Is the Visual Sound 1-Spot junk?

  • Thread starter Thread starter thiswaythatway
  • Start date Start date
thiswaythatway

thiswaythatway

Well-known member
I'm using this to power some pedals into the input of a Mesa Mark III as well as the TC Flashback in the effects loop. Holy BUZZ Batman. The amount of noise i was getting was crazy. Really loud hum and buzz and i thought my amp was messed up. But i had a hunch and used a battery in the Flashback and i had dead silence from the amp when it was on, all the noise was gone. Do i have to chuck this thing out and get a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power?
 
i had that with a deferent way cheaper brand, and the cure was plugging the pedal power into a deferent power socket than the pedal power.

my unit isn't that great, but it was really a grounding issue at the outlets.

Jake, may be right in the end?
 
danyeo":1h4b661k said:
Do i have to chuck this thing out and get a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power?

Yes. It made all the difference for me.

I'd use the 1Spot to power a pedal, and it'll be fine. Once you get to powering more that one, just get a power supply. It doesn't even have to be a PP. There are a few other power supplies that have isolated grounds. I just like my PP2+ because I can sag the voltage to my fuzz and make it really fuzzy.
 
Best bet is to get a supply that has isolated outputs. My friend was using a T-Rex FuelTank unit and had the same problems, because it doesn't use isolated outputs.

Once he swapped it out for a Pedal Power 2+, all the noise went away.
 
I've had issues in places with grounding issues, but in the place we rehearse now I run a Roland FC-300, Boss Looper (the big one), a wah, and a Korg tuner with no issues at all.

I guess its hit or miss based on the above comments.

Oh. And with the grounding issues you just plug into two different power outlets and (in my case) issue is solved.
 
Your causing a ground loop by powering pedals out front and in the loop with the 1 spot.

The VL Pedal power will cure this NO problem...awesome unit!

Eric
 
It's not junk per say it does its job fine with one pedal. Its when you connect more thn one that it fails, the outputs need to be isolated for hum free performance. I u the bbe supercharger though many nice units are available.
 
In a word...ya they suck. Hate selling those things to people. If you have the funds and nice gear get the pedal power!! Worth every penny
 
I have one and it seems to work just fine for me. I use it to power a CC Trans OD and Tone Press in the stomp loop of a RP1000 and then a MXR Micro Amp and CC Drive out in front of the RP1000. With that being said, I do have a Dunlop DC Brick on the way so I will see if it works out better for me. I will reply here with the info.
 
Well... they are junk if you don't know how to use them I think... I have 4 pedals, two in front of my preamp, two in my loop. If I power only the pedals in front or in the loop, all is fine. If I power both sides, I have ground loop's hum. But I knew it before buying, as it doesn't have isolated out, just a daisy chain.

Fortunately the hum is hardly perceptible with my setup, so I'm fine with it and save a bunch of €.
 
I think it has been covered, but yes, the problem comes from when you combine front and loop pedals. Only do one or the other, and get another one for the other set of pedals.

ESPECIALLY with a Mark III. This amp is the most sensitive out of all my amps for noise. My 5150 even handles this type of stuff much better...
 
I am using Godlyke power-alls, basically same thing as a one spot. The key is you need to have a power supply for your loop and one for the pedals out front, that should fix the issue.

I have been very pleased with my power-all. I haven't been able to power a few pedals with it, such as Akai Headrush E1 and Line6 Verbzilla, but those both had their own power supplies.

The voodoo Labs pedal power is a much better unit than the one spot and power-all's. The isolated outputs of the pedal power are great and you can still daisy chain a few pedals from each output if the pedal power does not have enough. The pedal power is on my list to get, but the power-alls have worked great for me, so its hard to upgrade at this point.
 
Mine buzzed like hell just powering pedals in front of the amp. Now I use the daisy chain plugged into the dc jacks on my pedals to save the battery when I'm not playing :thumbsup:
 
How about the brick? Are they better than the one spot? As good as the pedal power?
 
Back
Top