tube Pre amps ?

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   Sorry, I was doodling. Have you tried using line isolating transformers with a bypass switch and A/B testing them ..I recon they do something very nice to line level sound (Neve knows whats up!)

Edited by Tinnitus Rex - 15 May 2022 at 5:13pm

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Tinnitus Rex Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Registered User Joined: 31 October 2020 Status: Online Points: 287	Post Options Post Reply Quote Tinnitus Rex Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: tube Pre amps ? Posted: 15 May 2022 at 5:04pm
	Sorry, I was doodling. Have you tried using line isolating transformers with a bypass switch and A/B testing them ..I recon they do something very nice to line level sound (Neve knows whats up!) Edited by Tinnitus Rex - 15 May 2022 at 5:13pm
	"couldn't we just like... use headphones?"

Lucasdude Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Young Croc Joined: 16 March 2013 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 824	Post Options Post Reply Quote Lucasdude Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 15 May 2022 at 2:35pm
	The colour temperature scale would say that blue is hotter than orange, but who's really to say? Perhaps we live in topsy turvy world, and it's really the younger people who are more sarcastic that the old? Edited by Lucasdude - 15 May 2022 at 2:40pm

Tinnitus Rex Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Registered User Joined: 31 October 2020 Status: Online Points: 287	Post Options Post Reply Quote Tinnitus Rex Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 15 May 2022 at 12:16pm
	I wonder if blue LEDS sound warmer than orange? or perhaps they burn off the coldness with the blue...... using quantum photonic exchange ..or somthink...they could just knit it a sweater...a quantum sweater...............none on ebay,perhaps alibaba's got some. maybe a copy of the !!NORDOST!! one, but reasonably priced. Edited by Tinnitus Rex - 15 May 2022 at 12:35pm
	"couldn't we just like... use headphones?"

Lucasdude Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Young Croc Joined: 16 March 2013 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 824	Post Options Post Reply Quote Lucasdude Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 15 May 2022 at 11:39am
	And in keeping with many products discussed on this forum, hot on the heels of a classic Western design here is the Chinese copy... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274065524283?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=oon53xzNRgC&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=qiyqpIygQAS&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Lucasdude Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Young Croc Joined: 16 March 2013 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 824	Post Options Post Reply Quote Lucasdude Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 15 May 2022 at 10:37am
	In reply to this old thread, I used to sell a "valve line buffer" from Musical Fidelity called the X-10D way back in my hifi retail days. It was essentially designed to sit between a CD player and preamp, to bring some "warmth" back to what can sometimes sound like a cold and sterile player. Good or bad is subjective, but it sure sounded different. They still fetch more than the original retail price now, unsurprising as they were only £120 back then, but reading this has made me wonder what effect it might have sitting between my very basic Pioneer DDJ-Wego 3 digital controller (which doesn't have a great analog output stage) and my Formula Sound FSM600 (which does). https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265681209156?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=2-9jHYXCQA-&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=qiyqpIygQAS&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY Maybe not quite the OSP, but close enough for Jazz! Edited by Lucasdude - 15 May 2022 at 11:36am

Norseman Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Registered User Joined: 04 March 2013 Location: Torquay Status: Offline Points: 124	Post Options Post Reply Quote Norseman Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 15 May 2022 at 6:40am
	i have similar thought patterns...

valve head777 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Old Croc Joined: 27 July 2012 Location: East Sussex Status: Offline Points: 1781	Post Options Post Reply Quote valve head777 Report Post Thanks(2) Quote Reply Posted: 02 October 2019 at 9:30pm
	The ultimate solution is...... Get young arms etc to lift your lovely precious heavy Crown Macro Tec 5000 and enjoy the lovely warm sound so desperately missed in lightweight Tec.
	Freedom of choice, choice of freedom.

odc04r Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Old Croc Joined: 12 July 2006 Location: Sarfampton Status: Offline Points: 5482	Post Options Post Reply Quote odc04r Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 02 October 2019 at 4:42pm
	No idea! Probably not much change out of £500 once you added all the parts up and that's not counting time and tools. But sometimes you just do these things for the fun and learning experience. I certainly learned a lot, so maybe one day I will drag the design files out of the vault and make a mark 2 with refinements. It was also the first thing I made where I exported PCB designs into 3D CAD software and added the components, this let me design an enclosure and faceplate that fitted perfectly around the boards. Those skills have turned out to be very useful since, never stop learning I say.

