Truetone 1 SPOT Pro CS12 Power Brick
The world's first power brick with switching power supply technology.
1 SPOT Techonology:
What does that mean and why should I care? Technically, it's switching power supply technology, which is very different than what anyone has ever put inside a power brick. Normally, you would find just a big transformer and a handful of small electronic components inside a power brick.... old tech that hasn't changed in decades and has a lot of limitations. We took the same switching power supply technology found in our famous 1 SPOT and scaled it up to make the 1 SPOT Pro models. With much more space to work with, we were able to completely eliminate noise, provide total electrical isolation between outputs, create multiple voltages, and still give you the ability to use it anywhere in the world.
A major benefit of using a switching power supply is that it can handle far more current (power being pulled out of it) than any transformer-based power supply. Although we had to put power rating labels on each output to satisfy certification agencies (yes, we actually certified these, unlike most companies), the outputs can generally handle far more than the label shows. For example, you can connect a 300mA pedal to a 200mA output, without causing any problems. With a transformer-based power supply, you can't get away with that. The important thing is to not exceed the total of all the labels. With a CS7, the output labels add up to 1900mA total. That means the total current draw of all your pedals should be less than 1900mA. That total current rating is roughly double the current load of the most common power brick, for a lot less money.
9VAC Output:
Another 1 SPOT Pro first. In the past, if you had a Line 6 or Digitech pedal that required 9VAC (not DC), you had to use their power supply and an extension cord or maybe a courtesy outlet on your power brick, if you could get to it. We put a 9VAC output right on the front panel of the CS12, so you can ditch the big wall-wart and keep things neat and simple. We did have to use a small toroidal transformer for this, as it's not really feasible to create AC voltage with a switching power supply, but that small toroid is dedicated to just that one output‚......completely isolated.
Multiple Voltages:
While most pedals still run off 9VDC, not all of them do. That's one of the main reasons why we finally decided to design the 1 SPOT Pro. With the CS7, you get one output for 18VDC and six at 9VDC, with four of those switchable to 12VDC. Need another 18VDC output? No problem - just get a Multi-Plug 2 cable (MC2) and run both pedals off that one outlet - most boosts and drive pedals don't mind sharing an output anyway. Don't need the 18VDC output at all? No problem........just get Truetone's 18V to 9V Converter cable (V189).
With the CS12, you get the same voltage options that the CS7 has, plus a variable 4-9VDC output, and the 9VAC output.
Worldwide Input Voltage:
Just like with the original 1 SPOT, and your laptop power supply and phone charger, the 1 SPOT Pro uses switching power supply technology which allows you to use it anywhere in the world. The CS12 has an input voltage switch on the back, which switches voltage only for the 9VAC output, since that output does use a toroidal transformer. The rest of the outputs on the CS12, and all of them on the CS7, don't care what the input voltage is.
Rugged Steel Housing:
If you're a touring musician, or even if you just play at the local pub regularly, you know how important it is to have roadworthy gear. No worries with the 1 SPOT Pro. The housing is all steel, with cleverly designed vents that should keep out the accidental beer spill, should that ever happen.
Cables:
The 1 SPOT Pro includes a generous assortment of cables and converter plugs. The cables are of various lengths, color-coded for easy cable management and with right angle plugs on the pedal end.
Power cables (all are center pin negative polarity):
- (2) DC26 (5.5x2.1mm barrel plugs; 26" (660mm) - Purple
- (2) DC22 (5.5x2.1mm barrel plugs; 22" (559mm) - Blue
- (4) DC18 (5.5x2.1mm barrel plugs; 18" (457mm) - White
- (3) DC12 (5.5x2.1mm barrel plugs; 12" (305mm) - Yellow
- (1) AC21 (5.5x2.5mm barrel plugs; 21" (533mm) - Red
Converter Plugs:
(1) CL6 - (5.5x2.1mm barrel input, 5.5x2.5 barrel output; reverse polarity)
Green - for Line 6 DL4/M9/etc. and some Eventide pedals.
(1) CYR - (5.5x2.1mm barrel input, 5.5x2.1 barrel output; reverse polarity)
Red - reverse polarity converter
(2) C35 - (5.5x2.1mm barrel input, 3.5mm male output; tip positive)
Black - 3.5mm (1/8") plug converter
(1) CBAT - (5.5x2.1mm barrel input, Black battery clip output) Connects to batter clip wires inside pedals that do not have DC jacks. Do NOT connect to a battery!
Green - for Line 6 DL4/M9/etc. and some Eventide pedals.
(1) CYR - (5.5x2.1mm barrel input, 5.5x2.1 barrel output; reverse polarity)
Red - reverse polarity converter
(2) C35 - (5.5x2.1mm barrel input, 3.5mm male output; tip positive)
Black - 3.5mm (1/8") plug converter
(1) CBAT - (5.5x2.1mm barrel input, Black battery clip output) Connects to batter clip wires inside pedals that do not have DC jacks. Do NOT connect to a battery!
Pure Isolation:
Since pioneering the first switching power supply for musicians, the original 1 SPOT, we've gained many years of experience in creating very low noise power for pedals. When we started designing the 1 SPOT Pro, the first multiple output switching power supply, we worried a lot about how to eliminate noise completely. Isolation is part of the solution to noise elimination, but not all of it. Each output is galvanically isolated from the other to help give you pure, clean, noise-free operation of your pedals. However, we also provided an additional layer of pure analog regulation, taking advantage of the greater ability of analog circuits to provide the highest possible suppression of in-band audio noise. There is an artistry involved in these designs, and it's come at the price of decades of hard work. But all of this put together is what we call Pure Isolation.
Pedaltrain Mounting Brackets:
Since pioneering the first switching power supply for musicians, the original 1 SPOT, we've gained many years of experience in creating very low noise power for pedals. When we started designing the 1 SPOT Pro, the first multiple output switching power supply, we worried a lot about how to eliminate noise completely. Isolation is part of the solution to noise elimination, but not all of it. Each output is galvanically isolated from the other to help give you pure, clean, noise-free operation of your pedals. However, we also provided an additional layer of pure analog regulation, taking advantage of the greater ability of analog circuits to provide the highest possible suppression of in-band audio noise. There is an artistry involved in these designs, and it's come at the price of decades of hard work. But all of this put together is what we call Pure Isolation.
Energy Efficient:
Prior to the 1 SPOT, musicians either used one linear power supply (a.k.a. wall wart) per pedal, or used batteries. Both solutions for powering pedals were very inefficient with energy, with batteries also contributing greatly to the toxic waste stream.
In 2000, we pioneered the use of switching power supply technology to alleviate this condition in an economically-, energy- and environmentally-conservative way. The 1 SPOT power supply was designed to replace many such external power supplies and/or batteries simultaneously. It provided plenty of power with a very low noise level to successfully meet the needs of musicians.
By offering musicians a solution that was more cost effective and energy efficient, and moving the market away from linear transformer-based power supplies to switching power supplies, Truetone has caused the saving of thousands of watt-hours per musician per year.
Utilizing a more comprehensive switching power supply solution, the 1 SPOT Pro sets a new level of efficiency for power bricks, while still meeting the needs of musicians for low noise operation, even in severe conditions where the pedals themselves may generate interfering noise.
