Hey guys! A total newbie question. Ive heard people using power conditioners for their Axe-Fx and POD HD Pro and Eleven Rack. What is this power conditioner ,so to speak of? Thanks. 
What is a Power conditioner?
- Thread starter Guitardude98
- Start date
slayercannibalsuffohead
Get a dog up ya!
Basically a rack unit that can take around 8 other racks plugged into it to give those racks a constant voltage and not to let any nasty spikes or surges ruin your equipment. Voltage dips and rises, and depending on where you are or playing, this can be anywhere from 1%-15% of the value. Oh, and they can look good too.
egan.
daylightdies.com
The term gets used pretty generally. In it's lowest form it's just a surge protector. Better ones offer some filtering to prevent noise from entering the system. Some (but very few) offer voltage regulation which will float voltage to prevent your gear from seeing sags or spikes.
Mutant
I hate that supercow !
A good power conditioner will not only keep the voltage constant, but will also give you a nice, clean sine wave - just 50/60hz free of any additional frequency dirt.
This will take care of random clicks that sometimes appear in your recordings when a thunderstorm comes or when some heavy electrical equipment gets turned on and off in your neighborhood and also will remove any alien frequencies that could creep in from the grid to make your noise floor smooth which is very important for recording DI guitar signal meant to be heavily amplified.
This will take care of random clicks that sometimes appear in your recordings when a thunderstorm comes or when some heavy electrical equipment gets turned on and off in your neighborhood and also will remove any alien frequencies that could creep in from the grid to make your noise floor smooth which is very important for recording DI guitar signal meant to be heavily amplified.
AntonioPetrole
Brootz
I see lots of dudes using them live. Does anyone use them in there studio? Also, what is considered a good one? Like the difference between a $300 one and a $100 one? Or is it like the difference between a $100 one and a $2000 one?
arv_foh
Brian K
at a lot of studios you seen one at the top of every one of their racks.. these are the ones I like.. Furman PL8C. I use them in my home studio and at the radio station I work for, studios A and B. Cleans power up quite nicely.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PL8C
egan.
daylightdies.com
The $100 one is probably a surge protector with a 15amp circuit breaker and a resistor across the ground to eliminate noise.
The variations from $100-300 normally add more complex filtering as well as voltage/amperage monitoring (but not regulation) and lights. Sometimes you'll see 20amp models. I think there are a few voltage regulators that pop into this price range but not many.
Beyond that you get into true voltage regulation, UPS's and filtering which goes further to provides pure sine waves. I won't pretend that I know what all goes into that but needless to say you can spend as much as you want in pursuit of clean power.
MarcusGHedwig
Member
Culminating in this (and that's actually the cheapest of 3 in the range)
Wonder if lolzgreg still has his...
bryan_kilco
Member
I own a Furman PL-8 Series II (I think thats the one) and have no complaints.
Really want to sell it off and get at least one with a digital voltage read-out or LEDs indicating good bad voltage.
Really want to sell it off and get at least one with a digital voltage read-out or LEDs indicating good bad voltage.
Matt-Steele
Member
I use a Furman PL Plus (it's the one with the glowing LEDS so you can see them on stage) in my home studio and with my recording equipment.
I highly suggest turning on your equipment after turning on the power conditioner and allowing it a little time to stabilize. I know people that have had major issues with their equipment by allowing the power conditioner to act as an on/off control for all their equipment.
I highly suggest turning on your equipment after turning on the power conditioner and allowing it a little time to stabilize. I know people that have had major issues with their equipment by allowing the power conditioner to act as an on/off control for all their equipment.
bryan_kilco
Member
Hmmm I had wondered about this!
I manually turn on/off my tube amp every time, but I do let the power conditioner act as on/off for my tuner in my rack. I have a sonic maximizer and 31-band eq in there that I never use so those are always turned off.
I have a monster pro 2500 for my studio and a basic rocktron conditioner for my guitar rig. The cool thing about the rocktron unit is it has dc style inputs so if you get the right cable you get rid of bulky transformers from your rack units.
egan.
daylightdies.com
Just for the record, the PL plus doesn't regulate voltage. The reason to turn on gear separately (or use a power sequencer) is to avoid a current rush.
