Power Supply Requirements of the Tool Devices

Power Supply Units for Tool Units

Current Consumption

Power Supply Requirements of the Tool Units

This page explains how to determine the right power supply for a single device or a system of pro audio units.

In addition, there is information on the current consumption of the different Tool devices and other useful hints.

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Power Supply Units:

ToolPwr-M for 2 to 3 Units

ToolPwr-S for 4 to 6 Units

ToolPwr-E for 8 to 12 Units

How to determine the right Power Supply for a system

Mains Voltage

Power Cables

ToolPwr Prices

The ToolMix Summing Gear, the Toolkit Channel Strip, the ToolMod Pro Audio Modules and the other 1U high Tool devices by adt-audio use the same power supply voltage and the same power connectors. The capacity of the power supply unit must be adapted to number of units and to their current consumption.

A Rule of Thumb for the Current Consumption of the Tool Units: 0.5 Ampere per 1U high Unit or 1U high ToolMod Frame
Capacity of the Power Supply Units in Ampere and 19" Units
ToolPwr-M	ToolPwr-S	ToolPwr-E
1 Ampere 2 U	2 Ampere 4 U	4 Ampere 8 U
(worst cast values)

You will be on the safe side using this rule of thumb. It includes an appropriate reserve and it is based on normal load on the outputs. In many cases, it is possible to add more gear to a power supply. Please read the mark below for details.

Power Connectors

All units have a female and a male connector in parallel. The power supply unit is connected to the first device. The other devices are connected in daisy chain mode to the first unit. The picture on the right side shows the power connectors of the ToolKit Channel Strip, the picture below shows the connections of a summing system with ToolMix units and a ToolPwr-M power supply unit.

Up to 6 units can be connected in daisy chain mode. If there are more than 6 devices, please use two different cables from the power supply und divide the total number of units or frames in two chains. Using more than 6 units will cause higher voltage drop on the power cable and reduce the performance and the headroom of the audio gear. If you are in doubt, please ask

Of course, more than one power supply units can be used in a system with many Tool units. Just make sure that all power supply units are connected to mains at the same point, e.g. a multiple plug, to avoid ground loops.

Calculating the Current Consumption

Depending on the combination of units and modules in ToolMod frames, it can be possible to add more gear without the need of another power supply or a power supply unit with higher capacity. Here is a table that lists the current consumption of the different units. Please consider the NOTES BELOW.

Device		Current
ToolMod Pro Audio	per Mono Module	0.1 Ampere
	per Stereo Module	0.2 Ampere
Note: The current consumption depends on the number of modules and not on the number of frame slots. A 4U high frame with 11 mono eq's TM105 has a supply current of 1.1 A; the same frame with 22 stereo compressors TM212 needs a supply current of 4.4 A!
ToolKit Channel Strip		0.5 Ampere
ToolMix 8		0.5 Ampere
ToolMix 16		0.4 Ampere
ToolMix 32		0.5 Ampere
ToolMst		0.5 Ampere
Tool-EQ8 - Mono		0.4 Ampere
Tool-EQ8 - Stereo		0.7 Ampere
Tool-M-Dyn		0.7 Ampere

Some Notes on the Current Consumption

Though the current consumption of the units is different, 0.5 amperes per 1U high device is a good approximation. This rule can be used with all ToolKit and ToolMix units as well as the ToolMod system, unless there are many stereo units installed.

Current Consumption and Output Load

The current consumption of the devices is directly depending on the load resistors on the outputs. The lower the value of the load resistor is, the higher is the supply current. This is no peculiarity of the Tool units but simple electro technology. In practice, the load resistor is the impedance of the input that is connected to the particular output. Common values for the input impedance of pro audio gear are in the range between 5 kohms and 20 kohms. Values like this will not alter the current consumption; there is no need to consider anything. However, there are some devices, mostly vintage gear, that have very low input impedances of less than 1 kohms. If you use such gear, the higher load on the output will cause a higher current with high output levels. In most cases, the reason is not the power supply but one or more ground loops in the audio installation. If there are only a small number of such units, no care must be taken. If you have many of these devices, the additional current should be considered.

Calculate 30 mA additional supply current per output that is connected to a low impedance input. Each output of the Tool units can deliver approx. 1 W output power. Considering the efficiency of the output drivers, 1.5 W input power are needed when an output is fully loaded.

For any questions, please get in touch.

- additional Information:
    Power Cables
    Mains voltage and installation
    Output pinning