I’ve come to find out you’re usually better off going to a Radio Shack type store for a power supply. Anything that gets labeled a “guitar pedal power supply” is immediately upcharged exponentially.
It really depends on your needs. I had this one in my crosshairs earlier this year while looking to update my 1spot cs7 after upgrading my pedal board. Added a switcher, new delay etc... Now I can see the use of a variable voltage in order to starve old analog pedals for effect. I don't use that myself though and having to check those pots before and after every gig is just something I don't want to spend too much time on because you know, some people can only watch with their fingers, while you're not watching. Two outputs are 18V fixed it seems. And a power brick to connect to a power brick? Ok, I'm a guitarist and stubbornly conservative. 😇 I just see that as awkward in a live situation. Decided to go for a Strymon Zuma. The price is also Strymon but half my pedal board is Strymon anyway. If you don't gig weekly or only record at home, I think this Iso Brick is excellent. The variable voltage outputs will be great for some too. In fact I'm wondering now what filth would come out of my old Shin-Ei Companion at 6 or 7 Volts. 🤣
I used a iso brick for years, when it died I ended up with a rechargeable joyo power supply to use until I bought something better. I'm still using the joyo, it works great and was only 55 bucks
The mxr mini iso brick is ridiculous value, you get 6 9v outputs and it takes ridiculously small space and all outputs are isolated. Voodoo lab power supplies are a little more expensive and kinda hard to find these days but you can't go wrong with them, I litterally never heard of a voodoo lab going bad.
Dude, I know somebody whose Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus sat underwater in a basement flood for a couple of days. It was covered in mud when the water finally got pumped out. He let it dry out for a week or two, knocked the mud and dirt off it, plugged it in and it fired right up. LOL
With all the functionality of this pedal power supply, it definitely looks like a very good value for the $$$$. While I may not need it right now, it's going on my list for when I need a replacement power supply. Another very good, informative video, Robert. Please keep them coming.
Robert I love your videos in general. But especially appreciate your option on utility items like this. You have obviously seen lots of gear and it’s cool to hear things recommended with a quality explanation. I’d like to know what’s your thoughts are on what EQ pedals are a good value. Thanks!
For the money you can't really beat the mxr. It is cheap, dependable, and I haven't had any noise problems whatsoever. I'm so glad I tried this before I bought a high dollar unit. Like you said it may not be the very best but for the money your not gonna beat it!
Vitoos make about 20 different power supplies. They make many for other brands as well. They have been in biz for at least 10 years so their track record is good. They have the BTM8K model . It has 8 outputs all isolated and with a healthy 500 ma off each output .The big deal is it is run off of a lithium rechargeable battery so it removes the big problem for noise coming from the A/C power. It also means if you run out of outputs you can add a daisy chain especial going to low drawing pedals like Overdrives and Fuzz with very little fear of noise problems. It however does not do 12 and 18 volt pedals. ....At a $100.00 USD it is a pretty decent price.
When i finally got my one spot cs7 and mounted it to my pedaltrain 4 years ago it was so nice to finally get away from using batteries, but I recently also bought a nano pedalboard to drag around to different friends places to jam here and there that only consists of three pedals a boss tuner a mt2 and a ns2, so batteries are preferred for this board. Now that im looking at buying some new distortion pedals most of them dont even have the option to use batteries like the wampler dracarays or the new compact version of the amptweaker tight metal. Anyways kind of a bummer that a lot of newer pedals are going to just power supply option only. As always enjoy the vids.
While I completely get where your coming from, I went with the Cioks power supply kit. It's definitely the ultimate power supply kit. Now yes it's expensive, I think I'm into that kit for 650.0 taxes in (I'm in Canada so yeah it's that much). But here's why I went that route. I've used an original MXR power brick, the little black one, used it for over 20 years. Now like most, you keep buying pedals right, and I was looking at the ISO brick, great unit, but not as flexible as the Cioks one's, and not as clean. I had noise that I just thought was part of running certain pedals, the Cioks cleaned up so much of the signal. And because I bought the kit, I have lots of room for expansion, I won't have to buy again and that's what I prefer, the old saying, buy once, buy right. I'm almost 50 now and can't see needing to buy anything else. I know your point was more on budget, but I was leaning more to performance is all. Just what you want right. Cioks does make smaller one's, surprised you didn't mention them, maybe I missed it? Anyways, Cheers!
I have 2 of the MXR ISO 10 and the smaller MXR ISO 5. Has worked great. Also my EHX GOODVIBES Univibe runs at the weird 9.6v or 9.7v so it works great.
