We always hear about the “tube sound“, which is hot, sexy and you know what. Will it be true?
There’s probably some truth to it, without mythologizing. For what reason?
Trying to avoid falling into Alice’s hole of esoteric sound discussions, there are practical reasons why we talk about transistor or tube sound, and their differences in terms of audio.
Furthermore, a good tube audio amplifier costs much more than a transistor one (but not mandatory).
When talking about tube vs transistor sound, it is easy to fall into strange discussions that are not always scientific, but in general tube sound is attributed a special quality in terms of perception.
So I asked myself how to insert and check whether there really is an advantage or not in inserting valves into my mix chain? And how to do it without having to sell a kidney?
I’m a DIY enthusiast, so I started looking around for some inexpensive (very inexpensive) kit suitable for the experiment. Ultimately all I need is what’s called a buffer, one which has a stereo input and output.
Look here, look there in the end I bought a Chinese buffer on a famous Chinese e-commerce (you can guess which one…) for 11 euros. Since I was in the mood for crazy expenses, I also bought a plexiglass box to house the kit, which is always better to have a home, like all electrical things.
Subsequently I also started changing tubes, which is one of the favorite rituals of audiophiles, but this is not important.
At this point I connected the line output of my sound card to the buffer input, and the buffer output to the stereo input of the sound card to make a loop and I mixed the original signal with that of the buffer. Harder said than done.
This buffer requires to be powered by 12 volts AC, so check that you have a suitable power supply at home, AC is not so common.
In any case there are many different types of buffers, you don’t necessarily have to buy the cheapest one like I did, just search for “diy tube buffer” or similar.
Works? It does not work? In my
opinion yes, it works, especially on the vocals it adds something that makes them more distinct in the mix. But that’s just my opinion, after all it costs little to try.
I forgot: in the kit I used, the input and output pins are not indicated, they are in the instructions printed in small letters only in Chinese… when you try to locate them, keep the volume low.
The circuit is a bit noisy, but you can find indications on some audio forums on how to reduce it, if you decide to use the buffer permanently.
Have fun.
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