Do you use batteries or power supply for your pedals?

[Robert****]

I have a One-Spot adapter and I really like it. However, I must say I notice the tone is better when using batteries. It can be a pain to gig with though, if some batteries die halfway through the set

If tone is your ultimate quest, try batteries in your pedals if you haven't already!

[duhvoodooman***]

Since I always play at home, I keep all my pedals "wall-warted". No need to hassle with batteries.

Robert, I'm curious--in what way(s), specifically, do you find your effects to sound better when run on 9V batteries?

[Robert****]

I find the OD and Distortion pedals sound more smooth with batteries. You get a bit of that sag too with batteries. My Wah sounds better with batteries too, more organic sounding, if that makes sense. With the modulation effects, I notice less differences.

[duhvoodooman***]

Guess I'll have to try some of my pedals with batteries, just to see if I can hear a difference....

[Tone2TheBone]

What's it been...like maybe a year or more ago that I got into using pedals at all? Since then I've used adapters for them. Before this I used only batteries in the 2 pedals I did have....the Ross compressor and the MXR Micro Amp. I haven't noticed a difference between batteries and adapters Rob but maybe you do because you're using more than one pedal at the same time? I can tell the difference in that respect.

[333maxwell]

I have a One-Spot adapter and I really like it. However, I must say I notice the tone is better when using batteries. It can be a pain to gig with though, if some batteries die halfway through the set

If tone is your ultimate quest, try batteries in your pedals if you haven't already!

I'm with you...

Absolutly there is a difference in tone in many cases with DC vs AC/DC.. not to mention no chance of the AC/DC cords picking up any stray frequency tangents from lights etc.. I have certainly found batteries to be the quietest way to go.

But my main reason is because it is hassle free and I just always make sure to have fresh batteries in before a gig, they last all night and the next night too.

[Robert****]

Oh, and another thing - DON'T use alkaline batteries! They don't sound good at all! Use the cheap carbon batteries; Eveready are good ones. This makes a big difference for your tone.

[Tone2TheBone]

Oh, and another thing - DON'T use alkaline batteries! They don't sound good at all! Use the cheap carbon batteries; Eveready are good ones. This makes a big difference for your tone.

Ok Eric thanks.

[Iago]

batteries always, the non alkaline kind.. I have a stock of them! But mainly because I hate cords all around. They've been lasting a lot.. (I dont use pedals too much.. just and OD and phase 90, and a compressor at home only) same batteries since november!

[sunvalleylaw]

Oh, and another thing - DON'T use alkaline batteries! They don't sound good at all! Use the cheap carbon batteries; Eveready are good ones. This makes a big difference for your tone.

I have batteries in my pedals, but they are alkalines, (Costco pack of Duracells) and usually leave them plugged in to the OneSpot. I hate having to unplug everything all the time when my playing time can be so short at times and off and on. I have not noticed a difference much yet. Will have to try it and see. How long are the non-alkalines lasting you that use them?

[duhvoodooman***]

Oh, and another thing - DON'T use alkaline batteries! They don't sound good at all! Use the cheap carbon batteries; Eveready are good ones. This makes a big difference for your tone.

Man, call me a skeptic, but I don't know if I'm buying this one quite yet! What is the physical/chemical explanation for this alleged performance difference?? I can understand that a wall wart vs. a battery could possibly make a difference in sound, but one 9V battery (assuming full charge/good quality) vs. another? You're going to have to convince me, Robert! Got any web references to send me to?

[SuperSwede]

I´m not much of a gambler so I would NEVER gig with batteries
in my stompboxes. Especially not in crucial effects like OD. The OD
gets weaker when the battery gets low on juice. I want my sound to be
consistent and always the same. Hum or not, I want 9 volts of anti-christ/devil-child (AC/DC)

[Tone2TheBone]

Another thing about batteries is that they'll start to crap out real fast (modulation pedals like delay, reverb, chorus, flange eat batteries up like candy duh) and if I was gigging now I wouldn't want that to happen. I "gig" in my house and at the neighbor's across the street and I still wouldn't want that to happen. Especially with a multi pedal setup. I'm also not convinced about the difference between alkalines and regular batteries.

