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Showing 1 of 12 conversations about:
Douk Audio P1 Tube Headphone Amp
SoundMix
55
Oct 21, 2020
Agree it "looks" cool. My advice avoid purchase on the cool factor. It has tubes. It will not be accurate. Tubes never are. DO some research. Tubes are obsolete, that is unless you want to be cool. That said, tubes do make nice hand warmers in cooler climates.
quicklytoo4
817
Keyboard Club Member
Oct 21, 2020
SoundMixnot obsolete, sure tubes are less accurate than solid state generally but when it's under 1% literally doesn't matter unless you have multi thousand dollar headphones which why would you pair such a expensive product with a cheap one lmao
TLemelin
165
Oct 21, 2020
SoundMixCurious why Schiit would use tubes on their higher end models if they're obsolete...
Brutus64
40
Oct 21, 2020
quicklytoo4What's wrong with this dude? Gotta love a stick in the mud.
InvisibleInk
118
Oct 21, 2020
SoundMixLove this "Hide Member's Posts" feature. Click on the 3 dots menu icon on the far right under his post and activate for this guy like I did.
Brutus64
40
Oct 21, 2020
InvisibleInkDone and done. 😊
Raiderx
67
Oct 21, 2020
SoundMixYou do realize people just like the characteristics of tubes and it's not always about what is the most accurate.
Ansrokash
21
Oct 21, 2020
SoundMixMan tubes can be one of the greatest things to wake up some headphones, or even speakers. I love my little dot mk II with those delicious cold war era Voshkod tubes.
They really bring out great qualities in my K7XX's and my pair of LSR305'S when I use the output. Though I'm not too sure of hybrid tube amps but if the Tube does do something to the sound in some way then that is great and what tubes are for. To put some funk and change in your sound, to give it a bit more flavor like salt and pepper on food. Gives it just that bit more that you can't get out of most solid states.
(Edited)
phoenixsong
1055
Oct 21, 2020
quicklytoo4Not true- 1% distortion will be quite apparent to most of us. Tubes do have a unique sound on top of their "cool factor", and when they're that inexpensive make for a tempting alternative
ElectronicVices
2940
Oct 21, 2020
RaiderxSome people have yet to progress far enough along the Dunning-Krueger graph to understand it's about their own personal enjoyment, not a search for universal truth about which gear is "better".
scruffy1
55
Oct 21, 2020
SoundMixhahahaha
you're not accurate; opinions never are
i'm happy with my alo panam and the nos ruski tubes; the focal elears sound better on that thing than any other dac / amp in the house (and there's quite a few)
edit : i take that back; with even further experience, they sound best with the nos french tubes (maybe being french they gain that certain "je ne sais quoi" ?)
(Edited)
quicklytoo4
817
Keyboard Club Member
Oct 22, 2020
phoenixsongtubes just flavor the sound it's not going to make you not hear a detail that you could hear otherwise (at least with the 20+ different headphones/IEM's I have tested personally)
phoenixsong
1055
Oct 22, 2020
quicklytoo4Oh I've heard more than that, and have met and discussed with many people over the years. In conclusion, the best sound is a very personal thing ;)
quicklytoo4
817
Keyboard Club Member
Oct 22, 2020
phoenixsongthe best sound is whatever you find enjoyable
SoundMix
55
Oct 24, 2020
TLemelinTo satisfy you in your quest to add distortion to clean sound.
(Edited)
SoundMix
55
Oct 24, 2020
scruffy1Duh... That's Russian.
SoundMix
55
Oct 24, 2020
quicklytoo4So you like distortion and muddy sound? Fine.
SoundMix
55
Oct 24, 2020
quicklytoo4Flavored with even harmonic distortion.
SoundMix
55
Oct 24, 2020
phoenixsongAgreed, sound appreciation is a personal matter. Sound accuracy is not.
SoundMix
55
Oct 24, 2020
ElectronicVicesSome of us make a living producing music and wish our product to be faithfully rendered and preserved so the listener may enjoy. If you want to muck it up with a tube... be my guest.
SoundMix
55
Oct 24, 2020
Brutus64You can't handle the truth. Apologies to Jack.
scruffy1
55
Oct 25, 2020
SoundMixand so you are trying to convince us to appreciate your personal appreciation ?
how very autistic of you, but i acknowledge that your perfection is not everyone else's, and sometimes it's okay to enjoy yourself rather than look at the readings
"Writing about music is like dancing about architecture."
ElectronicVices
2940
Oct 28, 2020
SoundMixGiven the amount of performance and studio gear that still involves tubes somewhere in the chain your cited experience appears to be limited. Plenty of guitar players use gear with tubes and plenty of electronic outfits love 70's effects, some people enjoy tube gear at home. In the end all of them are chasing a desired sound, none of them are "wrong" in their preferences.
