Which power supply do I need?

Author: Ian Bush  Date Posted:24 May 2018 

In this blog post, we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different power supplies you can buy for your pedals.

We will cover the following types of power supply:

  • Batteries
  • Wall wart
  • Hub power supply
  • Individual power supply
  • Individual isolated power supply

Batteries

Advantages:

  • Individually affordable
  • No AC noise - good for noisy pedals
  • No earth loop problems when using multiple pedals

Disadvantages:

  • Batteries can run out at inconvenient times
  • Replacing multiple batteries can get expensive

Wall Warts

Example: Joyo JP03

Advantages:

  • The most common and basic type of power supply
  • Never runs out of power
  • Can power multiple pedals using a daisy chain attachment 

Disadvantages:

  • When daisy-chaining, cables are all different lengths. Differences in cable length can cause earth loops and earth hums.
  • You must be near enough to an electrical outlet to power your pedals when you play/perform

Hub Power Supply

Example: Joyo JP01

Advantages:

  • Each pedal has its own cable coming out of the power supply, so cable lengths are identical. Therefore, earth loops and earth hums are less likely.

Disadvantages:

  • If any one of the power supply outlets linked to any pedal has a problem, it could knock out the whole power supply, because it's one big power supply.

Individual Power Supply

Example: Joyo JP02

Advantages:

  • One unit with individual outputs. Each output has its own control, and a fault on one will not cause the whole power supply to stop working

Disadvantages:

  • Outputs are not isolated - so you can have an earth loop because all of the power supply earths are tied to the same level

Individual Isolated Power Supply

Example: Joyo JP04

Advantages:

  • One unit with individual isolated outputs. Isolation means the earths are not connected together, so each pedal is unaffected by the earth of the other unit. This is best if your setup has earth loop or earth hum problems.

Disadvantages:

  • Can be a little more expensive than the other types of power supply

So those are the 5 types of power supply that you can use for your pedals. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comments section below.

Check out our video below, presented by our CEO Ian, going over these different types

Thanks for reading this blog! For even more great content, check out these pages. 

I hope this article has helped, if you need any assistance please email:

sales@artistguitars.com.au or call us on 1300 489 816

 

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