Members alby Posted January 26, 2007 Members Share Posted January 26, 2007 Damn friggin wall warts! I have been living with them live for years and the only way I have ever found that will guarantee they will not infect the signal chain with their obnoxious EM is to put them all in their own four space SKB rack case. Thus each time I setup and tear down I then have to plug / unplug each coax connector from its respective load in adjacent racks. What a PITA! I would dearly love to simply place them right next to their respective loads with double sided sticky tape or tie-wraps and never have to plug / unplug them all every gig, but..........like I said...... the only way I have ever found that will guarantee they will not pollute the signal chain with their crappy EM is to put them all in their own four space SKB rack case! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted January 26, 2007 CMS Author Share Posted January 26, 2007 Damn friggin wall warts! I have been living with them live for years and the only way I have ever found that will guarantee they will not infect the signal chain with their obnoxious EM is to put them all in their own four space SKB rack case.Thus each time I setup and tear down I then have to plug / unplug each coax connector from its respective load in adjacent racks. What a PITA!I would dearly love to simply place them right next to their respective loads with double sided sticky tape or tie-wraps and never have to plug / unplug them all every gig, but..........like I said...... the only way I have ever found that will guarantee they will not pollute the signal chain with their crappy EM is to put them all in their own four space SKB rack case! People want cheap gear. Price rules, and it costs real money to put a real power supply into the case, and then it costs even more real money to get a UL-listing for said device, and certain lies about the performance can't be published when UL is involved. So most companies looking to meet a price point will either use a wall-wart, or abstain from UL cert, or more and more lately...both. Besides the problems with RF noise, if you use a device that doesn't have UL-listing in a public venue, you can run into noise of a different sort....the local building authority telling you your rack doesn't meet the requirements of their building safety code, and you can't use it on stage. Rare, but happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted January 26, 2007 Members Share Posted January 26, 2007 I can say that I have NO wall warts in any of my systems... except for some small SMPS wall warts for the Audio Technica 3000's in some small systems. There's more cost but WAY less hassle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boomerweps Posted January 26, 2007 Members Share Posted January 26, 2007 I'd just be happy if all the cheap wall-warted gear had an on/off switch on it. The Behringer Shark and the new UB802 mixer I have BOTH have NO on/off switch. Talk about cutting corners to save $. Those are the only units I have with "line warts". Slightly better than wall warts, taking no rack strip space and can be left distanced form other gear. I specifically got the Lexicon MPX200 FX unit because it had an internal power supply with IEC removable AC cable unlike the perfectly usable MPX100. I also gave the Behringer DSP2024 (or whatever FX unit) a try because it also had no wall wart. I got tired of my Alesis Multiverb3 wart falling out in transit (also no on/off switch on that). As was mentioned, the wall wart gets UL safety certification and then is used for a myriad of gear, saving manufacturing costs. Also the wall warts can be country specific, saving making the same gear with multiple internal power supplies. Change out a cheap wall wart on a pallet and you can move the electronics gear easily from country to country to the better sellers. Boomerweps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alby Posted January 26, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 26, 2007 I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dboomer Posted January 27, 2007 Members Share Posted January 27, 2007 Well you'll probably get your wish as California has enacted new rules that take effect July 07. It should change the game a bunch ... or just make it hard to buy gear in Calif! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alby Posted January 27, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 27, 2007 How so if I might ask? Also I forgot to point out that part of my rant has nothing to do with how much you are willing to spend to get internal power, because a lot of my gear simply has no internally powered alternative! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dboomer Posted January 27, 2007 Members Share Posted January 27, 2007 That's because for every guy like you that would spend $50 more for it there are 50 guys who would buy one if it were even cheaper. Manufacturers simple design to the marketplace. The Calif regulation calls for wall warts to not draw any (real) current when the device is off. That rules out almost everything out there. You can use a laptop type switch mode supply (expensive) but they have some of their own issues. Manufacturers will have to use a more expensive wall wart or move to internal supplys. Either way ... the price is going up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JohnnyGraphic Posted January 27, 2007 Members Share Posted January 27, 2007 A few years ago I got sick and tired of having to put up with the horrendous noise from my system. The wall warts would cause problems even though I did everything in my power to keep them away from all of the other stuff. Ugh...So, I sold each piece one by one and hunted for new gear on eBay. I figured my requirements are internal power supply, balanced connections (XLR if at all possible) and good decent quality name (like DBX). Johnny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 6Imzadi Posted January 27, 2007 Members Share Posted January 27, 2007 I have screwed a power strip to the inside top of my rack. I nylon tied three warts to it.*Caution: The screws went through the top of the rack. This is ok because my mixer sits on top of the rack, and inside it. Like this. http://i14.tinypic.com/42no35u.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alby Posted January 27, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 27, 2007 The woman with the yellow top seems to be interested in screwing and racks as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TimmyP Posted January 27, 2007 Members Share Posted January 27, 2007 http://www.padrick.net/LiveSound/WallWartWorld.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alby Posted January 27, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 27, 2007 I have done a similar thing by taking a perforated rack tray and affixing the wall warts to it with tie-wraps. The two remaining issues are: 1) I must leave enough of an air gap above and below the wall wart rack tray to avoid EM interference. 2) Since I have multiple racks, but I have centralized all the wall warts in only one of the racks, I must connect and disconnect all the wall wart loads each setup / tear-down. Now one of things I have done to reduce / negate the need for an air gap above or below the wall wart rack tray is to put non-audio devices adjacent to it, for example the M-Audio Miidsport 8X8 (which could give a rat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zeromus-X Posted January 27, 2007 Members Share Posted January 27, 2007 We sell these things called Power Strip Pigtails here at work. They're like a buck or two and are essentially an 8" or so extension cable. I've got eight of them plugged into my rackmount surge protector just hanging down like a goddamn octopus' legs... but it means wall warts aren't a problem (I can cable tie the adapter right to the pigtail, which means it's not gonna fall out in transit), and it means that it's really easy to find a power connection on a dark stage instead of having to reach back, try to figure out which way to orient the plug, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alby Posted January 27, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 27, 2007 I did not know there was a commercial version. Probably be stupid expensive in Canada and hard to get? I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted January 27, 2007 Members Share Posted January 27, 2007 You could save a ton of weight by choosing a different amp by the way. More than screwing with plastic racks. The new PLX-2's would be a starting place at roughly 11 lbs compared to almost 50 lbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alby Posted January 27, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 27, 2007 I am with you and it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zeromus-X Posted January 27, 2007 Members Share Posted January 27, 2007 I did not know there was a commercial version. Probably be stupid expensive in Canada and hard to get? I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boomerweps Posted January 27, 2007 Members Share Posted January 27, 2007 Various shorty or pigtail AC adapters can be had from www.cyberguys.com Boomerweps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alby Posted January 27, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 27, 2007 Thanks for the brain storming everyone, I think it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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