ART Pro VLA II - Tubes

[siniarch]

So far the tubes are in no particular order:
Siemens 12AT7
Stock (Ruby) 12AT7
Phillips 12AT7/ECC81
Telefuken ECC81/12AT7
Mullard 12AT7 WA/CV424
Ei 12AX7/ECC83

Stock came with the unit of course, and Telefuken I got from Ebay. The others I bought from BOWIE and some were low noised selected. Still performing the test, but liking what I hear so far.

[citrusburst]

Regardless of how you post it, I'd love to hear the comparisons.

[siniarch]

Here are the files.
(wave files located at: http://siniarchproductions.com/downl...tprovla-tubes/)

Tube 1 - Ruby 12AT7 (stock tube)
Tube 2 - Telefuken 12AT7 ECC81 (from Ebay)
Tube 3 - Mullard 12AT7 WA/CV424 (from BOWIE - vintage not reissue - low noise)
Tube 4 - Siemens 12AT7 (from BOWIE - extra low noise)
Tube 5 - Phillips 12AT7 ECC81 (from BOWIE - low noise)
Tube 6 - Ei 12AX7 ECC83 (from BOWIE - vintage - low noise)

I downloaded the raw tracks provided from Brian McTear at Weathervane (this is the 5th sticky on the LOW END forum) for the song "Purling Hiss, May 2012"
Free multitracks for mix practising

I used the following tracks so you guys could hear the compressor and tubes working on different sources. I grabbed a section of each track during the same 19sec timeline and butted them against each other. This way, you can listen to each individually and if you want to slice them and mix them together so you can see how they stack in a mix, you can do that as well (these were fed through the outputs of my Saffire 56 to the ProVLAII and back to the Line inputs of the Saffire 56 with 1/4" TRS patch cables):

Track Name...............time block
BassDI_06.wav..........00sec - 19sec
GtrDI_06.wav............19sec - 38sec
Kick_07.wav..............38sec - 57sec
LdVox.05_01.wav.......57sec - 1min16sec
DrRmRide_07.wav.......1min16sec-1min35sec

I ran each 1min35sec through the VLA II with two settings. I'm attaching photos of each setting as well as a diagram (the diagram indicates number of clicks from either max or min).
1st files the THRESHOLD +/- 12o'clock, RATIO +/- 12 o'clock, OUTPUT +/- 1 o'clock.
2nd files (with "a") THRESHOLD +/- 10 o'clock, RATIO +/- 3 o'clock, OUTPUT +/- 2:30.

Note:
All tubes were given at least 10mins to warm up (but more like 15-20)
All tubes were placed on Channel 1 of the ART Pro VLA II (I noticed that my channel 2 was noisier so all were place on channel 1)
All cables were plugged back after each tube swap in an identical setup as before when conducting the test.
The tube shields were always on both tubes while conducting the test.
Both Attack and Release were set to their minimum settings.

Let me know what you guys think.

[siniarch]

Tube photos - Pro VLA II internal photo - RNC internal photo

note:
I also uploaded a photo of the tubes that came from GS user BOWIE. 2 of those are intended for my Pro VLA II, 4 for my Sebatron VMP-4000, and one for my Alctron MP-100. I really liked working with BOWIE on these, I feel that I have clean sounding and low noise tubes thanks to buying from him. When I bought the tubes from Ebay, I wasn't sure if they were any good. Therefore I recommend working with him for your tube replacements.

[siniarch]

Project Photo

Note:
The raw files used are 44.1khz and the project is 48khz/24bit.

[Dot.]

interesting is there any way to get them packed in wave files? i have ART VLA II but i didnt fall in love with it, i like RNLA more over it. i still wanna try changing tubes and see what it can do.


Thanks

[siniarch]

the wave files are located here:
http://siniarchproductions.com/downl...tprovla-tubes/
post #4 also had this info just in case I'm re-posting it.

[Melvin III]

Wow this is a great thread! I was actually buying one of these units and changing the tubes

[siniarch]

Thanks Melvin.
Probably the best way to review this is by putting all tracks on your daw and a/b them.
Hope it helps.
Would love to hear which one you like better.

[frankencat]

Reaper

[Jose]

Good job man.

[siniarch]

Thanks guys. I see the files are no longer on my server. I'll look for them and repost them.