Cioks AC Adapters for Pedals

This is a power supply for effects pedals. These things can be tricky, and picking a good one is really particular to the pedal choice of each player. That's why I'm not going to give this a 5-star review. Don't get me wrong, it's good. There is little to no noise (at least additional noise beyond the pedal(s) itself). There are about 6 outputs, meaning the pedal can power 6 pedals at once. One of the main selling points of this power supply is that it has an additional output that serves a few distinct pedals that can't usually be powered by a multi-jack power supply. A good example of this, one that I have had a hard time with recently, is the Electro-Harmonix Melody Man. I haven't seen an adaptor like this that worked with that pedal, which is a shame, because I love that pedal. However, having to lug around that additional power supply was starting to get somewhat frustrating. That's why I'm happy with this supply. If you don't have a Memory Man, but have another pedal that is impossible to power with a central power supply, then you should check this guy out, chances are that it will work with this guy. I haven't encountered a pedal that it doesn't work with, granted I haven't tried all pedals but I've played a lot. I think that beyond the funny name, this is still a really good power supply. My only beef is that it doesn't power more than six pedals at a time, I might need or want more than that in my live setup soon. This might not be for you if you have more than 6, unless you want to buy two, which would likely be more than enough, unless you are a wild effects enthusiast.

Here you are dealing with a basic and simple power supply generating 9V DC on five (5) outlets. You have a total of 280mA to share between the five outlets. The outlets are filtered, but not isolated, which means, that do you have some sort of hum, it gets shared between all of the outlets! If you have a power conditioner somewhere in you setup, then you should have no problems at all. I can't remember wether the center is positive or negative, but switch cables does exist, giving you the possibility to use pedals with reversed polarity on this power supply as well. Per default, this power supply works straight up, with Boss pedals, using normal polarity cables. Extra cables are a bit on the expensive site (around 5$ + VAT), but when buying it in a store, they usually give you enough cables to fill out every outlet socket on the power supply. As with any other device requiring power, it comes with a standard two pole power connector, so make sure, that you plug it into the power socket the right way around, otherwise you might have some phase issues. I tend to change the power connector on my equipment when I receive it, to three pole power connectors (phase, ground and null). This way, I always have the phase the right way round, unless the building has some old electrical installations. If you are looking for a new power supply, then I would recommend that you look for something else. The Cioks Baby is good, no doubt about it, but the problem is the non-isolated outputs. The difference in price between the ones with isolated outlets as opposed to the non-isolated outlets is minute, compared to the advantage you have.

For years, people were powering their pedals and pedal boards with batteries or an adaptor and daisy chains. This can cause all sorts of issues. You need a quality power supply for your board/pedals and the Cioks are pretty much the standard. What's important is the fact that the outputs are isolated, so you will never get buzz/hum from having different polarity pedals etc. It also allows you to combine outputs to get either a higher voltage (18v) or more power (more mAs) if you need that. Furthermore, there are 2 outputs that have little dipswitches on the bottom that will get you more options. These also have a sag-control. This allows you to mimic a dying battery. This might sound as voodoo but some pedals sound vastly different if a battery is no longer putting out the full 9v. The sag-control lets you set this and trust me, it works flawlessly. With the dip-switches, you can also set these 2 outputs for 12v, some Boss pedals need that. I’ve been using my pedal power for a long time and never had an issue with it, it’s still going strong. I’m not using it on a board at the moment but keep it at home for quick pedal testing etc. I have output #8 set up with the sag control and that works nicely with fuzz pedals, you really should give it a try and see if you notice a difference. It’s not as obvious with every pedal but fuzz-pedals in particular can benefit from this. Like all Cioks products, build quality is spot on. It comes with a number of cables and you can order more from Cioks. It even has a 220v output so you can plug another adaptor into it if you need a special power. It only does 9v or 12v DC which is fine for most pedals, if you need 9v AC or other outputs, Voodoo Lab now has a bunch of other power units.