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Post by bowie on Mar 13, 2024 14:24:34 GMT -6
Definitely not "funny", more along the lines of a creepy coincidence; It was around 2001, and I was starting to get paid recording gigs. I met an older musician who wanted to shift into producing and after hearing my work he hired me as his engineer. At a remote gig, recording a church choir, he and a silver haired lady in the choir kept looking at each other oddly. It was getting weird and he was really uncomfortable. During a break, she came up to the desk and said to him, "I know you from Michael's, 20 years ago?". As it turns out, they both worked on the Thriller video as dancers, and as backup singers for Michael (maybe on the tour, I don't recall). They talked about how creeped out they were being in Michael's house for rehearsals, and how they were certain he "did it" (referring to old molestation accusations from the 90's that most people had forgot about). This was right before it became a hot news topic in the 2000's so it was shocking to hear people say these things. They both recounted the same stories. Please don't ask me to repeat as I don't want liability. I'll just say it sounded insane at the time, but that would change as the topic got into the news.
To me, it was a strange coincidence that they should re-unite in a musical capacity, at a small church in Phoenix two decades later and recognize each other despite looking wildly different than they did at the time of the video. It was also weird how the reunion was almost like a funeral rather than "Hey, remember when we worked on the most iconic music video of all time and made a ton of money?" It seems the MJ stuff truly bothered them.
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Post by bowie on Mar 3, 2024 13:25:13 GMT -6
I did testing a number of years back before I made cables for my entire studio and I couldn't measure a difference. I'm not sure that I was paying a lot of attention to 96k but I recall the testing putting my worries to bed. That said, I had no noise benefits from the star quad either (in my application) so I went with standard for most and made a pair w/ quad in case some situation came up. There's a LOT of other things in your signal chain that will affect the highs more than star quad vs standard twisted pair.
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Post by bowie on Feb 22, 2024 16:45:55 GMT -6
Thinking about things as being solid state or tube is not something I recommend. You'll see online stores and content creators speaking in these terms for people new to the field because it's easy to digest. And, and there was a time, a few decades ago, where there was a distinct line between the two. With modern gear, there's no such thing. Some of the most colorful mic pres and mics I've ever owned have been solid state. The cleanest EQs and mic pres I've owned have been tube. You are much better off evaluating each piece of gear for what it is, in practice, not in theory. Hell, we even have accurate sounding ribbon mics these days so the stereotypes just don't work like they used to.
Also, I find a lot of new engineers try to figure it all out on paper. Adding a warm __ + a clean ___ = balanced tone. It really doesn't work as we're dealing in music and tastes vary wildly. Your ideal acoustic sound isn't the same as mine, or the next guy. I always recommend listening to your recordings and making decisions based on where you want to go from there. Do you need more overtones and "warmth"? Maybe a faster response and more top end detail? Knowing where you are at and where you want to go lets you make better gear choices rather than following rules that have no substance.
I hope that doesn't sound presumptuous or condescending. It's just a conversation I have a lot with people as much of the info out there can be confusing and conflicting.
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Post by bowie on Feb 19, 2024 14:15:30 GMT -6
Without knowing how your recording differs from his, I'd just be giving blind advice. If you choose to post your own clip I think you'd get a lot of good feedback.
And, FWIW, the nature of his acoustic tracks doesn't seem to be down to just a specific guitar model. You can get that exact model and not get his sound. I own a lot of nice acoustics so don't take it as me dismissing how important the guitars are. But, if you do acoustic guitar comparisons with the same mic position, they usually function in the same way. Changing the mic positions is what really alters the presentation.
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Post by bowie on Jan 27, 2024 19:15:35 GMT -6
For more brilliant, rich tones, Newtone Masterclass from the UK are the best I've found. The last much longer than the standard Martins and D'Addarios (which I like on the 2nd and 3rd day, but not outside that narrow window), though not as long as a coated string. I'll string them up just for recording. The Santa Cruz low-tensions have a wonderful wound string because they behave more like classical strings. Less boom and more of a long-sustaining purr. They barely change in tone as well and last ridiculously long. The crazy price is actually offset by the lifespan. That's really important to me as I hate spending time changing strings. The SCGC helped me get off the Elixirs, which I had a love/hate relationship with.
