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Post by lowlou on Nov 6, 2023 17:44:29 GMT -6
Hi Eric ! How long can one expect to use a set of JJ tubes, with a daily use of the comp, before having to change the set ? Is heat a serious problem ? Thanks
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Post by Ward on Nov 6, 2023 18:04:38 GMT -6
Welcome Eric, about time you showed up.  |
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ev33
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Post by ev33 on Nov 6, 2023 21:20:13 GMT -6
Hi Eric ! How long can one expect to use a set of JJ tubes, with a daily use of the comp, before having to change the set ? Is heat a serious problem ? Thanks Tube life can vary a bit and yes heat is a problem. It is important to have ventilation space above and below the UnFairchild if it is mounted in a rack. The other factor is the "GAIN TRIM" setting. We included a gain trim control. The only way to fine adjust the overall gain without adding anything to the audio path was to adjust the bias current for the 6386 tubes. That is what the "GAIN TRIM" is doing. When you adjust the bias current it changes the volume but it also changes how hot the tubes are running. It also affects the character of the compression. The lower GAIN TRIM settings sound softer and more saturated. Higher GAIN TRIM settings sound more immediate and clearer. The higher GAIN TRIM settings can be cool for certain things but it will shorten the life span of the tubes. We do our best to explain all of this in the manual. We have users that purchased units from the first 200 that have never had to change any tubes. Those units are 6-7 years old now. We've had users that had to change all of them after a year. Invariably, the users that have to change tubes sooner, have subjected the tubes to some combination of limited ventilation and high GAIN TRIM settings. My experience with the tubes has been that, occasionally you'll get a lemon that will get noisy in the first 6-12 months. The tubes that dont get noisy early will last a long time. We are encouraging users to never replace a whole set if one tube gets noisy. It is best to keep any/all tubes that aren't having any issues. Those ones will likely last a really long time. Earlier on we were being more picky about tube matching. The more experience we have with these tubes in the UnFairchild, the more we are realizing that the matching is not as critical as we initially thought. This JJ Tube challenge video is a testament to that. The UnFairchild seems to be more forgiving than other units. Larry Jasper (UTA circuit designer) did make one change to the circuit that does help both with the life span of the tubes and the ease of matching. It is related to how current is fed to the tubes in the 4 tube parallel sets for each channel. He would be able to explain it better than I. So that's my take on it after 7 years. It's the kind of thing that will continue to be refined over time. There is only one way to really know what is going to happen after 10 years. We gotta use these things for 10 years and see what happens  |
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ev33
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Post by ev33 on Nov 6, 2023 21:26:49 GMT -6
Welcome Eric, about time you showed up. Haha! I know!! How did I not find RGO before now? haha! |
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Post by drbill on Nov 6, 2023 22:59:00 GMT -6
Hi Eric ! How long can one expect to use a set of JJ tubes, with a daily use of the comp, before having to change the set ? Is heat a serious problem ? Thanks Tube life can vary a bit and yes heat is a problem. It is important to have ventilation space above and below the UnFairchild if it is mounted in a rack. The other factor is the "GAIN TRIM" setting. We included a gain trim control. The only way to fine adjust the overall gain without adding anything to the audio path was to adjust the bias current for the 6386 tubes. That is what the "GAIN TRIM" is doing. When you adjust the bias current it changes the volume but it also changes how hot the tubes are running. It also affects the character of the compression. The lower GAIN TRIM settings sound softer and more saturated. Higher GAIN TRIM settings sound more immediate and clearer. The higher GAIN TRIM settings can be cool for certain things but it will shorten the life span of the tubes. We do our best to explain all of this in the manual. We have users that purchased units from the first 200 that have never had to change any tubes. Those units are 6-7 years old now. We've had users that had to change all of them after a year. Invariably, the users that have to change tubes sooner, have subjected the tubes to some combination of limited ventilation and high GAIN TRIM settings. My experience with the tubes has been that, occasionally you'll get a lemon that will get noisy in the first 6-12 months. The tubes that dont get noisy early will last a long time. We are encouraging users to never replace a whole set if one tube gets noisy. It is best to keep any/all tubes that aren't having any issues. Those ones will likely last a really long time. Earlier on we were being more picky about tube matching. The more experience we have with these tubes in the UnFairchild, the more we are realizing that the matching is not as critical as we initially thought. This JJ Tube challenge video is a testament to that. The UnFairchild seems to be more forgiving than other units. Larry Jasper (UTA circuit designer) did make one change to the circuit that does help both with the life span of the tubes and the ease of matching. It is related to how current is fed to the tubes in the 4 tube parallel sets for each channel. He would be able to explain it better than I. So that's my take on it after 7 years. It's the kind of thing that will continue to be refined over time. There is only one way to really know what is going to happen after 10 years. We gotta use these things for 10 years and see what happens Thanks for an awesome tutorial on the UF!! I am now just a TINY bit smarter than I was 10 minutes ago.... |
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Post by ragan on Nov 6, 2023 23:40:49 GMT -6
Great to have you here ev33. Big fan of both your work and how readily you share your knowledge. |
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Post by kcatthedog on Nov 7, 2023 1:48:10 GMT -6
ev33, welcome, what a great informative , objective snd professional answer: respect !
