I have been better educated about tube vs. solid state....

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Interlude65, Sep 23, 2016.

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  1. Interlude65

    Interlude65 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Hello everybody. Previously, I used to say that solid state gear was always better for mixing, mastering, and general listening purposes, because it represents the original sound more accurately than tubes do. But, I have now found that tubes can actually be quite beneficial. Why? Because, there are some recordings out there that really lack harmonics, which usually comes from either the recording itself being just poor, or the mixing or mastering engineer shaving off various harmonics just to either achieve that "synth-bass" sound or to make the recording "loud", due to the fact that recordings with less harmonics generally like higher intrinsic loudness levels better. Harmonics are the things that make recordings sound "natural" and "lifelike", and if the source material lacks harmonics, it ends up having a flat, uninspiring, and "synthesized" sound to it. In this case, adding tubes can be a great help, because they will add some harmonics to the source material, which will make a recording with under-represented harmonics sound more "natural", "lifelike", and just plain better all the way around. Also, Keith Olsen has said that the clipping characteristic of tubes is actually exactly like the clipping characteristic of the human ear, which results in clipping distortion that sounds more "natural" and forgiving compared to solid-state clipping distortion, which sounds harsh and nasty. But of course, if the recording already sounds "natural" and "lifelike", then tube gear is unnecessary. I'm glad I've been more educated about this kind of stuff. :righton:

    P.S. The tube gear should preferably have Class A circuitry, because that kind of circuitry causes the gear in question to not have any intermodulation distortion, generate even ("nice") harmonics instead of odd ("not so nice") harmonics, and clip the signal asymmetrically ("nicely") instead of symmetrically ("not as nice") when pushed anywhere into overload.
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2016
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  2. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    I think you could have figured all that out by yourself by just listening for 10 minutes...
     
  3. Interlude65

    Interlude65 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I do use my ears, obviously. It's just that I now know better why tubes can be beneficial and why some recordings sound flat, sterile, and two-dimensional (bad), and why some others sound rich, natural, three-dimesional, and "lifelike" (good). :)
     
  4. Otlset

    Otlset I think I am I think

    Location:
    Temecula, CA
    Ah but if tube gear is used, my ears are doubly bathed in sonic life-giving harmonics connecting powerfully to the pleasure centers of my brain as musical ecstasy comes unbound!
     
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  5. chervokas

    chervokas Senior Member

    That's not exactly accurate. Class A amps -- whether tube or solid state -- will be free from crossover distortion, which occurs when a push-pull amp switches from one amplifying device (or set of devices) to another, but there could be other sources of intermodular distortion sometimes, Class A operation doesn't inherently eliminate all IMD. FWIW, Class AB amps, minimize some portion of the crossover distortion by keeping both output devices or sets of ouput devices on slightly during switching, so it's not like the only choices are Class B switching distortion and Class A, no switching distortion.
     
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  6. Interlude65

    Interlude65 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I guess I must've gotten intermodulation distortion and crossover distortion mixed up in my statement about Class A gear?
     
  7. Interlude65

    Interlude65 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Sure, but it may not be necessary if the source material already has no flatness, sterility, or "synth-likeness" to its sound whatsoever.... just sayin'.
     
  8. I got better edjumacated about tube vs. solid-state by buying a tube preamp & actually listening to the damn thing. Love it so far...
     
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  9. Mike-48

    Mike-48 A shadow of my former self

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    So a harmonic-distortion generator would be useful in SS gear when reproducing bad recordings?
     
  10. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    I think it would be more useful to have a SS amp that has no feedback or very low feedback. SS with no feedback can sound very nice (like Ayre).
     
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  11. David756

    David756 Active Member

    Location:
    Australia
    For monitoring during mixing and mastering, use solid state because this is what the majority of your audience will be using to reproduce your work. For casual listening, or to add colouration in the signal chain during production, choose whatever you prefer for whatever reason.
     
  12. Richard Austen

    Richard Austen Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hong Kong
    I might add another hint - if the thing uses an EI or C-Core transformer it is likely going to sound better than something that uses a torroid transformer. Generalities but it does seem most very good amplifiers use the former and the stuff you wind up trading away use the latter.
     
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