Hey there -
Long-time lurker, first time poster here, and finally making the jump because I wanted to follow up on the interesting convos that happened here and here a while ago, but I didn’t want to open an old thread again. So posting here.
Did anyone involved in those threads ever find a good way to power four or more devices (Elektron preferably, but really any device up to 18V and up to 3A?). I’ve been scouring for a solution for my live set with four devices at the moment, and the number of power bricks and the power conditioner itself is ridiculous compared to everything else.
I have a hardware engineering background, so I started going down the road to design my own 8 port solution that’s powered off of USB-C PD, and so far I’m really happy with how it seems to be shaping up. Schematics done, board layout almost done. But before I finish the layout and get the first prototypes built, I thought I’d ask if anyone has any better solution for the following:
Must haves:
- Isolated outputs with no noise/ground loop issues
- Over voltage, over current, and over temperature protection
- At least four power ports
- Ability to switch polarity of each channel separately
- Ability to change the voltage of each channel separately. At very least, 9V, 12V, 15V, and 18V
- 100W total power available, shared across all the ports
- Manually switchable at a minimum
- Must support up to 3A on a port, so the most power-hungry pedals can work (looking at you Kemper Player!)
- At or close to the $200 price range
Nice-to-haves:
- 8 power ports
- Voltage continuously adjustable from 5V to 20V
- Current support up to 5A per port (not to exceed 100W total across the entire device)
- Current limit settable per port
- Device can output more or less voltage than the USB-C PD power supply plugged into it, using buck/boost regulators
- Device programmable via USB or BLE–so switching out gear doesn’t require buying a bunch of new cables or adapters. Just reconfigure and hook up to new devices. Config should be saved between power cycles of course.
- If device is programmable, it’s loaded with preset, user-selectable power profiles for all major devices. Just choose “Monomachine mkII”, and it can give you that funky 6V 3.5A it so badly wants, with proper polarity. Should also support the various Korg Volcas, the Roland stuff, and many guitar pedals like the Strymon goods. Should also be able to power smaller audio interfaces (like the MOTU Ultralite AVB), and IEM transmitters.
- Can be run off of any USB-PD compatible battery bank
Anyhow, I know it’s a pretty specific list, but I thought I’d ask you all before spending the time to finish my project. Next show is coming up in October so gotta figure out something quick!
And very nice to finally join instead of just lurk!
Allison