I have a little pipe dream of having, maybe even building, a UPS for my minimal music studio rig. Goals are:
- clean reliable online (US 110v) power conditioning/regulation
- lithium powered (For compact size)
- no/low noise (preamp will be in the same rack)
- 8" max depth
- 1 or 2 U (taller would not be ideal but the easiest sacrifice to make.)
- unplugged duration is NOT a goal. This is more about getting my audio components clean isolated power in a semi portable compact 8" deep rack.
I am by no means savvy with electronics, but my component and wire soldering skills are decent and I am good at following instructions should we find any.
I don't have a workshop available to me currently, but I've got dremmels, drills, and a coffee addiction! So modding a chassis or something is possible.
If you have already seen something like this, link me please! If you have helpful insight, please share your knowledge! Cautions are helpful, but please avoid nay saying or concept assassination. That isn't fun or helpful.
- clean reliable online (US 110v) power conditioning/regulation
- lithium powered (For compact size)
- no/low noise (preamp will be in the same rack)
- 8" max depth
- 1 or 2 U (taller would not be ideal but the easiest sacrifice to make.)
- unplugged duration is NOT a goal. This is more about getting my audio components clean isolated power in a semi portable compact 8" deep rack.
I am by no means savvy with electronics, but my component and wire soldering skills are decent and I am good at following instructions should we find any.
I don't have a workshop available to me currently, but I've got dremmels, drills, and a coffee addiction! So modding a chassis or something is possible.
If you have already seen something like this, link me please! If you have helpful insight, please share your knowledge! Cautions are helpful, but please avoid nay saying or concept assassination. That isn't fun or helpful.
What current draw do you need? That will impact the batteries needed. I wouldn't try to build one though.
In fact I would not buy a UPS at all unless you really, really need one. This filter is very good.
8 Outlet 120 V Surge Suppressor | Dell USA
Hard to beat this if you need it, and has relay tap-switched regulation. But for your purpose,
just the above filter is fine.
https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Conditioner-Regulation-LS606M/dp/B00006B83G
In fact I would not buy a UPS at all unless you really, really need one. This filter is very good.
8 Outlet 120 V Surge Suppressor | Dell USA
Hard to beat this if you need it, and has relay tap-switched regulation. But for your purpose,
just the above filter is fine.
https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Conditioner-Regulation-LS606M/dp/B00006B83G
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That is a good question that I haven't thoroughly thought out yet. I will post a number when I look up my max requirements. But I would be running a laptop (possibly upgrading to a tower later), 2 mic/instrument preamps, (large) near field monitors, and a 32" screen. So I guess a bit more than I was initially thinking. 
Thank you for those links! The second one seems to be like a really cheap investment for now. I wonder what the difference in advantages is between that product and an online UPS?
Also one of the more important goals is to fit this into a shallow 8" rack. Even a small box on the ground is too much. (San Francisco apartments are sardine tins.)
Thank you for those links! The second one seems to be like a really cheap investment for now. I wonder what the difference in advantages is between that product and an online UPS?
Also one of the more important goals is to fit this into a shallow 8" rack. Even a small box on the ground is too much. (San Francisco apartments are sardine tins.)
It's looking more and more like I'll need something like this.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006B81Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_GD43ZTYZ79DYNP24SXV2?psc=1
I was really hoping to avoid the bulk, but I will be running an entire small studio off of it.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006B81Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_GD43ZTYZ79DYNP24SXV2?psc=1
I was really hoping to avoid the bulk, but I will be running an entire small studio off of it.
Looks like the technology hasn't down sized enough for my pipe dream. I'm thinking I will have to bite the bullet and build up a larger rack to power my little studio. I'll still do some math and see if I really need THAT much power (1500VA?) and can down size some. I'd greatly appreciate your input on the matter. Feeling discouraged.
Can you build the larger UPS into a base (maybe with wheels) for the rack to mount on top?
It will be heavy, too heavy for mounting on a narrow rack. Also could be remotely located in
a closet, under seating, etc, with an extension cord to the rack.
Which functions are absolutely necessary, and which are optional for you?
Filter, "regulate" AC line voltage, backup battery power?
Giving up battery backup will be useful for size/weight.
It will be heavy, too heavy for mounting on a narrow rack. Also could be remotely located in
a closet, under seating, etc, with an extension cord to the rack.
Which functions are absolutely necessary, and which are optional for you?
Filter, "regulate" AC line voltage, backup battery power?
Giving up battery backup will be useful for size/weight.
