I’m trying to figure out how I want to power my pedal board.  An issue has been made of eliminating ground loops, yet it seems that many people simply use a single supply with parallel power cables.  Dumb question #1: How do I know if it matters to me?

Dumb question #2: Let’s say I had 5 manufactured pedals and the 5 manufacturer recommended AC adapters to go with them.  If the elimination of ground loops is my desire, then couldn’t I just plug my 5 adapters into a power strip and connect them individually to my 5 pedals?  Why wouldn’t I be happy with that?

I'd appreciate your input!  Thanks.  -John

I was interested in eliminating the wire jumble on my pedalboard and a P.S. with multiple outputs was the solution. Luckily I found a used one that works good and it was cheap. I still have my Rangemaster clone on a seperate wall-wart until I get around to rewiring it for negative ground. This might not even be necessary since the P.S. may have isolated outputs.

Thanks for the reply.

Anyone else have input on this?  

Thanks.  -John

I think that if you want to avoid loops, you should have isolated power supplies. One option is to keep your 5 p.s., the other, is get one like the spider (i guess), that indeed have isolated output, i.e. each ground is not connected to each other.

The only reason I see to get rid of your current power supplies, is the hassle of carrying 4 or 5 times the weight and volume you do when using just one capable p.s.