Tube mic pre amps?

presto5

New member
Does a tube mic pre amp make your vocals sound a lot better than say a usb interface with a pre amp? I`m using a Presonus Audiobox...
 
Yo Presto! Bottom line- it's *all hype*. Marketers want you to believe that tubes=warmth, which is the magical cure for that terrible, sterile, digital sound. Do not buy into this load of B.S. Here are your reality checks:

1. Once upon a time, all amps had power tubes. Because they were "warm"? No. because it's what they had. Then they invented transistors.

2. Preamps have certain qualities. They can be "transparent", raising the level of the signal from mic level to line level without changing it much, or they can be "colored", meaning that they increase/boost or attenuate/decrease certain frequency bands. Nothing is purely transparent or purely colored. It's a continuum. There are transparent and colored preamps with and without tubes.

3. What is "warmth"? It is hopefully subtle distortion, like airbrushing a centerfold to hide her flaws. Sometimes we don't want to hear or see the whole truth. We call it "warm" when we like it, and "muddy" when we don't. This "warmth" can be found in both solid state and tube preamps. Some of the warmest sounds come from solid state amps, and some of the cleanest sounds come from top flight tube amps.

3. Sticking a little tube in the front end of an amp does not make it a tube preamp, and real tube preamps start at about $500, and that's a real cheap one. Good ones cost thousands.

4. It's not about the damned tube. Expensive preamps are better than cheap ones, as a rule, and some of the finest preamps in the world are solid state.

5. Sadly, even a great preamp will not make your voice sound a lot better. It is one of an entire complex of factors which affect the overall quality of the finished product. Like in race cars, you spend 90% of the money for the last 10% of performance.-Richie
 
4. It's not about the damned tube. Expensive preamps are better than cheap ones, as a rule, and some of the finest preamps in the world are solid state.

Just ask Solid State Logic about that one. They have some of the finest in the world.
 
Yo Ritchie!

Yo Presto! Bottom line- it's *all hype*. Marketers want you to believe that tubes=warmth, which is the magical cure for that terrible, sterile, digital sound. Do not buy into this load of B.S. Here are your reality checks:

1. Once upon a time, all amps had power tubes. Because they were "warm"? No. because it's what they had. Then they invented transistors.

2. Preamps have certain qualities. They can be "transparent", raising the level of the signal from mic level to line level without changing it much, or they can be "colored", meaning that they increase/boost or attenuate/decrease certain frequency bands. Nothing is purely transparent or purely colored. It's a continuum. There are transparent and colored preamps with and without tubes.

3. What is "warmth"? It is hopefully subtle distortion, like airbrushing a centerfold to hide her flaws. Sometimes we don't want to hear or see the whole truth. We call it "warm" when we like it, and "muddy" when we don't. This "warmth" can be found in both solid state and tube preamps. Some of the warmest sounds come from solid state amps, and some of the cleanest sounds come from top flight tube amps.

3. Sticking a little tube in the front end of an amp does not make it a tube preamp, and real tube preamps start at about $500, and that's a real cheap one. Good ones cost thousands.

4. It's not about the damned tube. Expensive preamps are better than cheap ones, as a rule, and some of the finest preamps in the world are solid state.

5. Sadly, even a great preamp will not make your voice sound a lot better. It is one of an entire complex of factors which affect the overall quality of the finished product. Like in race cars, you spend 90% of the money for the last 10% of performance.-Richie

Dude thanks!!
 
Yo Presto! Bottom line- it's *all hype*. Marketers want you to believe that tubes=warmth, which is the magical cure for that terrible, sterile, digital sound. Do not buy into this load of B.S. Here are your reality checks:

1. Once upon a time, all amps had power tubes. Because they were "warm"? No. because it's what they had. Then they invented transistors.

2. Preamps have certain qualities. They can be "transparent", raising the level of the signal from mic level to line level without changing it much, or they can be "colored", meaning that they increase/boost or attenuate/decrease certain frequency bands. Nothing is purely transparent or purely colored. It's a continuum. There are transparent and colored preamps with and without tubes.

