Discussion of the musicians preference of the older type instruments "sound quality"

Thread Starter

PatrickMalarkey

Joined Oct 2, 2021
120
Tube/FET amplification, coupling/bypass capacitance and distortion towards a basic sine-wave form caused by passive devices used along with a substantial resistance? And my invitation to IanO for commenting. All in the quest for even better musical enjoyment.
 

crutschow

Joined Mar 14, 2008
34,280
For accurate amplification of the signal, nothing can beat a well designed sold-state amp.
Some like the "tube" sound (which is fine) but that's not the most accurate amplification of the signal.
 

Papabravo

Joined Feb 24, 2006
21,158
Basically what is right is whatever pleases you. Some swear by tube amps. Some people like oxygen free cables. Some like Gibson while others like Fender. Choose whatever you want but don't preach about here it because it really doesn't make any difference.
Yup. It is all a matter of personal taste. I spent a little over a year in the high end audio market and it amazed me how much the gullible were willing to spend on "superior electronics" based on 30 year old processors and DSP chips. Actually it was a little bit like the auto industry. It takes so long to develop a product, they have to sell over a period of decades to recoup their costs. It is so bad that the original engineers have long since moved on or retired and some poor shulb (aka yours truly) has to wade through a scanty pile of bread crumbs just to keep production going.
 
Last edited:

Thread Starter

PatrickMalarkey

Joined Oct 2, 2021
120
Can I ask for a vote from the first 10 to 20 musicians. What kind of instruments would you rather play, old sound, modern sound, or either.
 

eetech00

Joined Jun 8, 2013
3,857
Most musicians (including myself) prefer “analog” sound. They like the harmonics contained in sound from tube amplifiers.
What they don’t want is noise in the signal. I stay away from digital sound for instruments as much as practical.
 

Papabravo

Joined Feb 24, 2006
21,158
Most musicians (including myself) prefer “analog” sound. They like the harmonics contained in sound from tube amplifiers.
What they don’t want is noise in the signal. I stay away from digital sound for instruments as much as practical.
I agree that hearing a live performance (analog) is quite superior to any form of recorded playback (analog or digital).
 

Thread Starter

PatrickMalarkey

Joined Oct 2, 2021
120
Most musicians (including myself) prefer “analog” sound. They like the harmonics contained in sound from tube amplifiers.
What they don’t want is noise in the signal. I stay away from digital sound for instruments as much as practical.
That's what I'm told by two musicians and my preference for the non-linear FET amplification of vintage receivers. Agreed on all points, you're #3 musicians preferring older style instruments
 

Ramussons

Joined May 3, 2013
1,404
Some enjoy music because it is pleasing to the their ear.
Others enjoy because it comes from a "high" end system.
Take your pick.
Afterall, the truth of the pudding is in the eating.
 

Thread Starter

PatrickMalarkey

Joined Oct 2, 2021
120
Most musicians (including myself) prefer “analog” sound. They like the harmonics contained in sound from tube amplifiers.
What they don’t want is noise in the signal. I stay away from digital sound for instruments as much as practical.
Electronics Engineering Technician00? It might be possible to straighten the Transconductance Curve of an FET by using a similar circuit to the bipolar Darlington Amplifier configuration with two FETs or MosFETs. By doing so, the asymmetrical aspects of FET amplification should be reduced and by the use of voltage divider biasing of the gates, "clipping" as one person terms it, should be eliminated completely. The aim is to maintain the harmonics of non-linear amplification while upping the volume of the music.
 

Ian0

Joined Aug 7, 2020
9,667
It might be possible to straighten the Transconductance Curve of an FET by using a similar circuit to the bipolar Darlington Amplifier configuration with two FETs or MosFETs. By doing so, the asymmetrical aspects of FET amplification should be reduced and by the use of voltage divider biasing of the gates, "clipping" as one person terms it, should be eliminated completely. The aim is to maintain the harmonics of non-linear amplification while upping the volume of the music.
I doubt it, as you are putting two junctions in series. A long-tailed pair might, as it subtracts one Vbe from the other.
There's an interesting section in Blencowe Designing High-Fidelity Tube Preamps on distortion cancellation, which might interest you.B08459B5-C1D0-41E5-A05F-557C65BBAC2D.jpegE32C4D0A-C6A1-417E-A69C-5E1B3CD81F89.jpeg
 

BobTPH

Joined Jun 5, 2013
8,806
Hey, Ray Davies of the Kinks went to great trouble to invent that distorted sound

“A little later, I was very depressed and fooling around with a razor blade. I could easily have slashed my wrists, but I had a little green amplifier, an Elpico, that was sounding crap. I thought, "I'll teach it" – and slashed the speaker cone. It changed the sound of my guitar. Then, when I wired that amp up to another, a Vox AC30, it made it a lot, lot louder.“

The sound of the slashed-up Elpico was the breakthrough that the song needed. Shel Talmy took it and ran with it, using his own studio expertise to further amplify Dave’s already thunderous sound:
The original fuzz sound

And rock and roll was changed forever....

Listen

Bob
 
Top