power conditioner/power bars

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digitaldrummer
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Re: power conditioner/power bars

Post by digitaldrummer » Tue Feb 12, 2019 7:05 am

joninc wrote:
Mon Feb 11, 2019 12:57 pm
I was fighting some high end freq last week when I was printing some mixes through outboard gear - it' was a constant high freq tone (2k ish) that was being emitted
were you using any unbalanced TS or RCA cables? or an unbalanced patch bay? that's usually the culprit IMO. Get too close to the computer (which generates a lot of EMI) and it picks up noise.

consumer/desktop UPS won't do voltage regulation unless they specifically say that in the specs. they usually have minimal filtering which may be enough - or it may not. Its likely not much better than your average surge strip even if they "claim" to protect against lightning. That's just complete marketing BS because if you really get hit by lightning that UPS will simply melt (if it doesn't explode). It will protect you from sudden power loss and it might protect you from a brownout, but the voltage has to sag to whatever the UPS's preset threshold is (usually ~+/-5%) before its going to kick over to battery backup via the inverter. some more expensive UPS's have a "sensitivity" switch that allows you to have a little control over how quickly it switches back. if you really have noise issues you need transformer power unit. if you go that route, check the capacity - it won't be much for most consumer units (like UPS's...).
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roscoenyc
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Re: power conditioner/power bars

Post by roscoenyc » Tue Feb 12, 2019 7:35 am

I know they are not cheap but the Furman Balanced Isolation Ground Transformers have sure been major performers for us in Brooklyn.
We have none of the problems that some other studios in the same building have with the AC.

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I'm Painting Again
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Re: power conditioner/power bars

Post by I'm Painting Again » Tue Feb 12, 2019 11:25 am

Were you working during that huge transformer explosion in Astoria at the end of December? I had just finished a session up in Westchester when it went down - lit up the entire southern sky green blue white and red - I could feel it through my body - all the lights and electronics were bugging out !! it was something else..

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Re: power conditioner/power bars

Post by joninc » Tue Feb 12, 2019 11:38 am

digitaldrummer wrote:
Tue Feb 12, 2019 7:05 am

were you using any unbalanced TS or RCA cables? or an unbalanced patch bay? that's usually the culprit IMO. Get too close to the computer (which generates a lot of EMI) and it picks up noise.
No - I don't have a patch bay and everything is hard wired with XLR or DB25.

My computer is about 8 - 10 feet from the outboard gear (summing box, eqs, comps) that it's running through.

I think partly what's going on is that I am running space heaters (oil) and with the colder weather lately they are kicking on more often and creating a bit more noise on the circuit. I can definitely hear an increase in ground hum when they kick on.

The higher end sound is harder to pinpoint and somewhat intermittent - it's not there at all today for example. I had thought maybe it was a tube in my limiters (end of mix buss chain) but I bypassed them and it was still there. So it's coming from somewhere else but I do suspect it's down the line in the power (which runs off my house to a subpanel in the studio which is an outbuilding on our property). I can't tie it to a dishwasher/laundry type thing either tho (i've checked).
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roscoenyc
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Re: power conditioner/power bars

Post by roscoenyc » Wed Feb 13, 2019 7:10 am

I'm Painting Again wrote:
Tue Feb 12, 2019 11:25 am
Were you working during that huge transformer explosion in Astoria at the end of December? I had just finished a session up in Westchester when it went down - lit up the entire southern sky green blue white and red - I could feel it through my body - all the lights and electronics were bugging out !! it was something else..
Nope, I was home and getting crazy messages from people!

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Re: power conditioner/power bars

Post by darjama » Wed Feb 13, 2019 2:49 pm

I'm Painting Again wrote:
Mon Feb 11, 2019 9:10 pm
go used - much less $ and not a lot can go wrong with em

search "tripp lite hospital grade isolation transformer"
What wattage? is 250 enough for a modest setup?

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Re: power conditioner/power bars

Post by The Scum » Thu Feb 14, 2019 4:19 pm

250 is pretty small. So it would have to be an extremely modest setup. A single infusion pump.

As a reference, consider that a medium-duty PC power supply is in the 600 Watt range. And that's just keeping the stuff in the main chassis up - display and external hardware not included. My Laptop charger says it draws 1.2 Amps at 120Volts AC - that's 1440 Watts. Neither of those typically run at the full rated current the whole time.

A typical household breaker is 15 A. If you're drawing 15 A from 120V, that 1800 Watts. A little less modest setup.
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Re: power conditioner/power bars

Post by vvv » Thu Feb 14, 2019 5:52 pm

Well, lemme just add, real life, a laptop and a desk 'pooter with one monitor, 120w./ch. receiver, headphone mixer, cuppla pre's (Eureka, Summit, Altec, Meek, etc.) and comps (1176, RNLA, VLA2, dbx, etc.) at once, cuppla 60w. lights, mebbe a 1-spot - no issues with a 500 UPS, for years.

And I'm not trippin' nor :high:, tho' I just started my fecund 'toonie.
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