[Robert****]

Hey sceptic + see what Analogman says - http://www.tonequest.com/articles/article21.htm (2nd last question)

Here's a "Dying Battery Simulator" article - http://www.beavisaudio.com/Projects/DBS/

I am no engineer as you know, and as always, judge for yourself. The differences are subtle, but I think gain and fuzz pedals sound better with a carbon-zinc battery.

[Tone2TheBone]

Hey sceptic + see what Analogman says - http://www.tonequest.com/articles/article21.htm (2nd last question)

Here's a "Dying Battery Simulator" article - http://www.beavisaudio.com/Projects/DBS/

I am no engineer as you know, and as always, judge for yourself. The differences are subtle, but I think gain and fuzz pedals sound better with a carbon-zinc battery.

What subtle differences do your ears hear Robert? Esplan.

[Justaguyin_nc]

I heard there suppose to be a difference, but I use walwarts..onespot etc.. I just can not see unplugging a dozen pedals every nite to save the batteries.. thanks for the tip though..will have to see what the difference in interference is with batteries replacing the walwarts.

[Robert****]

What subtle differences do your ears hear Robert? Esplan.

Hard to explain in writing what the ears hear... why don't you take your ZYS and try with an Eveready batter and a power adapter and see what you think?

[Tone2TheBone]

Hard to explain in writing what the ears hear... why don't you take your ZYS and try with an Eveready batter and a power adapter and see what you think?

Will Panasonic carbon zincs work? Which brand would be better? Now I'm totally cornfused. LMAO j/k

I think I will try that experiment out. So I'll need what...an alkaline battery and a carbon zinc right? Or is it a war between just the battery and the adapter? The ideal way to do that would be to have 2 Zonkin's side by side with the different batteries in them if you did alkaline vs. carbon zinc. By the time I go to change the batteries out I've bent over to take it out and blood rushed to my head and my ears pop and get stuffed up...then I change the battery out and by THAT time I've forgotten what the pedal sounded like before I change the battery out and.....

Ok so carbon zinc vs. AC adapter then. I'll see what I can do and I challenge Voodoo, Swede and anyone else to do the same.

[duhvoodooman***]

Hey sceptic + see what Analogman says - http://www.tonequest.com/articles/article21.htm (2nd last question)

Here's a "Dying Battery Simulator" article - http://www.beavisaudio.com/Projects/DBS/

I am no engineer as you know, and as always, judge for yourself. The differences are subtle, but I think gain and fuzz pedals sound better with a carbon-zinc battery.

Guess I'll have to check out the battery effect for myself in my OD & fuzz pedals. Still smacks of mumbo-jumbo, but I suppose anything's possible. I just like to understand the scientific reason behind a perceived difference.

Now, the dying battery thing I have no problem believing. The physical effect there is clear--dropping voltage level--and it's easy to understand that that is going to affect a pedal's tonal output.

Between us girls, I have to take much of what "AnalogMan" says with a grain of salt. Without a doubt, he is an extremely knowledgeable, experienced guy, and has forgotten more than I'll ever know about pedals. But keep in mind that the guy, in addition to being a master techie, is also a salesman--he has made big business out of pedal modding. When you read comments like one pedal having more "mojo" than another, or making a TS sound "brown" because he used a couple of old carbon composite resistors instead of newer (and far superior, from the standpoint of consistency and low noise characteristics) metal film resistors--well, that stuff just smacks of snake-oil salesmanship to me!

The only way to know if this stuff really makes a difference is to do "blind" testing. The hearer shouldn't know what he's listening to, because the mind will play tricks on him. You begin to hear what you think you're supposed to hear. This is just the nature of the human mind. Unfortunately, setting up such a blind comparison test is complicated and takes a couple of people to do it, so most of us don't have the luxury of running one of these tests at home....