Hello there, and welcome back to yet another cool gear review! This time, we will look at possibly the best value and most versatile pedal power supply on the market: the Cioks DC7!
Table of Contents
As we always do, I will give you a quick introduction to this not-so-well-known company as well as all the necessary details about the product, images of the actual item I got and my honest review.
If you are a long-term reader of my blog, you may have already come across my Voodoo Lab Pedal Power X4 review article that I published about three years ago. Back in that era, I was slowly going into a different mode and started collecting guitar pedals and a power supply. Electric guitar players are very familiar with these shifts in rigs.
Check out my Voodoo Lab Pedal Power X4 review here
It all starts with a Tube Screamer and an SD-1. Then you go from there and keep trying pedals. While the number of pedals increases, you also start thinking about how to solve this ever-expanding power need for your pedalboard and eventually end up with a power supply.
This is exactly what has been happening to me! I started with the ENGL E570 preamp and ENGL Cabloader which required a power supply and got a TrueTone 1 Spot PV DC power supply. Then got an Ibanez Tube Screamer, Boss SD-1 and switched to Voodoo Lab Pedal Power X4.
However, when I started buying pedals that require different voltage values, such as the MXR 10 Band EQ, I decided to have a solution that would prevent me from buying more power supplies! 🙂 Even though some of the pedals with special voltage values come with their power supply, it ends up pretty messy as you need to run multiple power supplies.
Enter Cioks DC7! Although the brand was known to me due to my constant hanging out on Thomann‘s website, I never paid enough attention to the see real value of this product. Initially, I perceived it as a higher-end and more expensive brand. But once I did my research and analysed my possible use case, I felt 100% confident that that was it! 🙂
TL;DR
As you may be already aware, there are so many options on the market when it comes to power supplies for guitar effect pedals. Even though, you will be good to go with most of the option, not all products will cover your needs for the long term.
Guitar players are possibly the most demanding demographic in the musical instruments industry as we are constantly fed with new pedals, effects and all those sweet new toys! 🙂
This often leds us to purchase many guitar pedals even though we don’t really need them. However, if you are after a solid guitar playing experience, chances are you will need a good tube preamp/amp and some pedals so you can get the most out of your rig.
Most of the times, having a couple of drive pedals, a tuner and wah pedal solves all our problems. Cioks DC7 is exactly designed to fuilfil this need as it can power up up to 7 pedals with its Flex cable set and adjustable voltage values for each outlet!
It offers the thinnest power supply with a proper power cord to handle the most demanding environments while being able to remain stealth in your pedalboard.
If you are looking for a noise-free, durable power supply and are willing to invest in your rig that will cover your for a very long time, Cioks DC7 is the product you need to get right now!
Let’s also support my claims with some facts and data! On Thomann’s website, under the “Guitar Effect Power Supplies” category, Cioks DC7 has managed to rank at 3rd position!
But is it really 3rd position? It’s actually the number 1 best-selling, multi-outlet power supply in the entire website. 1st and 2nd positions are taken by Thomann and Boss power supplies which are basic, entry-level PSUs that are aimed for simple, one pedal rigs.
These are followed by Cioks DC7! Even though it is rightfully priced way higher than these simple power supplies, it has still managed to remain at the 3rd position.
Where there are more affordable alternatives within the same category and those options are beaten buy a more premium product, it tells us a lot about the quality and consistency of the product you should be getting right now!
Out of 334 user reviews, it has managed to get 4.9/5 points and will highly likely remain at this level of user satisfaction for a very very long time!
cigilovic.com totally approves Cioks D7 and recommends this to anyone without a single doubt. Don’t hesitate to invest in this product just because there are cheaper options on the market. You will highly likely never need another power supply!
Before I start diving into details, let’s first have a quick look at the Cioks company.
About Cioks
Cioks was founded by Poul Ciok in Copenhagen, Denmark, back in November 1991. Poul had always had challenges in finding a solid and reliable source of power for his ever-growing pedal collection and eventually decided to launch his company and the Cioks brand to solve this problem for all!
Cioks started with Cioks Baby PSU which had 5 outlets of 9V DC. However, the digital effects and pedalboards started gaining popularity just like the demand for PSU that can handle the complexity of the boards. Cioks Baby followed by Big John and Double Jack which were introduced in 1995.
Cioks company kept on growing throughout those years and they started a sister company in Poland which would manufacture and develop Cioks products in 2004. This synergy led them to release more products and expand their catalogue at a faster pace.
The Professional Range in 2010, featuring top-notch toroidal transformers and metal enclosure with LINK Range which allowed users to link multiple power supplies from a single main cord. Thomann Music Days Summer Sale - 65% OFF until 22/07!
