Power Conditioners and UPS

[Awie Day]

Hi

I was curious about on how to setup your power conditioners and ups - i know they're plug and play but there are some scenarios that i can't imagine how to use it and where do i plug this and that since i don't own both of those things.

example that you have an interface, a monitor controller, two sets of monitors (A&B), midi keyboard controller ans a pc.

1. do you connect all of that to the conditioner (i've read that power conditioners reduce noise coming from electricity and it's recommended that you have one) then to the UPS and to the power strip?

2. does some gear strictly goes to the power conditioner then to the ups. of course the computer will obviously need a ups for you to have time saving the things you've recorded.

3. what's your setup? how many gears do you have besides the above mentioned?

kinda weird that im having hard time with this part but asking shouldn't be too cringy for the sake of best result.

Thanks for the answers ?

 

[Massive Master]

I have a fairly complex power setup considering the rig...

Mains power is its own circuit - isolated from the rest of the power in the room (lights, etc.). That may or may not (depending on the time of year) go through a large VARIAC unit to keep me at a steady 120.

From there, a Monster 7000 Mk II -- Not made anymore, which is a bummer. An insanely well-designed unit. Staged on & off. Analog, then digital, then amps on / amps then digital then analog off.

The 7000 has a pair of unswitched outlets. One goes to a (also discontinued Monster) 3500 that powers goofy peripherals and video. The other goes to a CyberPower 1500 UPS unit that supplies the computers and small video monitors.

But long story short - Yes - you want "clean" power that goes to your UPS (although many units give you clean power at the output also) then to the gear. You probably don't want much other than your computer and video monitors on a UPS unless it's a fairly monstrous unit. That said - I'd never argue anyone out of doing that.

 

[ecc83]

I often feel sorry for my friends in US! They seem to have a pretty shitty mains service.

Here in UK most domestic power comes in from a buried, armored cable and is thus pretty immune from noise and 'spikes'. Most studio, even quite large ones, take few precautions except a UPS on the computing rig to save work (don't forget to put a LIGHT on it!).

There are two basic forms of UPS. "Switching" where mains power is used all the time unless it fails when the battery powered inverter take over for several minutes.

The other type is 'Continuous Conversion' where incoming mains is rectified, charges a battery and ALL the power, all the time comes from the inverter. Clearly the second type gives you super stable, super clean power with a backup period. Downside is cost as you might expect and possibly shorter battery life and as they are dissipating power continuously they need a fan and that can be noisy(but you could build a 'BSH' power room?)

Being a top level mastering house, John of course needs THE most reliable and 'quiet' setup he can get.

Dave.

 

[keith.rogers]

...

1. do you connect all of that to the conditioner (i've read that power conditioners reduce noise coming from electricity and it's recommended that you have one) then to the UPS and to the power strip?

2. does some gear strictly goes to the power conditioner then to the ups. of course the computer will obviously need a ups for you to have time saving the things you've recorded.

3. what's your setup? how many gears do you have besides the above mentioned?...

(In reverse order...)
3. I have both a UPS and a conditioner. The UPS is also a surge protector, and some of its outlets are surge-only (pretty typical in the consumer devices, at least). Those outlets are unused IIRC. It has "automatic voltage regulation" (AVR) to control power ripples without engaging the UPS, so does some "conditioning" in a sense.

2. The computer, monitor and all external drives are plugged into the UPS outlets to insure they stay up during power outages, at least until the battery dies but ideally until I can shut things off or power comes back. We have had days-long outages, but they are very rare, and I am home almost all the time (especially these days); so, the idea, and practice, is that when it switches over to battery mode, I manually shut everything down, and leave it off until power is back and stable. Everything else in the audio setup - basically the interface, preamp, power supply, headphone amp and monitor speakers are plugged into the conditioner. It shuts off in a power outage and does not come back on until I turn it on. Mostly I just feel it keeps the input side devices free of line noise.

1. They are not directly connected to each other, having their own wall outlet but they're on the same circuit in a typical mass-built subdivision here in the Gulf Coast.