Helix Talk

[Lysander]

For whatever's worth, HX Stomp replacement power supplies are very easy to find - and reasonably priced too. You can buy a brick-styled PSU for $10-ish on Amazon, and even cheaper on sites like AliExpress.

These tend to output surprisingly good quality power (gasp!), and i find them much more comfortable to use than Line 6's own DC-3g and its weird form factor.

 

[norminal]

the only way for it to match its bigger siblings' noise and dynamic range specs was a burly external power supply.

It’s not as bad as people make it out to be once you bury it in a pedalboard. They typically fit just fine under the teller end of a small board.

 

[Sascha Franck]

I hate the Stomp's power supply.

Gotta agree here. The supply itself is pretty bad already, but the decision to use a 2.5mm plug is pretty much like deliberately harassing your users. No way to get a quick replacement should the supply break (and you can possibly get a replacement for any other ordinary 9V device with similar power requirements even in the middle of a sunday night).

 

[Sascha Franck]

and the only way for it to match its bigger siblings' noise and dynamic range specs was a burly external power supply.

I have a pretty cheap one from Thomann and compared it directly to the one coming with the Stomp. Didn't notice a difference.
Also, that still doesn't explain the need for a 2.5mm plug. Which, seriously, well, see above...

 

[holoholo]

I'm just a country bumpkin. I use an old Godlyke 9V adapter I had laying around and this adapter for like 99 cents and I haven't had any problems :

Or like @sashimi, I use a ripcord (I got it for $15 at the time) with a usb battery pack.

That with HXSXL plus Dunlop DVP4 mini and I'm happy

 

[Digital Igloo]

I have a pretty cheap one from Thomann and compared it directly to the one coming with the Stomp. Didn't notice a difference.

Most people won't. But all it takes is one James Freeman-esque chart (he said lovingly) and suddenly everyone starts spreading misinformation about how HX Stomp doesn't sound identical to Helix. We didn't want to take that chance. The 2.5mm thing was at least in part, yes, to force people into not cheesing out.

 

[holoholo]

I swear if Digital Modeling were a video game, James Freeman is one of the most overpowered characters in the game.

 

[Sascha Franck]

The 2.5mm thing was at least in part, yes, to force people into not cheesing out.

I was suspecting something like that already, but in my book it's still a pretty bad decision. Just last week we were running into a situation when the bass player on a gig really needed a 9V PSU (his blew off) and among the rest of us and the house tech we could offer him 4 to choose from. Impossible with a Stomp. This kinda extra safety trumps the last bits of sonic perfection any day for me.

 

[Digital Igloo]

@Digital Igloo Thoughts on using the ripcord mentioned above, and a usb battery pack to power the stomp? Is there any reason not to? I hadn’t even considered a power supply being detrimental to sound quality on the stomp… I thought it would just either work or not work.

It should work fine and as @Sascha Franck alluded to, most people won't notice a difference. At worst, you may hear a bit more noise with a third-party PS.

 

[Lysander]

@Digital Igloo Thoughts on using the ripcord mentioned above, and a usb battery pack to power the stomp? Is there any reason not to? I hadn’t even considered a power supply being detrimental to sound quality on the stomp… I thought it would just either work or not work.

Note that the Ripcord is a vanilla buck-boost voltage booster, which always introduce some inherent noise. Very little noise, most likely, but it will be there.

If you want to go the battery pack route, get one with USB Power Delivery and pair it with a USB-C adapter such as the Mission Engineering 529M; noise specs on such a setup will be excellent.

 

[DieSchmalle]

In theory the following adapter cable should work fine with USB-C PD compliant power supplies/banks. It doesn't use a voltage booster since it relies on the variable voltage technology that's provided by USB-C's Power Delivery standard.

Anyone tried these? Noise issues?

Birdcord PD ➔ 9V (USB PD Voltage Converter) | Songbird FX

Lets you power your 9V DC devices from USB Power Delivery (USB PD)!

www.songbirdfx.com

 

[ragingplatypi]

Is anyone using the myvolts usb cable? It’s cool to be able to power the stomp with a usb battery pack. It also works plugged into a computer’s USB port or a phone/tablet charger that provides enough power

MyVolts - Power supplies and other powering solutions

Store main menu

myvolts.com

I don’t know why the price more than doubled on their website since I bought it though. 46.99 is crazy. I think I paid 22.

I’ve got the ripcord. I’ve used it with a couple battery packs and an old iPad charger. Works great. And after all my fussing about it I still use the power supply that came with the Stomp 90% of the time.

What I’ve come to realize is that I hate power supplies period. I think I’d be happier with all my pedals being twice the size and having on-board batteries and IEC connections.

 

[ragingplatypi]

Oh yeah, and the first rule of Stomp Club is never sell your Stomp. The second rule of Stomp Club is you always need a Stomp, even if you don’t need a Stomp.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

I‘m okay with an external power supply. But why the angled plug? It‘s either in the way of the power switch or the USB port.

 

[Sascha Franck]

I‘m okay with an external power supply. But why the angled plug? It‘s either in the way of the power switch or the USB port.

Mine doesn't have an angled plug.

 

[norminal]

Mine doesn't have an angled plug.

Mine doesn’t either.

 

[Foxmeister]

and i find them much more comfortable to use than Line 6's own DC-3g and its weird form factor.

They come with a DC-3H these days, which is far more user-friendly!

 

[Lysander]

They come with a DC-3H these days, which is far more user-friendly!

It's the integrated plug which kills me - makes it impossible to properly attach the PSU to a strip without wasting a couple sockets in the process

 

[Sascha Franck]

I use an old Godlyke 9V adapter I had laying around

Where can you order those? I was looking for just that to buy some and keep them with me whereever I may take the Stomp.

 

[Foxmeister]

It's the integrated plug which kills me - makes it impossible to properly attach the PSU to a strip without wasting a couple sockets in the process

I think that's mostly an issue specific to the Americas!