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Star Mains Distribution

An arrangement of distributing mains power in project studios which minimises the risk of creating inadvertant ground-loops. In Star distribution a mains plug-board is plugged into the wall outlet, and if further sockets are required additional plugboards are plugged directly into the first board. in this way, mains current follows the most direct path back to the wall socket.

Star vs Daisy-chain graphic

This configuration is very different to the 'Daisy-Chain' approach, where additional plug-boards are connected to each other to form a chain. In this arrangement, current drawn by the device plugged into the last board has to flow through all the others, greatly increasing the risk of voltage drops along the earth path and thus leading to unwanted ground-loop noises.

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