One day I hope every audiophile comes to understand their own preferences, most are a lot happier once they do. (Hint: Audio doesn't really move that fast, don't fall for the latest release hype trains and never stop enjoying the music first, gear second)
(Edited)
SoundMix
55
Oct 28, 2020
scruffy1You miss the point entirely...I agree that listening is a personal endeavor. To me, listening with tubes is like putting a cloth over a statue. It masks. If you like listening or viewing art in that way , that's your business. I want to hear what the artist/artists intended without additional coloring no matter the degree. You have the right to add color as you wish. Some of these tube items are like coloring with crayons.
SoundMix
55
Oct 28, 2020
ElectronicVicesSome gear is better than no gear. I am not an audiophile. I am a professional audio engineer/producer with many years of experience. Just my opinion from that perspective.
TLemelin
165
Oct 28, 2020
SoundMixAny listening device (and to an extent, playing device) already colors the sound based on its own signature. My UEs sound different than my Shures sound different than my Aukeys. An amp may provide additional coloring, but with the added ability to tune the bass and treble at arms reach... I'm not sure how you feel you can go wrong with that.
Having said that, I've never heard tubes described as "covering" the sound. Yours is the first "review" (or description?) that makes this claim. It's possible that you know more about sound than everyone else that I've read... I suppose.
(Edited)
Brutus64
40
Oct 28, 2020
TLemelin....NOT!
scruffy1
55
Oct 29, 2020
SoundMixto me it's a matter of synergy
in any reproduction chain there will be individual colouration depending on the quality of the source, the dac chip, the amp, and the phones (or speakers)
as such, without using the same gear that the music was mastered on, the best you can hope for is a vague approximation of how it sounded to the engineer when they mixed it
and engineers aren't generic - some have strange enthusiasm for bass or other frequencies, probably consequent to their own acoustic limitations - individual hearing anomalies, industrial deafness from hanging our with loud music; as do the eventual target audience individuals
so the concept of "accurate reproduction" is somewhat a fantasy i believe
some things just sound "better" on different combinations of equipment; no single chain does every genre (or even different recordings of the same music) with the same excellence
dismissing "colouration" as distortion or even inferior is a big call, but i certainly agree that what you like hearing is a personal thing, but one man's mask is another man's hearing aid, and we all know how politically incorrect it is to call out a disability :)
RocknsouZa
5
Oct 29, 2020
SoundMixI think that the engineers at VTL, Audio Research and McIntosh have a different opinion about tubes being “obsolete”.
SoundMix
55
Nov 7, 2020
RocknsouZaDinosaurs all. Living in the past. Selling to ignorant audiophiles vs enlightened. Even in the 70's McIntosh sold solid state amps that sounded better than their tube amps. I tested them back then. I chose the their solid state amps for my studio. The tube amps did make nice hand warmers though.
(Edited)
thatchinaboi
0
Feb 10, 2021
SoundMixThe effect of a tube preamp really depends on a number of factors, such as type of tubes and the design and implementation of the tube preamp. It doesn't necessarily color the sound to change the sound signature. I am an audio engineer and for my studio setup I have the Douk Audio P1 Tube Preamp with a pair of matched Voskhod 6n1p tubes going to my studio monitors. This particular setup in my system doesn't change the sound signature in anyway. It just gives the music a slightly lifelike quality while remaining totally neutral and transparent. :)
SoundMix
55
Feb 20, 2021
thatchinaboiI'm an Engineer also. Audio Engineer, Recording Engineer, Mix Engineer, Producer. All tubes change the "sound signature" that is, they add mostly even harmonic distortion, while degrading further over a short period of time. That is why people use them and many love them. If you like them, enjoy. But don't mislead people here with BS about them not coloring sound. "a slightly lifelike quality while remaining totally neutral and transparent" Really!? So according to you, tubes ADD a lifelike quality, but are still neutral, because they add nothing?!??!? The lifelike quality you describe is distortion by definition. By the way, there are many modern circuits/plugins that can be used to mimic tubes without all the inherent disadvantages. I use these tools in the studio occasionally. With exception to guitar amps, I haven't seen a tube used in an professional application/studio for 40 years. Some Engineers/Producers, like me, will add synthetic tube sound colorings to elements in our mixes. If you want to hear what we intended, don't listen thru tubes. If you want to exaggerate what we intended, by all means consider tubes.
thatchinaboi
0
Feb 20, 2021
SoundMixYou are a fucking moron. I never claimed they don't color the sound. Learn to read before replying like a douchebag. And no, I wouldn't want to hire you as an audio engineer, if you can't master basic reading comprehension.
thatchinaboi
0
Feb 20, 2021
SoundMixKey word you overlooked in your haste to presume I don't know the basics of valve amplification.. NECESSARILY. Additionally, you seem to have confused sound signature for frequency response. Do all tubes NECESSARILY change the sound signature? The answer is a definite no. Do all tubes NECESSARILY alter the frequency response in varying degrees? Yes.
(Edited)
thatchinaboi
0
Feb 20, 2021
scruffy1The audio engineer douchebag tried his bullshit on me by trying to correct something I didn't actually say, only to reveal he doesn't know the difference between sound signature and frequency response. 😂😂😂
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