Using a power conditioner in my rig- Juice Goose or Furman?

[Alkeys]

Hey guys- I had a question for you- in my rack I'm needing a good power conditioner around 100 bucks and I was looking at Juice Goose and Furman. Are they both basically the same or is one known to be better than the other? Any opinions? Is one's noise filtering technology better than the other? Thanks for all your input

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

basically, they are a waste of money, but they sure look cool and everybody has them. You get the same MOV protection from these things as you do from a $10 power strip. They may provide some extra filtering, but the gear doesn't require it.

 

If you want real power treatment, you are looking at spending around $500 and up. Multitapped toroidal transformers with filtering to provide a constant given voltage at all times is helpful. Balanced power solutions can be helpful, depending upon who made them.

 

And for those prone to argue the point, as a well-known high dollar mic preamp designer said to a bunch of us at a trade show one day... "do you guys think we don't know what we are doing?"

 

Bill

[kanker.]

And for those prone to argue the point, as a well-known high dollar mic preamp designer said to a bunch of us at a trade show one day... "do you guys think we don't know what we are doing?"

Given the extreme sensitivity of my JBL EON G2 15 to power quality?

[Alkeys]

Well Bill they may be a "waste of money" and "are cool because everyone has one" but do you want to know why I really want one?

 

It's because I'm a gigging musician and I'm sick of my $10 power strip moving around inside of my rack because it is currently held on by velcro to the inside of my rack. LOL Anyone that gigs with a rack knows it's easier to have things all plugged in and screwed in than have a bunch of loose cords dangling around.

 

I'm trying to eliminate all the duct tape, velcro, shoestring, chewing gum and other subpar adhesive devices that currently plague my gigging rack.

 

I know they 100 dollar rack power strips aren't completely amazing or anything but hey at least they screw into my rack and don't move around- unlike my current power strip. Plus as far as I know the $10 dollar power strips don't also have any kind of noise filtering.

 

So that being said what I'm asking about is:

 

1) Build Quality

2) Reliability

3) Noise filtering

 

Is there a difference in quality between Juice Goose and Furman in any of the above 3 areas?

[Ian Benhamou]

If you're just looking to keep your power strip to stay in place, try a high quality 2-face tape. I know you said you were fed up of using tape and velcro, but the 2-face tape thing has worked wonders in all of my racks. 2 of my racks have been thrown on the back of trucks and cars for the last 7 years and the power strips are still completely immobile. Plus the tape isn;t visible because it's under the power strip.

 

PS I'm talking about the thick (1/8") kind of tape.

[J. Dan]

Juice Goose - $39

 

Going to be as good as you need without going to something like Bill mentioned

[mate stubb]

I use a Furman Power Factor Pro rack, which I think is discontinued now. The advertising boasts about stuff like lowering the line impedance and having a current reserve for peak demand, but that may be smoke and mirrors for all I know.

 

It DOES maintain a healthy voltage using a multitapped transformer as mentioned above.

[Mark Schmieder]

Most do more harm than good.

 

Decide first if you need any filtration at all. If you play outdoors or at clubs or arenas with lots of lighting, you probably do, even if at home you can do without due to having all-pro gear.

 

I recently parted with my MonsterPower units, which do a great job of filtration and a slightly better job of protection than the recently revised Furman units (mark II units). The 3500 is 4x more protection than the 2500 and not likely to ever fry your gear, but ALL of these units are sacrificial.

 

So, you are much safer with a non-sacrificial unit that isn't MOSFET based. Up until next year when the patent runs out, there are only three or four companies that license this patent.

 

I have SurgeX for my gear rack, because I found one used for a good price and prefer rack-mount for gigs.

 

At home I use the equivalent ZeroSurge unit ($200 in its block-shaped form factor; MUCH more in rack-mount form). It has to be ordered direct, and they often have sales.

 

Concord CA has LOTS of power problems, with brownouts, surges, and back-to-back events in the middle of the night that would fry most sacrificial units that are unbuffered (such as most mark I Furman units and the Monster 2500).

 

One of my MP3500's had to go for warranty return (Monster is good about that). It DID protect my equipment as it is buffered and non-sacrificial, but enough events and a MOSFET based unit gets VERY "tired" and eventually fails.

 

I have much more peace of mind with these new units, which have no power filtration (except the SurgeX, but it's real specific, as I recall, to lighting related interference), and focus on their main job of protecting your gear and also NOT harming your audio quality (most surge protectors actually do affect audio quality due to how they handle power regulation, but UPS's are FAR worse and should be avoided at all costs in any setup that includes audio gear).

