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i have already said how much dynatube sounds great... For this very reason i definitly want to register the direct sound from dyantubeAND the dynatube sound through a real guitar amp (with the right mic in front).

What would be your advise for this? I don't want to throw money as dynatube gives me the sound itself. I "just" want the speaker sound so i suppose the amp can be "small" (30w?) and rather neutral, in order to keep the dynatube features safe...

Any idea?

I've been looking for a 'small' amp recently and found all the typical 'practicing' stuff with it's internal fx/simulations horrible, to say at least...

I ended with an Ibanez Valbee as it's (I considered it...) a pretty simple 12AX7 doubletriode, 6LG6 5Watt endtube design.
Pretty versatile with FX loop, record out, headphone after the output transformer etc, less than 200 Euro - easy to mod... LOL

well, I'm almost happy with it but the speaker (though not bad) seems a bit shoebox-like, not much 'charcter'.
As it was mentioned that it can easily drive a bigger one with improved sound, I'm about to replace it with an old Eminence driver.

BUT (if you consider this amp) test the unit in the shop and buy only the one you listened to.
THAT is NOT classical tube design with easy to mod chassis construction etc - it's a pita to work on (as someone on the net named it).

The main point is that obviously the 2 halves of the metal enclosre have different ground level and MUST BE isolated from each other.
But the isolation is just the color coating...
My model was 100Hz plus overtone nailing as hell in the shop, which I assumed was due to a lot of cables and a gear mess in the test environment. WRONG.
A little bit of hum resulted from the tube heating.

After properly isolating the 2 chassis halves and a small cap between chassis and heating the box is dead silent now. Just the faint noise of the input stage if cranked full up, no hum whatsoever - exactly as mentioned in some reviews on the net.

I really like it's tone from the clean channel and it should fit your application.
The distortion channel is a simple diode clipper, a matter of taste.
A bit lengthy, but afaik there are few amp designs in this price range (under 200) that can compete regarding sound quality.
Just pay attention that it doesn't have the nailing PSU noise.
It's easily distinguished from what the guitar picks up as it's present without anything connected and independant from gain and volume.

cheers, Tom

cool. Well i thought initially that building a cab added to a amp head was worth it. But, it is quite expensive and hard to match heads and cabs...

I think that as mentionned, it is important to chose a speaker quite large if a mic must be put in front of it (like for bass guitar recordings).

I was just wondring if i can root the signal like this : guitar-in soundcard-dynatube-out soundcard-in guitar amp ? I mean is the signal which goes out the soundcard comparable to that of a guitar?

Jo

of course it is not - that signal path is supposed to produce a 'guitar through an amp' sound, intended to avoid mics and cbs at all.
They model that stuff, so it's easier to setup and less expensive.

As you like Dynatube's sound quality, there isn't much to improve in the output stage.
But a good input preamp with high impedance (also named hi-z) is very important.
You probably have a good micpre already, so all that's need is the impedance conversion from high (guitar) to low (mic-pre).

There are active DI boxes supposed do this job ultra-clean, and passive ones with expensive transformers inside.
The latter fact will be mentioned on the pack by names like Jensen etc. Usually those color the signal in a much appreciated way, but they ARE expensive.
Avoid cheapo transformers, while cheapo active DIs may be appropriate (a quality transformer is more than 20 times as expensive as an opamp)

cheers, Tom

Hi,

I'm using a behringer Tube Ultragain MIC200 preamp and directly from them to the A16 input.

My setup for guitar recording is :

Guitar -> MIC200 -> A16 -> Dynatube -> recording software/VDAT


My amps are getting covered with dust since I got dynatube



Cheers!

Raul

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: rdavidovich on 2006-08-10 07:41 ]</font>

very intersting information indeed... i have only used a preamp dedicated to voices. So i am going to look after this gear. Thanks a lot ! Other experiences with dynatube are welcome...

Jo

hey rdavidovich (damn i am french too... what a weird name man ! ),

Have you noticed a difference between your MIC200 and a "classic" preamp ? I will send you a PM in order that we can talk in french about the sound you get. Thanks !

Jonathan

Try miking the Dynatube output from your studio monitors. You'll get the sound of the mic, mic placement, & mic pre this way. That can add a lot, especially if you've got ribbon mics available to you.