super bad latency to headphones

[alatham]

I use the ART tube pre-amp. I love it.

Koz, your criticisms of tube equipment are generally correct, but there's one thing you should know about the ART pre-amp:

It's designed with very different circuitry than what is usually used in Tube equipment. The Tube is run at 12 volts instead of the usual 150+ volts. You're right that it is only used to color the sound, not as the power amp that the 12AX7 was designed for. Because of this, the tube is expected to last for many dozens of years. The actual amplifying, as you said, is handled by solid-state equipment.

The noise on it obviously depends on how much gain you're asking it for, but when I use it with my AKG C1000S (set up for vocals and/or acoustic guitar) the noise floor is below -96dB.

I suspect the reason it's so cheap is because the company is aiming for the burgeoning home studio market. Most of the other companies are only starting to come around to this market. ART probably (just guessing here) keep the costs down by using solid state parts that were top of the line 5-10 years ago. It's also very bare-bones (no EQ, no VU meter, etc). Adding all that extra stuff to a pre-amp increases the total noise, so you have to go back and put more money into the basic amp circuit.

The costs on equipment like this is high not because it needs to be, but because the classic buyer was a recording studio with tons of money. But the market is changing. With more demand, the costs will be coming down (we can see this happening already).

mentalpygmie,

12AX7 tubes are currently easy to find, but that might not always be the case. I think there is only one factory in Russia that still makes them. That said, for a $45 piece of equipment it's not a big deal at the moment. I'm glad you like the pre-amp.

[Huzz]

Hey guys,

I enjoy my Tube MP a lot as well. I just wanted to let you know that I think 4 factories in Russia are still making tubes and I believe that China has entered the fray as well. Tube amps are still greatly desired by us guitar players and I think that this will keep them on the market for a good while. 12AX7 tubes are very popular preamp tubes and any Guitar Center will probably have a big cardboard box behind their register full of them. All this being said, a preamp tube that is being pushed lightly might outlive you anyway.