My First Tubes

[renaudrenaud]

Listen to your new gear and love your music.

Understanding tubes problematic is something you will do later. Right now, your pleasure is the main point.

BTW a lot of stellar headphones amps are tested here. Why to choose an exotic thing with tubes? To know by yourself? Like a poker game, you have to pay if you want to see the cards?

 

[L5730]

My first tube was clamped and cut by a doctor or nurse shortly after I was born. It dried and dropped off after a week or two. All I'm left with now is a belly button.
Sorry

Straying from not over-driven for the sake of 'clean' amplification, to more creative uses (electric guitar amplification and associated distortions from over driving), I wonder why so many folks use transistor pedals to get the dirty sounds and distortions they wan't yet seem to bang on about tube amps at the end of the chain. Maybe something to do with the 'sag' effect and how a well turned up tube power amp interacts with a physical speaker.
This area maybe interesting for those driving headphones, maybe it could add some compression and fatten the sound up? Added pleasant sounding distortion in a pre- section might be interesting too.

 

[Tks]

I love tubes. They look great.

 

[Duckeenie]

I've often wondered if there is any correlation between the fact that tubes glow and that we often think of them as sounding warm?

 

[direstraitsfan98]

I've often wondered if there is any correlation between the fact that tubes glow and that we often think of them as sounding warm?

Oh yes, for sure. Applies to anything in audio. Big speakers sound big. Industrial amps sound harsh and cold, clinical. Anything with a blue or green glow to it is lush and relaxed. Something exotic or Swiss is always refined sounding.

We are oftentimes are just describing what we are seeing is making us feel. And these feelings effect the end sound that reaches our ears and our brain processes and it’s different from person to person. It’s a very powerful thing.

 

[Tom C]

Hello guys ..

View attachment 54651

I need to use the XLR output from the Topping DX7s together with the Xduoo TA-03s. SSource if from PC using usb cable. How should I do the connection for this job? At present, my connections -- PC -> TS-03s usb -> RCA output to a pair of powered Edifier speakers. Should I connect the RCA output to the input on the Topping DX7s.

Advice highly appreciated.

greeny, do you have two usb outputs you can use on your PC? Will it work to do PC -> TS-03s with one cable, and
PC -> DX7s with another cable? Then you can just choose the one you want using the player software on your PC.

 

[greeny]

greeny, do you have two usb outputs you can use on your PC? Will it work to do PC -> TS-03s with one cable, and
PC -> DX7s with another cable? Then you can just choose the one you want using the player software on your PC.

I have many USB 3 output on my pc. What you suggest is to use 1 us to TA-03s and another to the DX7s. Just choose which output to use my headphones. What I like to try is the XLR on the DX7s and also the powered speaker. Somthing like .. PC --> TA-03s out --> DX7s input --> XLR to HE 4XX.

 

[Jimbob54]

Of course not wrong...

But, if you became the chef for a night...would you insist upon putting your preferred level of salt on everyone's dish, there by preventing them from EVER tasting the original dish as created by Mr Ramsey?
What you describe is maybe like turning up the treble a shade... By all means, season to personal taste...my issue is handing over a permanent preference over neutrality to someone else.

I think many here, including me, enjoy different distortion effects. I also like to be able to turn them all off, and get back to the uncolored original.

Certainly not arguing your point...

Joshua Valour over on Youtube did a piece recently on adding a cheap tube preamp to a dual input headamp (like the Drop 789) . Ive taken the bait and ordered a $30 ish device to sit atop my 789. My DAC has XLR and RCA outs that run simultaneously so I should be easily able, with some volume adjust before flicking inputs , to hear what joy (or misery) tubes add to the party.

I've also just started playing with EQ at source via Roon. Im intrigued to see whether I prefer the "pure" signal, the EQ signal, the tube signal or a combination with any given set of headphones. Scientific? No! Fun? Possibly. Especially with being shut indoors for the foreseeable.

 

[BDWoody]

Scientific? No! Fun? Possibly. Especially with being shut indoors for the foreseeable.