Sypa Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Young Croc Joined: 21 February 2013 Location: Croatia Status: Offline Points: 921	Post Options Post Reply Quote Sypa Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 01 October 2019 at 1:38pm
	Woah I bet if you built those things and packaged them in a nice hip industrial design it would sell like hotcakes,offcourse the sound of it should play a major role. Out of wonder on a small batch how much did it cost you to build it ?

odc04r Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Old Croc Joined: 12 July 2006 Location: Sarfampton Status: Offline Points: 5482	Post Options Post Reply Quote odc04r Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 30 September 2019 at 9:45am
	Indeed, there are a lot of starved plate low voltage designs out there. They do work, I experimented with them before deciding on ~100V HT for the unit shown above but you are in such an odd region of the device's transfer characteristics that what you get out is chance more then anything else. Having played around with valves for guitar and other units plus plenty of op-amps etc I can confidently say that you can get good or bad sounding distortion out of just about any device depending on your circuit. But thinking something with a valve in it is going to inherently sound good is a very modern mistake to make.

Elliot Thompson Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Old Croc Joined: 02 April 2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 5175	Post Options Post Reply Quote Elliot Thompson Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 30 September 2019 at 7:00am
	Good old Diodes The dbx 166 offers a diode circuitry in their variable Peak Stop contour. My CBS Volumax in addition to Gates Solid Statesman offers a diode as well to limit the output signal. There are a few Youtube Videos in which, certain name brands actually used an LED behind the Tube to give you the impression it is actually working. Unfortunately, many manufactures use valves for decoration and do not offer sufficient voltage for the valve to perform properly which is why, some use such methods. Unless you are 40+ years of age, the chances of you understanding the tonal characteristics of Valves in your sound system is very minimum. Solid State distortion is more common to the average sound man in these times and, is routinely mistaken for Valve distortion. Best Regards,
	Elliot Thompson

odc04r Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Old Croc Joined: 12 July 2006 Location: Sarfampton Status: Offline Points: 5482	Post Options Post Reply Quote odc04r Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 29 September 2019 at 8:32pm
	The VF1 is an interesting bit of kit because the valves in it really do nothing to the signal. They are in circuit wired as cathode followers which means they buffer the signal and add negligible distortion to it. However they are preceded by a classic back to back diode feedback op-amp circuit which is where the overdrive comes from. So everyone who has ever gushed about how valvey and analog a VF1 sounds, haha. Nope, all solid state and quite basic solid state overdrive circuit at that. Very popular with guitar overdrive guitar pedals. You can find the service manual online and follow the circuit yourself to check. I build a bit of a kit years back for a friend meant to have a bit of VF1 similarity, but I couldn't also resist throwing the kitchen sink in with regard to state variable filters triggered from a selection of intermixable sources. This unit used "proper" valve distortion in that the tubes were wired for gain and actually clipped/rounded the signal themselves before it was reduced and re-mixed back to the source. Device itself worked ok, needed more refinement but parts of it had potential. I was most happy with the automatic gain control circuit that took the bass output of the valve overdrive and mixed it back with the original signal. Unique circuit in its way as far as I know. Anyway kids etc arrived and time disappeared after the first prototype which as far as I know is still kicking. If the faceplate looks a little scrappy its because I did it all using my cnc mill and it was a learning process (still is tbh). Anyway the moral of the story is, don't get all excited just because something says it has a valve in it...