In 2017, the Future Power Generation range was developed with switch-mode power supplies and the first three products were unveiled at the NAMM show in 2018.
The company kept on releasing new products and expanding their catalogue with C4E, C8E, Superpower Bundle, SOL and CRUX in recent years. You can also have a look at the company’s quick history and changes in its catalogue below here (taken from their website).
1992 – CIOKS Baby – The First Release
1995 – Big John and Double Jack
2003 – CIOKS Goes International
2004 – A Sister Company Enterprises is Born
2007 – Introducing Schizophrenic and AC Rider
2010 – Professional Range – Designed for the Road
2013 – Celebrating 20 Years CIOKS introduced the Ciokolate
2014 – LINK Range – Powering More Than One Power Supply
2017 – Future Power Generation – Looking Ahead
2018 – The CIOKS DC7, CIOKS 4 & CIOKS 8 Expanders released
2019 – The CIOKS 4 Expander Kit (C4e) was released
2020 – The CIOKS 8 Expander Kit (C8e) was released
2021 – The CIOKS Superpower Bundle was released
2022 – CIOKS SOL and CRUX
The company offers a balanced power on all their power supplies regardless of the series. The company provides us with a 5-year warranty. The failure rate of any Cioks products is 1 in 1000. All Cioks products are designed and handbuilt in Europe featuring isolated outputs.
Check out the entire Cioks catalogue on Thomann
Cioks DC 7
Cioks DC7 is the thinnest, most flexible and possibly the most unique power supply for powering effect pedals in the market. DC7 has only a 25.4mm profile and weighs around 500g! Check out the best guitar pickup company, Seymour Duncan here!
DC7 can generate a maximum of 48W and allows users to connect high-current effects without introducing any noise to the signal chain. The DC7 is the thinnest, most flexible and most unique power supply for powering effect pedals currently available.
As the model name suggests, DC7 offers 7 isolated DC outlets for effect pedals with four selectable voltages. Each outlet can put out 6W, which corresponds to 660mA of current at 9V.
On top of that, DC7 features a 5V USB outlet and an additional 24V outlet. This smart Cioks design can be expanded with Cioks 4 or Cioks 8 Expander and with the Crux for more isolated outs and extreme flexibility. Ads - Check out these ads to support this web page
It comes with a nice black box with the product label and country of origin information on the bottom.
As mentioned in the About Cioks section, DC7 is also made in Poland by Cioks’ sister company. This is important as they still keep pricing very fair for the EU market, even though it’s all made in Europe!
DC7 comes with a pretty generous set of flex cables you need to run your entire pedalboard with ease!
As you can see from the image above, it has the power cable, flex cable set, stickers, manual and mounting hardware. Let’s have a quick look at the box content in further detail in the below table. Music Plugin Deals at Pluginboutique.com
At first, the product may feel intimidating as there are many cables, and all those dip switches to set up for your rig, it’s actually very easy to operate. However, I would still recommend that you check out the manual to get yourself familiarised with the Flex cable types and colour codes so you don’t make any mistakes by using the wrong cables.
Cioks DC7 Box Contents
| CIOKS DC7 Box Content |
|---|
| CIOKS DC7 power supply |
| Mains power cord |
| Standard Flex type 1 – black with 5,5/2,1mm centre negative DC plug x7 |
| Standard Flex type 2 – red with 5,5/2,1mm centre positive DC plug x1 |
| Standard Flex type 4 – green with 5,5/2,5mm centre positive DC plug x1 |
| Standard Flex type 5 – black with tip positive 3,5mm Jack plug x1 |
| Split Flex type 1 – powers two pedals of a single outlet x1 |
| 3-way Daisy chain Flex type 1 – powers three pedals of a single outlet x1 |
| Mounting hardware: 2 screws and a hex-key |
| Manual |
| Product sheet (drill guide) |
| CIOKS sticker sheet |
| Flex Guide |
Cioks DC7 – Future Power Generation Official Video
If you are interested in watching the official video by the company, please go ahead and watch it below! 🙂
Cioks DC7 Tech Specs
Let’s have a look at the official Cioks DC7 tech specs below as well.
| Cioks DC7 | Tech Specs |
|---|---|
| Mains input | 90-265V AC universal |
| Outlet 1-7 | 9V DC / 660mA or 12V DC / 500mA or 15V DC / 400mA or 18V DC / 330mA each |
| USB outlet | 5V DC, max 1A |
| AUX outlet | 24V DC, max 2A |
| Total maximum output power | 48W |
| Size | 160 x 88 x 25,4mm excl. rubber feet |
| Weight | 500g / 1.1lbs |
| Warranty | 5 years worldwide |
Cioks DC7 Features
Features the thinnest all-metal enclosure (25.4mm) and weighs only 500g! With the outstanding multistage filtering and 2-stage switch-mode topology, ultra-low noise is guaranteed in any signal chain.
