Is it Hype or can a Digital signal be "warmed" w/ tubes?

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steveaustin

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I've been seeing it for a couple of years now...the ART Tube Channel & Tube Pre Amp as well as the hords of new stuff that claim to warm a digital signal. Does it really work? Is there a certain way it should used (post,pre,mixdown,mastering)? Or should I just give the money to the salesman & leave w/ out the product in hand??
 
The ART tube MP is the noiseiest underpowered preamp I've ever heard.
 
you want a way to 'warm' up the tracks? this is a slightly harder way to do it, but buy a 1/4" or 1/2" 2track with three heads. Then send your signal into record, and have the playback head sent into your compuer or whatever you use.

you can use a tube preamp as well.

you can also just use a highend solid state pre amp. its not so much that solid state is not warm, its just that at the lower end of the spectrum its not as nice sounding as a SSL channel.

Also, your mic plays a big part in it, bad mics will produce bad sounds. ever heard a bad warm track? :)

warm is a pretty crap word for describing a signal.
 
Yes it works. And it probably does most of the "warming" by removing some of the high-end.
Some additional warming may be done by adding random amplifying or changes in phase or frequency response, but thats just a wild guess.

http://lennart.regebro.nu/music/preamps
 
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Kristian,
1/4'' or 1/2'' 2 trak w/ 3 heads...I'm asuming you're refering to tape/analog. Maybe mix down to 1/4'' tape then route back into the pc to burn onto a cd. What is a 2 trak w/ 3 heads?
 
Yea i was talking about reel to reels. when i talk about 3 heads im refering to the erase, record, and playback head. one a 2 head machine you only have erase and play/record on the same head. The reason i was saying 1/4" or even better 1/2" is because those are the widest track widths possible. On a 1/2" you have insane amounts of head room, tape saturation, and overall kickarse sound.

And i dont mean mixing down to 1/2" 2 track. I actually mean just using the tape for the saturation and natural compression, what most people mean when they talk about the "analogue sound".
 
You guys are starting to sound like long lost lovers...
 
we ARE long lost lovers!! :)

Ed..ok, your kidding right? the MP "sounds so good"??? your kidding???
 
ametth, we have all heard what Ed's done with the art. so i dont think we need to question whether or not it can sound good. How long did you test it for? If im not mistaken, sonusman said to leave it on for 3 days to make it sound best. Sure thats a long time...

Ahh... is it the best pre amp? i doubt it. Is it good? i dont doubt it. Just because the cook uses fine ingredients doesnt mean the chef with the same cant do better.
 
kristian said:
ametth, we have all heard what Ed's done with the art.
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Yes we have, haven't we.


so i dont think we need to question whether or not it can sound good. How long did you test it for? If im not mistaken, sonusman said to leave it on for 3 days to make it sound best. Sure thats a long time...
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I tested it as long as I needed to find out I did not like it at all. and who the hell has a spare three days to let something sound the best? I dont have that kind of time.


Ahh... is it the best pre amp? i doubt it. Is it good? i dont doubt it. Just because the cook uses fine ingredients doesnt mean the chef with the same cant do better.
Click to expand...

I agree here, but the ART is not a fine ingredient, nor a useable one.
 
3 days? I dont find it that hard, i think any tube preamp by nature needs time to warm up. And is it really going to bust if you leave it on for long? i hope not, then its pretty shoddy equipment. For however long you had it, im sure it was more then 3 days to adequately test it you didnt leave it on the whole time? i would have, seeing as many people not on this BBS say to leave it on for days on end when tracking.

Cant discount that you dont like it. But i doubt that it sounds bad if used right.
 
I don't know ametth, I keep my gear on for days on end, so the warm up is no big deal.

I still think you are discounting a great piece of gear. I have heard so many great sounding tracks recorded with an ART pre that I tend to think that you are becoming a gear snob....;) ExpertForums may be more to your liking.....:D

Ed
 
uhhh......is this the Reverend Steve Austin from TN. or just another wwf fan?
 
No! I'm the freekn' 6 Million Dollar Man....well, that was 1979 so probadly 13.5 million by now considering the advance in technology & cost of living.

"Gentlemen, we can rebuild it, we have the technology.
We can make it better than it was before. Better.
Stronger. Faster."
 
"The ART tube MP is the noiseiest underpowered preamp I've ever heard."

This is misleading, because ametth never buys anything but expensive gear, so he would of course hear quieter preamps. :) Second, although Ametth breezed over it like it didn't count for much, Ed's mixes using the ART Tube Pre are ace ace ace ace ace ace ace ace ace ace.

And for what it's worth, my ART Tube Pre and my Joemeek VC6Q show little difference in quietness. The gain on the Meek is great, though. I turn on my ART Tube pre about 2 minutes before recording.

Did you ever hear the one about the cook who never knew when he'd be frying something up, so he always had the heat on under his frying pan?
 
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