Tube suggestions?

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chupacabra

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I have a few cheap tube pres (TubePre, BlueTube, my buddy's Bellari that sucks) and I would like to attempt to decrappify them slightly by the use of some replacement NOS tubes (12AX7). If nothing else, I'd like to educate myself as to what different tubes sound like, etc. Looking to spend $25 - $40 per tube. My questions are:

1. Any suggestions specifically for vocals? I want a warm but transparent sound. Using various condensers, but typically a BLUE Baby Bottle on VOX.
2. What advantage is there to using 12AX substitutes like a 5751?
3. Reputable dealers to recommend?

I currently have a few POS Sovteks, a cheaper GT (Chinese?) and a Sylvania Blackplate with "wings" (sorry about the terminology). Looking for any advice that any of you guys are willing to share - thanks for your help.
 
Whoa, talk about a mismatch. Your Baby Bottle is way too nice to be pumped through a $100 "toob" pre.

If you can't ditch all those pres for something better, you can improve the Bellari (I'm assuming it's an MP105). Check out www.blacklionaudio.com, the solderless mod is good, but the full mod is amazing.

As for tubes, you don't have to buy NOS, and you probably wouldn't hear the improvement after the ICs in your pres have flattened the sound. I like the JJ/Tesla 12AX7s, $8 new.
 
skipwave said:
Whoa, talk about a mismatch. Your Baby Bottle is way too nice to be pumped through a $100 "toob" pre.

If you can't ditch all those pres for something better, you can improve the Bellari (I'm assuming it's an MP105). Check out www.blacklionaudio.com, the solderless mod is good, but the full mod is amazing.

As for tubes, you don't have to buy NOS, and you probably wouldn't hear the improvement after the ICs in your pres have flattened the sound. I like the JJ/Tesla 12AX7s, $8 new.
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No arguments there - I thought about modding the bellari, but as the baby bottle was a recent purchase, my next major upgrade over the next month is planned to be a new pre. Feel free to make any suggestions if you've heard the baby bottle paired with something that sounds decent (looking to spend $600-$800(?)). Thanks for the advice - I'll also order a couple of the JJ/Teslas and see how they sound.

ocnor - thanks for the link. free education rules.
 
Are you looking for a dedicated pre or a channel strip? If you're going for a channel strip look into the Focusrite Voicemaster Pro. You can find used ones in the 500 bucks range. For dedicated pre's you can go for maybe the Grace 101 or the FMR RNP in that price range.. there's a couple other pretty decent ones I was looking at before I made a purchase.
 
I don't know about those preamps specifically, but most of the cheaper ones (that I have seen) are really solid state preamps with an under-powered tube stuck in the audio path for color. (color that you won't find in a real tube preamp, btw) Changing the tube might change the sound, but not in a predictable way. When tubes are reviewed, they are at good operating voltage and are acting the way they were designed. These preamps are running them starved of power so they act very differently. I wouldn't expect a really expensive tube to sound that much better in a Bellari. It might, but that would be more of an accident than anything.
 
scarboro78 said:
Are you looking for a dedicated pre or a channel strip? If you're going for a channel strip look into the Focusrite Voicemaster Pro. You can find used ones in the 500 bucks range. For dedicated pre's you can go for maybe the Grace 101 or the FMR RNP in that price range.. there's a couple other pretty decent ones I was looking at before I made a purchase.
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Scarboro -
I like the strips - I've looked at the voicemaster and heard good things. A couple of TCs look good as well. I developed an interest in a tube pre as i've found digital tracking to sound a bit clinical at times, but the baby bottle does a great job of warming up my vocals, and I've been thinking more about solid state recently as it seems that I'd most likely get more for my money. How much are you asking for the voicemaster you have for sale?

Jason -
Thanks for the advice. I've somehow managed to get a decent, maybe even good sound with just a small amount of "tube" gain (yes, i know it's not quite the same) then through a dbx comp. Happy for now, but in complete agreement with the fact that I don't have any experience with a real tube pre.
 
I tracked using the Voicemaster Pro with the BLUE Dragonfly and I love the sound that came out of it. I don't know if the sonic characteristics between the dragonfly and the baby bottle are similar.. but if so, it makes a nice marriage. I can show you a song I recorded using the voicemaster pro/dragonfly combo. Drop me a note on yahoo.. scarboro78@yahoo.com.
 
The clinical sound is not only from digital recording. Some of it will be from the convertors but a lot of it will come from the preamp. Cheap, clean preamps tend to sound clinical. The Neve, API, Great River, etc... preamps that are so 'warm' sounding are solid state. The 'tubes are warmer' thing is more of a sales pitch than an absolute truth. It was more true a long time ago, before there were cheap 'toob' preamps. A well made (expensive) preamp will always be warmer than its cheap counterparts.
 
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