sequenced power on supply??

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Shadowdog

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I am putting together a rack system that will be protabel for recording including my computer, along with a Digimax mic pre and a couple compressors and effects units. i want something to control the power to all this, but am wondering if having one of these "sequenced" power conditioners is nessecary if my computer is plugged in to too? Does it matter what order these things turn on? Nothing in this part will be hooked up to speakers, is that all I need to worry about. Which kinds of things do i need to worry about powering order for?
 
I don't think sequenced power switching is going to benefit you in any way.

Save the money.

I would actually spend some extra money for a power REGULATOR. Not a conditioner, but the far more expensive regulator. Furman has one for around $450 or so. That is about as cheap as you can get a usable unit. But I tell you what, having that clean and stable power sure makes a difference!
 
do most regulaters still work as filters etc and as a power strip?
 
hmmm, so when shopping for a VR what aspects do you look for, where do they differ? Also, I should only be concerned about adding this type of unit to my protable rack if my power at home is good right? Since my other set of stuff is just going to stay there? If i am not experiencing any noise or fluctuations in power at home it would just be over kill to get one for the stationary equipment?
 
The only legitimate reason to consider "sequenced" power switching is if you are running multiple digital audio sources from a master clock. Some devices can be pretty finicky about starting up in slave mode without having a stable external clock available (some will lock on the clock when it comes up, other will need to be power cycled). It's really a matter of convenience. It's nice to just hit one switch and have everything come up, locked, in order. But I find the most economical sequenced power switching is located at the end of my arm.

And there's really no such thing as absolutely safe power. Even relatively stable power can cause tremendous damage to equipment during catastrophic failure, such as lightening strikes, transformer explosions, or loss of neutral and ground.
 
so I guess at this point since I am not dealing with any clock stuff (?? guess that is a question for another day) and I just want to have a master power switch, with a little bit of filtering and protection from lightning etc. the Furman units I picked above will be fine??
 
I've use a few of the same Furman units that your interested in... they work fine for me... It really depends on the investment you're trying to protect... and the stability of the power you receive at your home. These should be more than adequate for you...

A word of caution though... the MOV style surge suppresors breakdown after a hard current hit... you can reset them... everything appears fine... but you can never trust them to protect anything in the future...
 
The power at your home is nowhere as "stable" as you think it is, and you could easily see fluctuations when the refridgerator/dryer/furnace switches on! Also, many power grids will switch their output twice daily, and you will see a fairly big fluctuation when that happens.

Un-regulated power will be effected by this stuff. For digital gear, if something switches on while you are recording, you can actaully have artifacts in the signal that is recorded. Digital gear isn't quite as hearty concerning power fluctuations as people think.

Anyway, many don't concern themselves with that kind of thing, and certainly, I have done many recordings without regulated power that turned out fine. But, I NEVER had problems with digital gear when I had regulated power supply.
 
Shadowdog said:
do most regulaters still work as filters etc and as a power strip?
Click to expand...

Not all regulators do filtering and conditioning. The stuff from Topaz is pretty cool and reasonably priced.
 
MOFO Pro said:
The only legitimate reason to consider "sequenced" power switching is if you are running multiple digital audio sources from a master clock. Some devices can be pretty finicky about starting up in slave mode without having a stable external clock available (some will lock on the clock when it comes up, other will need to be power cycled).
Click to expand...

Interesting. I know some MIDI and DMX light fixtures work like that, but didn"t know about clocking.

Another more common use for power sequencers, in the dark ages, was for turnkey PA or pager/music systems in offices, churches, clubs, etc. The sequencer guaranteed the amps came on last, and got turned off first when inexperienced users ran the systems.
 
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