possibly stupid question RE:power switches

[intrancewetrust]

i was wondering, if its ok to leave all my stuff 'switched on' and just use the wall or powerboard switch to turn everything on at once? obviously i will have the speakers on a different powerboard, so all the synths and mixers will come on together, then the speakers later. is this like... ok? ( i know nothing...) sometime inspiration will strike then i have to hover around like a bee for a minute trying to get to various switches... kind of disrupts me a bit. i would prefer to be like... bang...bang... and its all ready to go...

[mharris80]

I have multiple synths plugged into strips, and I've never had a problem with turning them on at the same time.

[nvbrkr]

I've been told by people more knowledgeable than me that there is no problem. I've even seen live venue systems with amplifiers, mixers and lights being operated in this manner. The technicians just step on the switch on the power strip and everything gets turned on, hah.

It should be a problem only if there are some mechanical parts inside that move to different positions when you switch the unit on and off. I can't really think of anything else than tape delays that this would apply to though.

[Stab Frenzy]

I've been told by people more knowledgeable than me that there is no problem. I've even seen live venue systems with amplifiers, mixers and lights being operated in this manner. The technicians just step on the switch on the power strip and everything gets turned on, hah.

That's a seriously bad idea in a live venue, the inrush current from all the amps being turned on together could easily trip a circuit breaker. Every live engineer worth his salt turns on each amp individually and then winds up the volume, waiting a couple of seconds before switching the next one on. The rest of the equipment should be fine to switch on together, as would the equipment in a home studio as per the OP, but power amps in a live venue have some big power supply caps that pull a lot of current when you switch them on.

[GuyaGuy]

I've been told by people more knowledgeable than me that there is no problem. I've even seen live venue systems with amplifiers, mixers and lights being operated in this manner. The technicians just step on the switch on the power strip and everything gets turned on, hah.

That's a seriously bad idea in a live venue, the inrush current from all the amps being turned on together could easily trip a circuit breaker. Every live engineer worth his salt turns on each amp individually and then winds up the volume, waiting a couple of seconds before switching the next one on. The rest of the equipment should be fine to switch on together, as would the equipment in a home studio as per the OP, but power amps in a live venue have some big power supply caps that pull a lot of current when you switch them on.

Potential speaker damage too.

[intrancewetrust]

good to know this wont cause any major dramas... will certainly save some messing around as i add more and more c**p to my desk not to mention i cringe slightly everytime i flick the 33 year old power switch on my cs-15

[vicd]

How'bout having them always plugged in, but each socket can be switched on/off individually?

[intrancewetrust]

i can see that being handy later down the track