Robert, Thanks! That does indeed look very good. I've been pretty happy with my 1spot Pro 12, but then again that's $176. So it can't compete on value.
T REX Power Tank. I've had this p/s for 10+ yrs. still works. I think this brand gets overlooked because $$$. All my T/R's are 10+ yrs old. very good quality.
Thanks for doing the research. I'd like to upgrade my power supply. I have two full tone pedals that run nine to 18 volts. I'd love to hear them at 18 volts.
I don't like using an isolated PS that uses a wall wart for power. Walrus Audio Aetos 8-output Isolated Guitar Pedal Power Supply uses a direct 120vac cable directly instead of a wall wart. Only trouble is all outputs are 9vdc, but I could live with that. We already have 12vdc, 18vdc and also EHX pedals that use 9.6vdc power, so the confusion and headaches never stop. Just got to know what you are doing when you set up several guitars with separate FX pedals, but that's why I'm the official band equipment techette. 🤕
I would have preferred an IEC power cable instead of an 18-volt wall wart, but that was literally the ONLY thing that I really gave up with this unit. That one feature wasn’t worth going another direction for me.
Hey Robert. Please do a follow up on this maybe 6 months from now. The only reason I ask is because I am super curious about this once to get using it. I upgraded 3 months ago to CIOKS. As my Voodoo was running out of power. It's OK. However I have run into issues with Boss pedals. Which is same as with voodoo. RC 10R and VE 500 just shut down and have wierd delays and extra noise unless I use the power supply they come with. If I use the power supply provided they work fine. Which sucks having all these power supplies for live. The only other advantage CIOKS has is it has a usb c charge port as well. So for tablets and stuff on stage. Still it can't power all my boss pedals. So love to hear follow up. Newer boss pedals are getting to be a pain. BTW nice shirt. I just went and seen Iron Maiden in Detroit last weekend. Awesome show. Still great after all these years.
Thanks Robert, my only concern would be the depth of the power supply and the fitment "under" the pedalboard. I use the Temple Audio board and prefer to have my power supply hidden along with all of the cables as it just looks cleaner and satisfies my OCD. Also Temple Audio has all of their modules located on the sides so it only stands to reason that I would bottom mount my power supply.
Agree - it’s why I have the Cioks, a VL pedal power 2 plus, and a VL Pedal power 4x4. I have many more power outputs than I need; 3 boards with 3 power supplies - Years ago, i did the new guitarist thing, bought a bunch of pedals and added boards. And now years later, I use 2 drives, a comp, reverb, and delay.
Why you young whippersnappers and your fancy power blocks, back in my day we had 9V batteries only and we were glaaaaaaad to have em! Had to fight off nerds with our bare hands to get to the back of the Radio Shack to score our booty. But seriously I like that dial a voltage function, my Caline has 10 plugs with 2 being 18V but they are all set. I'm sure Joyo will come up with a 10 vari voltage setup for $19.99...
I went from a daisy chain that made a TON of noise to a donner dp1. I’m still getting a little noise but not nearly as much. I ordered a furman pl c plus I’m curious to see if that makes the donner usable
Robert: “…and there’s the Power Supply to power the cables…” Me: (SEES CORRECTION) “No, no, no! Cables need power to work too!” (STARES AT EXTENSION CABLES) “Wait a minute…” Thank you for the video, Robert. Have a great day.
Terrible choice. Truetone CS series (CS6, CS7 and CS12) is the best bang for buck by far. For more $$, the only other good choices are VL PP3/PP3+ and Cioks DC7. I'd avoid Strymon's power supplies because they're not built mechanically as well as the others.
I’ve come to find out you’re usually better off going to a Radio Shack type store for a power supply. Anything that gets labeled a “guitar pedal power supply” is immediately upcharged exponentially.
I bought that exact same power brick last Spring. Very happy. Super quiet and no issues with it. Good buy.
Cool, that is the exact one I have, it works great and is small.
It really depends on your needs.
I had this one in my crosshairs earlier this year while looking to update my 1spot cs7 after upgrading my pedal board. Added a switcher, new delay etc...
Now I can see the use of a variable voltage in order to starve old analog pedals for effect. I don't use that myself though and having to check those pots before and after every gig is just something I don't want to spend too much time on because you know, some people can only watch with their fingers, while you're not watching.
Two outputs are 18V fixed it seems. And a power brick to connect to a power brick? Ok, I'm a guitarist and stubbornly conservative. 😇 I just see that as awkward in a live situation.
Decided to go for a Strymon Zuma. The price is also Strymon but half my pedal board is Strymon anyway.
