For pro audio applications, even a nice tube tester in excellent working order will be somewhat inaccurate and less than useful at times. Physics explains why rock musicians prefer valve amps. A place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss existing and new audio products, music servers, music streamers and computer audio, digital to audio converters, turntables, phono. Id like to experience the great tube sound that audiophiles talk about. Welcome to my vacuum tube audio page, which i dedicate to the reader who seeks an indepth understanding of amplifier design who wants to learn the factors that contribute to audio quality who doesnt buy the myths of the highend marketplace, where old. Maybe tubes arent as powerful or as accurate as solid state designs but there is just something thrilling about tubes. A vacuum tube, an electron tube, or valve british usage or, colloquially, a tube north america, is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric potential difference has been applied. It has all the information youd expect in a tube manual. The reason is circuit differences between a typical tube design and a typical mosfet design. Using logic pro x music production software, he examined the resulting sound waves in both frequency and time domains. Preamp and power tubes follow each other directly, and the overall sound of your amp is something of a combination between the two. Return to the vintage tube collection program library.
However, some tube companies make their tube amps sound more solidstate like for power and some solidstate products can sound very tube like. Get a bunch of tubes, do some sound tests and capture selected electrical data. Vacuum pro is a polyphonic analog synthesizer with vacuum tube circuit modeling that perfectly captures the crunchy, warm sound of the analog era. You can purchase any of our products here from these. Vacuum tube comparisons cdsoundmaster audio software. Get a low price and free shipping on thousands of items.
I read a lot about how open and natural they sound. This phenomenon only happens in a tube with betterthanaverage vacuum pure. Get the guaranteed best price on power tubes like the jj electronics t el84 jj mp el84 power vacuum tube at musicians friend. Some references for spice modeling of vacuum tubes 1. Could an oldschool tube amp make the music you love sound.
Since 1988, our preamp systems for acoustic instruments have beenthe choice of musicians worldwide who are serious about their sound both on stage and in the studio. The tube is manufactured to very high quality standards. Vacuum tubes are the most sexy, elusive and magical element of all of high end audio. Vacuum tube audio forum whats best audio and video. Vtdatas database also includes vacuum tubes of historical interest, such as the early two digit types 45, 80, etc.
The following guidelines should be taken into account. We buy the best vacuum tubes available from around the world in large bulk quantities and pass the savings on to our customers. Mullard produced the highest quality tubes in the world. Tubes were not used as switches in calculating machines until 1939. Koren, improved vacuum tube models for spice simulations, glass audio, 596, p. Welcome to my vacuum tube audio page, which i dedicate to the reader who seeks an indepth understanding of amplifier design who wants to learn the factors that contribute to audio quality who doesnt buy the myths of the highend marketplace, where old designs enhanced with premium components and dressed up in impressive packages command astronomical prices. It also suggests compatible speakers and explains the fabled tube sound. For readers who wish to do so, the book gives clear intsructions for building high quality tube circuits that can be combined to yield a fully functional vacuum tube stereo system that you can brag about having built yourself. When a tube amplifier modifies the sound, it usually makes the music sound better. The 6l6 is a very common power tube that can be found in many iconic amps, both in the british and american camps, although most players would consider it more on the american style of things in terms of sound.
Early vacuum tubes were used to amplify signals for radio and other audio devices. Rca and sylvania first introduced the 12ax7 to the world in the late 1940s. Each vacuum pro part starts with two widerange, vacuum tube oscillators that can be synched, detuned, and set to various octave levels. Vacuum tubes, like car tires, have to be replaced every few years.
Within that group of audio enthusiasts and musicians that really care about their sound, there are those that think vacuum tubes simply sound better and those that think solidstate is just as good or better. We stock a selection rare nos audio tubes our rare brands range from western electric, jan phillips, raytheon, rca, to other various brand vacuum tubes. Airs vacuum pro originally started life as a monophonic subtractive synthesiser available only in pro tools. Founded in 1949, mcintosh is known for offering distinguished home audio systems that deliver the ultimate experience in music and film. Experiment if you can and see what sounds best to you and your style.