 

These two units, and those from two other manufacturers that license the technology for True Series Mode Protection, shut off the power at a sensitivity level that is about 1/10 that of most other equipment (but not in a way that would affect a gig -- I'm talking about the onset of a surge or other event and how SOON it is detected). Much better slew rate figures as well.

 

Since getting these units, I haven't had the slightest hiccup in power delivery, or any fading lights on the power surge units (as on the MP-series after a LOT of events). Tight audio now as well -- I noticed an audible difference immediately.

 

Even better, the unswitched outlets are protected, unlike on most surge protectors. So NOTHING is vulnerable with these devices -- not even the devices themselves (unlike most sacrificial units).

[Alkeys]

Bill, Mark, Mate Stubb-Thanks everyone for your responses- it totally helps. I like reading about stuff before I purchase things- even something as small as cords.

 

Mark I really appreciate your thoughts-

 

Any opinions on Juice Goose?

 

I'm looking at the following 1 space units:

 

* Juice Goose JG8.0

* Monster Power Pro 900

* Furman PL Plus II (older model that seems to be more desirable than their newer offerings) or possible a Furman PL-8C

 

Particularly interesting to me is the filtration you were speaking of:

 

Juice Goose seems to have:

# AC Line Filtration: Line Capacitor (Line & Neutral)

 

and Furman has AC + RFI

 

Maybe they are the same thing, maybe they are not- I don't know enough about these things to tell- maybe you can shed some light on it for me.

 

Interesting to note that some Furman units seem to have the following filtration as well:

Noise attenuation: 10dB @ 10kHz, 40dB @ 100kHz, 50dB @ 500MHz

 

The Juice Goose guys seem pretty cool when checking out their website like as a company- seems very customer centric and friendly. Opposed to Furman-Seems like Furman is kinda more leaning towards more the Monster marketing model. One of the reasons I love Yorkville so much for example is that they are great people and a pleasure to deal with. I like throwing money at companies that I like their customer service. For that reason alone maybe I'll go Juice Goose.

 

As far as the filtration- I definitely don't want anything that will make my rig sound weird or strange.

 

Thanks for letting me hash out my thoughts.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mark Schmieder]

Well, the point I was trying to make is that filtration is to a certain extent snake oil.

 

Not to say it doesn't work -- the MonsterPower 3500 filtration definitely made a difference at gigs where there was a lot of lighting going on.

 

It's just that in the studio it is usually unnecessary, because pro-level gear and even much semi-pro gear already has filtration built in.

 

That's why context is everything.

 

I decided that protecting my gear came first, and True Series Mode is by far the safest and most dependable way to do that. But it's also true that the staged power that MonsterPower 3500 and the new Series II Furman units employ, comes pretty close to accomplishing the same goal. The main difference again is that MOSFET based designs will wear over time, and stop protecting. And also that the mains connection itself isn't protected.

 

Juice Goose makes some other stuff that I would consider, such as their nice "throw out your wall warts" panel strips. I did briefly look into their power regulators but don't recall what I found out. But a few months have gone by since I swapped out what I have, and this is the year the patent for True Series Mode Protection expires, so it's quite possible that several vendors have brand-spanking new models that use that technique.

 

I would strongly recommend against any device that does not use that technique, if protecting your gear is your main concern. The ZeroSurge units are barely $200. It's a shame the rack-mounts cost more. But search eBay and you might get lucky and find a used SurgeX SX-1115RT foe $300 and change. That would be a lifetime purchase; unlike a MOSFET-based device.

 

Also, make sure you know your needs in terms of current. If it's for the home, and you have modified modern outlets that are above 15 amps (you'll know this by the types of plugs it takes, or maybe the entire house or apartment has been converted to 20 amps), you'll want a 20 amp device. But don't get a 20 amp device unless that's what you're running; 15 amps is the norm and should be assumed for most gigs.

 

Note that ZeroSurge and SurgeX and associated brands also sell 7.5 amps models, with fewer plugs, for when you only have a few devices to plug in or just one or two computers and peripherals. They aren't that much cheaper though, so go with the 15 amps version regardless, for future expandability and no worries.

 

Another point to make is about wall circuits: try to stick to one plug and daisy-chain if necessary, but don't exceed the total (usually 1200-1500 watts if that's the measurement that is most readily available across all of your equipment).

