Paul,
No sorry but the CIOKS will not do the job here because it only offers "one-sided" power, only +18 and "0". You would need two of them to work at +18/-18. Sorry if this is confusing but the Series preamp boards need plus and minus power. Here come some wonderful technical drawings!
The onboard batteries work like the first picture below.
Common external battery packs using four 9V batteries are likely wired like picture 2.
Or, you could use four external 9V batteries to produce +/-18V as shown in picture 3.
I have no idea if running +/-9 off an external pack is better or worse than running +/-18. Maybe somebody in here knows. But as you see you could also have six batteries (wired +/-9) or even eight batteries (wired +/-18). But soon your strap will weigh more than the bass and you'll need a back brace. 
Jimmy J
Many thanks for this information.
I confess that I am still confused about the CIOKS channels. I understand the polarity. But, those channels are supposed to be isolated; meaning they should effectively function as separate batteries. So, I would have thought that setting one negative arm to Pin 5, the corresponding positive arm and the negative arm of a different channel to Pin 1, and the positive arm of the second channel to Pin 4 should have accomplished the circuit.
Are you suggesting that the negative arms are on a common bus within the CIOKS 4? Wouldn’t that make them non-isolated? Isolated to me means that they are simply DC supplies with no common reference. As such, i would have expected them to perform as essentially separate batteries.
If that is not the case, I would very much appreciate further information about the CIOKS limitation.
Thanks again.
Paul
To follow up on my Q, I sent the following message to CIOKS Tech support:
“ Hello.
I am successfully using a CIOKS 4 Expander with a power bank to run a pedal board.
This success leads me to believe that it might be possible to use the CIOKS 4 with a power bank to power the internal preamp in my Alembic Series I Bass.
But the Alembic preamp requires both -18VDC and +18VDC with a center 0. Alembic does this with two onboard 9VDC batteries (sacrificing some headroom with 9VDC), wiring the - of one battery to the power bus, wiring the + of that same battery and the - of the 2nd battery to the 0 post, and wiring the positive of the 2nd battery to the power bus.
Are the CIOKS 4 channels sufficiently isolated to perform the same way? Or, would I need a separate CIOKS 4 to get the circuit power configuration?
Many thanks”
In response I received the following reply:
“ Like all our power supplies, each outlet/section are fully isolated. Unlike many other manufacturers, each outlet has their transformer and multifilter configuration. It is why we are able to have 4 voltage option for each outlet. Something you don’t see from any other manufacturer.
Thank you.
Cioks Support”
I infer this response to indicate that using the two channels on the 4 Expander SHOULD function similarly to two separate batteries.
I’m still waiting for parts; but, would surely appreciate any additional insight.
Second topic: my stereo 1/4” converter cable, which I built with Ron and Susan’s input around 1977, uses 2.2 kohm resistors to step down the output signal operating at 18 V P-P (8.2 mA max). But, I see that the DS5 uses 20 kohm resistors for the same purpose, operating at roughly 40 V P-P (2 mA max). Any guesses for a 36 V P-P bias? Perhaps 5 kohm? 10 kohm?
