batteries or power supply?
John Smith
batteries than they do with power supplies. i've even heard that cheap
batteries sound the best! if its true can anyone tell me why? what do you
think!
-j
Weasel
little bear on the label....they are hard to find, but worth every last bit
of the effort...
-=weasel=-
"John Smith" <john...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:kCcta.727809$3D1.400728@sccrnsc01...
Howard Davis
A MYTH - at least in the great majority of cases.
Some unregulated or poorly filtered power supplies (like cheap wall warts)
can add hum noise, especially when used with high internal gain effects such
as compressors and fuzzboxes. Batteries cannot do this, as they put out pure
DC. If you hear hum with a battery powered pedal, it is from your pickups,
cables, amp, or another pedal in the signal chain.
Weak batteries or carbon-zinc (cheap) batteries may have a higher internal
resistance than fresh alkaline batteries. It is possible that if a pedal's
circuitry is not properly designed, this can produce such effects as
oscillation noises or undesired distortion. Some people believe that such
distortion is desirable in that it improves the quality of the
overdrive/fuzz distortion normally produced. I have never observed this
myself, and a good pedal should be capable of sounding the way you want it
to with ANY source of power of the proper voltage and current capacity. I
would never buy anything that depended on having a weak battery to sound its
best.
Howard Davis, EE
http://howard.davis2.home.att.net/
Mark Bratcher
I suppose electronically it could have some bearing on sound.
The voltage designation on a battery is sort of nonimal. You don't get
exactly 9V out of a 9V battery. An AC adaptor listed as 9V also isn't
exactly 9V and it's a different value than the battery.
Different types of batteries might also produce a different voltage.
Beyond that, even the "quality" of the voltage may be different.
All that being said, I think my pedals sound just fine with an AC
adaptor and haven't noticed such a difference that made me go
"WOW! I wanna put the battery back in!"
Jon Smithy
cannot tell. The only difference between an adaptor and the battery is the
battery usually drops below 9v quickly after initial use. I haven't been
able to see a difference in the sound but I've been using adaptors for along
time. I think it's in the head of the musician.
bassté
many adaptators; you can add some hum if the circuit of the place, or room
you're in is not good. you can hear a lot of interferences too, if someone
in the neighboorhood, plug in the same circuit, and use some electrics
tools.
with batteries, you has'nt got all this noise.
but in the long term, the cost is not the same !!!!
i use a pedalboard with an incorporate power supply for 4 pedals, and the
noise is really ridiculous. this kind of power supply exist without the
pedal board....
--
bassté
"John Smith" <john...@yahoo.com> a écrit dans le message news:
kCcta.727809$3D1.400728@sccrnsc01...
Boozo
If you know a bit about electronics you might be able to add a bigger
capacitor to the DC power supply.
Or else take it to someone who can do this for you, a friend perhaps.
I don't recommend you try this unless you know what you are doing because,
if you didn't know already, electricity can kill.
If the DC power supply is seperate, buy a good quality one which is
regulated.
Also make sure it has enough amperage(mA) to run the pedals/effects.
Some shops will give a refund if the supply is not suitable for the job.
Unregulated DC power supplies can give many volts more than is required
causing "hum" or even damage to your equipment.
Hope this helps to solve the problem.
Boozo.
"bassté" <lesterN...@voilaSPAM.fr> wrote in message
news:3eb7b172$0$30106$626a...@news.free.fr...
Steve Daniels
> Weak batteries or carbon-zinc (cheap) batteries may have a higher internal
> resistance than fresh alkaline batteries. It is possible that if a pedal's
> circuitry is not properly designed, this can produce such effects as
> oscillation noises or undesired distortion. Some people believe that such
> distortion is desirable in that it improves the quality of the
> overdrive/fuzz distortion normally produced. I have never observed this
> myself, and a good pedal should be capable of sounding the way you want it
> to with ANY source of power of the proper voltage and current capacity. I
> would never buy anything that depended on having a weak battery to sound its
> best.
While it's true that one would not buy a Fuzz Face, for example,
specifically because it sounds better/different with an aging battery,
one might well buy/use a power supply that can simulate that kind of
source. If you want to build one, try my Small Wart. You can see the
plans at www.smallbearelec.com.
Grant
As one who has use cheap carbon-zinc batteries, expensive alkaline
batteries, and a regulated 9V supply with my pedals, I think it is a
myth. Certainly any tonal difference is below my threshold of hearing,
and not worth the Hefty bag full of dead batteries I've accumulated over
the last couple of years. And I don't like having to unplug cables from
all of my effects every time I stop playing just so the batteries don't
die overnight.
Don Evans
"Grant" <gpe...@aos.wisc.edu> wrote in message
news:3ECBEDB5...@aos.wisc.edu...
I've been told lots of different stuff by people who should know, but I
think it boils down to this ... digital effects (pedals and otherwise) need
proper voltage. Certain (not all) distortion pedals, boosters, and wah
(filter) types are affected by voltage.
Whether or not you like the dying battery effect (it's called sag) or higher
voltage (it the pedal is designed to take it) is up to you. Recently, I've
noticed that some boutique pedal makers recommend trying their pedals with
18v.
Note: Only try this if the manufacturer says you can!!
My delay and chorus pedals alone were enough to convince me to get a Pedal
Power. I got mine before the PP2 came out, so I don't have the sag option,
but I have pedals that sound good to me at their rated power. If it ain't
broke ....
HTH
Don