Does a TUBE PREAMP add warmth to your SYNTH? 

Some additional stuff... the Tube Preamp is analogue. So, with gain set at its sweet spot... any "digital" effects you send into it will (hopefully) be smoothed/less harsh. For example:- Setting a (switchable) Boost Effect on the MODX, will push the Tube harder and make it overdrive/distort without getting (much) louder... we guitarists recommend Treble Boosters, to stop Bass flubbing/farting out. Similarly, adding a mild overdrive/distortion effect with unity or slight boost in gain will be sweetened by the valve and also change its character. You can experiment to get creamy vs gritty distortion and all in between. The aim is to get the digital effects sounding more analogue/vintage/natural.

wow, means a lot to me, thanks.

Hey, im in the same position!

you can have vintage keys and chick loaded at same time. i probably prefer the vintage keys library, as you get more than just a single rhodes, but chick is free of charge, so hard to pick a winner. gotta have them both!

Thanks

well, i think it's great, you can hear for yourself I hope!

ok, noted! next step for me is to run it through the amp modelling on my Fender Mustang, as I don't have access to any high-end preamps or other hardware emulations.

i came here to say this - most of these low voltage "tube" circuits use conventional op amps or transistors for their gain and simply allow you to mix in some of the distorted starved plate tube sound. it's not necessarily bad (or good) but it's a very different thing, and it was heavily used as a gimmick starting in the late 90s where the manufacturers like ART and behri counted on you not knowing what the tube actually does in it. running synths through guitar amps and amp/cabinet simulations can be great for adding "color." the amp simulators are good for when you specifically want overdrive, although it's the speaker (simulations/impulse responses) doing the most for me when a synth sound that started out sounding "too direct" and wide-bandwidth. they essentially work as idiosyncratic filters/EQs since guitar/bass speakers have a very different frequency response from those used in PAs, keyboard amps, studio monitors, and hifi speakers. i'm happy using plugins/impulse responses and my digitech cabdryVR pedal for these applications, because they do that job well enough with sufficient variety and tweakability that i don't think i'd benefit much by having real amp+speaker stacks for instruments i don't actually play and fussing around with mic placement and all the usual issues with reamping a line level signal. whether they do any good for classic electro keys like rhodes/clavi sounds is a matter of personal preference, but basically they aren't going to do much besides fancy versions of overdrive and EQing. the kind of professional class A microphone preamps that the OP is talking about are their own league still from "real tube" guitar/bass amps, and i don't know if they've been digitally simulated with any degree of accuracy.

Not really, no more than any other synth keys!

Is it good for digital piano? Does it have stereo outputs?

@@delanobersan7344 Don't know about digital piano, but it does NOT have stereo outputs or inputs, unfortunately.

not sure about that, you gotta take into consideration impedance and stuff that i don't understand, but at the end of the day it would probably work.

The 80s Fan Me too, my mixer phantom power was on the fritz so I needed a cheap replacement. I have bunged quite a few things through it over the years and it has a very gritty sound. Fun but always that musically useful.

same for me XD

Are you using the preamp live? I recently went with a Sennheiser condenser mic with phantom for live performance and it is phenomenal. Always on the tone quest though. Would you recommend for live? Thanks so much.

Stephen Lennartz No, sorry. I was using it for recording I am afraid.

@@trevypoos All good. Thanks for your note.!

I don't think that would sound great and i'd be worried about damage sending line output to mic input

join my discord and post links to your music and many will listen!

I have one how do you use it

it's 500MB dedicated to just vintage keys, so yeah, much more detailed and a clear improvement.

haha, you're noticing a pattern... :)

Forgets to play some SYNTH sounds.

hi daro, never used one!

totally good for that

@@WoodyPianoShack Great, thanks for letting me know. Does it matter left or right?

@@rsheridleft

i intended to run the dx piano through it, but forgot! i'm sure i would like the refaces!

Reface CP is fantastic. Get a couple of sets of rechargeable batteries, and forget the power supply. Instant EP joy, wherever you are. With the case, it fits as hand baggage on a plane!

you can, but this is real analog! just added a pinned comment with link.

Woody Piano Shack thanks Woody😊

right on, that's actually why i chose to use the vintage style mono sounds.

would love to try one, also on guitar! have a fender mustang with amp and pedal sims, will try running the modx through that and micing it up.

The SV-1 Valve Reactor sounds great, and has a lot more to it than this Behringer. It has a low wattage power amp and dummy speaker circuit. The manual has a good diagram of it.

i noticed after making the vid that these are only $30 so a useful and affordable tool to add to your gigbag!

Yep still available after all this time, plus a slightly higher $50 ish version which supports not just Mic and Line inputs but Hi-Z guitar too AND a selector for the "mode" of the pre-amp AND a built-in USB audio interface. It doesn't have the XLR format output though...

that's funny Fredrik. well better that than being left in the attic!

And if the glass is a jan philips a ge or any good 12au7 yr in heaven.