 

The problem isn't just ground loops, but also that if you have anything like a power amp, printer, or computer that uses a lot of current, the other plug in the same wall circuit might get "robbed", at least spuriously, of the juice that it needs.

[Mark Schmieder]

And if your budget is too low to go for real protection, save even more money by skipping the stupid lights, which are a gimmicky feature that also degrades the effectivity of the unit, and adds a LOT of cost to the base unit (proportionally).

 

If all you need is an outlet strip without surge protection or filtration, there's a couple on the market, including one hard-to-find one from Furman, and the one I got for one rack that ultimately plugs into the ZeroSurge unit: Atlas Sound ACRL 191B (that might be an "8" not a "B"). Less than $40. No protection; you could do that via a standard in-line surge protectore between the rack and the wall. Your choice.

 

American DJ makes a rack strip with individual power switches on the front for all of the outlets on the back. It's meant for DJ's, but I don't know enough about DJ-ing to know why that's uniquely useful to them. Also useful in store displays. :-) Not sure if it has any filtration or any surge protection. Just so you know it's out there, since it's hard to find and rarely shows up in catalogues. A few other vendors make similar strips.

[Mark Schmieder]

The Atlas Sound rack strip is more for others on this forum vs. the OP, as it's not a well-known unit and it tooks me days of searching to find someone who sold such a unit.

 

The main point is to add up your total current use (or wattage use, given the "known" of average 115V in the standard power equation), and try not to exceed 1200 watts or so on a single circuit. From there, determine how many surge protectors you need.

 

If you exceed the outlet count on your surge protector but still have "headroom" to spare, do NOT use another surge protector to plug the rest of the gear daisy-chain style into the first surge protector; instead use either a simple rack strip such as the Atlas Sound model, or a power switch strip like the one from American DJ.

 

It is a very bad idea to plug a surge protector into another surge protector.

[Mark Schmieder]

Oh, I just noticed Bill's comment about high-priced products.

 

My octal mic pre-amp has noe done well in the marketplace because it's too good (the market wants coloured pre-amps not transparent ones) and doesn't cost enough (i.e. > $4000) to be considered high-end.

 

It is important to keep in mind that quality and bang-for-buck is often a success for marketplace failure. This means an awful lot of what is out there is gimmicky and/or snake oil.

 

This is in fact why I spend so much time answering these sorts of topics, because I'm so desperate to try to save these companies that are doing the Right Thing by educating people about some of these issues, so that they can keep on making equipment that I want/need. :-)

[Dave Horne]

One piece of equipment that should be considered, UPS - uninterruptible power supply.

 

Back when I used an Akai S5000 sampler on jobs, if the power went out for any reason (someone trips on the power chord, whatever), I would have to reboot the sampler and load everything back into it. That took a few minutes.

 

I am in agreement with Bill even though I am not an electrical engineer. I also confess to having a Furman conditioner in my rack case. I bought mine after my QSC amp blew its output transistors on a job. The lights on the Furman are sure purdy though.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mark Schmieder]

No; UPS's are very dangerous for audio equipment.

 

That is, unless you buy the ones that cost over $1000.

 

I forget the terminology by now, as I don't clutter my mind with the details of something that has been written off as untenable.

 

But the main problem has to do with the strategy for switching. Maybe I still have printouts that go into the details and the specific terminology that is used.

 

A fairly common problem that isn;'t found so much on specialised units and/or more expensive ones, is the difficulty of where to place an actual surge protector in the signal path, and how it interacts with the UPS (most UPS's do not provide actual surge protection per se).

 

Remember the goal and purpose of a UPS: to maintain non-stop productivity in the workplace.

 

At home or at a gig, your concern is more likely going to be less transitory in nature. You'll probably do frequent backups while working in a DAW or Photoshop etc. on your computer, and less concerned about whether you lose a minute or two of productivity or a tiny amount of editing.

 

Of course, the specific scenario mentioned, in terms of hardware samplers, could be pertinent for some people. Traditional hardware samplers and most ROMplers are very slow to load samples. It is definitely something to consider, if you are making use of external samples as part of your gig setup.

[Dave Horne]

This getting slightly away from the initial question, but a few years ago I read the following article in SOS by the well known audio engineer Roger Nichols. When he talks voltages, he's referring to what we have in Europe, 220 to 240 volts. I didn't go through and edit 'top of page' etc.

 

Scroll down for 'Balanced power' (for reducing noise in your studio).

