# New Volto powered pedalboard



## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

Decided to build a small board and use the Volto to power everything. This is a chunk of plywood the size of a Pedaltrain Nano which I routed a pocket into for the power supply and the wiring. The Volto sits flush with the top of the board, pedals sit nicely on top and I can easily reach in between to turn the system on and fire up the whole works. Soldered some cables for the signal chain and the power section tonight, tested nicely, works well. Just need to throw a coat of paint on the wood, Velcro the pedals in place and attach the handle. I found a Nano case on Kijiji for ten bucks so this whole little rig will be complete.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Whats holding the pedals down? Looks clean!


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

That's super cool.


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

Looks great. The only concern I would have would be heat build up without much air circulation around the unit. Although, I'm not sure how much heat they generate.


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## Cups (Jan 5, 2010)

What a great idea. Super impressed.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Very nice indeed. I still prefer to have something between the PS and pedals, in my case a PT Mini and a hunk of velcro, but I really like the volto, great for grab and go. Just remember to turn it off and keep it charged


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

Budda said:


> Whats holding the pedals down? Looks clean!


I'm just going to use Velcro for the power supply and the pedals.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

That's a really well-thought-out rig! Love the route for the Volto!


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

Also, how long does the charge last powering those pedals?


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

I haven't run the setup through a cycle yet but I'm thinking I should be able to get what I need at full charge. Practice is 4 hours, playing out gig is 5-6, I don't see why I couldn't get that with this thing.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

vadsy said:


> I haven't run the setup through a cycle yet but I'm thinking I should be able to get what I need at full charge. Practice is 4 hours, playing out gig is 5-6, I don't see why I couldn't get that with this thing.


Should be fine. Just shut it down between sets and remember to keep the charge cable handy "just in case". It can be used while charging.

I see that the Counter Point only draws 70 mA, that's awesome for a delay.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

I came across the CP completely by accident in the used bin and I'm very happy with it. 
All the pedals draw fairly low, comp 3.3mA, od-3 9mA, delay 70mA, reverb 65mA. 
It says the Volto can put out 2000mA but inside, and online, the battery seems to have a 5000mA•h capacity. 
So...
5000mA•h/(3.3mA+9mA+70mA+65mA)=33.94h
Seems crazy, I need a coffee.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

vadsy said:


> I came across the CP completely by accident in the used bin and I'm very happy with it.
> All the pedals draw fairly low, comp 3.3mA, od-3 9mA, delay 70mA, reverb 65mA.
> It says the Volto can put out 2000mA but inside, and online, the battery seems to have a 5000mA•h capacity.
> So...
> ...


If you get much more than 5 or 6 hours I'll be shocked, LOL.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

Yea. 
I'll give it a few test runs before heading out with it for the night. If it doesn't do it for me I have some Voodoo Labs stuff sitting around now. The resale on the Voltos seems really good, used on Reverb gets you more than new cost at L&M here and it doesn't last long.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

davetcan said:


> If you get much more than 5 or 6 hours I'll be shocked, LOL.


If it's more than 5-6hrs, I'll be getting one or two myself. With a couple, I might be able to keep my main gigging board going for a night.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

Tonight I charge it, tomorrow I'll plug everything in and turn it on, will time to see when it dies.


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

You know, in my previous post, I didn't clue in that it's basically a rechargeable battery pack with multiple outputs. Coooool...


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

That's a cool setup vadsy!

Let us know how the test goes.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

sulphur said:


> Let us know how the test goes.


Just over 4 hours in, all the pedals on since the beginning, 2 out of 3 power status lights still showing on the Volto. 
I did notice the first status light go off after just one hour, thought it might be a short test at that point, checked into the L&M return policy.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

If a Volto is too rich for your tastes (and especially having two - one on standby), a bunch of us on the DIY stompbox forum and on Ampage/MEF have been recommending a 6-pack of C or D-cells as a smooth power source for years now. Alternatively, a 6-pack of C-cells to power all your low current pedals (the fuzzes, EQ, compressor, phaser, etc.), and the Volto to power your digital current-hogs, isn't a terrible idea. The batteries don't even have to be "good" ones. Dollar store batteries will still power a big chunk of your pedalboard with smooth, ripple-free DC for hours and hours and hours, as long as you remember to disconnect the batteries when done.