String choices vary so much though. My Waterloo WL-S sounds amazing with the 4 year old strings it has on it now. Just the nature of that guitar. The dead strings let your fingers express so much through that instrument because then the sound isn't showered in overtones. I find my dreads are the opposite, they sound like big cardboard boxes when the strings dull. Trying different strings is a lot of fun (even though the changing them part isn't). I have shoeboxes full of various strings, some I haven't even tried yet.
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Post by bowie on Jan 24, 2024 1:34:04 GMT -6
Tubes are usually sold as "tested" but that doesn't mean that they are (spoiler; they often aren't). It's about as scammy a market as unearthed artifacts because buyers cant tell if the seller is lying or not, or maybe just clueless. Old tube testers don't help. I could probably go on ebay right now and, within 10min, find a dozen listings where sellers w/ 100% positive feedback are lying (either selling used tubes as NOS in the wrong box, or selling something as a Mullard/Telefunken/etc when it was not made by those companies). It's unreal what goes on there. Expect to get ripped off. I'm a so-called expert and I still get ripped off. I just received a case of 50 NOS tubes from Europe that was misrepresented by a large parts supplier. That's a months pay gone. It can be tedious and expensive to go through them and, depending how picky you are, end up with a few quiet ones. As far as the safety of the mic, it depends on the circuit. I don't like to leave potentially dead tubes running because I've measured power supplies while this is happening, just to see, and the filament voltage can sometimes go to scary levels. They usually won't "wake up" but you can try a couple things to see if there's hope. One is scrubbing the pins until they shine. A spray won't do it, you need to physically remove the oxidation. You can also try to seat them at an angle. Even though it seems impossible that a tube could be inserted and not make contact, it happens. Many sockets these days have poor tolerances and the oversized pins of the stock tubes stretch the terminals even further. Vintage tube pins are slim and sometimes don't connect. To remedy, tilt the tube at a slight angle (think; leaning tower) to force contact. Just don't let it touch the body of the mic or you'll get hum. Thank you so much. Great lesson from a master teacher. I started working on pins with "gold" sand paper which I use on my guitar frets but stopped as I was unsure. I will try out your tips and report back. I'm sorry to hear about your situation with the tubes. Someone on another forum referred me to a dealer in Turkey who 'sells old NATO" stock. I don't go for that spiel and think this guy is unloading pulls from companies like Telefunken, Tesla, etc. The only reason I bought the tubes from the guy I did is because I had a good experience with 3 Japanese 12ax7 I had got from him for a guitar amp. After he refused communication with the EF86 situation, I will never go the Ebay route again. I also recently, not recently enough though, learned that many Ebayers actually can buy positive feedback. Something I had never known. Bowie: May I contact you privately? Yes, absolutely. Regarding stock from other countries, you never know unless you get a significant amount of product from them. There was a time when governments were releasing military stock to the public but most of those supplies have been well picked-through, or they're antiquated types and no longer useable in todays' gear. It's possible to buy an NOS case of rejects that someone else already went through. Most of the tubes out there now are salvage. EU and other parts of the world have been really good about recycling electronics. But, this means that there's masses of used pulls on the market now. Pulls aren't always bad. Some of my best tubes are from NOS surplus equipment and modules that went unused for decades. But, it takes knowledge and good equipment to know what state they are in. Old tube testers often rate everything like "new" so even honest sellers can get it wrong. About buying feedback, yes, that's pretty much standard in online retail now. I know a youtuber who sells one of these "Get Rich On Amazon" courses and one of normal practices is buying feedback. Some companies use a "seeding" system where you are given products to try so long as you leave a review but. That's used as a legal work-around. But, if you don't leave positive reviews you might not be sent any more products to try. Ask me how I learned that one. I think people sort of expect a trading of good for press at this point. I've even had awkward encounters where someone well-known online asks me about items and then seems surprised when I ask them if they would like me to send them an invoice. The idea of essentially paying someone to lie to your customers just creeps me out.
