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
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
Who?What? did I miss Something?
You did.
I think one of 'em has a tube and the other one knows it.
Does a tube mic pre amp make your vocals sound a lot better than say a usb interface with a pre amp?