 

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep06/articles/rogernichols_0906.htm

 

Roger Nichols: Across The Board

The Current State Of Affairs

Published in SOS September 2006

Printer-friendly version Printer-friendly version

 

People + Opinion

 

 

Troubled with ground loops and mains hum? The answer is to switch to a balanced power supply.

 

Roger Nichols

 

Roger Nichols.s

Photo: Ashlee Nichols

Roger Nichols has been professionally involved in the music business since 1968, working as a staff recording/mixing engineer at ABC Records and Warner Bros before becoming an independent engineer/producer in 1978. His work with Steely Dan in particular has led to a string of Grammy Awards and nominations, including a Best Engineered Album award for Two Against Nature. An advocate of digital recording since 1977, Roger designed and built the first digital audio percussion replacement device and has lectured on digital audio around the world.

 

Spike, noise, surge, swell, transients, harmonics and sag are not the names of members of a new alternative rock group. They are characteristic problems encountered in power management.

 

AC power is often the most overlooked area in recording studio design. If you were a farmer and your horse was your livelihood, you would probably pay attention to how well he was doing. AC power is the main source of your income, and also the primary cause of all the hums and buzzes you must deal with on a day-to-day basis. They say that if you build a better mousetrap, people will beat a path to your door. Well, just wait until you have the quietest studio in town and see how fast everyone wants to work there.

Top of page

Power Quality

 

Power quality can be measured by recording the duration and magnitude of any disturbances. Faults that are short in duration, like transients, can damage sensitive electronic devices such as diodes, transistors and ICs. Lower-level transients slowly eat away at internal semiconductor junctions within electronic equipment, eventually causing failures. High-frequency noise can cause digital data errors in both digital audio and computer equipment, and can interfere with clock signals causing timing errors and excessive jitter. Voltage fluctuations affect motor operation and electronic equipment that requires a steady power source.

Top of page

Receptacle Load Centres

 

Receptacle load centres include the load centre feeding consoles and tape machine rooms. Connections and breakers should be inspected on a regular basis for loose connections, especially the feeders into the load centre. Feeder cables can go through temperature fluctuations with load changes, and these fluctuations can make cables swell and shrink, causing the connections to loosen. A loose connection can cause imbalances in phase currents, and even be a fire hazard.

 

At the load centre, harmonic currents can cause circuit breakers to trip. Thermal magnetic breakers may trip prematurely from excess heat in the panel caused by harmonic currents. Breakers may also trip erratically when non-linear currents with high peak values are present. A peak-sensing circuit breaker responds to the peak of the current waveform. Since the peak may be higher due to harmonics, this type of breaker may also trip prematurely at a lower RMS current.

Top of page

Lighting Load Centres

 

Excess heat caused by harmonics in a lighting circuit conduit can cause conductor insulation to fail. In energy-saving electronic ballasts with solid-state power supplies, the phase and neutral currents can contain harmonics. Existing standards for the number of conductors in a conduit don't always account for the heat caused by these harmonics. To find harmonic overloads in lighting circuits, you can measure the current in the feeder neutral. If the levels are high, compare the measured currents to the ratings of the conductor, lugs and buss bars. Feel the conduit for excess heat. To determine the overall level of harmonics, measure the total harmonic distortion in the phase currents. The THD generally refers to the RMS value of all the harmonic currents, divided by the fundamental. The total harmonic distortion may be a problem if it exceeds 20 percent.

 

To prevent harmonics from affecting a lighting load centre, specify fewer conductors per conduit. Or you can install new high-performance ballasts, which produce lower harmonic currents and also improve Power Factor (the ratio of 'active' power to 'apparent' power, which is an indicator of efficient power use).

Top of page

AC Harmonics

 

Harmonics on the AC line are usually caused by non-linear electrical loads. Some of these non-linear loads are: personal computers, certain types of lighting ballasts, electronic studio and office equipment, and adjustable-speed motor drives. These devices draw non-sinusoidal current in abrupt pulses when connected to a sinusoidal voltage source. These pulses form a distorted current wave shape which contains harmonics.

 

The harmonic current drawn by non-linear loads acts in an Ohm's Law relationship with the source impedance of the supplying transformer to produce voltage harmonics. The source impedance includes the supplying transformer and branch circuit components. For example, a 10 Amp harmonic current being drawn from a source impedance of 0.1(omega) will generate a harmonic voltage of 1.0 Volt. Any load sharing this transformer or branch circuit can be affected by the voltage harmonics generated.