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Post by bowie on Jan 23, 2024 14:56:18 GMT -6
Get ready to make it a pair. I'm hoping as they're precision made that if I add another in a few years time it will be close enough to this one to be used in an XY or spaced pair. I believe I recall seeing Schoeps say this is not an issue with the bodies. The condition of the capsules is the thing to look out for. Most who own a Schoeps are going to care for it but keep in mind that these are popular in location recording so some of them have been rode hard and put up wet, so to speak. I've seen some scary looking Schoeps capsules on Reverb/ebay.
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Post by bowie on Jan 23, 2024 14:48:26 GMT -6
Tubes are usually sold as "tested" but that doesn't mean that they are (spoiler; they often aren't). It's about as scammy a market as unearthed artifacts because buyers cant tell if the seller is lying or not, or maybe just clueless. Old tube testers don't help. I could probably go on ebay right now and, within 10min, find a dozen listings where sellers w/ 100% positive feedback are lying (either selling used tubes as NOS in the wrong box, or selling something as a Mullard/Telefunken/etc when it was not made by those companies). It's unreal what goes on there. Expect to get ripped off. I'm a so-called expert and I still get ripped off. I just received a case of 50 NOS tubes from Europe that was misrepresented by a large parts supplier. That's a months pay gone. It can be tedious and expensive to go through them and, depending how picky you are, end up with a few quiet ones.
As far as the safety of the mic, it depends on the circuit. I don't like to leave potentially dead tubes running because I've measured power supplies while this is happening, just to see, and the filament voltage can sometimes go to scary levels. They usually won't "wake up" but you can try a couple things to see if there's hope. One is scrubbing the pins until they shine. A spray won't do it, you need to physically remove the oxidation. You can also try to seat them at an angle. Even though it seems impossible that a tube could be inserted and not make contact, it happens. Many sockets these days have poor tolerances and the oversized pins of the stock tubes stretch the terminals even further. Vintage tube pins are slim and sometimes don't connect. To remedy, tilt the tube at a slight angle (think; leaning tower) to force contact. Just don't let it touch the body of the mic or you'll get hum.
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Post by bowie on Jan 22, 2024 17:33:19 GMT -6
I'm having a small wobble - I was about to click BUY on my Schoeps MK4 and then I thought .... My Martin D-18 is a dark woody guitar, is the MK4 going to sound to dark and full for a mahogany dreadnaught? I know folk love the 000-28 for recording but when I picked up this particular D-18 I had to posses it and now its my main studio guitar (I have a Cole Clark too) So, one further question is the MK4 going to be OK with my D-18? In my experience, if the guitar sounds right to you, you'll be good. Of all the mics I've used, they are the ones I'm most confident in for capturing the source as I hear it. There may be more accurate mics out there but, the way we perceive things, the most accurate gear doesn't always sound the most natural. Sometimes, more accurate gear can sound odd and unnatural compared to the sound we hear in the room. I also don't think of these as dark mics whatsoever, personally. They just aren't top-aggressive like some people expect an SCD to be. My voice can sound really boomy on a lot of LDCs and I've even sung into the CMC6 MK41s to get a tighter sound.
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Post by bowie on Jan 22, 2024 17:19:23 GMT -6
I went down this rabbit hole a few years ago and found a few things; -First, you made a good choice. I'm fussy about mics but these thigs just sound "right". I've fought with a lot of SDCs, including Neumanns, that always made acoustics sound like they were missing something vs what I was hearing in the room. After getting my CMC6s 5 or 6 years ago I haven't thought about getting any more SDCs. Just capsules. -Many, myself included, feel the omni caps are the best the sound mic can deliver, if the room allows for it. But, that's not always practical so choose based on your needs. They all sound great. Even the super-cardioids. -The MK21 and 22 are both very popular and a good way to go if you aren't sure about committing to omni or cardioid. -I have some of the switchable heads and love them, though there might be a slight HF lift with these. -When buying used, be aware that many location guys are selling the 'S' versions (I think that's what they are called) which have a built-in high-pass. You don't want that.
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Post by bowie on Jan 21, 2024 0:20:06 GMT -6
If it's not a fake, it's an INCREDIBLE clone of the Neumann badges, logos, boxes, packaging and body. I'm halfway inclined to take a swing and see what I get. Wonder if they have a return policy. Don't expect them to send you what's in the pic. The reason they look real is because they are. They rely on people who "hope" it's real, and then they are counting on people who either won't know the difference, or won't go through the hassle of shipping them back. Their costs to pull this scam are shockingly low. I see it all the time with PC parts.
