Would running audio through a cheap tube preamp (like the Behringer Ultragain) result in pleasing tube saturation?

[Diplo]

How would it compare to a plug-in tube saturator?

 

[theREALdotnet]

Alternatively one could use a digital effect plugin and have much greater control and adjustment range of the added distortion.

 

[sarumbear]

As pleasing is subjective, nobody can suggest a solution that fit to your taste. Your best bet is what @theREALdotnet said, add a distortion device/plugin inline.

 

[fpitas]

As pleasing is subjective, nobody can suggest a solution that fit to your taste. Your best bet is what @theREALdotnet said, add a distortion device/plugin inline.

Yes; for example, I think the warm muddy sound expected of tubes is tiring at best. But trying to do any of that controllably in hardware sounds like infinite frustration.

 

[Keith_W]

Alternatively one could use a digital effect plugin and have much greater control and adjustment range of the added distortion.

Do you have a suggestion for a VST that does this?

 

[Blumlein 88]

I didn't think an Ultragain had any tubes?

 

[notsodeadlizard]

This obviously depends on the structure of your system. If you have another preamp built into something behind this preamp, it may not be quite what you expect.

 

[Diplo]

Alternatively one could use a digital effect plugin and have much greater control and adjustment range of the added distortion.

Would the saturation be more pleasing given the physical tubes?

 

[HarmonicTHD]

Do you have a suggestion for a VST that does this?

12 great free and paid-for tube emulation VST plugins

The best tube emulators on the market

www.musicradar.com

Or the one more “scientific” from @pkane

PKHarmonic VST Plugin - Audiophile Harmonics Generator | Distort documentation

PKHarmonic 1.0 is the initial release of this software. Use at your own risk!

distortaudio.org

 

[HarmonicTHD]

Would the saturation be more pleasing given the physical tubes?

We don’t know your preferences therefore only you can tell.

 

[theREALdotnet]

Do you have a suggestion for a VST that does this?

No, I’m not in a position to recommend anything in particular, since this is not my kind of thing. However, a quick search reveals a plethora of plugins (both VST and AU), many of them free.

 

[theREALdotnet]

Would the saturation be more pleasing given the physical tubes?

With a tube you get what you get. With a plugin you can tweak the knobs to your liking.

 

[jsrtheta]

I didrn't think an Ultragain had any tubes?

According to Behringer, it uses one 12AX7 tube. Which can be seen in the front of the unit.

 

[mhardy6647]

Well... I mean... depending upon one's goals... there are inexpensive and effective little tube distorto-boxes.

Two of the current darlings being:

FX Audio 6j1 tube preamp - a $31 wonder

I've been spellbound by the tiny FX for several weeks now. If you follow the TPA3116 thread you know I'm not the only one who has fallen for this pint sized beauty. There's so much buzz in the other thread after pairing it with the class d Volt+D I thought it deserved a thread of it's own. The...

audiokarma.org

... and now a variant using directly heated pentode tubes (whoo freaking hoo!):

Nobsound E6 Preamp Uses Directly Heated Tubes

I recently noticed this new preamp that uses directly heated tubes. Many people prefer the sound of directly heated triode tubes, though they are typically used as output tubes in SE (single ended) amplifiers. The most commonly used DHT output tubes are the 2A3 and the 300B, both of which...

audiokarma.org

Even a thread here at ASR on the latter...

What do you guys think of the newly released Nobsound E6?

Its a super small directly heated 2J27S tube preamp. It uses a 5v dc plug but according to nobsound the anode voltage is stepped up to 105V. If its true then this thing could be an actual tube pre.

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[jsrtheta]

Would the saturation be more pleasing given the physical tubes?

The Behringer unit has one 12AX7 tube.

For about the same price you can get a Little Dot ii, which has two 5654/6AK5/6J1 driver tubes and two 6N6 power tubes. Can be used as a headphone amp or a straight preamp. And is designed for home audio, not pro.

 

[Blumlein 88]

According to Behringer, it uses one 12AX7 tube. Which can be seen in the front of the unit.

So you are talking about the Mic100 Ultragain. I'd never seen that one. I had in mind the ADA8200 ultragain. Probably one of those starved plate designs like ART makes.

 

[egellings]

How would it compare to a plug-in tube saturator?

Is this for a hi-fi amp or an MI amp?

 

[Diplo]

So you are talking about the Mic100 Ultragain. I'd never seen that one. I had in mind the ADA8200 ultragain. Probably one of those starved plate designs like ART makes.

View attachment 274704

That’s the one!

Could you explain the starved plate design, I’ve heard bad things but I’m not super clued up on why it sounds worse than the alternative.

 

[DVDdoug]

Could you explain the starved plate design

Tubes normally operate at a few hundred volts, depending on the tube and application. If you run it at a less than optimum voltage you can get more distortion.

I don't know how low they go...

 

[Blumlein 88]

That’s the one!

Could you explain the starved plate design, I’ve heard bad things but I’m not super clued up on why it sounds worse than the alternative.

I'm no expert on starved plates. But yes the tube is run on 30-80 volts instead of 300-450 volts. Often the heater (which is what creates the electron cloud in the tube) is run at 75% of its normal voltage. I've seen a couple odd designs that ran the heater at higher voltage and the tube with only 12 volts across it. The attempt is to create plenty of low order distortion that varies with level of the input. Not as much as a distortion pedal on a guitar (which also sometimes use starved plates), but enough to get a sound which is claimed to be tube sound. I don't think old tube gear sounded like that. So starved plate microphone pres are one variant.

I don't know of measurements of them. Would be good to see.

Having seen measures of an ART DTI which is a transformer isolator for breaking ground loops, I'm not so sure this wouldn't give a taste of tube amp sound.

Quick and Dirty Distortion Measurements of ART DTI Transformer Isolation Box

I did some quick distortion measurements of the ART DTI to see if it would perform adequately to convert RCA to balanced and back to run to a Speedwoofer 10S over shielded Cat6A. While it should not be too objectionable compared to the distortion of the sub it seems to perform quite poorly...

www.audiosciencereview.com

You'll need to push a few volts thru it with another device. But if you could control gain of the input you could select your preferred level of transformer based distortion. This device sales for about $79. But I've not had hands on with it myself.

DTI – Dual Transformer/Isolator – ART Pro Audio

artproaudio.com