What kind of power supply can I use to power the unit when it's indoors? I have the original one, which works great, but there are a few other locations where I'd like to have alternate power supplies already set up.

I have a flatbed scanner whose 13.5-volt power supply works perfectly on the Empeg.

I also have a 15-volt, 800ma power supply for a pair of multimedia speakers that looks like it should work great, but since its voltage is that much higher, I'm afraid to plug it in without asking first.

What guidelines should I use in deciding whether a power supply is OK for the Empeg?

Oh, one other thing...

The power supply that I'm thinking of using... even though it says 15v on the sticker, I'm measuring more than 18v when I actually test the output.

Could I still use something like that on the Empeg?

Check out EMPEG's website on the "tech" page.
Input is 10-16VDC

The power supply that I received with my Empeg is actually 15V... Also, Hugo pointed out in an email to me that increasing the voltage to 18V might actually help the empeg's PSU work more effeciently with less background noise.
-mark

...proud to have one of the first Mark I units

The power supply that I received with my Empeg is actually 15V...

Ah, yes. I was worried because the original power supply actually put out 15v when I tested it. The other one was putting out 18v and I was worried it was too much.

As you said, the 18v power supply works great. Today I was working on setting up all my "indoor" stations: Desk at home, livingroom at home, desk at work. I was scrounging power supplies to do it. I found out that even 15v isn't enough in some cases. I had a 15v/450ma power supply that didn't supply enough power to the Empeg and it kept trying to boot, but then it would shut down its display. That one's now powering my computer speakers because they seem to work fine with it.

I'm pretty darn happy with my setups now, though: I can swap the Empeg between four different locations (if you count the car as a "location") without carting cables around. It's quite cool to be able to pull it from the car, walk in the house, plug it in, and have it pick up the same song right where it left off.

At the moment though, it still doesn't automatically change the EQ preset when you make the switch. I have to go in and manually pick my "at home" or "in car" EQ presets. I'm told that's on the "to-do" list. Once that's implemented, moving it between locations will become totally transparent.

Check out EMPEG's website on the "tech" page. Input is 10-16VDC

Odd, I looked for that there and didn't see it. Guess I didn't look closely enough. Oh well, 18v seems to work fine for it, even though it's out of that range.

It is down near the bottom of the page at http://www2.empeg.com/tech.html

I think the problem with your 15-volt, 800ma power supply for a pair of multimedia speakers is that the empeg draws a peak of 8.75 watts. Your power supply is probably dropping the voltage level as you pull more power than it can deliver.

I had a 15v/450ma power supply that didn't supply enough power to the Empeg and it kept trying to boot, but then it would shut down its display.

The empeg-car label on the top of your unit has a nice little picture showing the polarity of the connector and 11-16V DC 1A. Your power supply is only providing 450ma which (and remember I'm a software bod so this could be completely wrong) is probably causing the voltage to dip below 11V thus causing the powerfail to kick in.

--
Mike Crowe
I may not be speaking on behalf of empeg above :-)

I think the problem with your 15-volt, 800ma power supply for a pair of multimedia speakers is that the empeg draws a peak of 8.75 watts.

Actually, the 800ma one is the one that's working fine. It was another 15v 450ma power supply that wouldn't cut it. Like I said, I was scrounging for power supplies. My concern wasn't whether the power supply was enough or not (the Empeg lets you know pretty quick if it's not), my concern was whether a the 18v I saw on the tester was too much. I didn't want to blow an internal fuse or anything. For posterity: It was fine.

The empeg-car label on the top of your unit has a nice little picture showing the polarity of the connector and 11-16V DC 1A.

Thanks, Mike. I just love it when someone points out how an otherwise intelligent guy like me can miss something as simple as reading the label.

So, now that I've got my unit moving easily between all these locations, when are we going to see an equalizer that automatically switches personalities?

So, now that I've got my unit moving easily between all these locations, when are we going to see an equalizer that automatically switches personalities?

It can obviously only switch between two. I've asked John to see if he can do this in time for the next release. No promises though :)

--
Mike Crowe
I may not be speaking on behalf of empeg above :-)

It can obviously only switch between two.

What a coincidence. That's exactly how many I need.

I've asked John to see if he can do this in time for the next release. No promises though :)

Cool! To what address do I send the bribe? (And what's the Dollars to Pounds exchange rate for cash bribes?)

A quick question: The unit currently has sixteen EQ presets. Will this feature change it to eight presets with two personalities each, or sixteen presets with two personalities each?

Not that eight would be bad or anything (that would be 7 more presets than most equalizers), I just want to start thinking about how I'm going to set up my EQs in preparation for the day that we get a per-song EQ preset choice.

I wonder if exceding the manufacturers max voltage is a wise decision. I know from experiments with early [homemade] car computer mp3 players, that getting regulated 5 volt IC power from typical 13.8 VDC vehicles produced a lot of unwanted heat. Also you mention blowing fuses... fuses as I undertand them, are more concerned with amperage than voltage.

Of course, I don't know what the empeg uses for volatage regulation and I could just be overly cautious.

I was recently in error when I had my local tire shop install the "Smartire" system http://drive.to/DSM . It transmits telemetry (pressure and temp.) from each wheel to a central processing display. I told them not to wire anything into my dash (I would do it myself) and just mount the tire tranponders. Of course, it was the first such system they saw and they wanted to play with it... and they wired it in with the polarity reversed. They said it was dead. I said they killed it ;) but when I wired it up correctly, it worked! The manufacturer installed reverse polarity protection diodes in it! So my tyres might be smarter than all those that installed them after all.

Anyway, I know there was a comment about more voltage in the empeg yielding better signal:noise ratio but it didn't seem "official" to me.

Regards,

Mark


--> Get paid to surf the web! http://www.alladvantage.com/go.asp?refid=CCI498

The empeg uses switch-mode PSUs - these aren't linear regulators and so they are much more efficient and don't generate a lot of heat (the mk2 runs even cooler with higher-frequency sw-mode supplies). It's also reverse-voltage protected, though this will dump current through the resettable fuse so you would get a nasty smell but no permanent damage.

18v does give slightly cleaner sound on the mk1. The mk2's PSUs aren't affected by voltage changes like this.

Hugo

Very interesting. Of course you know that racing fanatics use duel voltage batteries in their cars (12 volt and 16-18 volt outputs) so now I'm gonna have to rewire my empeg to the higher voltage!

For other fanatics out there take a look at the Turbo Start dual voltage battery (the three post model has NEG, 12V, and 16V) but requires a booster for the alternator output to recharge the extra cells. While the engine is running, I have ~13.8 at the 12volt post and ~18v at the 16v post.)

Regards,
Mark


--> Get Paid
to Surf the Web!