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I just got my new synthesizer, Waldorf Blofeld Keyboard.

I live in Korea and the power plug that came with won't match.

This is the plug that came with the keyboard:

enter image description here

and this is the receptacle on the back of the keyboard:

enter image description here

The Waldorf specs are

Nominal voltage: DC12V
Supply Voltage: 100-240v
Maximum current consumption: 0.3 A
Maximum power consumption: 5 W

I have playstation cable which is 2.5A 250V~

enter image description here

Could I plug this to my Waldorf Blofeld Keyboard ?

Would it be ok ?

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    This is just a pair of wires, which doesn’t do anything. 2.5A 250V~ only specifies how much electric power can flow through this cable. (That is, don’t plug it into a 380V socket. Or don’t use it for welding.)
    – Dmitri Urbanowicz
    Commented Jan 2, 2020 at 18:15
  • Show us a pic of the lead that did come with it.
    – Tim
    Commented Jan 3, 2020 at 12:00
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    @Tim This is the cable that came with the Blofeld. imgur.com/6PcoEWQ
    – Hyun Yoo Park
    Commented Jan 3, 2020 at 12:50
  • surely this is off-topic here?
    – Alnitak
    Commented Jan 3, 2020 at 14:55
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because altough this is about a musical instrument it is better answered on a site for electrical engineering or household appliances.
    – Tim H
    Commented Jan 6, 2020 at 8:26

7 Answers 7

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The 2.5A and 250V on the cable is just the highest current (Ampere) and voltage (Volts) that it's safe to use at. Provided that your mains supply is in the range 100V to 240V then that's no problem.

If you're not sure about the voltage in your country take a look at the Mains electricity by country article on Wikipedia.

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    But the Playstation keyboard says 250v ~ does this mean I shouldn't use the cable ?
    – Hyun Yoo Park
    Commented Jan 3, 2020 at 2:43
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    @HyunYooPark the cable is just a cable. It won't increase the voltage. If your wall socket has 240, 220 or even 120V, it will deliver the same to your keyboard's power supply.
    – IMil
    Commented Jan 3, 2020 at 3:55
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    @HyunYooPark - 250v ~ . The '~' means ac voltage. Dc is more like '='. There is a big difference in electricity between the two. And they're not compatible.
    – Tim
    Commented Jan 3, 2020 at 8:03
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A simple cable with just wires and no electronics inside, as the one your photo shows, will simply forward any voltage. It won't change it.

The label on the cable specifies the maximum voltage it was made for. You can use it for any lower voltage as well. The ~ says that the voltage is alternating, in contrast to = where the voltage is constant (aka. direct).

I'm not sure how many different Waldorf Blofeld models exist, but one looks like this:

Waldorf Blofeld AC connector

If your keyboard has this connector labelled AC In (alternating current in), then your cable will fit into the wall on one side and into the keyboard on the other side.

No serious electronics engineer would construct a 12 V= plug with that kind of connector, simply because everybody expects to put 110 V~ or 230 V~ into it.

A typical low voltage DC connector looks like this:

DC voltage connectors

So there's no way you could accidentally mix a high voltage AC cable with a low voltage DC plug.

If your keyboard has a low voltage DC connector, then you need a power supply that converts 110 or 230 V~ to 12 V= like this (should have been shipped):

Power supply

As you can see, it has the high voltage connector on one side and the low voltage connector on the other side.

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Cite from the FAQ at https://support.waldorfmusic.com/products/Blofeld%20Keyboard

Can I use my Blofeld Keyboard with the power grid in my country?
The device comes with a wide range power supply which covers everything between 50-60 Hz and 110-240V. You just need a power cord with a "figure of 8" cable, also known as C7 connector and the other plug matching the power grid standard in your country. A voltage converter is not needed.

Cite from https://www.power-plugs-sockets.com/south-korea/

In South Korea the power plugs and sockets are of type C and F. The standard voltage is 220 V and the standard frequency is 60 Hz.

So your cable should fit.

