Truetone CS12

[Gtrjunior]

I think it’s time to upgrade my power supply. For years I’ve used the MXR DC Brick and it has served me well.
But now I have 3 digital pedals which are fairly high power consumption and a few regular everyday pedals.
I’m getting a little bit of digital noise in my signal, which my noise gate handles well enough (ISP G-String) but obviously I’d like to get my signal as quiet as possible.
The MXR Bricks are not isolated so I’m sure that’s at least some source of noise. I’ve got the digital pedals on their own wall watt supplies, which helps too.

Anybody using the Truetone unit?
Positives/negatives about it?

Thanks!

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Truetone CS12

I’ve not used the TrueTone, but from all reports the CS12 is an excellent, quiet power supply. If you are upgrading, that’s a great one to go with. It has high current capacity, full isolation and it should be quieter with wahs in close proximity than something like a Voodoo Lab, etc.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Truetone CS12

Yeah, the isolation is a must have and I think the price is pretty good too. I can get one from MF for $150 with the coupon code. It’s backordered for a month or so, but I’m not in a huge rush for it.

 

[NegativeEase]

Re: Truetone CS12

This is going to sound snobby, but I don't mean it to be.

My experience with Truetone -including the ISO products is that they are noisier than Strymon, Voodoo, or MXR. for most people this won't be an issue at ALL -it's fine for most -but if you gig with lots of pedals and/or use noisier digital modulation pedals like EHX (sorry, it's true) , you probably want something more high end -so that the digital noise is mitigated.

I did an A/B comparison of them all -and the Strymon Ojai was the quietest in my test -as much as that hurts me to say -As Strymon players are often Prestige Goods consumers. :lmao:

Apparently with DC power supplies, price directly correlates with performance.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Truetone CS12

The Oaji would be way too small but the Zuma....I could work with.
Price-wise the Strymon would be about $75 more expensive. Not terrible.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Truetone CS12

This is going to sound snobby, but I don't mean it to be.

My experience with Truetone -including the ISO products is that they are noisier than Strymon, Voodoo, or MXR. for most people this won't be an issue at ALL -it's fine for most -but if you gig with lots of pedals and/or use noisier digital modulation pedals like EHX (sorry, it's true) , you probably want something more high end -so that the digital noise is mitigated.

I did an A/B comparison of them all -and the Strymon Ojai was the quietest in my test -as much as that hurts me to say -As Strymon players are often Prestige Goods consumers. :lmao:

Apparently with DC power supplies, price directly correlates with performance.

Let me ask you this...

How much noisier was the trueTone than the Strymon?

I run a noise gate (ISP G-Sting) which is very effective. I run it at about 10:30-11:00 and my rig is silent. But I’d like to be able to set it lower so that when I need to roll back the volume knob the gate won’t cut off the notes.

If the Strymon was only “kinda” quieter, I might opt for the TrueTone but if it’s a big difference, I’d rather spend the extra for the Strymon.

 

[NegativeEase]

Re: Truetone CS12

Let me ask you this...

How much noisier was the trueTone than the Strymon?

I run a noise gate (ISP G-Sting) which is very effective. I run it at about 10:30-11:00 and my rig is silent. But I’d like to be able to set it lower so that when I need to roll back the volume knob the gate won’t cut off the notes.

If the Strymon was only “kinda” quieter, I might opt for the TrueTone but if it’s a big difference, I’d rather spend the extra for the Strymon.

It's not a huge difference -but when I was recording tracks -with the Strymon -I didn't have to switch to 9 volts

It primarily affected EHX Pitch Fork and EHX B9 pedal -it affected my Boss DD3 much much less.

I don't think it's that big of a deal, I'm very particular -probably because I spend much of my life in a studio setting where it shows up.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Truetone CS12

It's not a huge difference -but when I was recording tracks -with the Strymon -I didn't have to switch to 9 volts

It primarily affected EHX Pitch Fork and EHX B9 pedal -it affected my Boss DD3 much much less.

I don't think it's that big of a deal, I'm very particular -probably because I spend much of my life in a studio setting where it shows up.

Thanks.
I can absolutely see why you’d go for the Strymon in the studio.
I love the Strymon product line but they are expensive. I have a Mobius, which is great but I had to sell a testicle to get it. Lol

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Truetone CS12

This is going to sound snobby, but I don't mean it to be.

My experience with Truetone -including the ISO products is that they are noisier than Strymon, Voodoo, or MXR. for most people this won't be an issue at ALL -it's fine for most -but if you gig with lots of pedals and/or use noisier digital modulation pedals like EHX (sorry, it's true) , you probably want something more high end -so that the digital noise is mitigated.

I did an A/B comparison of them all -and the Strymon Ojai was the quietest in my test -as much as that hurts me to say -As Strymon players are often Prestige Goods consumers. :lmao:

Apparently with DC power supplies, price directly correlates with performance.

Wow, this is interesting. I’ve not heard of this, but being a switching power supply, I can understand how it could inject noise.

I know Gtrjunior is sensitive to some noise, swapping wahs cured an issue due to bypass when the pedal was off.

I’m the only nerd that would want to buy supplies from 5 different manufacturers and do a shootout video. Thankfully for everyone, my limited free time is dedicated to playing, not trying to make videos for YouTube.

 

[NegativeEase]

Re: Truetone CS12

Wow, this is interesting. I’ve not heard of this, but being a switching power supply, I can understand how it could inject noise.

I know Gtrjunior is sensitive to some noise, swapping wahs cured an issue due to bypass when the pedal was off.

