Behringer T1953 mic preamp, tube question!

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c_corie

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So i got one (Behringer T1953 ultragain mic pre) on clearance fr like $125 with tax, so I figured why not, I always thought it looked cool.
But.....the tubes don't seem to glow, they have a backlight which comes on, but i'm used to tube amps, maybe powertubes glow more? Any ideas here?


On a side note, for the price I paid, it's a very decent preamp, I'm used to Audio Buddies, and the Digi 001 built in pres so maybe thats not much to compare it too, but so far I am diggin it.
 
thats because the tube in that preamp doesn't really do anything much anyway. it is a starved plate design which means it doesn't put enough volts on the tube to make it work well much less glow like it would with a correct plate voltage.

the tube in that does little more than add some distortion to the signal.
 
Whereas I would not put much faith in Behringers tube design implementation, generally speaking, power tubes do glow much brighter. Also, many of the current tubes don't visibly glow as much as other older tubes, but some of that has to do with both design and logistics of the plates and glass. Specific glowing really has nothing to do with quality of a tube unless it is a glow due to a malfunction.
 
This pic gives you an idea of how much voltage is passing through any tube in your average piece of Behringer tube gear:

tube-glow.jpg
 
Kevin Deschwazi said:
tube-glow.jpg
Click to expand...
Everyone knows that it's not the tube that imparts "warmth" on the signal, it really just the glow through the window on the front of the device.

And it appears as though the LEDS work in this case... It looked "cool" enough to buy
 
Kevin Deschwazi said:
This pic gives you an idea of how much voltage is passing through any tube in your average piece of Behringer tube gear:

tube-glow.jpg
Click to expand...

That's awesome.

The tube in Behringer's T-series whatever does exactly nothing. Still, as long as it's working for you, who cares, right?

Frank
 
Well,
It is 100% true that the tubes in the Behringer (and much of their "tube" pre-amp-type equipment) don't do anything at all, except make the preamp more marketable. This is not to say that the preamp isn't doing anything good for your signal, or recording. I wouldn't necessarily agree that it puts any "additional" distortion into the signal chain because of the tube. The tubes aren't running at adequate plate voltage, and therefore can't intorduce anymore "distortion" than any other capacitor, resistor, or electrical component in the circuit path. If the solid state portion (99.9% in this case)of the preamp is working for you, then keep using it.
But to be fair, the same can thing be said of any equipment boasting "tube preamp" in its pricerange...(Presonus, M-Audio, ART, etc). Some of these are great little pre-amps, but the tubes certainly aren't doing anything.
 
But to be fair, the same can thing be said of any equipment boasting "tube preamp" in its pricerange...(Presonus, M-Audio, ART, etc). Some of these are great little pre-amps, but the tubes certainly aren't doing anything.[/QUOTE]

That's true, but there are a couple (ART's MPA Gold for one) that are true 300V tube preamps close to this price range.

Frank
 
Of the 2 dozen or so pres I've tried over the past 8 years, the T1953 is the only one I really hated-- and that 2 dozen includes several other Behringer pres that I didn't hate. I would much rather get a small Xenyx board (I've owned a couple) and use those pres than use a T1953 again.
 
The tube "does" something, just because it's it's not glowing from a full plate voltage doesn't mean it's not operational...

That said... I'm not that keen on what it does do...
 
MOFO Pro said:
The tube "does" something, just because it's it's not glowing from a full plate voltage doesn't mean it's not operational...

That said... I'm not that keen on what it does do...
Click to expand...

Yeah.......It's probably hard to glow and suck at the same time. :D:D



Seriously though...........if our original poster likes the sound then what is the issue? He wouldn't be the first person to get great music out of crappy equipment. More power to him. (And his tubes:D:D)
 
yea i mean the reason i bought it , is one it was on clearance and my m-audio audio buddies are not working correctly, and because yes the behringer also looks cooler. and i was on a tight budget. but i own many tube guitar amps, mesa trem-o-verb, 1964? blonde bassman, peavey penta.....and i just noticed the tubes in the behringer don't seem to glow much. anyway for the price I paid i'd say it's better then an audio buddy by quite a bit.
 
here is a clip using it. here are the details: everything into digi001/protools

MXL603s overheads into -> Digi 001 pres->protoosl 5 point old, haha.
sm57-snare- into T1953
AKG 550 kick mic, into T1953

acoustic: MXLv57m into T1953

electric: Orange Crush 30R(solid state) MXLv57m into T1953

bass:either T1953 or Digi 001 pres direct in/ dont remember

ALSO i ran the WHOLE MIX into it after and and added some "warmth"

http://c_corie.tripod.com/id1.html
 
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