Tube mic vs mic plus tube pre question

homestudioguy · 18th December 2005

What is the difference between having a good tube mic vs having a good non-tube mic with a good tube pre?

Carlos Boll · 18th December 2005

Is this a trick question?

Do you mean to say how is the 'tube'ness of a non-tube mic through a tube mic pre compared to a tube mic through the same pre?

It would all depend on what they are and what you are recording.

Dot · 18th December 2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by homestudioguy

What is the difference between having a good tube mic vs having a good non-tube mic with a good tube pre?

The difference is precisely that. You already answered your own question.

Having a good tube mic is having a good tube mic.
Not having a tube mic is not having a good tube mic.
Having a good tube pre is having a good tube pre.

That's pretty much it.

Beauarts · 18th December 2005

Worry about getting the best quality mic and micpre. Sometimes it's a tube based one, sometimes not.

I do some location recordings when I shlep alot of equipment. I don't take the telefunken v76 + v72s for one reason because the rack they're in is somewhat fragile. I still make wonderful recrdings and never feel the lack(with John Hardy, API, and Phoenix Audio pres).

When I'm at home, the v76 is my 1st choice.

pan60 · 18th December 2005

what sound are you looking for, a tube sound?
i'll take a good non tube mic over a cheap tube mic any-day, same goes for the pre.
i believe more often then not the TUBE SOUND many are looking for is mistaken for iron.
but this is only my opinion.

orange · 18th December 2005

I think that the OP needs to have a tube in the chain somewhere and want's to know where to put it ?!?

The real question is why he needs to have a tube in the circuit - as if a tube will make sh*t gear great and lack of tube makes great gear sh*t. In these kind of applications tubes don't necessarily have a 'sound' any more than different opamps have a 'sound'. Just pick the right gear for the job, tube or not.

My question is:

Which sounds better an old silver mic plugged into a new green mic cable or a new black mic plugged into an old red mic cable ?

Fletcher · 18th December 2005

Toob is not a species... it's part of a topology. Tube, not tube... the sound of the unit will depend on the entire design not just the amplification engine.

Is the toob mic really a tube mic or is the glowy thing feeding a solid state circuit? Does the mic have an output transformer? If so, how does that transformer affect the sound? Does the pre-amp have an input transformer? If so, how does that transformer affect the sound? Do any of the effects suit your sense of aesthetic.

Do you want me to go on with the few hundred variables and permutations of this crap? ... or have you kinda figured out that your question has no answer that isn't entirely full of shit?

Buzz words/myths/morons who work at Banjo Mart be damned... unless you actually listen to this stuff for yourself and make your own calls you're clueless and fukked.

Best of luck with the search.

warhead · 18th December 2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Labs

I will go meditate to find the answer.

Gustav

Back yet?

pan60 · 18th December 2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fletcher

Banjo Mart be damned... you're clueless and fukked.

clueless
clueless and fukked.

Nerve Nickels · 18th December 2005

18th December 2005	#1
homestudioguy Gear addict Joined: Nov 2005 Posts: 488 Thread Starter	Tube mic vs mic plus tube pre question What is the difference between having a good tube mic vs having a good non-tube mic with a good tube pre? __________________ HSG http://www.homestudioguy.com

18th December 2005	#2
Carlos Boll Gear addict Joined: May 2003 Location: Atlanta Posts: 442	Is this a trick question? Do you mean to say how is the 'tube'ness of a non-tube mic through a tube mic pre compared to a tube mic through the same pre? It would all depend on what they are and what you are recording. __________________ Carlos Boll

18th December 2005	#5
pan60 500 series nutjob Joined: Nov 2004 Location: 500 series Guru SKANK! ; ) Posts: 10,940	what sound are you looking for, a tube sound? i'll take a good non tube mic over a cheap tube mic any-day, same goes for the pre. i believe more often then not the TUBE SOUND many are looking for is mistaken for iron. but this is only my opinion. __________________ www.pan60.com Pan60 Facebook Page Pan's Facebook BLAST PAD Inventor just one invention among others. A CHARTER MEMBER OF THE 500 FORMAT, MAFIA it is easy to sound as though one was endowed with great intelligence, whilst speaking amongst a crowd of total morons

18th December 2005	#7
Fletcher member no 666 Joined: Jun 2002 Location: Durham, NC Posts: 10,110	Toob is not a species... it's part of a topology. Tube, not tube... the sound of the unit will depend on the entire design not just the amplification engine. Is the toob mic really a tube mic or is the glowy thing feeding a solid state circuit? Does the mic have an output transformer? If so, how does that transformer affect the sound? Does the pre-amp have an input transformer? If so, how does that transformer affect the sound? Do any of the effects suit your sense of aesthetic. Do you want me to go on with the few hundred variables and permutations of this crap? ... or have you kinda figured out that your question has no answer that isn't entirely full of shit? Buzz words/myths/morons who work at Banjo Mart be damned... unless you actually listen to this stuff for yourself and make your own calls you're clueless and fukked. Best of luck with the search. __________________ CN Fletcher Professional Affiliations: R/E/P Professional Recording Engineer and Producer forums - serious hobbyists welcome SoundPure.com mwagener wrote on Sat, 11 September 2004 14:33 We are selling emotions, there are no emotions in a grid Roscoe Ambel once said: Pro-Tools is to audio what fluorescent is to light

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18th December 2005	#4
Beauarts Gear addict Joined: Jan 2003 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 380	Worry about getting the best quality mic and micpre. Sometimes it's a tube based one, sometimes not. I do some location recordings when I shlep alot of equipment. I don't take the telefunken v76 + v72s for one reason because the rack they're in is somewhat fragile. I still make wonderful recrdings and never feel the lack(with John Hardy, API, and Phoenix Audio pres). When I'm at home, the v76 is my 1st choice.

18th December 2005	#6
orange Lives for gear Joined: Jul 2004 Location: London Posts: 1,688	I think that the OP needs to have a tube in the chain somewhere and want's to know where to put it ?!? The real question is why he needs to have a tube in the circuit - as if a tube will make sht gear great and lack of tube makes great gear sht. In these kind of applications tubes don't necessarily have a 'sound' any more than different opamps have a 'sound'. Just pick the right gear for the job, tube or not. My question is: Which sounds better an old silver mic plugged into a new green mic cable or a new black mic plugged into an old red mic cable ?

18th December 2005	#10
Nerve Nickels Gear maniac Joined: Sep 2004 Location: New York, New York Posts: 275

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