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Post by bowie on Jan 20, 2024 13:02:01 GMT -6
I think audio engineers forget that these signals start out as music and their ultimate destination is still MUSIC. Not all music is trying to sound super refined so why does all the gear need to be that way? Look at the path an electric guitar signal takes, starting at the pickups. Raunchy! Yet, there's this shame associated with using cheap recording gear.
Now, when you're looking for ultimate detail, smoothness, purity, there are levels to that. But, as far as what's useable in audio, everything is.
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Post by bowie on Jan 13, 2024 11:40:26 GMT -6
I feel you. I started doing this again recently after my last experience was mailing a cassette of my 90's industrial band to the library of congress. Now, you go to the site and can file 10 musical works for one fee (I want to say around $85 but I'm probably off). You list all the names and upload the audio tracks and/or lyrics for each one. The site is absolutely archaic, will go offline randomly, and is non-intuitive, so go in expecting to be aggravated. The order in which they have you upload is also weird so know that you upload the tracks toward the end.
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Post by bowie on Jan 1, 2024 12:45:39 GMT -6
Shipping gear has become painfully expensive for folks who aren't getting volume discounts. It's made gear repairs pricey and sometimes not even viable. I feel terrible for people who don't have a decent tech in their area. In fact, I know many who have dead gear just sitting in their studio because the cost of shipping both ways to get it repaired is prohibitive on some items.
Well I'm going to look into setting up an UPS account because reverb is high on its shipping options. Even their site says you can save up to 74% of the cost. So I imagine Reverb and the like are adding costs to it artificially and can do since its a 3rd party. www.ups.com/us/en/business-solutions/open-an-account.pageIn my experience, no. The seller sets the price unless they specifically have Reverb or Ebay calculate the shipping. Creating a UPS account hasn't helped me at all, and I run a small business. If anything, going through a 3rd party is the only way I've found to save money on shipping. For instance, PayPal's Ship Station arrangement (which you can use when you take a payment) offers me much cheaper UPS and USPS rates than if I was to use my business account with either. Best of luck, whichever route you take.
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Post by bowie on Dec 31, 2023 13:48:16 GMT -6
Inflation, Reverb Fees, supply chain issues, shipping costs, IRS coming after every penny sent through cash apps…none of it makes for a good market place Shipping fees I see are crazy on reverb. I don't remember the USPS being that expensive. Shipping gear has become painfully expensive for folks who aren't getting volume discounts. It's made gear repairs pricey and sometimes not even viable. I feel terrible for people who don't have a decent tech in their area. In fact, I know many who have dead gear just sitting in their studio because the cost of shipping both ways to get it repaired is prohibitive on some items. I remember shipping guitars about 5 years ago for $75, and that was annoying because it had been $50 in 2015. Now, I'm looking at $175+ for an acoustic. I got a UPS 3-day quote of $360 last week. USPS might be a little cheaper but they scare me on high dollar items. They once lost a $6,000 instrument, only to find it was sitting in the local station for a week and everyone just ignored it (the driver who found it suspected the workers just didn't want to carry the heavy box).
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Post by bowie on Dec 30, 2023 17:10:04 GMT -6
I've been paying more attention to guitars than pro-audio gear but both things tend to follow the same curve. A lot of people paid crazy prices during the pandemic and now want/need to sell so they are asking a lot. But, asking prices are meaningless. Looking at what things are selling for (using ebay and reverb as resources), it's kinda spooky how quick the value on some high-end items is dropping. Not only that but the gear isn't moving. It's scarry to watch this happen while inflation is taking place.