 

Computers used in console automation or hard disk recording can crash or reset when there are excessive harmonic voltages in the supply power. Remember, the harmonics can come from devices anywhere on the same transformer or branch circuit.

Top of page

Grounding And Noise

 

As you can see from the above, AC power contains more than just that pure mythical 50 or 60 Hz sine wave that you read about in text books. In most cases, filters added to the power line add noise of their own. The capacitors in the filter circuit leak current into the ground system. This noise is usually in the form of a reactive, non-linear leading current. The same type of noise on the ground is caused by the switching power supplies found in most computers and digital audio gear. This ground noise usually shows up as hum in audio gear. Class-A tube amps and balanced mic pre amps are particularly susceptible to this ground noise.

 

All of the power-consuming devices in a studio are connected to unbalanced power. There are two wires supplying the 240V power, with the ground for safety (and noise). If you measure between the two feed wires the results will be 240V. If you measure between ground and one of them you will see 240V. If you measure between ground and the other lead, you will see zero V. Well, you are supposed to see zero, but because of ground noise and currents, you will measure a couple of Volts. Just remember, with unbalanced power, all of the power-generated garbage ends up in the ground.

 

Quiet grounding schemes in studios sometimes border on the occult. I asked one studio why they had a water cooler in the control room with no water in it. They said that for some reason, when the water cooler was plugged into the same branch circuit as the guitar amps, that there was less hum in the amps. I unplugged it once. They were right.

 

Grounding circuits were never meant to carry current except during a short circuit. Objectionable ground currents are those that will provide you with a shock. Anything less than that is OK as far as Underwriters Laboratories is concerned.

 

We have all experienced ground loops in the studio. The really bad ones, with hum levels above the signal level, we try to cure. The ever-present little hums that make the DAT meters stick one segment up from the bottom we try to ignore. We try breaking grounds in balanced cables at one end so that we do not have multiple ground paths for ground loops. We lift chassis grounds with special plugs and make sure that metal chassis do not touch each other. If we removed the currents from the ground, then we would have no current to loop.

Top of page

Balanced Power To The Rescue

 

Why have I been telling you all of this stuff about AC power? Well, because the more you know, the better you will be able to cope with AC problems as they occur. Although I have covered many factors dealing with power, the easiest problem to control is the most objectionable in the studio: ground noise. The solution is balanced power.

 

Balanced power is delivered using the same three wires that are connected to most studio equipment. If you measure the voltage between the two feed wires, you get 240V. If you measure between either one of the feed wires and ground you will see 120V.

 

If we take any of the noise-generating equipment and connect it to the balanced power source, the noise generated in each leg of the power will be out of phase with the other at the ground. The ground will be quiet as a clam. Balanced power provides the same common-mode rejection we are all familiar with in balanced audio.

roger diagram

In a conventional unbalanced power supply (top), there is 240V difference between the hot or live wire and the ground, but 0V between ground and the other feed. In balanced power (above), by contrast, there is the same voltage difference between both feeds and the ground, but the polarity of one feed is inverted so that noise is cancelled out.

In a conventional unbalanced power supply (top), there is 240V difference between the hot or live wire and the ground, but 0V between ground and the other feed. In balanced power (above), by contrast, there is the same voltage difference between both feeds and the ground, but the polarity of one feed is inverted so that noise is cancelled out.

In a conventional unbalanced power supply (top), there is 240V difference between the hot or live wire and the ground, but 0V between ground and the other feed. In balanced power (above), by contrast, there is the same voltage difference between both feeds and the ground, but the polarity of one feed is inverted so that noise is cancelled out.

 

With balanced power, you can use any type of grounding configuration you wish. Star, schmar. You can leave the grounds connected at both ends of your audio cables. You can throw away all of your ground-lift adaptors. You can finally plug everything in the way it was meant to be plugged in.

 

There is not much you can review about balanced power systems, because there are no knobs, no meters, no adjustments of any kind. There is only a power switch on the front and some AC receptacles with circuit breakers on the back. To install a balanced power system, all you have to do is plug it in to an AC supply, throw away all of your ground-lifting plugs and plug all of your equipment in to the receptacles in the back, and turn the front-panel power switch on. That's it. Nothing will hum, nothing will buzz. Your studio will be the quietest thing you have ever heard, or not heard in this case.

