do i need a regulator or a conditioner

[roadwarrior]

I Poo Pooed the idea of such a device when my sales engineer over at Sweetwater highly recommended the Furman AR15-II which is not only a highly competent conditioner but also a voltage regulator as well. I finally opted for this as I was getting occasional popping and other strange electrical noises in my DAW (Korg D3200). I was astounded to find once getting it that those noises (and any noises for that matter) were completely eliminated. I also noticed that there were also no sags in the brightness of the LCD window where adjustments were made. AFAIAC it is worth it's weight in gold.......

 

[Hollowdan]

I recently took my pod xt live in for servicing. Because of random volume spikes and such. I thought it was something else and got it fixed up under warranty. But the service center couldn't recreate the problem. They believe it was because of bad power which makes sense. However, now it seems like I have many options to choose from. I know that voltage regulators such as the furman ar-15 put out a constant 120v and would seem ideal but it is way out of my price range for now. Conditioners basically take the hit and can filter out noise such as furman pl8-II. However, will a conditioner solve my problem? Does it help keep the power at 120v? Please help I am ignorant.

Line6 stuff IS in fact very sensative to voltage issues because it is all digital stuff. Yes the AR-15 would be your best bet, but I use ALL Line6 gear for my guitar rig and any direct recording I do and I just plug into the PL-8II's and I have never had a problem. If I was in your shoes I would take a voltameter to your wall outlets and see what kind of power fluctuations your actually having, if it's between 107 and 127 volt's I would just buy a PL-8 series 2 and you should be fine, if the fluctuations are less than 107 or higher than 127 you definately NEED the AR-15 and might want to have an electrition come out to your house to check your wiring. Massive voltage swings like that can actually cause any household electronics to fault and possible burn your house down. The odd's are is that all you really need is a PL-8II and you'll be fine though. Power coming through city power lines is dirty as hell and no-one should ever plug any of their recording/music gear into a normal outlet without a Furman. Don't go cheaper than the PL-8II however, Furman makes some cheaper models but they do not have the SMP+, Li.f.t., and E.V.P. (series mode proctection, linear filtering technology, and extreme voltage protection) Hope this helps.