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Post by bowie on Nov 22, 2023 14:05:36 GMT -6
As usual, I will chime in to point out that these guys (Mic & Mod) have a reputation for selling other people's work (PCB designs, etc.) without any attribution, etc. If that bothers you, most of this stuff is still available via Group DIY and other sites, often from the people who did the original work. - John I don't recall the specifics but I have seen this mentioned many times over the last several years, by numerous people. While using old designs for small DIY group projects is one thing, when someone takes the hard work that the hobbyist put in and builds a website selling the results of that work for profit, I can understand the controversy. I wouldn't want to put in all that unpaid work, for the sake of the community, for someone to make money off it without asking or acknowledging. Of course, it's up to each individual to decide how that strikes them. Again, even though I looked into it years ago, I don't recall the specifics so I don't want to smear this company if I misunderstood the situation. I'd encourage anyone who cares to look into it.
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Post by bowie on Nov 8, 2023 13:25:13 GMT -6
Just saw this. Condolences and I hope you're healing well. There's been quite a bit of loss in my family over the past year and the legal fights are mounting so I can sympathize. Conflict in the midst of grief is such an ugly thing. I wish you the best through all this.
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Post by bowie on Nov 3, 2023 20:20:33 GMT -6
I've dealt with this when replacing a damaged or missing guards and knobs on vintage instruments. The problem with the popular method (coffee and other kinds of stain) is that it's uneven and doesn't really get IN the plastic well. Where it does get in, it's strong and odd looking. People tend to think aging is just from UV but plastic aging is due to a few types of reactions/degradations which change the chemical structure, some of which happen on the inside.
You can try a chemical oxidation if you know what the guard is made of (there's a few different materials used). Some plastics will oxidize from bleach and actually turn yellow. Acetone can dull the surface of PVC (even melt it if you aren't careful) and while that may not give you color, it can give you that aged/chalky texture and possibly make the surface take dye better because of it. I haven't experimented with this yet I just know from working w/ PVC.
My go-to method for dealing with this honestly just getting the right colored guard on ebay or getting an aged-looking blank and cutting it. When I have to DIY I use a stain. Coffee and household things have never worked well for me. I prefer leather gel dyes as they are strong and easy to work with. The trick is to do the scuffing AFTER. Otherwise, what happens is that the stain deposits very strong in the scuffs and looks terrible. 1,000 grit sand paper can make fine swirls. If the scuff marks look too fresh/white you can do a very brief, watered-down stain to get a little color in them. Let it sit in warm water after and clean it up really well before installing. That reverses a lot of your hard work but stain can bleed out for a while. You won't notice it until it leaves a mark on a shirt.
Best of luck, let us know what you end up doing.
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Post by bowie on Oct 31, 2023 15:06:04 GMT -6
I'm not that old or that wise, but when my friends started asking me about Crypto a couple years ago I told them all the same thing; When you see a financial opportunity being advertised to mainstream America, you're already on the bubble and there's not enough left to go around. I've been around long enough to see that happen over and over.
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Post by bowie on Oct 26, 2023 16:45:31 GMT -6
I'm not a tube expert. Maybe bowie can shed some light on this.
The CL1B and WA1B uses: (1) 12au7/ECC82 & (1) 2ax7/ECC83.
The Tubesessor uses (1) CK5755 & (1) 12BH7A. I wonder why they changed the tubes, and how much that is responsible for the sound differences. It's a nicely built unit with some nice features, but it lacks the depth of the CL1B. That said, I think it got closer when you engage the tube saturation settings.
On anther note, I’ve never loved my voice through any of the CL1B plugins, but man does it work for Emily. Been eying the TubePressor for a while, but it got me thinking about the CL 2A. Anyone here use the Tube Tech CL 2A? I know the optical circuit is different than the CL 1B, but how do they compare sonically? If you’re going to spend this kind of money, 2 channels makes a lot more sense to me. Just curious.
Probably so they can use a higher quality tube than a Russian 12AX7 in the 1st gain stage. That definitely shows commitment to quality as it's more expensive and more of a hassle to source 5755/420A tubes. It shouldn't be an issue for users to replace though. I can't comment on the sound differences as I've learned not rely on youtube or comparison clips any more. I can't count the number of instruments, mics, and other pieces of gear that I bought based on sound clips only to find the clips were not a good representation. It really comes down to the fact that some sources, mic techniques, etc are going to make one piece of gear sound better than another and I'd have missed out on all my favorite gear had I relied on clips.