As for the 5000mah capacity, understand that this is a composite rating of current x time. ALL batteries have limitations on their instantaneous current delivery capability. So the composite of time and current may be high, but that does not necessarily mean that the battery-module can provide 5 amps' worth of power if you're willing to recharge after an hour.

All that aside, a pure DC supply is a wonderful thing, no matter how you get it.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

vadsy said:


> Just over 4 hours in, all the pedals on since the beginning, 2 out of 3 power status lights still showing on the Volto.
> I did notice the first status light go off after just one hour, thought it might be a short test at that point, checked into the L&M return policy.


Looking into the outcome of the test. I may have to short-list one of these. No connection to AC, where everything is plugged in, is a great idea from a noise POV.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

9 hours, give or take 5 minutes, total running time with everything on. It gave 9.28 volts right to the end. Once it's down to the last power status light it seems to mean 15-20 minutes left, then it's lights out.


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## blam (Feb 18, 2011)

Very nicely done. 

Sent from my SM-N920W8 using Tapatalk


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

Price isn't bad on these things either. I wonder if two would be enough to power my main board. I'll have to do some math.


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## Swervin55 (Oct 30, 2009)

Nice work Vadim (as usual)


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

Thanks, Marv.

Here is the new board all finished up. I also thought I'd get a family photo of what I've built in the last few years since the big one is getting dismantled and sold off, not seeing much use these days.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Thanks for the test. And that pic just above. It's nice to know my, uhmmmm, GAS isn't really unusual. 

Volto on order, should have it by Friday. Going to use it for my portable jamming board. I just hope the analog pedals connected to one output don't hear the digital clock from the M5 on the other output.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

Noise was one of my concerns as well but nothing yet and I spoke with 2 members here who use a Volto, they mentioned no issues either.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Yes, that battery should act like a big filter and absorb any ripple the M5 spits out. And no ground loops with only signal ground connected between board and amp, its a lovely thing. 

I'm not usually so chuffed about buying a battery! LOL


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I may be wrong, but I doubt that such batteries are able to cure the digital hash that arises when two or more diigital pedals are sharing power and lack the onboard filtering to prevent digital hash from leaking out.

I my have gone on about this before, but it bears repeating. ALL digital pedals (and that includes some delay pedals pitched as "analog" or "hybrid") generate high-frequency clocks. Normally, those clocks are so high that we don't hear them. However, like all electronic appliances, such clocks and circuits conform to tolerances. So, if aaaaaallllllllmost 2mhz clock from pedal A runs into juuuuuuuussssttttt a bit above 2mhz clock from pedal B on the power lines, they operate like a ring modulator and produce sideband products. Now, if we can't hear 2mhz, it's sure as shooting we won't hear their sum (4mhz). BUT, if one clock is 1.999mhz and the other is 2.001mhz, their *difference* will be audible. The use of a battery has no impact on that if the pedals are daisy-chained to the same battery via a straight wire. What would prevent it from happening would likely be an in-line choke/inductor.

Somebody, somewhere, must make a power cable with an in-line choke to filter line noise.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

I'll only have one digital device plugged in, so no beat frequency. And it'll be on it's own output, if they are actually buffered it should be OK. If it's still a problem I could investigate a choke like the one inline with the L6 power supply (don't want to wreck the supply itself, I'll have to source something similar).

Worse case scenario, I have 30 days to figure it out. And either re-purpose or return.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Got it today, and wired a few things up. M5 on one port, daisy chain of SoulFood, FixMyDuck, Boost/EQ, CompNova and EP Booster on the other (just for testing).

