Ansible & grid / power issues?

[fourhexagons]

Hey,

I’ve always noticed this noise/whine when using the Grid with Ansible and my solution was to remove it in post using Izotope Rx. But now I’m putting together a system for travel that uses an Expert Sleepers ES-9 for both CV and audio and I think since it’s basically an audio interface inside of my rack, the noise floor has increased and so this whine has become an issue to be addressed.

Does anybody else experience this with Grid and Ansible? It doesn’t happen with Arc and Ansible, by the way. My power supply is the Intellijel TPS80w.

Here are some spectrograms to compare:

With Grid + Ansible

Without Grid + Ansible

You can see that the highest whine (around 18k) is present on both, but that all those additional ones are present down to 1k only when the Grid is connected.

[fourhexagons]

Many thanks to @ioflow who sent me a message explaining the Grid power issues. I see that it goes quite deep. Apologies for not reading enough beforehand. I’ll be trying out some of the fixes mentioned earlier in this thread and elsewhere.

[Deru]

Hey All,
I have a MakeNoise case that supplies 1.4 amps @ 12Vdc. On Modulargrid my rack (including Ansible) is showing 1376 mA @ 12Vdc.

If I plug in my Grid to Ansible the it will that add an additional 600mA, thereby throwing me over the power from my power supply correct? I assume this is right but would love a confirmation.

If that’s the case then I need to look for a solution to power my Grid from another source. So something like the Arturia cable or DIY solutions right?

Thanks!

And PS: Does anyone know how much power an Arc requires?

[ioflow]

@Deru

And PS: Does anyone know how much power an Arc requires?

power specs are available in the official ansible docs, in the power consumption section:

ansible

…and also answered here on lines:

Ansible standalone power rating

200ma is the max. it will typically be much lower. i don’t have a measurement in front of me for non-USB-powering, but i’d expect it to be under 40ma.

Ansible standalone power rating

If anyone needs it. Ansible power draw with Grid/Arc powered externally or no Grid/Arc connected. +12V 45mA MAX (everything maxed out, you’ll never hit this in practical use) -12V 21mA MAX Readings taken simultaneously with a Fluke 175 & Amprobe AM-520

[Deru]

Oh wow, so 200 is the max Ansible will take no matter what is taking power from it (ie even with a Grid attached)? I’ve read conflicting things on other posts in Lines, like Grid can take up to 600mA on it’s own when being powered from Ansible. Is that not correct?

[ioflow]

if it’s 5v-only power, e.g. plugged into a computer’s USB port, up to 600ma. running off 12v modular power, as it does through ansible: 200ma max, usually less, exactly as the docs say. still, ansible’s 200ma max puts you uncomfortably close to your PSU limit. makenoise supplies are not good for multiple high-powered digital modules of any sort.

Grids with Make Noise Shared System power?

in general the modules will draw substantially less than 600ma. the warning is really for a severely underrated supply. anything that gives 1A would hopefully have a graceful shutdown on overheat/etc. because honestly i find the switch annoying, needing to have an extra power cable. it’s fine if you can do something like the 4ms rowpower trick.

Maximum power consumption of grid / arc?

Not that wrong, 600ma at 5v boils down to a large part of that 200ma at 12v iirc. Someone with knowledge in ee please chime in.

Maximum power consumption of grid / arc?

keep in mind with ansible there’s no way to fully light up the grid. it’s mostly only partially lit.

[Deru]

@ioflow

if it’s 5v-only power, e.g. plugged into a computer’s USB port, up to 600ma. running off 12v modular power, as it does through ansible: 200ma max, usually less, exactly as the docs say

Ahhh, got it thank you!

And yeah, maybe I should rethink getting this close to the limit… But then again maybe I’m okay as Ansible usually takes less? Hmm.

[tehn]

use a separate power supply for the grid/arc, which will solve noise issues. and generally stay away from the power delivery limits unless you want to spend a ton of time debugging other inexplicable issues.

[CLDSWM]

So I got this Y Split cable -> https://www.amazon.co.uk/Delock-Y-Cable-USB-2-0-0-3m/dp/B009EAF0RU

When I open up the thicker data cable there were no separate cables? )you can see from attached images.

I tried plugging GRID to the DATA cable and the GRID was powered, this should mean that there is power on this cable.

Any help?? MANY THANKS!

[HateNames]

The separate cables are under that silver stuff. Just separate some of that weave off to the sides and you’ll see them.

[CLDSWM]

So which one should I be cutting? If its the one inside the silver stuff I’ll have to cut that as well which defeats the purpose?? thanks!

whats the silver stuff for?

[HateNames]

It might be shield, you don’t need to cut it all, just separate enough to see the wires inside.

[CLDSWM]

okay I have a look thanks for that !

[HateNames]

I believe it’s the red wire that carries power

[CLDSWM]

@HateNames

Well looking at whats underneath there appears to be 8 cables.

Black , Red, 2 Whites, 2 cables in blue foil and a thin copper ones. I had to get rid off the silver tweed wrapping around everything to get inside.

Do you think the red cable is the one to cut? thanks

[HateNames]

Mine just had red, black, green, white (and the shield) when I did it. I’m pretty sure I cut the red but I don’t want to tell you something which ends up messing up your cable, I’m not the most knowledgable person on this stuff (especially in llllllll company). Maybe someone else will chime in.

[CLDSWM]

thanks for that I’ll wait a bit and see what others have to say.

[HateNames]

Just did a search, everyone I could find in the thread above cut the red wire!

[CLDSWM]

yeh thats what I thought. thanks a lot for the help!

Hey the red cable did it!

I’m powering the grid with a power bank, doyou know if I can power it via a power adaptor connected to the wall?

thanks!

[HateNames]

Glad it worked! I power mine with a regular wall plug to USB adapter, like the one you probably use to charge your phone.