I like it, personally, though it's all subjective. It works well with a bass too, so you definitely wouldn't be losing any low end, with a normal guitar. It's pretty easy to swap tubes/valves on them too - just with a screwdriver. I own two, and I put a lower gain valve in one of them, just to see what happens - something, definitely. It's all a matter of personal preference though. The valve it comes with is a Behringer 12AX7, but other 12AX7s will sound a little bit different. You can also use 12AT7 or 12AU7, for less gain.

indeed, any examples of those kind of preamps?

On a budget, not many choices. Good transformers and the associated circuitry quickly bump up the cost. The ART Pro Channel or MPA get closer and are in the sub £500 bracket, but still don't run at particularly high voltages. A true tube preamp will be >£1000 e.g. Manley/UA/dbx etc. Fender Twin/Deluxe will sound great paired with a Rhodes. The most accessible will be a software tube saturation emulation, of which there are many good choices.

I tried something like this on a dbx 386 tube pre. IIRC, I tried running some tracks from a multitrack session through it to warm them up. It did not clip very gracefully. I think it may be similar in topology - with an op-amp somewhere that runs out of headroom before the tube. Might have to dig out that old box and see what's going on under the lid.

Yeah that's what I reckon. If the voltages aren't trying to kill you then it's not driven right. Roll on TIP2955 / 3055

@@nickwallette6201 The deal is to have the valve 'clip gracefully' by rounding off the troughs / peaks (unlike solid state which really does 'clip' them off)

yep, it handles stereo, or two mono inputs if you prefer.

happy to take the blame!

i knew you would ;)

yep i think so, and korg have a digital nutube thing on some other keyboards.

Yes. I have a KK, and it does have a tube/valve circuit. It is lit up with an LED which gets brighter as you turn up the drive. It does sound good though. They have the same thing on the Korg SV1.

@@SuperBriansmoke Perfect analog addition for a completely digital synth don´t you think? I think the KingKORG is still the best VA out there. The only hardware synth that can match U-He DIva. At least that is my opinion. What do you think?

thanks, i would very much like to do that sometime, i learned it from Dr John's New Orleans piano books, so check that out if you want it from the source.

@@WoodyPianoShack Wow, thanks a bunch. I'll try it. I hope i'll be able to play it like you

yes it did, it made a huge difference. i toured with an Extreme 88 for years, it was great

starved plates are mostly useless for "tube vibe" but i do like using this one as a "DI" sort of thing.

right, i was surprised to see how inexpensive it is, useful tool!

it makes sense to think that, and yes, those inputs can be used for mic, but also line. there is an input gain control and volume knob on synth so didn't need the pad. that must be for some really super hot inputs! you can engage the pad of course, but then you need to turn up the input gain a ton more. i tried and it doesn't change the sound.

@@WoodyPianoShack Thank you for the information in your reply Woody. It sounds like the MIC100 is more flexible and versatile than I expected. This is good news for my project.

oh sorry! i'm not ex-military, just some random NATO strap!

It requires a beefy supply in terms of amps so it'll be using a transformer - i.e. it's not running the valve at 9V. Mine runs warm, although not hot. However, it doesn't add a massive amount to the sound unless you are running it as an overdrive effect.

Hey, could u give me a hand? I have a rd 800 and am wondering send his sound to a receiver, them to the speakers. Do u think a preamp like that could help? Thx

seems like it have built-in gate but no button to disable it.

a totally different planet, top quality stuff avalon :)

piano MOXLEY Just what I was thinking. I used to have an ART 12AX7 preamp which was similar.

nothing more to add from me!

Hey, another Triton Extreme user! Agreed, I usually find myself turning it off but there's a few sounds that are pretty nice through it.

I've owned a Triton Extreme as well (the 88-keys version with the RH2 keyboard). The built-in tube never sounded good for distortion. If dialed in very carefully it added some nice body/tone but that's it. Apart from that, the Extreme was poorly introduced by Korg (in 2004). At that time, the Triton Studio was still available, which still felt like Korg's flagship despite being outdated, and about only a year later (!) the OASYS came out. That really offended me. I still consider it a dick move by Korg. Also, I had a really hard time getting rid of it although it wasn't a bad keyboard at all.

@@hammondvoodoo9555 I have the Extreme 88 too, fitted with MOSS board and full sample RAM it's a great workstation even today. I was a bit peed off with Korg releasing the oasys too, it was a pricey board, but all Korg Synths ever since have been poorly manufactured and not many new features, sounds added either. Korg and Roland seem to have gone into the cheap plastic toy synth market. Yuk. Nothing has inspired me in the last few years. Sad.

@@muzikman2008 Yeah, right, the OASYS was really expensive, especially in the beginning. As far as I can remember, you could buy almost 2.5 Extreme 88s for the price of one OASYS 88 - totally ridiculous. In the end, I switched from Korg to Yamaha and I'm happy I did. Now, I don't even use a workstation but a simple stage piano - the Yamaha CP4 stage. I realized that all I needed was a proper weighted keyboard and very simple sound editing - everything else can be a distraction at times. The key action of the CP4 is a dream, heads and shoulders above the Korg keyboards.

you sometimes see that yeah, but behringer did not stoop that low, thankfully.

They did on some of their "tube" processors. (Was it a compressor?) Maybe not this one though.

haha, my playing is better than a preamp, awesome!