Anyone else have a power supply making noise (pedals/cables TOO close?)

[GoldieLocks]

I have a voodoo labs 8x power supply... It was great on my last pedal board. Now I mostly have the same pedals on a smaller board: TONS of hum and noise. Some are saying that you just can't have pedals 6 inch close to the power supply. I've never heard this before. Anyone got any good ideas for working around it? Keep the cables from touching it or each other? sectioning things off?

 

[SixStringSlinger]

I haven't had a particular problem with proximity to a power supply (and a lot of my pedals [and it's a lot of pedals] have only the thin metal of the board between them and my power supplies). Perhaps the slightest bit of something, and what are you gonna do?

But I did have bigger noise issues while putting the board together. The big fix for me was making sure no power loop (because in some instances I have multiple medals powered by the same output) has more than one digital pedal in it. Digital pedals have some sort of "clock" (not sure about the technical details, but a lot of digital pedals like delay, chorus etc. have some sort of "time" parameter to them), and apparently having multiples on the same power loop, daisy chain etc. can amplify that noise.

EDIT: On top of staying on top of voltage, current etc.

 

[Jakedog]

I have eight pedals on a pedal train classic jr. I run it with a Voodoo Labs PP2+. This has been my setup for many years. Never any noise issues. This thread is the first time I’ve heard of anybody having issues.

 

[Lonn]

If I have my iPhone plugged in in the gear room it makes a lot of noise.

 

[Wooly Fox]

Noise from elsewhere?

Also try routing the audio cables perpendicular to the power cables to prevent interference. I found routing audio and power cables in parallel caused this noise, especially for OD pedals.

 

[GoldieLocks]

Okay, some stuff to try. Thanks guys.
(weird fact: My 4 pedals on the left of power supply are making zero noise... add any more on right ----- noise. I've tried various cables, pedals, etc.). Now I'll try making sure cables don't parallel.

 

[Jakedog]

If I have my iPhone plugged in in the gear room it makes a lot of noise.

My phone doesn’t cause any issues unless it’s too close to my amp. I did a little winery gig recently where I was sitting on my bandit and forgot it was in my pants pocket. Hilarity ensued.

But typically it’s not an issue unless it’s right up on the amp.

 

[GoldieLocks]

Still poking around: I've learned that MXR dunlop right-angle patch cables are TOTALLY quiet. And some of my older Expensive/cheap ones are a tiny bit noisy.
And moving the power supply MAIN cable over pedals makes noise.

 

[Musekatcher]

I gave up on singular power supplies under $100, they all buzzed. I now use a power strip, with five 1 Spots on it. Looks rediculous, but dead silent on each pedal. Cost was under $100. PS - I run a G10, a multi pedal, a Mic Mechanic and Harmony Singer for my sax. The fifth is a spare.

 

[vjf1968]

I have a voodoo labs 8x power supply... It was great on my last pedal board. Now I mostly have the same pedals on a smaller board: TONS of hum and noise. Some are saying that you just can't have pedals 6 inch close to the power supply. I've never heard this before. Anyone got any good ideas for working around it? Keep the cables from touching it or each other? sectioning things off?

What kind of power supply are we talking about? Linear vs. Switch Mode? or Voodoo Labs vs. Strymon Zuma. Switchmode power supplies are less noisy but more expensive. Linear power supplies are cheaper but also effected by how close a pedal is to the unit. Is the power supply underneath the board or on the top?

 

[vjf1968]

Okay, some stuff to try. Thanks guys.
(weird fact: My 4 pedals on the left of power supply are making zero noise... add any more on right ----- noise. I've tried various cables, pedals, etc.). Now I'll try making sure cables don't parallel.

Cables have nothing to do with it. It might be that the pedals on the right are near the toroidal transformer in the Voodoo Labs causing the noise