If you don't gig weekly or only record at home, I think this Iso Brick is excellent. The variable voltage outputs will be great for some too. In fact I'm wondering now what filth would come out of my old Shin-Ei Companion at 6 or 7 Volts. 🤣
I used a iso brick for years, when it died I ended up with a rechargeable joyo power supply to use until I bought something better. I'm still using the joyo, it works great and was only 55 bucks
Good to know! kick ass Tee btw! Thank you Robert.
🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼
I use that PS in 2 of my pedalboards. Highly recommended!
The mxr mini iso brick is ridiculous value, you get 6 9v outputs and it takes ridiculously small space and all outputs are isolated. Voodoo lab power supplies are a little more expensive and kinda hard to find these days but you can't go wrong with them, I litterally never heard of a voodoo lab going bad.
Dude, I know somebody whose Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus sat underwater in a basement flood for a couple of days. It was covered in mud when the water finally got pumped out. He let it dry out for a week or two, knocked the mud and dirt off it, plugged it in and it fired right up. LOL
With all the functionality of this pedal power supply, it definitely looks like a very good value for the $$$$. While I may not need it right now, it's going on my list for when I need a replacement power supply. Another very good, informative video, Robert. Please keep them coming.
Another great Video Robert!
Robert I love your videos in general. But especially appreciate your option on utility items like this. You have obviously seen lots of gear and it’s cool to hear things recommended with a quality explanation.
I’d like to know what’s your thoughts are on what EQ pedals are a good value.
Thanks!
I can do an EQ pedal video. 🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼
Love the shirt!
🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼
I have the version with 8/9v and 2 18v. Works great and a small footprint.
For the money you can't really beat the mxr. It is cheap, dependable, and I haven't had any noise problems whatsoever.
I'm so glad I tried this before I bought a high dollar unit.
Like you said it may not be the very best but for the money your not gonna beat it!
Vitoos make about 20 different power supplies. They make many for other brands as well. They have been in biz for at least 10 years so their track record is good. They have the BTM8K model . It has 8 outputs all isolated and with a healthy 500 ma off each output .The big deal is it is run off of a lithium rechargeable battery so it removes the big problem for noise coming from the A/C power. It also means if you run out of outputs you can add a daisy chain especial going to low drawing pedals like Overdrives and Fuzz with very little fear of noise problems. It however does not do 12 and 18 volt pedals. ....At a $100.00 USD it is a pretty decent price.
When i finally got my one spot cs7 and mounted it to my pedaltrain 4 years ago it was so nice to finally get away from using batteries, but I recently also bought a nano pedalboard to drag around to different friends places to jam here and there that only consists of three pedals a boss tuner a mt2 and a ns2, so batteries are preferred for this board. Now that im looking at buying some new distortion pedals most of them dont even have the option to use batteries like the wampler dracarays or the new compact version of the amptweaker tight metal. Anyways kind of a bummer that a lot of newer pedals are going to just power supply option only. As always enjoy the vids.
I’ve got the mxr mini iso brick and it’s great
While I completely get where your coming from, I went with the Cioks power supply kit. It's definitely the ultimate power supply kit. Now yes it's expensive, I think I'm into that kit for 650.0 taxes in (I'm in Canada so yeah it's that much). But here's why I went that route. I've used an original MXR power brick, the little black one, used it for over 20 years. Now like most, you keep buying pedals right, and I was looking at the ISO brick, great unit, but not as flexible as the Cioks one's, and not as clean. I had noise that I just thought was part of running certain pedals, the Cioks cleaned up so much of the signal. And because I bought the kit, I have lots of room for expansion, I won't have to buy again and that's what I prefer, the old saying, buy once, buy right. I'm almost 50 now and can't see needing to buy anything else. I know your point was more on budget, but I was leaning more to performance is all. Just what you want right. Cioks does make smaller one's, surprised you didn't mention them, maybe I missed it? Anyways, Cheers!
I have 2 of the MXR ISO 10 and the smaller MXR ISO 5. Has worked great. Also my EHX GOODVIBES Univibe runs at the weird 9.6v or 9.7v so it works great.
Robert,
Thanks! That does indeed look very good. I've been pretty happy with my 1spot Pro 12, but then again that's $176. So it can't compete on value.
Hello,Robert solid video..
🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼
T REX Power Tank. I've had this p/s for 10+ yrs. still works. I think this brand gets overlooked because $$$. All my T/R's are 10+ yrs old. very good quality.
I remember that one. Thought, that brand gets overlooked because I think they went out of business.
Thanks for doing the research. I'd like to upgrade my power supply. I have two full tone pedals that run nine to 18 volts. I'd love to hear them at 18 volts.
