How much tube "sound" am I getting?

R

raddo

New member
I did a couple searches here but couldn't find anything. If this has already been covered please point me in the right direction.

I'm finally at the stage where I can drop a good chunk of change on a nice tube preamp/channel strip. I'm just wondering with the current setup I have, how much of that tube "sound" am I getting. I have an ART Voice Channel by itself and then another signal path I have is an ART MPA Gold to a Pro VLA II to MOTU 896 mk3. Throw in my Mojave Audio MA-200 or Avantone CV-12 mics as well.

Let's say something like a Universal Audio LA-610 mk II (or insert favorite high end tube preamp) has a tube "sound" of 10, how would my meager setup rank on the Tube Sound Scale? I'm guessing at most a 2 or 3. I imagine when I do get a nice tube preamp the difference will be like night and day. My budget is up to $2k.

What do you guys who have experience with the real tube gear think? Thanks.
 
raddo said:
What do you guys who have experience with the real tube gear think? Thanks.
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I think you're paying too much attention to marketing hype.

Personally? I avoid tubes as if they were hot, expensive to maintain and hard to find. Oh wait ---

Seriously though - With most of the "tube" gear out there, the tube has about as much to do with "tube sound" as I have to do with "organization skills."

You want "warm" and "presence" and (yada, yada)? Look at quality preamps - Most every classic preamp made since the 1960's is solid state - There's a good reason for that - Most audio designers hate tubes also.

Don't get me wrong - There is some good tube gear out there - Manley, Tube Tech, a couple Avalon pieces and the like. But grab an API, Neve, Langevin, Great River, Amek (etc., etc., etc., etc., etc.) preamp and tell me it isn't "warm" sounding... The transformers have SO much more to do with "that sound" than tubes ever have or ever will.
 
Good info.

Thanks for the info.

I don't have my heart set on a nice tube pre, but I just want to buy quality. I dropped $1500 on two mics recently (previously mentioned) so the least I could do is buy a quality preamp.

From reading a few places I see that with the "plate voltage" switched to high the tube may be getting 150V. Normal good tube gear runs in the 300V range from what I can tell. I may try a tube swap as some have reported it does help a bit. I'm not expecting a miracle though.
 
Yep.

You're right. Whatever I get I'm going to do a side-by-side and am expecting a noticeable difference.

Too bad Guitar Center sucks for selection. Sweetwater has a nice selection.

So if you guys on here, with lots more experience in this than I have, had $2k to spend for a Tube pre or a SS pre what would you recommend? It's just me recording things at home. My main instrument is A/E guitar but I do play bass and keyboards as well.

And spending money for a plug-in is out. I like having equipment so I can twist knobs. It's just not the same with only ones and zeros.
 
There's so much in that range... You could probably get a Langevin DVC for $2k, Amek 9098, Great River, API... You could get a True P-Solo *and* a Grace m101 and still have enough left over for a Shure SM7b and a fairly expensive dinner.
 
Finally.

Well I finally pulled the trigger. One of the Guitar Centers in town actually had a decent selection of preamps. I bought the UA 710 TwinFinity. $800 but UA has a special rebate good until Mar. 31st. $100 back.

So far I've only played my A/E through it but I'm really liking the sound. On the SS side of things it's clean and detailed and just lots better than what I'm used to. Cranking up the gain on the tube side of things and it's got some color to it. I'm glad I finally did this.

I may have to take a trip back there because they have a clearance display Langevin DVC for $1250! $550 off a new unit! Mighty tempting. If I don't get the DigiDesign Eleven rack I'll probably pick it up.

Thanks for all the tips and info.
 
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