The Strymon Ojai is a powerful little power supply. It boasts 5 isolated outputs of 500mA each in a small little box that fits in the palm of your hand and weighs less than half a pound when combined with it’s power adapter cable. It’s also completely compatible and expandable so you can link multiple Ojai’s together or even piggy back it off of Strymon’s larger power supply, the Zuma.
I first took a look at the Ojai as I started to plan a pedalboard downsize. Everything on my board, including the board, was on the chopping block. I wanted small, lightweight, and versatile. That’s when I really focused in on the Ojai, one of Strymon’s newest products and quite possibly the lightest and smallest isolated power supply available. My existing Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus had served me well for over 8 years, but at four times the weight of the Ojai I decided it was time to try something else.
The packaging for the Ojai was fun and well done. The Ojai, power brick, power cables, and paperwork (Sticker included for those interested) all had their own place within the well-designed box. After unwrapping the Ojai I found out it was even smaller than I expected, and as far as power supplies go it just looks awesome! After a quick test to make sure it worked, I quickly wired up my board with my new power. One huge plus is that the 5 power cables that come with the Ojai are straight barrel on one end and right angle barrel on the opposite end-options!
A good power supply should kinda go unnoticed in my opinion. Bad power, on the other hand, causes unwanted noises and poor pedal functionality. What did I notice when playing through my pedals with the Ojai for the first time? Nothing. Everything was nice and quiet and all my pedals functioned how they were supposed to. I couldn’t ask for anything more. I have even noticed that it cleans up pedals that struggle with noise when plugged into a certain outlet in my basement using just a normal power adapter. Basically, the Ojai does it’s job and does it well. With plenty of power on tap I have my digital effects on their own outputs from the Ojai, but I’ve also made use of the 500mA outputs to daisy chain a few overdrive pedals together. I currently run 7 pedals off of the 5 output power supply and feel as if I have room to grow as far as how much power is left to make use of.
I ended up mounting both the Ojai as well as the power brick under my board to make for easy transport and quick setups/teardowns. Mounting is easy with velcro or dual lock due to the light weight, though I had fun making my own mounting brackets. All in all it’s doing its part to give me the power I need to keep rocking, as well as contribute to an overall lighter board that is easy to carry in and out of gigs.
I would highly recommend the Ojai to anybody looking for a small power supply solution. If you need more power, perhaps the Strymon Zuma might be more up your alley (a little larger and more power, but same concept). One caution though is that the Ojai is meant for 9v pedals only, so it would not be a great solution for those running 12v, 15v, or 18v pedals (unless in the case of 18v you wanted to use a voltage doubler along with the Ojai).