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Post by bowie on Oct 20, 2023 9:23:25 GMT -6
Even a slight angle makes things so much easier. The space doesn't matter when I'm having to contort myself to see certain things.
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Post by bowie on Sept 28, 2023 15:19:29 GMT -6
Getting a used Hakko off ebay was the single biggest improvement I've ever made to efficiency. If you don't like a joint, boom, it's clean. It's not just for mistakes, I mostly use mine in repairs and mods. Absolutely paid for itself in time saved and, like others, I'm annoyed that I waited a few years to do it. If you go used, just make sure you can get parts for the model. Filters will always be available but the diaphragm for the pump is important as they are rubber and do fail eventually.
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Post by bowie on Dec 5, 2022 9:21:02 GMT -6
"Normal" has lost meaning for me. Not trying to sound clever, I really don't have a concept of how things "should be" anymore. Just riding the waves as they come. I've not been taking recording clients for a while as parts/builds/repair has taken up all my time. The pandemic sent my sales, as well as costs, skyrocketing. The past 3 years have been a blur (is it actually 3 years? that can't possibly be right). Now, it's so wildly inconsistent. Oct was my biggest month ever, while Nov was the worst in 5 years. But, somehow, I was super-busy both months.
My wife caught a severe case of covid at the end of Nov so I've been holed up in my studio/office for over a week, isolated from the rest of the house. Talk about disorienting. Looking back at the past few years, it reminds me of when I was boxing at the gym. You think you have a limit of how far you can push yourself, but when those punches keep coming at you, it's amazing what you're actually capable of. I'm just continually thankful for what I have and, whether life is normal or not, it's good enough for me so I'll take it.
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Post by bowie on Oct 24, 2022 16:32:19 GMT -6
I find that hilarious, given all the NOS I’ve tried over decades, and how wildly different and iffy virtually all were. If you haven’t encountered an actual good one (likely), you might not know what’s missing, and $200-400 iffy tubes have a way of convincing the buyer they are good! The full press release states it’s tailored for the JJ which behaves differently from vintage. It’s one thing if it’s vintage and needs it, but a new design? Pass me those plentiful AC701k’s and VF14’s! well a couple of follow-up points on that. 1. I never assume any of us here are idiots who think by price tags and not actual quality. 2. I asked spock directly about dropping in an NOS as I didn't miss the point about it being made to tolerate the intolerant JJs 3. There are still some 701s around. But are they any good? Haven't tried or tested them. bowie might know. Ten years ago I almost bought a batch of 10 VF14m tubes that were still sealed (Neumann) in Telefunken boxes post testing at Neumann - for $2000 total. I doubt there are any of those left. Someone on GS got those. Weird and unpredictable things happen in our world. I never thought I'd spend a couple of hours playing a single owner near mint condition 1952 Telecaster hand assembled by Leo Fender, but that was part of my life last Wednesday night. These days, I strongly discourage anyone from building or buying modern gear that uses an AC701. Same for the VF14 or 6386. Not only have they become extremely overpriced (relative to other good tubes) but they are going to be even worse in another few years when it comes time for a replacement. You can't get a single nice VF14 for $2000 these days, let alone a batch. There's some magic attributed to these tubes, because pro-audio guys love to fetishize gear. I personally think they are only relevant in vintage gear, when you have all the other original parts and want to keep "that" sound. I hate seeing AC701s used in modern mics because they really aren't making them sound like a vintage mic (when you have a modern capsule etc) and there's so many vintage mic owners who can't get AC701s for their mics. Some are even having to mod vintage mics to take other tubes because the AC701 is too expensive to justify replacing. Take something like the 6386. It's doubled in price since the pandemic alone. And, there are other inexpensive NOS tubes that will do a similar job for about 5% of the cost. Instead of customers being stuck using an expensive JJ 6386 (which is not known for it's reliability), builders could be using NOS GE 6BA6s which cost much less, are actually easier to acquire, and sound better. One of the problems is that there's pressure to use the "legendary" tubes. People do enough research online that they think they know which tubes are good. So, some builders make compromises so that they can better market their products despite there being equally good NOS options that cost little and will be replaceable in the future. How that relates to this thread, I have no idea. Sorry. I just wanted to respond to the tag. This could be an irrelevant babble.
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