How to almost ruin a gig

[Dr88s]

Can someone explain to me why expensive boards don"t have a built in power supply with IEC?

I get that it adds weight and cost.

I can understand why manufacturers wouldn"t put them in entry level MIDI controllers, home market keyboards, etc.

But a $2K+ professional board? Are margins so low?

[Stokely]

I've heard arguments for wall warts, though I personally don't like them. My longest-lasting keyboard, a mid-90s Studiologic, used a wall wart and while it wasn't gigged it did see a lot of moving around over decades. The keys finally died or I'd still be using it.

 

I went ahead and made a google spreadsheet with headings of "main gig case", "modx bag" and "backup case". I've listed what goes into each one. No longer will I try to make a tailored bag per gig, if I do that it will be at the gig, using the contents of these cases, which WILL be loaded into my car, no exceptions. I'll bring a backpack and if time permits I can pick and choose from what I brought, which should cover all bases. A bit of extra work in loading but it will remove my normal "do I have everything" trepidation, providing that IF I take anything out to work on my rig, it goes back in.

 

The same goes for my cart, tarp and my fan. I simply need to load them in my car (the tarp I leave in the back anyway). Any time I try to do some scouting ahead and say "I won't need those things" I inevitably do. Most times I bring them thinking I will, I don't, but that's the way it goes! Actually the fan is almost always needed, I sweat really easily.

[MotiDave]

I"ve been carrying two wall warts everywhere I go for now 5 years. Still haven"t used the second once. But I"ll keep carrying them ,because noe Murphy is watching for the second I don"t.

[AnotherScott]

Can someone explain to me why expensive boards don"t have a built in power supply with IEC?

I get that it adds weight and cost.

I can understand why manufacturers wouldn"t put them in entry level MIDI controllers, home market keyboards, etc.

But a $2K+ professional board?

I'd guess weight and cost. ;-) And not just the weight and cost of the power supply itself. As I've mentioned before, I think there may be issues putting power supplies in a board a with plastic (rather than metal) chassis. Maybe it has to do with shielding and meeting regulatory specs? I don't know. But if that's the case, then it's not just the weight and cost of the power supply, it could also be the additional weight and cost of building the board out of metal instead of plastic, so the cost and weight differential could be more substantial than you'd expect.

[Stokely]

You might be on to something there. I've owned plastic keyboards with wall warts, and metal ones with wall warts (though most of them had power supplies.)

 

I've never owned a plastic keyboard with a power supply, nor do I know of any (but of course there may be many I don't know much about.)

[Dr88s]

[As I've mentioned before, I think there may be issues putting power supplies in a board a with plastic (rather than metal) chassis. Maybe it has to do with shielding and meeting regulatory specs? I don't know. But if that's the case, then it's not just the weight and cost of the power supply, it could also be the additional weight and cost of building the board out of metal instead of plastic, so the cost and weight differential could be more substantial than you'd expect.

 

This makes a lot of sense. Like Stokely points out, I can"t think of a single plastic board with an internal supply.

 

I actually own one (a Numa compact 2X), but the supply had been internalized by the person I bought it from.

[o0Ampy0o]

I can find failure in this car idea too!

I have been bitten before when my wife decides she need MY car for something. It's a major PITA even without gig considerations because I have other handy stuff I leave in my car (driving sunglasses, bungies for my cart etc etc).

A good example of a first world problem. ;-) Since you're a multi-car family, you'd need to create an identical "emergency kit" to keep in each car. It may be irritating to have to buy yet another of everything, but heck, if that extra cost was in the price of the car, you wouldn't even notice it. ;-)

 

The other thing is you need the awareness/discipline to know to immediately put back or replace any piece you ever take out of it and actually use (i.e. before the next gig).

Think of your household as a corporation. Equip and train every company employee adequately. The youngest toddler should be able to run the company in your absence. For instance, I ran an errand for a friend and dropped something off at a house early one Saturday morning. A young girl (5 years old maybe?) came to the door. Everyone else was sleeping. It was amazingly sweet to see her process the task she was presented with. She pulled together every drop of everything she had thinking out loud how to handle it. Ultimately she went to her closest mentor (her older brother). There are times when the young and innocent with no responsibilities need to be able to be adult-like. It can save lives. It can save your gigs.