The RMS5A7 Tubule from Roll Music Systems - Any Users?

[Trakworx]

AFAIK this is the only single-slot 500 series tube pre. Am I Wrong?

Roll Music Systems

Any user opinions would be appreciated!

J~

[Trakworx]

ANY users out there?

[jefflaur1]

Got three of them from Rich at Lunchbox audio. I am a fan of a tube sound. If I am using a tube mic, I'll opt for a solid state preamp like the Avedis MA5. For our VoiceOver work..national TV spots and trailer work, we like the sound of a Sennheiser shotgun mic, and these tube preamps for the 500 rack. Seriously terrific. Don't know how Roll Music did it, but the tube doesn't sap the power from the rack, and provides a really nice tube sound that is adjustable with input gain. Using a high end condenser mic with this preamp is MONEY! Love them! get them! Clean, and warm..also punchy and bright.

[Trakworx]

Wow, it took 3 weeks to find a single user. I had given up. These things are like some kind of secret. They look interesting. Thanks for your impressions!

[wxyz]

Secret weapon...sweet with a U95.

[dandeurloo]

yeah these are sweet! you should have one for sure. Its great to have for vocals and bass and the random other stuff. Pairs are even better but 1 would get you down the road for the color of it on key tracks.

[ulysses]

It's true the Tubule isn't too famous yet. But it seems everybody who has one (or more) loves it. We've had very positive feedback about it. We're just a small company without a lot of marketing capital. We try to make our products work well and sound good first, then worry (or not) about selling them. Not a recipe for overnight world domination, I know.

[Trakworx]

Originally Posted by ulysses

It's true the Tubule isn't too famous yet. But it seems everybody who has one (or more) loves it. We've had very positive feedback about it. We're just a small company without a lot of marketing capital. We try to make our products work well and sound good first, then worry (or not) about selling them. Not a recipe for overnight world domination, I know.

Hey, thanks for chiming in!

I have a question. Your site says:

"For the cleanest tones, keep the input attenuator up and the gain control low. For more rich tube coloration, engage the input pad and turn the attenuator down in order to use a higher gain setting without overloading the Tubule or other devices in the signal chain."

Does this mean that the 20dB pad and the variable 10dB attenuator knob are actually after the gain control in the signal path? It's a little confusing to me because I'd think they would be called output pad and output attenuator in that case.

[ulysses]

No, the input pad comes first, then the transformer, then the input attenuator, and then the tube. The gain control is wrapped around the tube amplifier, so it's the last control in the Tubule's signal path.

A lot of people think you get more coloration from having a higher signal level, but that will usually just give you clipping, which is the wrong kind of coloration. Higher gain settings sound more colored not because of the higher output level, but because the amplifier is operating differently. In most feedback-controlled amps, gain is increased by reducing the amount of feedback. This means that at higher gain settings, the amplifier is less linear.

So when you want more coloration, your best practice will be to reduce the input signal, allowing a higher gain setting without clipping. This applies not only to the Tubule, but to many (most?) other preamps as well.

[Trakworx]

Thanks that is very interesting.

I own a bunch of outboard preamps, some of which have only 1 knob per channel (Fearn VT-2, RCA OP-6, Ampex 350) but most have 2 knobs - first an input (gain) and an output (passive attenuator) at the end. I'm pretty sure my Neve 31105s, UA 1108s, Langevin AM16s, AEA RPQ and Burl B1s are all set up that way. But the Tubule is the other way around - it has input attenuators and the output is actually the amplifier part. So when you attenuate the input you are making the amplifier work harder to boost the signal, and that is where the color comes from, correct?