Universal Audio 710 Twin Finity Tube Swap

[creaturestudios]

Hi all- first post here but have been an avid reader for years
Anyway I decided recently to change the tube in my UA 710 Twin Finity from the stock JJ ECC83 to a NOS Telefunken 1980's ECC83 and thought others may be interested in my findings.

Because I don't have a signal splitter I decided to use some drum samples from BFD2 and re-amp them through the Twin Finity for some distorted sounds. The amp is deliberately pushed pretty hard and I choose 2 samples; one is the snare drum on it's own and the second is the Kick & hihat combo- i felt this combo would reveal any differences pretty quickly.

The difference is subtle and that's exactly what I can hear- however I wan't to know which sample YOU prefer. For fun I have also included the snare sample running through the tranny side of the 710 with the same gain settings and the origonal sound files aswell. I will reveal which is which in a day or so

Kick & HiHat Unaffected
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1730587/UA%2...Unaffected.wav

Snare Unaffected
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1730587/UA%2...Unaffected.wav

Snare - Tranny
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1730587/UA%2...ny%20Snare.wav

Kick & HiHat - Tube 1
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1730587/UA%2...26%20Hihat.wav

Snare - Tube 1
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1730587/UA%2...0-%20Snare.wav

Kick & HiHat - Tube 2
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1730587/UA%2...26%20Hihat.wav

Snare - Tube 2
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1730587/UA%2...0-%20Snare.wav

[creaturestudios]

Taken with my iPhone 4 so excuse the quality- herself ran off with my Nikon for the day

[creaturestudios]

[Chrisc_o]

Thanks for taking the time.


I thought the 710 didn't have a transformer in the signal path.

[creaturestudios]

Hey, your indeed correct- it doesn't have any transformer in the output stage! I am overall very happy with this pre but was very dissapointed at first when I got it to see the 'made in china' sticker- so much so that I sent a pretty scathing email to UA which i'd best not post the reply to directly here! PM me if you wish to see a copy!

[creaturestudios]

The one thing i'm not so forgiving about is that if you look at the stock picture of an open 710 Twin Finity you will notice it has WIMA capacitors, also the model reviewed by Paul White (SOS)and I suspect others had WIMA capacitors and were built in the US. Now look at my picture- the capacitors aint WIMA made, I have checked them for branding and can't figure out who makes them- the WIMA ones are red anyway!
I don't wanna turn this into a UA bashing thread as i'm a big fan but I hate lies!! From the SOS review:

"The non-electrolytic audio-path capacitors are chunky WIMA types, the preferred choice for a lot of high-end audio designers, and the resistors are generously rated metal-oxide film types. UA have clearly gone to a lot of trouble to make this product easy to assemble, while at the same time retaining the engineering integrity for which they’re known."

I think this misleading and conflicting info has really hampered the sales of what really is a great sounding unit

[changeng]

makes me think the Chinese knockoff mentioned in another thread may be from the same factory.

[Jimsi]

same parts, different revision main board same power supplies...no longer avalible in the US...and no one to back it in case of...boom

Originally Posted by changeng

makes me think the Chinese knockoff mentioned in another thread may be from the same factory.

[Chrisc_o]

Originally Posted by creaturestudios

The information provided in this email is for your own private use only, and is not to be resent, quoted, or otherwise distributed without the written consent of Universal Audio.

Ummmm, you DID get the authorization to post that email, right?

[creaturestudios]

Well spotted! If any one wants details of what the email stated PM me please

[AmbientArchitect]

I've just got one of these myself and I have to say, once it's been on for a couple of hours with my TLM-103 it sounds lovely. I've yet to take the lid of but I expect it is also made in China. That is a bit misleading because I also read that SOS review. Still, I would be interested in swapping out that tube and trying the one you got. Where did you get yours from if you don't mind me asking? I listened to your clips and the Telefunken sounds a bit smoother to me. You done much more experimenting with it? What you finding vs the original tube? I'm mainly using it for vocals at the moment. Cheers.

[creaturestudios]

Originally Posted by AmbientArchitect

I've just got one of these myself and I have to say, once it's been on for a couple of hours with my TLM-103 it sounds lovely. I've yet to take the lid of but I expect it is also made in China. That is a bit misleading because I also read that SOS review. Still, I would be interested in swapping out that tube and trying the one you got. Where did you get yours from if you don't mind me asking? I listened to your clips and the Telefunken sounds a bit smoother to me. You done much more experimenting with it? What you finding vs the original tube? I'm mainly using it for vocals at the moment. Cheers.

So you were able to tell which clips are the Telefunken?

Haven't done much experimenting since changing the tube. I love the 710 on vocals, snare, acoustic guitar & DI guitar work, it gets alot of work in our studio!! TBH I could hear the difference pretty much straight away, particularly in the mids and hi end- much smoother. it's a great unit and the tube change is worth the extra $$$$ to get the most out of it. PM'd you the seller of the tubes, it's an eBay seller

[s.d.finley]

I just got a pair of these and so far I am very pleased. I really like the full tube setting for vocals driven to maybe 3-4. Routing pre recorded tracks into the 710 sounded pretty snazzy too. Inserted on a parallel kick snare bus added depth and crunch if driven hard. Sounds great on guitar too. I need to try a tube swap and see if it's even better.