 

I have been using balanced power for about 10 years. I have had fewer digital errors when transferring signals between equipment. Electrical AES and S/PDIF work as well as optical now. On the analogue side, my transformerless tube mic preamp is 15dB quieter. As an average, all analogue equipment has measured 12 to 16 dB quieter just because of the balanced power.

 

A few weeks ago I had to record some piano and vocal overdubs at a studio that does not use balanced power. On the piano I was using a pair of Sony C800-G microphones (the ones with the heat sink). On the vocal I was using an Audio-Technica 4060 tube mic. Under normal circumstances, the electrical noise floor at the studio left something to be desired. I was about to change all of that.

 

I brought a balanced power transformer with me to the session. I fed the outputs of the microphones into the mic inputs of the Apogee A-D converter. The microphone power supplies and the Apogees were powered by the balanced power. I then fed the digital signal from the Apogees directly to the digital input of the Sony 48-track digital machine. Since the signal was digital before it got to the studio's power environment, the signals stayed 'balanced power' quiet.

 

The difference was amazing! I could finally hear what fantastic microphones sound like. When referenced to a quiet ground, even the low-level noise that you usually associate with tube microphones was gone. I couldn't even tell if the microphones were turned on until someone walked into the overdub room. This is the way recording was meant to be. No matter what I plugged in, no matter how I interconnected the audio, I could not force a ground-related hum or buzz. This was always a problem in the past when someone wanted to bring in their own piece of audio gear to patch into the chain. Now I encourage it.

 

I expect every studio I work in from now on to be powered by balanced AC. The units come in various power-output configurations and multiple units can be run in parallel. This is by far the least expensive way to rocket your studio into the digital quiet age. Balanced power has been used in hospitals for 20 years to lower the noise in medical equipment and lessen the possibility of shock from poorly grounded equipment. It is way past time for every studio and project studio to embrace this technology.

 

Note: the voltages mentioned are appropriate for European studios halve the numbers for US studios.

Published in SOS September 2006

[DanL]

I like the lights on the Furman too. I have one that has a segmented volt meter on the front- more lights are always better for the gigging musician. The audience is always impressed with a space ship looking rack!

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

...I'm sick of my $10 power strip moving around inside of my rack because it is currently held on by velcro to the inside of my rack. .... the $10 dollar power strips don't also have any kind of noise filtering.

 

 

So you've got money to burn, and a piece of plumbing strap and two screws is to 'ghetto'? (If you look on the back of your power strip, it may have screw inserts, and you may really only need the two screws...)

 

And as I (and others) have said, the 'noise filtering' is a sales tool, not a practical feature that helps you.

 

If you just 'want'the fancy power strip, go for it, but then, go for the Furman with the voltage display LEDs.

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

Given the extreme sensitivity of my JBL EON G2 15 to power quality?

 

There is nothing in a Furman that will help you. And if the gear has such a problem, why would you continue to gig with it? If it were mine it would either be back at the factory to be repaired or, if the problem was endemic tot he product and not reparable, it would have been gone a long time ago in favor of a tool that worked. Why spend another $100 trying to prop it up, if it is a problem to begin with?

[kanker.]

Given the extreme sensitivity of my JBL EON G2 15 to power quality?

 

There is nothing in a Furman that will help you. And if the gear has such a problem, why would you continue to gig with it? If it were mine it would either be back at the factory to be repaired or, if the problem was endemic tot he product and not reparable, it would have been gone a long time ago in favor of a tool that worked. Why spend another $100 trying to prop it up, if it is a problem to begin with?

It's a problem that's common with the EONs. The big problem for me is that it is the best tool for the job. No other powered monitor has the combination of connectivity and power.

[Throbert]

I use American DJ switch boxes. They have absolutely no protection but, they are good for power up and down sequence as well as selective power control, rather than jumping between components. I use Ebtech HumXs to quiet noisey components.

 

The solution is balanced power.

 

Balanced power is delivered using the same three wires that are connected to most studio equipment. If you measure the voltage between the two feed wires, you get 240V. If you measure between either one of the feed wires and ground you will see 120V.

 

If we take any of the noise-generating equipment and connect it to the balanced power source, the noise generated in each leg of the power will be out of phase with the other at the ground. The ground will be quiet as a clam. Balanced power provides the same common-mode rejection we are all familiar with in balanced audio.

roger diagram

In a conventional unbalanced power supply (top), there is 240V difference between the hot or live wire and the ground, but 0V between ground and the other feed. In balanced power (above), by contrast, there is the same voltage difference between both feeds and the ground, but the polarity of one feed is inverted so that noise is cancelled out.

