Electronic – Clean DC power supply from a dirty souce

audionoiserelay

I'm building a guitar pedal which uses a series of relays to switch various signals. The relays are currently being powered by a cheap 5V switchmode supply and the audio path is inducting high frequency noise (109Khz) which I assume is from the power supply.

I cant do anything about the power supply – it will always be a switchmode wart though what should I do about replacing this noise? Will an electrolytic + voltage reg filter the noise?

Best Answer

If you need clean 5V, you could start with, say, 9V from a switch-mode supply and then drop it down to 5V with a linear regulator. A good old 7805 three-terminal regulator (with capacitors) might help.

But first, do make sure that the noise really is coming from the supply. Use batteries, or a lab-type bench PSU, as a temporary substitute for the switch-mode.