Worked great, no noise from the M5 to the analog stuff, could run everything at once (don't know for how long though - and I wouldn't do that anyways, half the pedals are probably fighting the other half). But that M5 is a pig, 500mA all the time. The other pedals only sink current when they're on. So after a good charge, I'm gonna have to do a timing run before I nail everything down (I'll probably use one less analog pedal for space reasons).

If I can't get a night out of one charge, I may have to use it for my other small analog-only board. It should run that load for a few nights before needing a recharge. Either way, at this point I don't see it going back.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

High/Deaf said:


> Got it today, and wired a few things up. M5 on one port, daisy chain of SoulFood, FixMyDuck, Boost/EQ, CompNova and EP Booster on the other (just for testing).
> 
> Worked great, no noise from the M5 to the analog stuff, could run everything at once (don't know for how long though - and I wouldn't do that anyways, half the pedals are probably fighting the other half). But that M5 is a pig, 500mA all the time. The other pedals only sink current when they're on. So after a good charge, I'm gonna have to do a timing run before I nail everything down (I'll probably use one less analog pedal for space reasons).
> 
> If I can't get a night out of one charge, I may have to use it for my other small analog-only board. It should run that load for a few nights before needing a recharge. Either way, at this point I don't see it going back.


I'd be interested to hear how long it lasts for you. I'm seriously considering switch to one of these, but my board has a Eventide H9, a Source Audio Distortion Pro and a Decibel 11 Switch Dr. That's 500ma, 110ma and 200ma, although I know the H9 runs on about 400ma, since that's what I'm powering it with right now. Even at 400ma, that's 710ma just for those alone. I'd be willing to get right of my PP2 and run the digital pedals off a Volto, or even get two Voltos and get rid of my Voodoos entirely.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

I'm less optimistic today. I did a full charge and ran only the M5 (500mA load, but it needs to be on all the time and not turned on and off like an analog pedal). 90 minutes and it shut down. That's less than 1000mAh. And it charges up in just over an hour (full charge from flat). I wonder if I got a bad one? I went back an looked at Vadim's results, they looked much better. But calculating total load on those analog pedals would be harder. 

Vadim, how long does yours take to fully charge?

I'm going to try another run tomorrow with just analog pedals and see how that goes. If I can't get more than 4 hours with just analog pedals, then it is either a bad unit or their capacity spec is out to lunch.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

That's too bad. 
It takes me 2-3 hours for all 3 LEDs to light up but I leave it charging for 5-6, just makes me feel better.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Thank you, sir. Based on that, I would say I have a bad unit. It doesn't seem to access the full capacity of the battery, either charging or discharging. 

Wonder if L&M will bring me another one in. I like the concept but less than 20% of spec capacity isn't nearly good enough. I'd be happy with 50% of spec capacity.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

vadsy said:


> That's too bad.
> It takes me 2-3 hours for all 3 LEDs to light up but I leave it charging for 5-6, just makes me feel better.


Same here, at least 3 hours to charge fully.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

High/Deaf said:


> I'm less optimistic today. I did a full charge and ran only the M5 (500mA load, but it needs to be on all the time and not turned on and off like an analog pedal).


You DO realize that your analog pedals are "on" all the time? Bypassing does little to their power consumption. They keep sucking current. Several times a year, we'll see a newbie on the stompbox forum ask if it is possible to disable power when in bypass mode, and the answer is always "Yes, but you won't like what that does". Many analog pedals will include power-smoothing capacitors, which take a moment or two to charge up. If you cut the power to them, they discharge. Restoring power (should one use the stompswitch to turn it on and off) means you may have to wait a second until the effect "turns on"...which is generally not how folks use effects.

So, when you add up current requirements for a board, treat all your pedals as if they are "on" all the time.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Cool, thanks. I never really thought about it but it makes sense. The electronics are always active, the switch just routes the signal through the already biased up transistors. And turns the LED on, but we don't have to account for that minuscule draw.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

mhammer said:


> You DO realize that your analog pedals are "on" all the time? Bypassing does little to their power consumption. They keep sucking current. Several times a year, we'll see a newbie on the stompbox forum ask if it is possible to disable power when in bypass mode, and the answer is always "Yes, but you won't like what that does". Many analog pedals will include power-smoothing capacitors, which take a moment or two to charge up. If you cut the power to them, they discharge. Restoring power (should one use the stompswitch to turn it on and off) means you may have to wait a second until the effect "turns on"...which is generally not how folks use effects.
> 
> So, when you add up current requirements for a board, treat all your pedals as if they are "on" all the time.