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The backup battery as far as duration is the lowest concern. Save and shut down is all I need. But the double conversion online power quality is pretty much a must. I regularly connect to 100+ year old buildings with wiring that isn't much newer. Our area is pretty densely populated with power transformers right outside our 4th floor window. Pretty much the least ideal conditions for what I want to do. But for now this is still cheaper than moving!😀
Then make a survey of what commercial units are available, and choose the best one for your purposes.
Only consider a name brand with positive comments by users. I would use a good DVM to measure your
line voltage periodically, at different times and on different days, to see how bad things really are.
It may be much worse during the summer, however.
Only consider a name brand with positive comments by users. I would use a good DVM to measure your
line voltage periodically, at different times and on different days, to see how bad things really are.
It may be much worse during the summer, however.
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I'll do some checks with my meter for sure! Summer isn't really worse here in San Francisco. Hvac is rare. I'm still open for more diy options should any one come up with anything.
The first step is to get a handle on exactly how much power your equipment uses under your normal use case, and under worse case loads. I use a "killa-watt meter:
P3 International P4400-VP Monitor, Electricity Usage, Kill-A-Watt, 8 Measures, 2.4" W x 1.7" D x 5.1" H: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
I have a small basement studio in a rural area where the power can go off at any time. I run Ableton Live for music stuff, and my outboard equipment is pretty typical except for a small DIY modular synth. The PC is not heavily loaded by all of this. I also do video with DaVinci Resolve, which will tax the PC during a 4K render that can take many hours to complete. The PC is the hungriest component in the system followed by the 40 inch 4K Samsung TV which is my main video monitor. Under full load I am near 900 watts, but average load is about 250 W.
Double conversion eliminates the transition time, but that has not been a problem for me. We get random dropouts, brown outs, and glitches every day. A power outage of more than a few seconds occurs pretty often, and we have had two outages of several hours twice this year. An off the shelf UPS seems to work through all of this, and will give me time to save and shut down if the power has been off for more than a minute. If the power has been off for more than a minute, it's not likely to return soon. I get about 10 minutes run time with Ableton running hard (75% CPU or more), and 3 or 4 minutes of video render time. I kill the render and shut down the system. Letting the UPS die can leave a mess on your hard drive.
You must use a "pure sine wave" UPS. A "modified sinewave" is just a square wave with dead time. There is considerable harmonic energy in this, and it will raise the noise floor of your setup.
I am currently using a budget "CyberPower" 1500 VA sinewave under desk UPS. It is noisier than line power when in operation (line power is out), but still not the major contributor to system noise. I am in backup and recovery mode during that time anyway. The LED lighting is by far the noisiest element in my basement. Every LED light bulb and overhead "shop light" blasts tons of high frequency EMI into the air and power lines that blend together to create broadband noise extending down into the upper audio range. Once I kill all that noise, I'll work on a better UPS system.
P3 International P4400-VP Monitor, Electricity Usage, Kill-A-Watt, 8 Measures, 2.4" W x 1.7" D x 5.1" H: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
I have a small basement studio in a rural area where the power can go off at any time. I run Ableton Live for music stuff, and my outboard equipment is pretty typical except for a small DIY modular synth. The PC is not heavily loaded by all of this. I also do video with DaVinci Resolve, which will tax the PC during a 4K render that can take many hours to complete. The PC is the hungriest component in the system followed by the 40 inch 4K Samsung TV which is my main video monitor. Under full load I am near 900 watts, but average load is about 250 W.
Double conversion eliminates the transition time, but that has not been a problem for me. We get random dropouts, brown outs, and glitches every day. A power outage of more than a few seconds occurs pretty often, and we have had two outages of several hours twice this year. An off the shelf UPS seems to work through all of this, and will give me time to save and shut down if the power has been off for more than a minute. If the power has been off for more than a minute, it's not likely to return soon. I get about 10 minutes run time with Ableton running hard (75% CPU or more), and 3 or 4 minutes of video render time. I kill the render and shut down the system. Letting the UPS die can leave a mess on your hard drive.
You must use a "pure sine wave" UPS. A "modified sinewave" is just a square wave with dead time. There is considerable harmonic energy in this, and it will raise the noise floor of your setup.
I am currently using a budget "CyberPower" 1500 VA sinewave under desk UPS. It is noisier than line power when in operation (line power is out), but still not the major contributor to system noise. I am in backup and recovery mode during that time anyway. The LED lighting is by far the noisiest element in my basement. Every LED light bulb and overhead "shop light" blasts tons of high frequency EMI into the air and power lines that blend together to create broadband noise extending down into the upper audio range. Once I kill all that noise, I'll work on a better UPS system.
Thank you for that perspective Tubelab! A power gauge like that may be useful for me in more than one situation. I'll continue to do more research on my end.