USB powering Digitone for portable jamming

Beware, a french user add an issue using a ripcord and digitone, pluggin it into a 12V powerbank output instead of 5V.

The DN doesn’t work anymore, back to Sweden…

I use a Birdcord with the Digitone. It mostly works, but like you, my Digitone sometimes gets stuck at the boot screen. It will usually work if I power cycle it. The inrush current may be right at the edge of the Birdcord capability.

hello!
I too would like to make my Digitone portable and I am about to purchase the necessary tech bits. I’m in the UK.

what do I do?

power bank (any?) + ripcord/bird cable?
or
power bank with 12v barrel output?

is it true that with the ripcord/birdie you waste like 50% capacity? are there any decent/cheap power banks with voltage regulated barrel output? I have read that it’s quite a problem for some when the voltage drops below 12v at like 75% and the Digitone shuts down.

thank you!

I used the Anker PowerCore III Elite 26000 mah 87W power bank with a BirdCord and their barrel adapter with my Digitone along with a Typhon for 10 days during a trip to Hawaii. I only had to recharge the Anker once. Usage time was 5 hours on the flight there, then an hour or two each day. It worked flawlessly.

This laptop power bank works beautifully. It can do one elektron (confirm working for octatrack mk2, digitakt, digitone) and 1 USB device or 2 usb devices (never tested using both usb’s and an elektron at once).

But it last so long. In think I get about 15-20% battery usage for a 2 hour jam. So good I have a couple for either elektrons or boutiques.

thank you for the info
would something like this do?
would buy this and the ripcord

That’s very similar to what I use. 3 amps max output per port is more than enough to power a DN/DT/OT without being too much for the BirdCord to handle. It should work great.

sweet! thanks

Power my DN via BirdCord and 26800mAh battery:

£26.99. Works well. Reckon it lasts about 4 hours on a single charge. Bonus: you can charge it while powering the DN + it uses the same lightning cable as used by phone. Very portable/flexible.

cool, do you reckon this is much different from the anker? Am I paying for the brand only or is the Anker actually better? Better cells that would last longer?

That’s a really good question. With this specific battery, I have not had it long enough to know (and e-waste is a consideration even if it costs half as much, but lasts half as long). Only time will tell.

On the other hand, this is a near identical replacement/update for a battery that bought for my eldest four years ago and it’s still going strong (just takes a little longer to charge) and another two years ago for my youngest, showing no signs of wear.

The battery linked ^^ definitely charges more quickly, but that’s most likely related to utilising a more modern controller. Not sure brand really makes a massive difference at this price tier, the packaging of the product was top quality. I took a punt hoping it would work and knew I could send it back and order a more expensive brand/model if it didn’t.

ok I got the one you linked as well as the 12v ripcord, hope it goes well I’ve never had a power bank
thanks for your help

1 Like

Good luck hope it works well with 12v ripcord

yeah the specs of ripcord seem to be the same as birdcord
I only found ripcord is available in the uk atm so I went with that, fingers crossed I too will have a portable digitone!

Just got email notification of new Birdcords working with the new USB Power Delivery standard.

I wasn’t aware of this standard, but based on how well the older Birdcords work for me and others, this is quite promising.

2 Likes

I received the power bank and the ripcord, all work fine with my digitone.
However, now that I saw that new birdcord pd, I have ordered that so I can run my rytm on the power bank too.

1 Like

I saw the Birdcord PD email as well, awesome stuff! My existing Birdcord already powers my Octatrack, hadn’t tried it with one of the Analog series though.

glad to report that the birdcord pd works perfectly with my power bank and both DT and ARMK2

The trick for me is turning the digi’s power on with the birdcord and adapter in and then plugging the usb into my power pack at which point the whole thing turns on. Works like a charm.

1 Like

Thanks to this post my DT/DN are happily running with two PD Birdcords and a Baleus powerbank. Now to get out of the house and have some fun! :smiley:

2 Likes