I’m the only nerd that would want to buy supplies from 5 different manufacturers and do a shootout video. Thankfully for everyone, my limited free time is dedicated to playing, not trying to make videos for YouTube.

A good relationship to build -that I have with a few local Guitar shops -is they'll let me take home 5-6 pedals and try them out (they have my card on file if I never come back) and then bill the card for the ones I don't return within the agreed time -usually a week in my case

This is enables me to test things on my rig and in my studio instead of a annoying people in the store or buying and returning and rebuying over and over and over -it also benefits the store because I buy much more on average given this ability -as it's easy to A/B things and get the right item -and quickly.

 

[Coma]

Re: Truetone CS12

Hey GTRjunior, I had my eyes on the same PSU but then I caught wind of the Mooer Macro Power S12, you might want to look into that. Its slightly cheaper here and puts out a wee bit fmore power, I think. I'm ordering mine next week.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Truetone CS12

Hey GTRjunior, I had my eyes on the same PSU but then I caught wind of the Mooer Macro Power S12, you might want to look into that. Its slightly cheaper here and puts out a wee bit fmore power, I think. I'm ordering mine next week.

I completely forgot about that pedal. I read some good reviews on it too.
I see it on Amazon for $168.

But...I just popped for the TrieTone.
eBay has a one day sale going on today for 15% off.
I got it for $152.
All in all I’m ok with that.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Truetone CS12

Wow, this is interesting. I’ve not heard of this, but being a switching power supply, I can understand how it could inject noise.

I know Gtrjunior is sensitive to some noise, swapping wahs cured an issue due to bypass when the pedal was off.

I’m the only nerd that would want to buy supplies from 5 different manufacturers and do a shootout video. Thankfully for everyone, my limited free time is dedicated to playing, not trying to make videos for YouTube.

That’s a hell of a memory you’ve got! Lol

 

[VinceT]

Re: Truetone CS12

I went from a TRex Fuel Tank Chameleon to the Truetone CS12 because the TRex was too noisy (not in signal chain but in EMF interference/hum with some drive pedals) and didn’t offer enough outlets to avoid chaining.

The CS12 does everything as advertised and I’m very happy with it. I’ve not noticed any digital dumping hiss in my signal. LOTS of hours played and no sense of any reason I’d switch out for another unit.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Truetone CS12

I went from a TRex Fuel Tank Chameleon to the Truetone CS12 because the TRex was too noisy (not in signal chain but in EMF interference/hum with some drive pedals) and didn’t offer enough outlets to avoid chaining.

The CS12 does everything as advertised and I’m very happy with it. I’ve not noticed any digital dumping hiss in my signal. LOTS of hours played and no sense of any reason I’d switch out for another unit.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Great to hear.
In my research, it really seems to tick all of the boxes I am looking for it to. And I like that it can handle a large number of pedals.
I’m hoping that this will be all I need for my board. If so, it will clean up a bunch of wiring on the underside.

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Truetone CS12

I have a CS12 as well. Every bit as quiet as the Voodoo Lab I had before it. It actually runs my "flipped" Rangemasters quieter than a well filtered linear wall wart that I use for testing. Virtually as quiet as running them on a battery. I don't have a lot of digital pedals so can't speak to than and I can't speak to studio work or comparing it to a Strymon. All I can say is that it's as quiet on my board with my stuff.

 

[mantis]

Re: Truetone CS12

I have a CS12 and it's dead quiet. I run a ES-8 , DD-500 , RV-500 18v OCD and various others with no noise issues at all.I had a Voodoo labs before just didn't have enough juice for what I was doing so I upgraded to the CS12 and couldn't be happier. My rig is silent even on high gain.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Truetone CS12

I’m going to hook it all up today actuallly.
I have a bunch of guitar projects to work on today!!!

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Truetone CS12

I spent a couple of hours this morning replacing the DC Brick with the new Truetone CS12.

WOW...what a MASSIVE difference in the amount of noise , or should I say lack of noise.
It literally has eliminated all of the extraneous noise I had going on.
The only noise happening now is whatever gain noise that the amp produces. Which, with the Quickrod is pretty quiet considering the amount of gain this amp is capable of.
Even though I’ve got an ISP G-String gate on my board I can now run my rig without needing it!

I only have one digital pedal on its own power supply simply because he CS12 only has 2 500mA outputs and my digital pedals require at least 300mA.

I’m amazed how much I was able to clean up the wiring clutter too.

I highly recommend this power unit to anyone looking for a good, inexpensive way to power their board with an isolated power supply.

 

[Coma]

Re: Truetone CS12

I spent a couple of hours this morning replacing the DC Brick with the new Truetone CS12.

WOW...what a MASSIVE difference in the amount of noise , or should I say lack of noise.
It literally has eliminated all of the extraneous noise I had going on.
The only noise happening now is whatever gain noise that the amp produces. Which, with the Quickrod is pretty quiet considering the amount of gain this amp is capable of.
Even though I’ve got an ISP G-String gate on my board I can now run my rig without needing it!

I only have one digital pedal on its own power supply simply because he CS12 only has 2 500mA outputs and my digital pedals require at least 300mA.

I’m amazed how much I was able to clean up the wiring clutter too.

I highly recommend this power unit to anyone looking for a good, inexpensive way to power their board with an isolated power supply.

When you say noise, what kind of noise are we talking about? Can you describe it?

I'm asking because I went with the Mooer S12 and just today I noticed there's a clearly discernible hum coming from it. Tried disconnecting all my pedals, and it persist. Tried hooking up my old PSU to the same outlet and it's almost dead quiet.

Needless to say, I'll be returning the Mooer. I'm just trying to decide if I should ask for a replacement or just try another one.