Daisy Chain Question

[kenstee]

I know that daisy chain cables can defeat the purpose of having a power supply with isolated outputs. But, you do offer a Split Output cable that would allow power 2 pedals from a single output. I read that the Split Output cables lifts the ground to one of the pedals in order to still prevent the occurrence of a ground loop. That said, do you strongly discourage more than 2 pedals per output? And what exactly does "lifting the ground" mean? Thanks.

[JohnClark]

Our Split Output Y cables do in fact lift the ground connection to one of the pedals in order to prevent a ground loop between the two pedals used. The ground connection to the lifted pedal is provided by the audio cable connecting one pedal to the next.

Two "average" pedals will likely draw close to the current limit of the standard outputs on a Pedal Power 2+, which is why our Split Output Y cables allow only two pedals.

I hope that helps!

[kenstee]

Our Split Output Y cables do in fact lift the ground connection to one of the pedals in order to prevent a ground loop between the two pedals used. The ground connection to the lifted pedal is provided by the audio cable connecting one pedal to the next.

Two "average" pedals will likely draw close to the current limit of the standard outputs on a Pedal Power 2+, which is why our Split Output Y cables allow only two pedals.

I hope that helps!

John, will the use of the Split Output Y TOTALLY negate the negatives/issues associated with daisy chaining that you outlined in some other of your posts? Thanks!

[JohnClark]

John, will the use of the Split Output Y TOTALLY negate the negatives/issues associated with daisy chaining that you outlined in some other of your posts? Thanks!

Nope. You are still sharing the same power source with the two devices and any time that is done, there is potential for noise. The ground lift does take care of the most common problem, however not all pairings of pedals will play nicely together when they are sharing a common power source. Isolated outputs powering single pedals is the only sure fire way to eliminate these potential problems, every time!

[kenstee]

John, will the use of the Split Output Y TOTALLY negate the negatives/issues associated with daisy chaining that you outlined in some other of your posts? Thanks!

Nope. You are still sharing the same power source with the two devices and any time that is done, there is potential for noise. The ground lift does take care of the most common problem, however not all pairings of pedals will play nicely together when they are sharing a common power source. Isolated outputs powering single pedals is the only sure fire way to eliminate these potential problems, every time!

Then what is the advantage (if any) of this Split Y vs. some 5-plug daisy chain cables made by some other companies?

[JohnClark]

Then what is the advantage (if any) of this Split Y vs. some 5-plug daisy chain cables made by some other companies?

The advantage is the ground lift. All daisy chain cables I have seen share a common ground at each point. We eliminate the number one cause of noise, a ground loop, by lifting ground.

As I stated before, isolated power for each device is the only sure fire method to eliminate all noise problems caused by interaction between pedals. This is the main point of the Pedal Power line of power supplies... Isolated Outputs.

We simply offer a method to gang up pedals on a single output for situations where there is no other easy solution. While we do make an effort to make this as noise free as possible, by lifting the ground to one side, it is still less than ideal to gang pedals up on a single output. You have to test what pedals you will use together in order to find pairings that will play nicely together.

[kenstee]

Then what is the advantage (if any) of this Split Y vs. some 5-plug daisy chain cables made by some other companies?

The advantage is the ground lift. All daisy chain cables I have seen share a common ground at each point. We eliminate the number one cause of noise, a ground loop, by lifting ground.

As I stated before, isolated power for each device is the only sure fire method to eliminate all noise problems caused by interaction between pedals. This is the main point of the Pedal Power line of power supplies... Isolated Outputs.

We simply offer a method to gang up pedals on a single output for situations where there is no other easy solution. While we do make an effort to make this as noise free as possible, by lifting the ground to one side, it is still less than ideal to gang pedals up on a single output. You have to test what pedals you will use together in order to find pairings that will play nicely together.

Thanks!

[bluesdude]

I need to power more pedals too, however, I see that the photo of your "Output Splitter Adapter - Ground Lifted" cable has one male and two female plugs. Pedals require male plugs. This means I need to purchase two more standard pedal power cables to make the connection, yes? If so, is there not available a cable that is just a simple "Y" cable available with three male plugs? Thanks for your reply. - Bluesdude.

Image: http://www.voodoolab.com/shop/images/products/ppav.jpg

[Rez]

Correct. You must use whatever standard polarity cable you would normally use to connect from each inline jack on the output splitter to your effects pedals. We do not offer (as a non-custom built item) an output splitter that connects directly to your effects pedals (ie. with 3 male connectors).

[Dr Jimmy]

Our Split Output Y cables do in fact lift the ground connection to one of the pedals in order to prevent a ground loop between the two pedals used. The ground connection to the lifted pedal is provided by the audio cable connecting one pedal to the next.

What if the two pedals are seperated by another pedal? In other words I have two loops (one clean, one gain) and use a Boss LS-2 to select between the loops, what if one pedal is in the clan loop and another is in the gain loop, is the ground connection broken? Will this cause hum/buzz/nasty ground noise?