Ltspiceswitchercad iii a nice easy to use simulator which is gaining rapid acceptance. Tubes, vacuum tubes, audiophile tubes, single ended tubes. However, there are problems with nutube 6p1 which makes it useless in audio systems with high fidelity. Jj electronics t el84 jj mp el84 power vacuum tube matched.
Keep those filaments lit, design your own vacuum tube. Vacuum pro is a powerful combination of two separate synthesizer parts that can be stacked, split, and layered to produce big, wide, and fat analog sounds. Maybe tubes arent as powerful or as accurate as solid state designs but there is just something thrilling about tubes that cant be beat. Vacuum tube computers, now termed first generation computers, are programmable digital computers using vacuum tube logic circuitry. But i am of the opinion that they do in certain situations, and ill state why i think so and also give a few examples where tube based equipment might not necessarily be the best fit. Listed under the technical reference vacuum tube category that is about vacuum tube resources. Solidstate technology all but obliterated the vacuum tube market in the early 1960s. Some of the finest, most transparent and most highly. These people mean the brand name of the vacuum tube. There are the recording and mastering engineers, many of whom love the sound of vacuum tube microphone preamplifiers, tube equalizers, tube compressors, and so on.
Crummier tube amplifiers will have more of the distortions that make tube amplifiers sound like tube amplifiers. The ability to do signalprocessing functions inside software programsonce the. I consider the amps a bargain, and if youre technically astute. For additional information about designing tube amplifiers, refer to the theory section. These areas employ vacuum tubes of the type once known as receiving tubes. One that comes to mind is that if you see a blue glow it means the power tube is bad. This tube is both large in size and stout in its power output, with many higher powered tube amps employing them. Offering products for twochannel stereo sound systems and multichannel home theaters with surround sound, mcintosh continues to define the ultimate home audio entertainment experience for discriminating listeners around the world. The best nos 12au7 tube is, in my opinion, mullard. Pendulum audio class a vacuum tube signal processors.
For luke manley, owner of vacuum tube logic, better known as vtl, the sound of music played through tube amplifiers is as close as electronic audio is ever going to get to live, unamplified musicbe it the sound of the human voice or an instrument like an acoustic guitar or grand pianowhich is the reference point for all of vtls. Do you know a software hardware dsp that can simulate a true tube sound. Tube sound or valve sound is the characteristic sound associated with a vacuum tube amplifier valve amplifier in british english, a vacuum tube based audio amplifier. The glowing tube, the single ended tube its enough to make an audiophile cry with tears of joy. Tubes 4 hifi is also known as vacuum tube audio our best known product is the vta st70 pcb modification for the dynaco st70 amplifier, that first appeared in a glass audio magazine article in 1989. The first electronic amplification of sound was done with vacuum tubes. The tube versus transistor debates that you hear most often occur in the pages of consumer and music magazines, with descriptive, but imprecise language like warm, liquid, smooth, and dynamic. Vtubeaudio is an audiophile stereophile destination bringing musicians, djs, audiophiles, home theater buffs and two channel audio lovers together by providing a wide range of services and group discussions, with our members assisting each other, in regards to all things audio related. What is it about the sound of tube amps that makes. They dont simply mean the type of vacuum tube for example, 12at7 versus 12au7 they already know the type that they will be using.
Granted that the samples you find here will only be as good as your reproduction equipment, but i hope that these will at least whet your appetite to hear the real thing. In the past couple of years, ive found myself purchasing and using point to point, handassembled, vacuum tube gear. Audio nirvana lowther fostex diy fullrange speaker kits, high efficiency speakers, vacuum tube amps. Audio space t88a vacuum tube cd player psvane 845 vacuum tubes. By comparison, the fifth harmonic is a musical third, but it wont ask you if youre playing on a major or minor scale. Keywords audio, low frequency, thd, noise, vacuum tube, circuit design, pcb design. Nos vacuum tubes for sale and electron tubes for audio, guitar amplifiers, radio vacuum tube and audio tube at low prices. See following table for a comparison of the attributes of tubes and transistors in. Tube, also known as valve amplifiers, are audio processing units that are widely praised for their characteristic sound and vacuum tube components. Along with its breakout from avids daw, it has now been updated to include new features such as sixvoice polyphony, 64bit support and airs dual layer synthesis architecture.
