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Author Topic: tubes  (Read 4711 times)

punkest

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tubes
« on: April 25, 2004, 01:44:04 PM »

Hi George, first off, as many, I think your gear is one of the best available. It has saved my ass and got the work done beautifully on many occasions.

However, a question have been in my mind for some time:

Have you ever experimented or designed with tubes?  
 
I know you are after precision, fast, good bandwidth, reliable, stable, low distortion, good s/n ratio gear, I also know that tubes are usually noisier, and not as transparent as solid state, get hotter and draw more current, but in the event of clipping them, they are much softer and generate even order harmonics so the signal is rounder as opposed to square as in solid state, generating odd harmonics.

What other considerations have made you stay away from tube design?

Do you plan to experiment with tubes in the future?

Is it really impossible to make a tube design as clean as most solid state?

I think an example of a clean and open tube design is the pendulum gear.

Again, it is great to have you here.

Hans Mues
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George Massenburg

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Re: tubes
« Reply #1 on: April 26, 2004, 07:15:16 AM »

Thanks for yours.

I started in audio at a time when there was no other choice but the use of tubes.  I designed several boxes using tubes, then several hybrid products and I've never been a particular fan.  I certainly didn't perceive tubes as being uniquely important in the making of a particular style of sound or music.

Now, I know that this flies in the face of opinions from the lunatic fringe of highly passionate and highly animated practicioners, but sorry, for me there are just too many negatives. Tubes are all too often unstable and unreliable.  There's not a bigger negative in my business than not being ready for that musical moment, or losing a great performance because badly-built equipment has failed.  It so darn hard (spell this "expensive") to make tube gear reliable that I don't see the point.

Strategically, I can tell you that I don't agree that you should depend on a technology or topology that allows for inadvertant clipping.  If you intend to soft clip, there are ways to do so with or without tubes in a controlled manner.

That having been said, I guess I do use quite a few tube microphones...

George
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George Massenburg

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Re: tubes
« Reply #2 on: April 26, 2004, 07:18:01 AM »

Thanks for yours.

I started in audio at a time when there was no other choice but the use of tubes.  I designed several boxes using tubes, then several hybrid products and I've never been a particular fan.  I certainly didn't perceive tubes as being uniquely important in the making of a particular style of sound or music.

Now, I know that this flies in the face of opinions from the lunatic fringe of highly passionate and highly animated practicioners, but sorry, for me there are just too many negatives. Tubes are all too often unstable and unreliable.  There's not a bigger negative in my business than not being ready for that musical moment, or losing a great performance because badly-built equipment has failed.  It so darn hard (spell this "expensive") to make tube gear reliable that I don't see the point.

Strategically, I can tell you that I don't agree that you should depend on a technology or topology that allows for inadvertant clipping.  If you intend to soft clip, there are ways to do so with or without tubes in a controlled manner.

That having been said, I guess I do use quite a few tube microphones...

George
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ted nightshade

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Re: tubes
« Reply #3 on: April 26, 2004, 10:59:23 AM »

George Massenburg wrote on Mon, 26 April 2004 04:15

 ...the lunatic fringe of highly passionate and highly animated practicioners...



you called? But seriously folks...

Quote:

in the event of clipping them, they are much softer and generate even order harmonics so the signal is rounder as opposed to square as in solid state, generating odd harmonics.


Very much to George's credit, the headroom is so sky high on his gear, you won't be clipping it. That's the kind of solid state I like!



Quote:


That having been said, I guess I do use quite a few tube microphones...

George


Nothing like it there.
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Ted Nightshade aka Cowan

There's a sex industry too.
Or maybe you prefer home cookin'?

punkest

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Re: tubes
« Reply #4 on: April 27, 2004, 08:29:26 AM »

thanks for your answer, definitely something to think about.


cheers

Hans Mues
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