Hi there
I own a Studer D19 2 channel valve preamp. I read somewhere it's being used by some mastering houses and they recommended putting your mix through it (it gives the track that elusive fatness everyone is chasing).
So I've tried it and it does indeed add a tighter bottom end and a more refined high end by using the 'bass warmth' button and 'angel zoom' but here's my question:
My understanding is the valves add harmonic distortion right? With valves, is'nt there a danger of potentially ruining a track fx by driving it too hard? Also, how does it actually work technically? Why does valve distortion work on a track when what we're actually trying to get is a clean polished sound?

the tubes warm the sound up
as long as you use good tubes low noise then you still have clean but warm
adds harmonic distortion good to the ears

Totally dependent on the gear -- The vast majority of "toob" gear out there doesn't do anything at all to the sound.

I actually know of a guy or two that pops the tubes out of a lot of "budget friendly" gear and jumps the connections with paper clips (and of course, the unit works just fine).


THAT ALL SAID: The D19 is a decent piece. If you observe proper gain staging with it, you might find it useful in some applications.

Personally, if you want "warm" I'd start looking at quality solid-state, transformer-based units.

Thanks for the feedback. I've done a few experiements and yes it does work on some applications. Considering buying a compressor as well, possibly TL audio C1

quote:

Originally posted by John Scrip:

Personally, if you want "warm" I'd start looking at quality solid-state, transformer-based units.

Ha. Thats pretty funny...and very true.