Hamm journal of the audio engineering society presented september 14, 1972, at the 43rd convention of the audio engineering society, new york abstract engineers and musicians have long debated the question of tube sound versus transistor sound. Compared to modern compressors vtc1 has different inner structure and principle of work. Getting back my vinyl sound with a project tube box s phono preamplifier. If you are finding the difference between the vacuum tube and transistor then you are at right place. Fullrange speakers audio nirvana lowther high efficiency. Today, it is by far the most common preamp tube used for electric guitar amplification and there is an almost overwhelming supply of current production options to choose from. Modern vfd vacuum tube demonstrated itself as a tube which can provide tube sound with low supply voltages. You should make a sound demo for new people comparing onboard motherboard audio to a amp to show how much of a difference it makes.
If you have questions about the vacuum tube universe, this is the place, just email us. Nos audio tubes these tubes are also listed with our regular new old stock tubes, but making the separate category gives you the chance to browse these specifically. A key difference is that a tube product will require a small amount of upkeep and maintenance. Also host the excellent magdemo transformer design software, and a host of useful newsletters on spice modelling. Valve tube comparison tests black magic amplifiers.
The jj ecc81 12at7 preamp vacuum tube presents a warm, harmonically rich tonality with a medium amount of signal gain. Vacuum pro germanengineered virtual instruments, software. How does the foobar tube sound component compare with a good quality tube amplifier. At first, the concept of tube sound did not exist, because practically all electronic amplification of audio signals was done with vacuum tubes and other comparable methods were not known or used. Vacuumlog 900 series vacuum transducer datalogger software. Theres a page on how to use it with the vacuum tube models here. To say that the tube screamer caught on is a monumental understatement. Vactran has been used by experienced industrial vacuum engineers, using common methods that are widely accepted in the vacuum industry. Despite its minimal handholding for the user, the vta m125 mono tube power amplifier delivers superb sound and does so for a fraction of what competitivelysounding amplifiers would cost. If you design, sell, test, or analyze vacuum systems, you need vactran. Pendulum audio specializes in highquality, handbuilt vacuum tube recording equipment and electronics designed for amplifying stringed instruments.
The vtdata software package is a complete vacuum tube manual on your computer. Does where tubes are manufactured make a difference for the quality of tone. Vtc1 dont have threshold knob, so you set amount of compression by increasing or. Since 1985, some studio engineers have been attracted by what they perceive as the soft and euphonic sound of vacuum tube electronicsprobably because of their experiences with vintage tubed. If you have other spice models of vacuum tubes even the same tubes please let me know.
Tube amplifiers sound better because of the euphonic distortions. Jan 14, 2016 if this is true, why is vacuum tube technology still around after all these years. The quest to bring the qualities of hifi sound to pc audio leads startup aopen to explore a centuryold technology. So why are tubes still popular with audiophiles and. Therefore, the tube is actually a betterquality tube. At first, the concept of tube sound did not exist, because practically all electronic amplification of audio signals was done with vacuum tubes. Uniquely, tube amplifiers, which use vacuum tubes to amplify electrical signals, are said to deliver this sublime auditory experience more reliably than their solidstate counterparts, which use transistors to do the same thing.
Its clever design simulates the way a tube amp responds to the guitars wide dynamic range. We will continue to build this list, but please look in the regular nos category if you do not find your tube here. I used the software tools at my disposal, adobe audition, audacity, and right. By comparison, heres how a typical solidstate amplifier, in this case. Tubes were old and hot and easy to break, and transistors were the future and the space program. This is a true single ended class a amplifier, using a 5y3 rectifier and a single 5691 preamp tube. Tube sound or valve sound is the characteristic sound associated with a vacuum tube amplifier valve amplifier in british english, a vacuum tubebased audio amplifier. With a volume and single tone control this amp really lets you hear the tonal differences between the tubes. Later entries in this list may have been built using transistors in addition to vacuum tubes. These comparison files have all been recorded through an original hardware design we. Curve captor is a free distributed under gpl vacuum tube modeling software that brings the advantages of modern computer simulation tools to design of vacuum tube electronics. What sounds better, tube or solidstate electronics.
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