That's a VERY important consideration Mark, and I for one had overlooked it. Thanks.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

In our home we have what we call "Carlingwoods". There is a shopping mall not that far from us named Carlingwood. I've been going to it since the early 60's. It had never dawned on me, until our younger son noted it one day, that the name simply resulted from it being at the corner of Carling Avenue and Woodroffe Avenue.

So now, whenever there is a well-DUH event where something is staring you right in the face, we call it a Carlingwood.

Analog pedals do use _less_ current when in bypass, since the LED is off (saving about maybe 0.5-2ma, depending on the LED), and amplifying a signal takes more current than amplifying no signal, but there is always a whole buncha stuff going on in the background that does require current, whether the pedal uses TB or electronic switching. For example, some folks have occasionally noted an annoying ticking in their modulation pedals (tremolo, chorus, flanger, phaser, vibe). The ticking varies with the Rate-control setting. And the reason why you might hear it even in bypass is because it is a spike on the power-supply line produced by the LFO that is still running, as per usual, even though the audio signal is being routed around the modulation circuit.

In the case of e-switched pedals, including Boss and any others that use a momentary switch to engage/bypass the pedal, often the only real change is that bypass blocks the effect signal from reaching the output. For something like a chorus, flanger, or analog delay, everything else is still running, but putting it in bypass mode simply turns off a JFET that puts up a wall between the delay signal (which you could still see/hear if you touched a probe to the right points) and the output. But apart from the JFET, _nothing else is shut off_.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Hmmm, I might just pick up a second Volto to be safe. I really love the convenience and I can easily fit 2 under my PT Mini.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I'll still put in a vote for a simple 6-pack of C-cells as standby. That's a lotta pure DC juice, and it doesn't take up that much more room than a Volto. I'm not thrilled about the lack of green-ness, and would not recommend regularly chewing up C-cells, but as standbys go, its cheap and effective.

I have a portable 2W amp that runs off an 8-pack of rechargeable C-cells. It can go pretty loud for a long time off a charge. And those aren't high-falutin Li-ion or even NiMH batteries but some Ni-Cads I got at the dollar store a decade back. On a good day with the wind at my back, I can get them up to 1.3V each.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Mark, what do you use to house the C-cells? A long tube would put them in series and probably be easy to mount, but I can't think of anything just layin' around. Must be losing my farmer genes.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

You can easily get plastic holders from Active or similar suppliers. They come in 2, 4, and 6-pack varieties. For my battery amp I use a pair of 4-holders.

Keep in mind that the current capability is commensurate with the volume of the battery. So, a 6-pack of AAAs gives more juice than a 9V, and probably around the same as 2-3 9V. A 6-pack of AAs isn't terribly big and can probably power a small board with compressor, wah, fuzz, chorus and phaser for an evening or two without problem. A half dozen C-cells are noticeably bigger and will supply a lot of juice....even the cheap dollar store ones.

And, I shouldn't say it, but you CAN rejuvenate regular non-rechargeable batteries. You can NOT simply stick 'em in a charger overnight and walk away, because they will explode. Personally, I would never leave them in for more than an hour. And, unlike true rechargeables that often like it when you completely drain them before recharging, normal carbon-zinc batteries can only regain about 20% or so of their voltage. So a 1.5V battery can easily be brought back from 1.2V to 1.5V with a charger, but if you're trying to bring something at 0.9V back to full capacity, fuggedaboudit. Still, standard carbon-zincs can have their life extended; alkalines even moreso.

But again, I cannot emphasize enough: YOU GOTTA WATCH THEM AND MAKE SURE THEY DON'T GET TOO WARM.


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