In a conventional unbalanced power supply (top), there is 240V difference between the hot or live wire and the ground, but 0V between ground and the other feed. In balanced power (above), by contrast, there is the same voltage difference between both feeds and the ground, but the polarity of one feed is inverted so that noise is cancelled out.

In a conventional unbalanced power supply (top), there is 240V difference between the hot or live wire and the ground, but 0V between ground and the other feed. In balanced power (above), by contrast, there is the same voltage difference between both feeds and the ground, but the polarity of one feed is inverted so that noise is cancelled out.

 

With balanced power, you can use any type of grounding configuration you wish. Star, schmar. You can leave the grounds connected at both ends of your audio cables. You can throw away all of your ground-lift adaptors. You can finally plug everything in the way it was meant to be plugged in.

 

There is not much you can review about balanced power systems, because there are no knobs, no meters, no adjustments of any kind. There is only a power switch on the front and some AC receptacles with circuit breakers on the back. To install a balanced power system, all you have to do is plug it in to an AC supply, throw away all of your ground-lifting plugs and plug all of your equipment in to the receptacles in the back, and turn the front-panel power switch on. That's it. Nothing will hum, nothing will buzz. Your studio will be the quietest thing you have ever heard, or not heard in this case.

 

I have been using balanced power for about 10 years. I have had fewer digital errors when transferring signals between equipment. Electrical AES and S/PDIF work as well as optical now. On the analogue side, my transformerless tube mic preamp is 15dB quieter. As an average, all analogue equipment has measured 12 to 16 dB quieter just because of the balanced power.

 

Note: the voltages mentioned are appropriate for European studios halve the numbers for US studios.

Published in SOS September 2006

 

Transformers are not 100% efficient. Wouldnt you have lose using a balancing Xfrmr

Most residential homes only have unbalanced outlets. Would it be possible to create a balanced power source by using two out lets on opposing legs of the mains and connecting their neutrals short of moding the electrical system.

[Al Coda]

Scroll down for 'Balanced power' (for reducing noise in your studio).

 

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep06/articles/rogernichols_0906.htm

 

With balanced power, you can use any type of grounding configuration you wish. Star, schmar. You can leave the grounds connected at both ends of your audio cables. You can throw away all of your ground-lift adaptors. You can finally plug everything in the way it was meant to be plugged in.

 

There is only a power switch on the front and some AC receptacles with circuit breakers on the back. To install a balanced power system, all you have to do is plug it in to an AC supply, throw away all of your ground-lifting plugs and plug all of your equipment in to the receptacles in the back, and turn the front-panel power switch on. That's it. Nothing will hum, nothing will buzz. Your studio will be the quietest thing you have ever heard, or not heard in this case.

 

I have been using balanced power for about 10 years. I have had fewer digital errors when transferring signals between equipment. Electrical AES and S/PDIF work as well as optical now. On the analogue side, my transformerless tube mic preamp is 15dB quieter. As an average, all analogue equipment has measured 12 to 16 dB quieter just because of the balanced power.

 

I brought a balanced power transformer with me to the session. I fed the outputs of the microphones into the mic inputs of the Apogee A-D converter. The microphone power supplies and the Apogees were powered by the balanced power. I then fed the digital signal from the Apogees directly to the digital input of the Sony 48-track digital machine. Since the signal was digital before it got to the studio's power environment, the signals stayed 'balanced power' quiet.

 

The difference was amazing!

 

I expect every studio I work in from now on to be powered by balanced AC. The units come in various power-output configurations and multiple units can be run in parallel. This is by far the least expensive way to rocket your studio into the digital quiet age. Balanced power has been used in hospitals for 20 years to lower the noise in medical equipment and lessen the possibility of shock from poorly grounded equipment. It is way past time for every studio and project studio to embrace this technology.

 

Note: the voltages mentioned are appropriate for European studios halve the numbers for US studios.

Published in SOS September 2006

 

O.k.,- that was very informative,- thx.

 

So, where to buy "balanced AC power supplys" in europe?

Are there portable ones too ?

Which size/weight- how many watts/VA @240V ?

Are they in 19" rack format ?

Do they offer protection in addition ? Which ?

Any links to reliable companies manufacturing these? Sellers?

 

I have these Furman PL Plus E units in my racks since decades and I know these do nothing really protective at all, they are just only good looking rack mountable power strips w/ bulb tubes illuminating the rack. The protection/conditioning is some kind of cheap fake. Voltage monitoring is different on each unit because of different trimming of the meters or the cheap trimmers being worn out ...

