I notice the difference when I crank my tube amp (an old Carvin MTS3212), which is 100w class AB. It's kind of ratty sounding, but cool in its own way. Those must be the odd harmonics. The preamp distortion at low volumes of course is thick and smooth, so those must be the evens. Tonally, I like that creaminess, but with a touch of that edge, so when I can, I turn up the volume to right where the power section starts clipping hard, and add preamp gain as I see fit.
Another good video, thank you. ?So even harmonics are octaves of the fundamental, vs odd harmonics which are octaves of the fifth above the fundamental? ?Single-ended amps emphasize the octave of the fundamental, vs push-pull amps emphasize the fifth? I believe that's what Mesa states about their Lonestar Special amps which can use one, two, or four tubes. ?Am I understanding correctly? Thanks for your help with these questions!
I have the jumbo shrimp pre amp and it is the best I have had. I can listen to trumpets again without nasty distortion. There is more going on than simple harmonics
Correct. If you're looking for clean, less distortion is simply that and even harmonics being cancelled is exactly that, less distortion. It's quite a bit less because there's also intermodulation distortion which is the product of those initial harmonics mixing together. If you're looking for a particular sound well then all bets are off. It's a matter of taste.
It's interesting what she is saying about odd order harmonics in push-pull circuits and even orders in single ended. I've not heard that before, but I don't design amps. I've always been of the opinion that inaudible distortion is the goal, but I approach the problem from the perspective of recreating what the artist has crafted. If you are crafting and you want harmonics, then go for it. I just want to add as little "color" as possible so I can hear what was intended to be there.
I do not think this rounding of charactreistic which are mostly due to limited thermal emmision of electrones is significantly important at my ususal level of listening not exceeding 0,5W. My integrated amplifier may produce max 15 W so it seems at 3% of power.
Yo bro I just Figured i'd mention this, take it or leave it. I watched a few of your videos a long time ago and loved em , then watched a couple recent ones and noticed they were sort of veiled promotional content and have lost interest. Im sure plenty of people dont mind but to me i cant be receptive to new information if i know (or suspect) it has a (sales) agenda behind it. Obviosly you gota earn your living as we all do and this is in no way a condemnation. Just figured you might want all the data to work with. Theres probably more lucrative work doing what you do now, with the products, than if you were to just make general audio info vids and pepper in 30-second ads, so i get that. Just letting you know there may be a portion of your audience that becomes alienated if this is the kind of content that dominates your channel. Again i obviously sound judgmental saying this lol but im legit just trying to be informative. Keep on rockin brother
I appreciate the feedback. Still experimenting with different content formats to make the channel better. Manley didn’t actually sponsor this video. I just think she is a good teacher. My goal is to provide you with free educational content (even in sponsored videos).
Sorry to disagree with some of the comments. IMO this was not a very good description of even and odd harmonics in music. And remember when people talk about ‘Color’ that is distortion. Enhancement of audio tracks adding particular harmonic information can be beneficial. Some tube circuits do this and others not so well. Personally I find that adding 2nd order harmonics to lower freq can give you more clarity to enable the listener to hear things with more ‘grit’ or maybe that’s not a good way to put it. It can help to define pitch and transient info. I sometimes add little bits of odd order harmonics to high mid or high freq when needed. Or attenuate high freq odd harmonics to tame irritating high freq. I use analog hardware Vertigo VSM2 and Crane Song Inis to add or attenuate harmonic information. I only work with harmonics in certain freq areas But hey…do your own thing and good luck. I’m done with my little rant now.