Definitely sounds like fun! Doing (almost) anything with music is better than anything without...! Great way to kill time.

 

[GXAlan]

Good tube amps are really good in that first watt. The McIntosh MC2102 has performance that holds up to solid state amps other than Hypex Ncore in measurements

http://www.acousticpsychos.com/Files/McIntosh/MC2102_tst.pdf

“within 0.01dB from 10Hz to 15kHz and only –0.18dB at 20kHz!”
“Balance between the channels was excellent, at 0.0458dB”

THD+N 1 watt 0.010%
THD+N 100 watts 0.028%

 

[Marutks]

My First Tubes

 

[Jimbob54]

Definitely sounds like fun! Doing (almost) anything with music is better than anything without...! Great way to kill time.

Preliminary unscientific conclusion: this tube preamp into a headamp makes no discernible difference to the feed straight from the DAC.

Must need burning in ;-)

 

[TheBrandon]

Preliminary unscientific conclusion: this tube preamp into a headamp makes no discernible difference to the feed straight from the DAC.

Must need burning in ;-)

Maybe cables? From my Atom to my Ta-20 no doubt I prefer my distorted tubes. Good gosh despite having outstanding hearing, it’s still not easy being defective.

 

[Jimbob54]

Maybe cables? From my Atom to my Ta-20 no doubt I prefer my distorted tubes. Good gosh despite having outstanding hearing, it’s still not easy being defective.

There is always the chance that the signal bypasses the tubes in my new preamp box. The 2 red LED in the tube sockets was a little suspicious. Hmmmm

EDIT: 24 hours burn in. Night and Day difference. The Golden Eared Wife heard it whilst out getting her nails done.

(No, no discernible difference between the clean feed and the feed through the tube box, but the box doesnt work without the tubes in place so i guess they are in the signal path. )

 

[TheBrandon]

There is always the chance that the signal bypasses the tubes in my new preamp box. The 2 red LED in the tube sockets was a little suspicious. Hmmmm

EDIT: 24 hours burn in. Night and Day difference. The Golden Eared Wife heard it whilst out getting her nails done.

(No, no discernible difference between the clean feed and the feed through the tube box, but the box doesnt work without the tubes in place so i guess they are in the signal path. )

Just wait until the 500 hour mark!!!

I would have liked to try Josh's Tube setup prior to getting a Tube amp. Super cool and didn't know that existed.

 

[Jimbob54]

Just wait until the 500 hour mark!!!

I would have liked to try Josh's Tube setup prior to getting a Tube amp. Super cool and didn't know that existed.

Well, if you do try, dont spend big! Worked well for me as I had both the Drop 789 and also some replacement tubes to hand (I went down the Little Dot route once) but I cant say the actual effectiveness is there at all. That said, I haven't stopped plugging in since I got it. Its doing nothing audibly bad to my ears. Just not anything immediately audible full stop.

 

[TheBrandon]

Well, if you do try, dont spend big! Worked well for me as I had both the Drop 789 and also some replacement tubes to hand (I went down the Little Dot route once) but I cant say the actual effectiveness is there at all. That said, I haven't stopped plugging in since I got it. Its doing nothing audibly bad to my ears. Just not anything immediately audible full stop.

I ended grabbing a TA-20. I have BeyerDynamic T1.2 and was using my ATOM which they sounded amazing with, 660S sounded quite good (not a fan in general of these unfortunately but vocals are incredible on the pair) but my HD800S just weren't working out with that amp to my ears. Since getting the TA-20 its been my go to for everything. Waiting on a pair of tubes to show up to see if my ears can pick up any difference. I did not spend big on the tubes but oh my goodness that felt like a rabbit hole. If there is a big enough difference I can tell from the stock tubes I am likely screwed.

 

[Prana Ferox]

These little things are nice but if you're going down the tube path you're eventually going to want more output at the 1/4" jack.

 

[Jimbob54]

These little things are nice but if you're going down the tube path you're eventually going to want more output at the 1/4" jack.

View attachment 56387

How do you plug that into your car stereo though?

 

[Prana Ferox]

How do you plug that into your car stereo though?