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  • Not sure whether 60Hz or 50Hz is good for the keyboard. Would that be relevant?
    – Tim
    Commented Jan 3, 2020 at 12:04
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    @Tim The FAQ says that the power supply works with everything between 50-60 Hz, so there should be no problem.
    – Mike11
    Commented Jan 3, 2020 at 15:08
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This answer was provided before we had final details & pictures
To plug what to what??

If your cable fits the power supply for the keyboard, then that's fine.

If you're considering plugging it straight into the Waldorf directly, it will go BOOOM big time.

[I'm assuming it's the first - the second really shouldn't be physically possible. If it was, someone would have set their house on fire by now]

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  • The shape of the jack looks fitting, but I was worried about the specs. sweetwater.com/store/detail/…
    – Hyun Yoo Park
    Commented Jan 3, 2020 at 3:03
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    @HyunYooPark - The terminal/jack on the keyboard is labeled "AC-IN". You cable will both fit and work based upon the specs you've quoted. :)
    – aroth
    Commented Jan 3, 2020 at 5:56
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No. The 250v is AC, and the keyboard is DC, and only 12volts. Completely incompatible.Playstation plug is a 'figure of eight' or 'Grundig' plug, used exclusively for mains powered items. It also gets used to power the black boxes (psu) which do transform 250vac into the 12vdc that your keyboard requires. But do not connect up direct. I can't think how you could anyway, as the keyboard will have a round socket for power, so it wouldn't (thankfully) fit.

EDIT _ I get it now! The figure of eight plug will fit your keyboard, it's just that the end which goes in the wall socket isn't right for your country! Any wire with the right plug ito the wall, and a figure of eight at the other end will do!

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  • I think you mistaken the keyboard version with the desktop version.The blofeld keyboard version power socket have the shape of 8. sweetwater.com/store/detail/…
    – Hyun Yoo Park
    Commented Jan 3, 2020 at 3:00
  • It would be good to clarify whether the OP intends to plug the Playstation cable directly into the keyboard (via a DC-IN terminal), or use it to replace the stock wall cable for connecting from the wall outlet to the keyboard's powersupply brick/input. This answer is assuming the former case, although the latter scenario is more plausible and would work just fine given the stated "Supply Voltage: 100-240v". As long as the wall outlet provides a volatage within that range it's fine to plug it into the AC-IN terminal (just not the DC-IN one). As in 'wall -> power supply -> keyboard'.
    – aroth
    Commented Jan 3, 2020 at 5:49
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    FWIW the images here suggest that the keyboard only has an AC-IN terminal, meaning the powersupply should be internal. Thus it's fine (subject to the caveat that mains voltage must fall within the stated 100-240v range; which appears to hold for Korea, as Korea uses 220V).
    – aroth
    Commented Jan 3, 2020 at 5:54
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    "Assuming the wall ac is within the spec figures" means simply that assuming the voltage coming out of the socket in the wall is around 240/250vac. There's nothing else it could mean! The spec figures on the keyboard you stated.
    – Tim
    Commented Jan 3, 2020 at 9:26
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    You look at several items that are working from a wall socket. There will be a plate on them stating voltage - just like it does on the bottom of that plug. They'll probably say 220v, 230v, 240v. If so, they're the same as your keyboard. Think about it - plugs are different so it's (almost) impossible to put the wrong things together. Why haven't you asked the shop the keyboard came from?
    – Tim
    Commented Jan 3, 2020 at 10:00
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The Waldorf Blofeld requires a "tip positive" DC barrel connector supplying 12 Volt at least at 500 mA. The mains should only connect connect to a step down transformer and rectifier to convert it from 250 Volts AC to 12 Volts DC. Only use the mains PlayStation cable to the mains transformer.

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  • OP says the socket on the keyboard is figure of eight. That's mains only, not DC. I thought it was a DC socket, but comment says no.
    – Tim
    Commented Jan 3, 2020 at 10:02
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User-available electric connections are generally engineered not to fit if they are not supposed to be connected.

Exceptions do exist, but your device has 100-240v range exactly not to be an exception.

So if it fits, plug (and play).

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