I don't like using an isolated PS that uses a wall wart for power. Walrus Audio Aetos 8-output Isolated Guitar Pedal Power Supply uses a direct 120vac cable directly instead of a wall wart. Only trouble is all outputs are 9vdc, but I could live with that. We already have 12vdc, 18vdc and also EHX pedals that use 9.6vdc power, so the confusion and headaches never stop. Just got to know what you are doing when you set up several guitars with separate FX pedals, but that's why I'm the official band equipment techette. 🤕
I would have preferred an IEC power cable instead of an 18-volt wall wart, but that was literally the ONLY thing that I really gave up with this unit. That one feature wasn’t worth going another direction for me.
Alright Dawn!
Why not get a Cioks supply then.
They offer the same 120vac cable right? Plus each isolated output, can be adjusted from 9-12-18volts.
@CorbCorbin The CIOKS power supplies are quite a bit more expensive. They START at about $60 more than the ISO-Brick costs.
@@RobertWJackson Yeah, sorry! I meant IEC, but forgot the name of it. Same as the plug into most desktop computers and some vintage rack synthesizers.
It’s I nice supply at a good price but it want fit under a pedalboard.
I'm currently using 2 Donner DP2's. One powers the other and so far I haven't had an issue. For £35 they're an absolute bargain.
Hey Robert. Please do a follow up on this maybe 6 months from now. The only reason I ask is because I am super curious about this once to get using it. I upgraded 3 months ago to CIOKS. As my Voodoo was running out of power. It's OK. However I have run into issues with Boss pedals. Which is same as with voodoo. RC 10R and VE 500 just shut down and have wierd delays and extra noise unless I use the power supply they come with. If I use the power supply provided they work fine. Which sucks having all these power supplies for live. The only other advantage CIOKS has is it has a usb c charge port as well. So for tablets and stuff on stage. Still it can't power all my boss pedals. So love to hear follow up. Newer boss pedals are getting to be a pain.
BTW nice shirt. I just went and seen Iron Maiden in Detroit last weekend. Awesome show. Still great after all these years.
Will do.
Yeah I am curious on the pedal supply as I made one for my 4 plus Another. Simple 9v supply but for few.
Thanks Robert, my only concern would be the depth of the power supply and the fitment "under" the pedalboard. I use the Temple Audio board and prefer to have my power supply hidden along with all of the cables as it just looks cleaner and satisfies my OCD. Also Temple Audio has all of their modules located on the sides so it only stands to reason that I would bottom mount my power supply.
Agree - it’s why I have the Cioks, a VL pedal power 2 plus, and a VL Pedal power 4x4. I have many more power outputs than I need; 3 boards with 3 power supplies - Years ago, i did the new guitarist thing, bought a bunch of pedals and added boards. And now years later, I use 2 drives, a comp, reverb, and delay.
Yeah I bought the Cioks power supply kit, the big 2 peice unit. Absolutely the best lol
Personally I went exclusively with Cioks a year ago; and never looking back.
I use the Voodoo Labs pedal power 2+ & the Voodoo Labs 4×4. Both are great power supplies. I thought about the mxr but went with the Voodoo Lab.
I recommend yours, I own the T Rex. 10+ yrs. I am satisfied. 0.0 complaints. funny, my MXR's are 9V only. old timey.
Why you young whippersnappers and your fancy power blocks, back in my day we had 9V batteries only and we were glaaaaaaad to have em! Had to fight off nerds with our bare hands to get to the back of the Radio Shack to score our booty. But seriously I like that dial a voltage function, my Caline has 10 plugs with 2 being 18V but they are all set. I'm sure Joyo will come up with a 10 vari voltage setup for $19.99...
I went from a daisy chain that made a TON of noise to a donner dp1. I’m still getting a little noise but not nearly as much. I ordered a furman pl c plus I’m curious to see if that makes the donner usable
Robert: “…and there’s the Power Supply to power the cables…”
Me: (SEES CORRECTION) “No, no, no! Cables need power to work too!” (STARES AT EXTENSION CABLES) “Wait a minute…”
Thank you for the video, Robert. Have a great day.
understandable why you would choose this one
Hey Janice! Thanks for the pic of your gig last night! Check out Bayou on Robbie Stingle on you tube and thanks for being my first subscriber!
Terrible choice. Truetone CS series (CS6, CS7 and CS12) is the best bang for buck by far. For more $$, the only other good choices are VL PP3/PP3+ and Cioks DC7. I'd avoid Strymon's power supplies because they're not built mechanically as well as the others.
Moist.
@@RobertWJackson Indeed :)