 

The only reliable thing I have is a customized power stabilizer based on a very big transformer w/ +/- 2% tolerance for voltage output and several of these were used by Steinberg on fairs in UK to connect their booth-PCs and Macs.

Rock solid, built like a tank and into a flightcase, 45lbs but only 500VA,- enough to deliver stable power to a computer or a rig of some keys, but not enough for the racks, amplification and/or a studio. No line conditioning at all.

 

I´ve never found the all-in-one solution in regards of (balanced) power stabilizing, complete protection, line conditioning and eventually UPS.

Would be great if this does exist, but I fear it ends up in another component rig just only for clean power then.

 

A.C.

 

[Dave Horne]

So, where to buy "balanced AC power supplys" in europe?

 

They're heavy and expensive ... and I would assume only used in studios. I doubt if the noise it removes would be noticeable on a job.

 

http://www.furmansound.com/product.php?div=03&id=P-2300-ITE

 

http://www.thomann.de/ Thomann carries Furman. There are other companies that make balanced power supplies.

[Throbert]

http://www.equitech.com/products/rack/modelqpro.html

Expensive?

http://www.sola-hevi-duty.com/products/powerconditioning/cvs.htm

I have used these for high end automation here's what they have for pro Audio

The only other thing I can think of wouldn't work because it produces 400Hz and you would need a constant drive unit among other things

[JohnH]

I bought three Furman M8s just to get the power strips off the floor. It actually helped the sound at one of my gigs that had bad AC on my guitar rig. Eventually I may have to get 800 dollar conditioner. So far I'm happy with the product as it cleaned things up, power strip wise and that's all I expected.

[Mark Schmieder]

If you have money to blow, the Equitech is a good solution.

 

Power conditioning is more snake oil, when talking about stuff such as the Furman series that is marketed that way. There is little that distinguishes the $900 units from the $100 units.

 

And as others pointed out, the meters can be useful, or misleading as they aren't always calibrated well (especially the current meters; voltage meters are usually more reliable).

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

"And as others pointed out, the meters can be useful, or misleading as they aren't always calibrated well (especially the current meters; voltage meters are usually more reliable)."

 

right... but the point... 'purty lights'.... kinda like the 'tube' gear with no tube in the audio circuit...

[Dave Horne]

http://www.equitech.com/products/rack/modelqpro.html

Expensive?

http://www.sola-hevi-duty.com/products/powerconditioning/cvs.htm

I have used these for high end automation here's what they have for pro Audio

The only other thing I can think of wouldn't work because it produces 400Hz and you would need a constant drive unit among other things

 

Expensive? You be the judge.

 

http://www.equitech.com/purchase/prices.html

[Dave Horne]

I bought three Furman M8s just to get the power strips off the floor. It actually helped the sound at one of my gigs that had bad AC on my guitar rig. Eventually I may have to get 800 dollar conditioner. So far I'm happy with the product as it cleaned things up, power strip wise and that's all I expected.

 

... helped the sound ... ?

 

How exactly? My guess, the 50 or 60 cycle hum disappeared?

 

I quieted my system by removing all the grounds (except on the amplifier). Everything I use goes through the same power cord to the wall (which is also grounded) and now my system is very quiet. I also use a GFI at the wall for yet extra protection.

 

I have been told by some that I am stupid (or reckless) for doing this. I was given this advice by an audio/studio engineer.

[Al Coda]

 

Expensive? You be the judge.

 

http://www.equitech.com/purchase/prices.html

 

David, thx for the links !

 

"Son of Q" might be the way to go for me,- SoQ 2RE is USD 2.900.-.

Not a bargain, but also not more expensive than a halfway good keyboard controller these days.

 

+/- 2.5% of voltage regulation is pretty good.

What I´ve seen before in a rack mount format is between +/-4% up to +/-10%,- depending on the price.

 

My key-rig and the racks are organized to work the same way in the studio and for touring, so it might be worth the investment.

 

I already suffered from malfunctioning digital gear on stage as well as vintage analogue synths power regulators blew in the past during gigs, dependent on locations and big stagelight-rigs behaviour. I also had corrupted memory preset data or total loss of RAM content of synths, damaged chips and more.

I can only imagine what´s possible w/ computers running software and/or VST-players in use.

 

I think, if there are lots of expensive gear, power-protection and conditioning is a must.

 

A.C.