3. What is "warmth"? It is hopefully subtle distortion, like airbrushing a centerfold to hide her flaws. Sometimes we don't want to hear or see the whole truth. We call it "warm" when we like it, and "muddy" when we don't. This "warmth" can be found in both solid state and tube preamps. Some of the warmest sounds come from solid state amps, and some of the cleanest sounds come from top flight tube amps.

3. Sticking a little tube in the front end of an amp does not make it a tube preamp, and real tube preamps start at about $500, and that's a real cheap one. Good ones cost thousands.

4. It's not about the damned tube. Expensive preamps are better than cheap ones, as a rule, and some of the finest preamps in the world are solid state.

5. Sadly, even a great preamp will not make your voice sound a lot better. It is one of an entire complex of factors which affect the overall quality of the finished product. Like in race cars, you spend 90% of the money for the last 10% of performance.-Richie

Richard, that is one of the best answers to the question I have ever heard. Too many gearheads (myself included) keep looking for another piece of gear that will get that "pro" sound us home studio/basement dwellers are looking for. Truth is, we should use what we can afford and work on our talent.
 
I have this argument with tube guys all the time. They say "if it don't have tubes...it's crap"
I have had GREAT guitar tones from solid state amps. I have had terrible vocals from tube preamps as well.
Richard Monroe has said it all.
A great track can be had with a good mic and a cheap pre.
A terrible track can be had with expensive equipment set improperly.

My advice is to start with a great mic. Have a solid state and a tube pre at hand. Don't be afraid to use different setups with different songs. Try tracks with both using many variations.
 
Wasn't the point of his post, though, that having a "solid state and tube pre at hand" won't make a lick of difference if they're both cheap pieces of shit?
If you want improved sound quality, learn and use your equipment until you don't have to ask a question about whether this or that piece of gear will improve your sound because you'll know exactly what problems you hear in your sound are gear based and so know from the various reviews posted all around the interwebs whether some piece of gear will do what you're wanting.

And for me, the best ever argument against the all tube purist was someone who's opinion I respect posting something along the lines of "LOLZORS!!! I LUV MOR TOOBZ!"
Sweet sweet sarcasm.
:D
 
See, what it was, was -
Matt there agreed wholeheartedly with Richard, then immediately advised (I'm assuming advised the OP, since who else was asking anything?) having a solid state and a tube preamp on hand.

My point was that this seems like advice that's contradictory to the spirit of Richard's post, in that, for someone who's at the level where he's asking the sort of question the OP asked, it's bad advice to have both kinds of preamp on hand, because you're probably only gonna be spending the sort of money where it doesn't really matter / all the preamps sound about the same, with varying levels of crappiness.

The other point was that, while Richard did offer an excellent explanation of what's going on when Behringer offers to sell you "tube warmth" at $29.99 a channel, it wasn't nearly as concise as simply writing some ironic/sarcastic all caps nonsense about "TOOBZ" in an attempt to mock someone who espouses the sort of opinion that allows companies like behri, art, and others to so successfully market low end crap to beginners who really just want their home recordings not to sound like crap.

Not that anyone here was espousing said opinion, mind you.
 
Oh ok sorry I thought that's what you meant.
I just had a lot of supper and the take out had msg in it and now I'm feeling stupidly sleepy.Goodnight all :ozzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzzz zzzz zzz z z z z What did I miss something again?
 
Does a tube mic pre amp make your vocals sound a lot better than say a usb interface with a pre amp?

Well...ahhh...yeah, it can...but it depends on which brand/model tube preamp you are using.

Same goes for solid state preamps.

Is a tube preamp better than a solid state preamp...well...ahhh...yeah, it can be, but it depends on which brand/model tube preamp you are talking about.
Same goes for solid state preamps.

How much are you looking to spend on one (either type)?
That's going to dictate how much better they are going to be (in most cases).

And that said...don't underestimate the benefit of a high quality preamp...it will smoke all that USB, all-in-one, $99 crap.
 
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