Power & Batteries

Power & Batteries

With the huge variety of electronics that are used in modern music power supplies and batteries rank as highly as strings drumsticks and guitar picks on the list of essential musical accessories. In many cases delivering clean and reliable power to instruments and pro audio hardware begins at the outlet with devices such as surge protectors and power conditioners. Available from brands like Furman and Live Wire these contain attenuating circuitry that smooths out unwanted noise in the electricity which could otherwise affect the sound produced by sensitive electronics. Many also double as power strips with multiple outlets allowing a lot of simultaneous connections.

Naturally power outlets are not necessary in the first place when using batteries and there are many styles available to suit different applications such as 9-volt batteries for effects pedals and lithium button cells for onboard preamps. Plug-in options do also exist for most of these however and are ideal for musicians who wish to save space simplify their setup or simply avoid the hassle of changing batteries. Effects pedal power supplies provide numerous examples and some even support advanced features: for instance MXR and Voodoo Lab offer units that can simulate the voltage-sag effect of a partially-drained battery useful for fuzz pedals. Other types of power supplies include adapters for portable amplifiers phantom power supplies for condenser microphones and direct boxes and battery-backup units that can carry a studio or stage rack unaffected through brief power interruptions.