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>Classic tube guitar amps got a lot of their tone from the phase splitter, power amp tubes, and power amp transformers. 100% this. A tube gain stage in isolati

>Classic tube guitar amps got a lot of their tone from the phase splitter, power amp tubes, and power amp transformers. 100% this. A tube gain stage in isolation isn't especially difficult to imitate using solid-state electronics or DSP, but sounds nothing like a tube amp. >Utility for guitar amps would be for "hybrid" amps with a tube preamp and tone circuit feeding a solid-state power amp. The Vox MV50 amps make a decent attempt at this, pairing a Nutube with a class D power stage. It's tiny, it's reasonably loud and it sounds pretty good. I suspect the lack of interest from other manufacturers is mainly due to cost; for the price of a single Nutube module, you could add a decent DSP chip and gain a whole bunch of extra functionality. An ornamental 12AX7 and an orange LED has better showroom appeal and costs significantly less. Purists will still want real tubes and real transformers, budget-oriented players will want an amp with all the DSP bells and whistles, leaving the Nutube caught in an uncomfortably narrow niche.

WalterBright 8y ago
I don't understand why a tube's profile cannot be emulated with a DSP and so be indistinguishable.
- Filligree 8y ago
  Oh, it absolutely can. The target market for tubes isn't people who do double blind tests, though.
  - ehnto 8y ago
    They want tubes and the tube sound, not just the sound. I can understand, it's a matter if authenticity rather than practicality. Just like a kit car replica versus an original car. The original will always be more authentic, and there will be some who care more than others.
- Applejinx 8y ago
  Indistinguishable is a mighty strong word. We haven't completely mastered digital audio and to think we have is foolish (I do DSP for digital audio for a living, I'm Chris from Airwindows) Also, a tube has absolutely no latency.
  - TimTheTinker 8y ago
    > a tube has absolutely no latency I think that's the primary key here. We can decently emulate a tube amp in software even (and that can improve indefinitely as our knowledge improves), but we'll never create drop-in circuit element emulators either in silicon or software without adding latency.
- jgalentine007 8y ago
  As far as guitar tube amps go - check out a Kemper Profiler or Fractal Audio system, it's pretty much there. That said, I'd take the pure simplicity of a nice tube amp any day.

WalterBright 8y ago

I don't understand why a tube's profile cannot be emulated with a DSP and so be indistinguishable.

Filligree 8y ago
Oh, it absolutely can. The target market for tubes isn't people who do double blind tests, though.
- ehnto 8y ago
  They want tubes and the tube sound, not just the sound. I can understand, it's a matter if authenticity rather than practicality. Just like a kit car replica versus an original car. The original will always be more authentic, and there will be some who care more than others.
Applejinx 8y ago
Indistinguishable is a mighty strong word. We haven't completely mastered digital audio and to think we have is foolish (I do DSP for digital audio for a living, I'm Chris from Airwindows) Also, a tube has absolutely no latency.
- TimTheTinker 8y ago
  > a tube has absolutely no latency I think that's the primary key here. We can decently emulate a tube amp in software even (and that can improve indefinitely as our knowledge improves), but we'll never create drop-in circuit element emulators either in silicon or software without adding latency.
jgalentine007 8y ago
As far as guitar tube amps go - check out a Kemper Profiler or Fractal Audio system, it's pretty much there. That said, I'd take the pure simplicity of a nice tube amp any day.