Best type of power supply

[shockhazard]

Are there any reasons not to use a switching-mode power supply as opposed to a conventional magnetic transformer to power my pedalboard and stompboxes?

Thanks for any help you might afford me.

[jimbob_400]

Would you use one power supply to power lots of pedals? If so firstly make sure that a switching supply can supply enough current.

Some switching power supplies can be noisy.

Some pedals like isolated supplies, boss dd20 does from experience.

The visual sound 1spot is a good switching power supply with no noticeable noise issues and can supply plenty of current.

[shockhazard]

Thanks jimbob.

It's only a few pedals: TS9DX (8ma), TC PolyTune (45ma), my home made looper/AB box (appr. 50ma), and my midi foot controller (500ma).

I came across a free 9VDC 1.1A SMPS, and was basically just worried if it could damage anything.

So, if it's cheaply made it might create noise in the audio, otherwise good to go?

[mictester]

Thanks jimbob.

It's only a few pedals: TS9DX (8ma), TC PolyTune (45ma), my home made looper/AB box (appr. 50ma), and my midi foot controller (500ma).

I came across a free 9VDC 1.1A SMPS, and was basically just worried if it could damage anything.

So, if it's cheaply made it might create noise in the audio, otherwise good to go?

Make sure that you don't get any nasty spikes when the supply starts up. I find that it's often a good idea to house the SMPSU well away from any high-gain circuits. Also it's often a good idea to add extra supply filtering and decoupling capacitors across the rails (best done where it goes into each pedal). One brand of PSU I used was a real pain for noise, but had a really stable DC output and plenty of current for the price (I can't remember which brand), and I put a half-wave RF low pass filter in the DC output line to cure the whistles!

[shockhazard]

thanks mictester