How could we BE any dirtier?
I recently purchased two ART MP Studio tube pre-amps, a steal at 30 bucks each. They really give a nice, warm sound to recorded speaking (or singing.) They also have a built-in limiter option, which will keep you from distorting.
The idea of using tube pre-amps with digital audio is that the sound of modern recording has gotten so clean, that it can be helpful to “dirty it up” a tiny bit using old-type steampunk technology, so you throw a tube in the mix.
These have an actual tube, and a little window to view the tube, to see it glowing. You actually have to let them warm up for a half-hour or so to get a good sound. (Anyone under 30 years old has probably never experienced electronics that need to warm up….)
These creamy pre-amps also have an analog level meter, which I haven’t seen in any gear for about 20 years. It reminds me of a pressure gauge or an old speedometer.
We used these puppies on episode 0048 of the Clone The Homeless podcast and episode 65 of SAC, and will probably use them on every episode recorded hence (unless it’s recorded “in the field” with our iRiver or the Sampson Zoom H2 portable, which we ordered two months ago, and it ships this coming Monday. Look for a full review of that when it comes out. It records CD-quality audio and is the size of a pack of smokes.)
Erin liked the creamy sound of our tubed throats and wrote us:
>The tube preamps sound really good…warmer and “dirtier” as you say. i can’t imagine you 2 sounding any dirtier, but you’ve done it, lol!
by the way…if you click on the above photo, the big version makes really cool computer wallpaper. Very dark and spooky. It’s Peanut the Devil Kitty!
August 23rd, 2007 at 6:52 am
wow…you make me sound like some giggling little teenager, but i like it…maybe something to do with reclaiming some of my wasted youth or maybe something completely different, but here i am, listening to you and your wife and all of the brilliant bullshit you two put out
Glad to be of service, to know you two. You two really are awesome!
August 23rd, 2007 at 2:32 pm
We love our brilliant bullshit, and love that you and a dozen hundred others do too! Makes our week, every week. And we want that BS creamy, so we will run it through cold-war technology to warm it up before we run it into our laptops based on technology stolen from aliens!
August 24th, 2007 at 2:09 am
I had a tube-based guitar amp for awhile. Nice tone. I was just too lazy to keep up with changing the tubes. (That, and I could never get a good “clean” tone out of it.)
August 24th, 2007 at 2:58 am
How often did you have to change the tubes? On my SVT bass amp, when I was touring, it was about every 90 days, and cost about 120 bucks each time.
But we only record podcasting about twice a week, and the replacement tubes are 12 bucks each.
August 25th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
thesedaze they can emulate tubes almost well enough. I got a collection of old tube guitar amps, but im quite happy with my amp simulator into a SS.
but hey for that price …, and for your purposes, TUBE IT. ya gear slut!
August 25th, 2007 at 9:56 pm
I’m a slutty little gear whore.
August 25th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
All my gear is made in China. Tell your slave labor neighbors I said, “Thank you.”