest for the perfect PSU is currently settled on this...

I am using a Strymon Ojai to power generally high draw pedals across 2 PT Nanos. I am currently in the middle of fabricating a couple of riser platforms. Once complete I will no doubt share full details elsewhere on the site.

NanoUnderside.jpg

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16 minutes ago, uzzell said:

My seemingly never ending quest for the perfect PSU is currently settled on this...

I am using a Strymon Ojai to power generally high draw pedals across 2 PT Nanos. I am currently in the middle of fabricating a couple of riser platforms. Once complete I will no doubt share full details elsewhere on the site.

That's neat. You look as though you have raised 'feet' for your board (just comparing the height of your four to those on mine). Did you source your feet separately and, if so, where from?

Raised feet would certainly open up a bunch of additional PSU options.

Edited by Al Krow
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I'm happy with the DC5, and it's been able to power pedals that on paper, it shouldn't (e.g. Two Notes Le Bass). But if do up another board I would definitely try the CS6. I like the fact their technology isn't transformer based which means you can get more juice from individual outputs and you're able to far exceed what each one is labelled as, and certain pedals are succeptible to noise when placed near transformers.

Edited by dannybuoy
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29 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

That's neat. You look as though you have raised 'feet' for your board (just comparing the height of your four to those on mine). Did you source your feet separately and, if so, where from?

Raised feet would certainly open up a bunch of additional PSU options.

In actual fact, these are still the original stock feet. I considered replacing them but I decided against for a combination of reasons, mostly because with my modular 2 Nano setup I like to have the one behind raised but an inch or 2. Therefore I am making a couple of wooden runners to raise it but they have to be detachable in order that the board will fit inside an old flight case I have laying around. 

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I’ve spent the last week googling this very subject. I’m using a Godlyke PowerAll (same as a One Spot) and have a measly 5 pedals. I’m getting just enough ground loop hum that when I kick on a compressor in Logic (I play exclusively through headphones right now), that ground buzz goes nuclear the second any of my pedals are switched on. I think the noise is being compounded further by the fact that it’s a US power supply plugged into a Uk travel adapter.

I downsized from a Novo 24 to a PT Jr. and now to a Nano (non +).

The problem is I just can’t justify the high cost of a Pedaltrain Spark or DC5, so I’ve been looking into the cheap isolated (some may only be partially isolated). So far, I’ve found the Vitoos/ Fame DC8 and Iso4 which are cheap and there are a handful of reports that they will fit under the flat Pedaltrains. I’d be more than happy to stick some taller feet on the Nano for better floor clearance, but I’m also concerned about the supply fitting between the rails.

I’ll be following this thread to see what everyone has to add.

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gigrig isolators/distributors/timelord, etc plus your choice of psu. (onespot/diago/powerall, etc) been powering my board like that for years without any issues.  More expensive but for me its worth it. Here is one of my former board using diago/gigrig. All of them fully isolated; Diago psu is rated at 3000mah. 

 

All of them purchased used to save on cost.

3C073D05-378E-4B37-86CC-F4BF930801EA.jpeg

Edited by ordep
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@ordep thanks v much for sharing that. You have some very decent (and not cheap!) pedals so I can understand you wanting to invest in decent power options.

Great if you could talk us through in a bit more detail how your power chain threads together, and what the option you have shown above would typically cost including your diago PSU? 

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yup, as I mentioned, I got all of them used:

£40 each for the the evenflo, super nova and doubler. 

£35 for the isolator 

£25 for the distributor

£30 for the diago PSU.

 

total of £210 for all. 

It might look a lot but look what it can provide:

-450mah 9v centre positive for the H9 (evenflo)

-550mah 12v centre negative for Le Bass (supanova)

-550mah 18v centre negative for Cali (doubler)

-4 x 170mah fully isolated 9v centre negative for all other pedals (isolator)

the distributor is just like a normal daisy chain to connect all of this; main advantage of this, as with the whole gigrig power system, is of course you can cut the cables to your desired length as needed. 

 

 

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and yeah, reason why it got to that amount is because at that time I have crazy power supply need. if you are just running pedals with “normal” power requirements you can just buy a daisy chain and an gigrig isolator/timelord/etc, as needed.

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I bought a copy of the Pedaltrain (Spider Cases) and was dismayed when I realised my Fuel Tank was too deep... so I improvised.  Went to a local hardware shop and got some longer screws and nuts to raise the height of the board just enough to allow space for the PSU.  Works a treat!  Much cheaper than buying a new PSU too.
20180303_233937.thumb.jpg.f4500a3c937f83a760edd3b508592a4a.jpg

Edited by Misowaki
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20 hours ago, Misowaki said:

I bought a copy of the Pedaltrain (Spider Cases) and was dismayed when I realised my Fuel Tank was too deep... so I improvised.  Went to a local hardware shop and got some longer screws and nuts to raise the height of the board just enough to allow space for the PSU.  Works a treat!  Much cheaper than buying a new PSU too.
20180303_233937.thumb.jpg.f4500a3c937f83a760edd3b508592a4a.jpg

A few minutes with some tools - this is by far the most practical option. I’m much too lazy and bought a Strymon Ojai R30, which was specifically designed to slot under the Nano/Metro boards. Unlike the “standard” Ojai it’s a couple of mm thinner, offers voltage switching and has all power sockets on one side which is much more practical when dealing with the kinds of narrow mounting areas we have under our boards.

Edited by CameronJ
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Well seems I've gone 1800 in terms of my preferred approach from under to back on top!