Comes with 7 isolated DC outlets that can put out 6W each with a total maximum output power of 48W. On top of that, you can have 660mA at 9V DC on each outlet!
For each outlet, you can choose 4 selectable voltages which is the biggest selling point of the Cioks DC7!
5V USB outlet with a maximum of 1A and 24V DC extra outlet with a maximum of 2A!
All outlets have their LEDs to indicate the power limit. But also you have a built-in true power meter showing the total load and global overload status LED. It is designed to be used in any location of the world as the main input voltage accepts 90 to 265V AC.
Comes with mounting hardware for Pedaltrain and Templeaudio boards and is compatible with Cioks Grip for drill-free mounting on Pedaltrain boards.
In total, you have 12 Flex cables included in the box and start using Cioks DC7 at its maximum potential without needing to buy anything extra while it remains expandable for more advanced signal chains using Cioks 4, Cioks 8 and Crux.
Cioks DC7 Review
As you can see from the tech specs and features list, Cioks DC7 is possibly the best power supply you can get that will cover a huge ground for your power supply needs. Ads - Check out these ads to support this web page
The all-metal enclosure gives it a great, high-quality feel, and the built quality is extremely good! With the mini dip switches, you can customise all 7 outlets’ voltage settings to handle any unconventional needs of any guitar or effect pedal.
What I really like about DC7 is that it’s designed and manufactured so well that you can already start utilising its maximum potential without the need to purchase any other products from the same company. So they deliver exactly what they promise!
Having a standard power cord instead of a thin power cable while offering us the thinnest is pretty cool. It comes with all the necessary Flex cables and can easily power up an entire pedalboard.
Regarding having only 7 outlets, it may not sound like you have a lot of outlets. But if you think about it and start planning your pedalboard, you will soon find out that it’s already even too many. IK Multimedia Tonex - Cutting Edge Guitar Tones!
Unless you have very advanced and complicated pedalboards, 7 pedals is a pretty good number. Currently, I’m using my DC7 on my pedalboard with 6 to 7 pedals at a time. However, since I don’t always need to have all the pedals at the same time, I usually try to limit it to 4 or 5 instead of trying to max it out just for the sake of doing it!
I have my Peterson StroboStomp pedal tuner, CAE Dunlop MC-404 Wah, Boss SD-1 and my Boss RC-5 looper pedal. When I need to try different pedals, I still have 3 outlets, and I think it’s already overkill for many guitar players
Regarding overall noise, I must say I’m very impressed! As I mentioned in the beginning, I started utilising a single pedal and just got the TrueTone 1 Spot 9V DC power supply.
In my related review of this power supply, I talked about the problems with my ENGL Cabloader as well as my TrueTone 1 Spot PSU. One day both stopped working and I tried everything to solve that issue. However, they fully stopped functioning!
Thomann happily replaced them with brand-new ones (and told me that they could not find any issue with either product). However, the brand-new TrueTone was generating a very high-pitched noise coming from the adapter! There was no noise introduced in the signal chain though.
After I switched to Voodoo Lab Pedal Power X4, all these problems disappeared. Around the same time, I also switched to using Marshall JVM410H with my humble pedalboard.
As you may know, JVM410H is a high-gain monster and there is an inherent noise with the amp. In my opinion, it’s not as bad as many people claim on the internet. But when I switched to DC7, the noise issue was further improved. My whole rig has become much more silent!
Overall, I think DC7 has been one of my best purchases in recent years in the power supply category and I recommend anyone to give this brand a chance!
I did my best to find any cons with the product but I could not come up with any! Perfectly designed, well-thought, extremely durable and delivers exactly what it promises!
Where to Buy Cioks DC7?
As I always did, I got mine from Thomann as they are the best online music store in the EU. Fortunately, they usually keep the entire Cioks product line in stock so you can freely choose what works best for you.
I suggest you first work on your pedalboard plan and decide how many pedals you really need to have on the board at the same time. Highly likely, Cioks DC7 will cover your needs for good and you will never need to buy additional power supplies in the foreseeable future.
Check out the entire Cioks catalogue on Thomann
You can also check out Reverb stores. There are tons of sellers listing mainly brand new ones, but also used ones as well.
Check out Cioks on Reverb.com
I hope you have enjoyed this Cioks DC7 review article, original product photos and my analysis. Thanks for visiting my blog and supporting me so far! I will hopefully see you in the next review here!
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