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musings on digital modeling vs tube amps


esch

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your a big f'n dude.

 

LoL....yeah...you can say that...Needless to say on the 16Volt tour Eric (their frontman) used to tell everyone that I was his bodyguard so they wouldn't get any bright ideas...Unfortunately I spent most nights sleeping while they were onstage....Driving 8+ hours on no sleep sucks....But I can't wait to go back out on tour.

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I've spent entirely too much time living on the Interstates of this country. I am now retired at 40

 

By the way see there was no need for use getting harsh with each other. This was about the differences of modeling vs tube no big deal.

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I've spent entirely too much time living on the Interstates of this country. I am now retired at 40

 

I don't blame you...I think it's fun when you're young but if you're not the guy being driven around it starts to get a little too much....I'm 25 so I'm giving it another 15-20 years if I can...I started "touring" at 15....Took 8 months off to learn how to build guitars.

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I can understand your point to a degree' date=' but aren't plastics, steel, copper and aluminium in loads of valve amps too - as well as tubes? How bad do you reckon silicon is for the environment - isn't it made chiefly from sand?

What I'm wondering here is about the valve-making process itself- is it comparable to or worse than typical manufacturing processes? I'm trying to keep an open mind, but I've heard that it's the latter. [/quote']

 

I was responding to your point where you said that you had some concerns about the manufacture of tubes - a major component of which is also sand (glass).

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But then' date=' in this post-vinyl era, we end up going digital anyway, be it CD, mp3, wav, flac, or whatever..... [/quote']

 

This is the classic mistake that people use to justify modeling. There is a big difference between using digital to record music, and using digital to model an amplifier. When recording music, the idea is to maintain the integrity of the original performance. In modeling, the idea is to change the harmonic content. And it's these changes that compromise the tone.

As an example, take several digital recorders - Yamaha, Roland, Korg etc set to the same bit rate, and record a track. Listen to the playback of the different recordings. They will sound identical. Now, use their internal amp modelers to recreate a JCM 800. They will all sound different.

 

The same is true for for standalone modelers/processors. Compare their versions of 'classic amps' and they are all different. This is despite the manufacturer's blurb that claims 'every component in the signal chain has been extensively analysed and replicated'. As I say, digital is good for recording, not so good for 'changing'.

 

I use whatever equipment is available, I try to get the best sound out it regardless. For convenience, nothing beats digital, and I'm sure that the technology will continue to get better.

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I was responding to your point where you said that you had some concerns about the manufacture of tubes - a major component of which is also sand (glass).

 

Yeah, it's the other parts that I'm concerned about though, not the glass! I've heard things about it being to do with gases; I'm assuming this is maybe to do with the vacuum side of things? And I'm not picking - it is a genuine question - have you heard anything to that end, or do you think that's incorrect?

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I don't think there's any problem with gases (there has to be a vacuum for the tube to work). Obviously CO2 is produced during the heating process. Here's someone making their own valves.

 

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/01/07/video-making-a-vacuu.html

 

That is so freakin' cool! I wish there was some commentary but still! Geez, he forms the glass and everything!

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I found his website, he's called Claude Paillard. http://paillard.claude.free.fr/

 

There's a google translate button. His main interest is ham radio.

 

Some great pictures here.

 

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http://paillard.claude.free.fr/&langpair=fr%257Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

 

Must be a great feeling to see (and hear) these creations come to life !

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