As I mentioned in my OP, I have several power hungry pedals: Markbass SS - 12V 500mA (although it can 'manage' on 300mA at 12V), Source Audio pedals 150mA apiece, plus Smoothound wireless 300mA (plus some lower consumption pedals). The 'final straw' was reminding myself that my Digitech Mosaic was not happy with 100mA and much more content with 300mA.  Finding myself with a bit of "spare" space on top of my Metro 24, I decided to abandon going for the Onespot CS6 and have gone for the MXR M238 instead, which isn't much larger than an individual 'Boss' size pedal but provides a total of 2,700mA as follows: 

  • 10 Isolated outputs
  • 2 x 9V DC outputs each up to 100 mA
  • 2 x 9V DC outputs with a maximum of 300 mA each
  • 2 x Outputs 9V DC with 450 mA each
  • 2 x Outputs 18V DC with a maximum of 250 mA each
  • 2 x DC outputs with separately controllable output voltages from 6 to 15 V each with a maximum of 250 mA 

It's not quite perfect - as it would have been nice to have been able to switch from 9V to 12V with the 300mA and 450mA outputs (but I can current double the 2 variable voltage outputs at 12V for the MB SS - or just feed it 450mA at 9V, again it should be fine with that).

It's pretty compact and is powered by a PSU rather than a mains cable (which is actually ideal for use with a hard case).

So that will provide me with a neat single PSU solution for my Metro 24.

Stock images:

Image result for mxr m238Image result for mxr m238

Edited by Al Krow
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Two things:

I reckon a CS6 will power that lot fine, remember you can ignore the individual output labels with this supply, a 100mA output will be able to dish out 300mA if your Mosaic really needs it.

That MXR won't fit under a Metro unless you put stilts on it! 

Edited by dannybuoy
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Quite right about sitting on top rather than underneath the Metro - means I will end up buying one less pedal. Actually that might just be a good thing :)

My Ciocks certainly couldn't manage to power your "ex" (Mosaic) with 100mA; but maybe you're right that the CS6 has a bit more flexibility. However totalling up the power requirements across all my pedals gets me to > 1,600mA so I think I'll be stretching the CS6 to its limit (and possibly a little beyond)?

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You may be over estimating your pedal power requirements. I bet the Mosaic needs way less then 300 and the MB synth under 500 for example (I haven't looked them up). Remember that if a manufacturer supplies or recommends a 500mA supply for their pedal that doesn't mean it needs that much.

It's a gamble between having enough power or potential future board space waste regret!

Edited by dannybuoy
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Agreed!

I think the CS6 and the MXR are both good options. Nice thing about the MXR is that you are really only sacrificing one extra pedal on your board to have certainty of power plus a lot of flexibility on voltages. That seemed like a good trade off to me. And ALL of my pedals will have isolated outputs i.e. I won't need to daisy chain a single one of them with the MXR - and that is also a good outcome.

I guess where I am landing is:

- for the smaller boards Nano, Nano+ and Metro 16 and even Metro 20 space is at a premium and you have fewer pedals to power anyway. So Ciocks DC5 or Onespot CS6, which can slot underneath, would be my preference with these;

- for the more medium sized boards e.g. Metro 24, the MXR is something worth considering also.

Edited by Al Krow
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I had the MXR IsoBrick for a few weeks until it died mysteriously. Then it took two months for MXR to send me a new one after I Priority Mailed the broken one to them. Their communication was awful and they told me they were repairing the one I sent. I had to email after the quoted two weeks turnaround and they hardly replied until week 6, said they’d send it the next day. Week 7 passed, email again, and finally received a new one week 8. In that time I’d already gone and bought a Truetone CS12. I sold the new IsoBrick the day it arrived.

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1 hour ago, jposega said:

I had the MXR IsoBrick for a few weeks until it died mysteriously. Then it took two months for MXR to send me a new one after I Priority Mailed the broken one to them. Their communication was awful and they told me they were repairing the one I sent. I had to email after the quoted two weeks turnaround and they hardly replied until week 6, said they’d send it the next day. Week 7 passed, email again, and finally received a new one week 8. In that time I’d already gone and bought a Truetone CS12. I sold the new IsoBrick the day it arrived.

That sounds appalling! Did you buy from MXR directly?

I'm getting my via PMT and I've found them to be responsive have good customer service.

The CS12 is a lot bigger than the IsoBrick, right?

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54 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

That sounds appalling! Did you buy from MXR directly?

I'm getting my via PMT and I've found them to be responsive have good customer service.

The CS12 is a lot bigger than the IsoBrick, right?

The CS12 is longer end to end, but shorter top to bottom. It would likely fit on the Metro if its sat like this || and the board is like this ==. Does that make sense?

I bought my IsoBrick on Reverb brand new and MXR honored the limited warranty, so that was good, but their CS was just crap. If they would have just told me they were going to mail me a brand new one, I would have asked them to send me the money for one so I could order it and would have gotten it in a weeks time.

If you're going to use the variable outlets on the IsoBrick, make sure you set them using a multimeter, because there is slight deviance between actual voltage and the markings on the case. Once it's set, you can stick some tape over the dials or if you never plan on changing them, hit them with a little hot glue or super glue or white tack to keep them in place. 

I'm still on the lookout for a cheap, Nano-friendly, isolated power supply. I may order one of the Caline/ Fame ones and hope for the best.

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Thanks very much for that. Well depending on whether my MXR turns out to be a disappointment or just the ticket, I may have a relatively mint Ciocks DC5 (or DC8) going spare shortly...but I suspect they don't meet a recognised definition of being 'cheap' :) 

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1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

Thanks very much for that. Well depending on whether my MXR turns out to be a disappointment or just the ticket, I may have a relatively mint Ciocks DC5 (or DC8) going spare shortly...but I suspect they don't meet a recognised definition of being 'cheap' :) 

Well, used is always better than new. 

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