Does it make sense to use tube gear on overheads?!

J

jmproductions

New member
I am fairly new to this forum and have found it very informative. I have had a lot of confusion over the appropriate use of tube gear. Since it's increasing popularity over the last few years, manufacturers would have us believe that tubes make everything sound better. From what I have gathered (in practice and research) about the tube sound is that it is a coloration of distortion that can bring about a silky smooth, pleasing or sometimes called dark overtones to a signal. Some have even said that it can appear to reduce high end frequency response.

So I guess the question is are a lot of folks using mics, preamps, and compressors with tubes in the gain stages for recording things like cymbals where upper frequency precision and definition is more important to project realism?

I am sure that there are plenty of you out there who would swear by a particular tube preamp in any tracking situation, but I have a feeling that there will be folks on both sides of this issue. I am interested anyone who feels like voicing an opinion. Talk amongst yourselves...
 
well - not my ART MP at least :D

As the only tube gear I own (except for my marshall stuff) is the ART MP I can only say I would NOT recommend that one on OH.

aXel
 
just remember that back in the day EVERYTHING was tubed... and then again tube gear is expensive...
 
If im not mistaken, I dont think most tube preamps, Art Mp included, in that price range have tubes in the gain stage. Maybe someone here can confirm or deny that... I have The Art TPS- I like it.
 
jmproductions said:
I am fairly new to this forum and have found it very informative. I have had a lot of confusion over the appropriate use of tube gear. Since it's increasing popularity over the last few years, manufacturers would have us believe that tubes make everything sound better. From what I have gathered (in practice and research) about the tube sound is that it is a coloration of distortion that can bring about a silky smooth, pleasing or sometimes called dark overtones to a signal. Some have even said that it can appear to reduce high end frequency response.

So I guess the question is are a lot of folks using mics, preamps, and compressors with tubes in the gain stages for recording things like cymbals where upper frequency precision and definition is more important to project realism?
Click to expand...

No two pieces of gear sound exacly alike, no matter whether they are tube or solid state. In higher quality gear, both tube or solid state preamps are going to do a fabulous job reproducing virtually any kind of signal. You may well find two solid state preamps that sound far more different from eachother than one of them does to a certain tube pre. Where they may start to noticeably diverge in timbre is when you start to drive them into distortion. All that stuff about silky smooth or dark is usually misleading.

The only way to tell whether any particular combination of source material into mic into preamp is going to give you the sound you want is to TRY IT! That being said, you will probably get a much greater variation in sound just from mic positioning and room acoustics than you will from choosing a tube vs. solid state preamp.

In "cheap" gear, my personal preference is to AVOID tubes, as they are usually not adding anything beneficial.

But the main thing is: in good quality gear, worrying about tube vs. solid state is over-rated. Find stuff that sounds good to you (by listening and comparing), and don't agonize over whether anything inside is glowing...
 
I am assuming that pretty much all tube gear has a tube in a gain stage somewhere. A tube is an amplifier, so how else could it be used? It seems more recently here now you are seeing some toys that you can dial in a certain amont of tube "effect". Possibly a fader mixing the amounts signal from a solid state amp and the tube. Is anyone here an electrical engineer?
 
Re: Re: Does it make sense to use tube gear on overheads?!

littledog said:
No two pieces of gear sound exacly alike, no matter whether they are tube or solid state. In higher quality gear, both tube or solid state preamps are going to do a fabulous job reproducing virtually any kind of signal. You may well find two solid state preamps that sound far more different from eachother than one of them does to a certain tube pre. Where they may start to noticeably diverge in timbre is when you start to drive them into distortion. All that stuff about silky smooth or dark is usually misleading.

The only way to tell whether any particular combination of source material into mic into preamp is going to give you the sound you want is to TRY IT! That being said, you will probably get a much greater variation in sound just from mic positioning and room acoustics than you will from choosing a tube vs. solid state preamp.

In "cheap" gear, my personal preference is to AVOID tubes, as they are usually not adding anything beneficial.

But the main thing is: in good quality gear, worrying about tube vs. solid state is over-rated. Find stuff that sounds good to you (by listening and comparing), and don't agonize over whether anything inside is glowing...
Click to expand...

That makes sense and I have done some comparisons with my limited equipment. It would also explain why there are some marked sonic differences between low-end tube equipment and low-end solid state. Although many people would seem to disagree with you about the usefulness of certain pieces of inexpensive tube gear.

I am really interested to know if there is anyone out there that feels strongly that a tube sound is or is not appropriate in a given tracking situation and why.
 
Re: Re: Re: Does it make sense to use tube gear on overheads?!

jmproductions said:
.... I am really interested to know if there is anyone out there that feels strongly that a tube sound is or is not appropriate in a given tracking situation and why.
Click to expand...

Partly the problem might be that there is no particular tube sound, but a whole range of gear with unique traits. Tube gear designed to be clear and clean, s/s that insn't ect.
Wayne
 
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