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Post by lee on Nov 7, 2023 11:31:13 GMT -6
ev33, we’ve been loving Mother Road. The record sounds wonderful, very “crankable”, and Grace has really taken her artist bona fides to new levels. The lyric writing is just outstanding, and made me stand up and take notice.
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ev33
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Post by ev33 on Nov 7, 2023 15:11:17 GMT -6
ev33, we’ve been loving Mother Road. The record sounds wonderful, very “crankable”, and Grace has really taken her artist bona fides to new levels. The lyric writing is just outstanding, and made me stand up and take notice. Thank you for the kind words! I agree that this record is a whole new level of artistry for Grace. The cool thing is that it is the truest to who she is as an artist. After making two records with her, I realized that the best thing to do is just say "Yes" to everything she wants to do |
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Post by Ward on Nov 8, 2023 12:30:19 GMT -6
ev33, we’ve been loving Mother Road. The record sounds wonderful, very “crankable”, and Grace has really taken her artist bona fides to new levels. The lyric writing is just outstanding, and made me stand up and take notice. Thank you for the kind words! I agree that this record is a whole new level of artistry for Grace. The cool thing is that it is the truest to who she is as an artist. After making two records with her, I realized that the best thing to do is just say "Yes" to everything she wants to do That's my relationship advice to myself and every man I know, and my little sister with her own wife...who is just amazing. |
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ericn
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Balance Engineer
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Post by ericn on Nov 8, 2023 12:56:27 GMT -6
Hi Eric ! How long can one expect to use a set of JJ tubes, with a daily use of the comp, before having to change the set ? Is heat a serious problem ? Thanks Tube life can vary a bit and yes heat is a problem. It is important to have ventilation space above and below the UnFairchild if it is mounted in a rack. The other factor is the "GAIN TRIM" setting. We included a gain trim control. The only way to fine adjust the overall gain without adding anything to the audio path was to adjust the bias current for the 6386 tubes. That is what the "GAIN TRIM" is doing. When you adjust the bias current it changes the volume but it also changes how hot the tubes are running. It also affects the character of the compression. The lower GAIN TRIM settings sound softer and more saturated. Higher GAIN TRIM settings sound more immediate and clearer. The higher GAIN TRIM settings can be cool for certain things but it will shorten the life span of the tubes. We do our best to explain all of this in the manual. We have users that purchased units from the first 200 that have never had to change any tubes. Those units are 6-7 years old now. We've had users that had to change all of them after a year. Invariably, the users that have to change tubes sooner, have subjected the tubes to some combination of limited ventilation and high GAIN TRIM settings. My experience with the tubes has been that, occasionally you'll get a lemon that will get noisy in the first 6-12 months. The tubes that dont get noisy early will last a long time. We are encouraging users to never replace a whole set if one tube gets noisy. It is best to keep any/all tubes that aren't having any issues. Those ones will likely last a really long time. Earlier on we were being more picky about tube matching. The more experience we have with these tubes in the UnFairchild, the more we are realizing that the matching is not as critical as we initially thought. This JJ Tube challenge video is a testament to that. The UnFairchild seems to be more forgiving than other units. Larry Jasper (UTA circuit designer) did make one change to the circuit that does help both with the life span of the tubes and the ease of matching. It is related to how current is fed to the tubes in the 4 tube parallel sets for each channel. He would be able to explain it better than I. So that's my take on it after 7 years. It's the kind of thing that will continue to be refined over time. There is only one way to really know what is going to happen after 10 years. We gotta use these things for 10 years and see what happens Hey Eric welcome to our little corner of the internet! Oh the world of studio racks and venting! Funny enough I was having a text exchange with BradD about the ease of troubleshooting in an open frame vs a “ Box” rack and then was explaining the cooling advantages with a guy over lunch. Why oh why are we so concerned about looks VS overall function when it comes to studio furniture? |
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Post by kcatthedog on Nov 8, 2023 13:59:16 GMT -6
Eric, did you post a diy about tube traps? I saw a reference to this, but wondered if it was accurate ?
Thx!
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Post by Bat Lanyard on Nov 8, 2023 21:11:29 GMT -6
For rack cooling, these are cool. Saw them at my friend's studio and he's super happy with them. PROCOOL
Edit: master/slave spaced out in a rack seems to be the way to go |
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ev33
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Post by ev33 on Nov 9, 2023 19:50:28 GMT -6
Eric, did you post a diy about tube traps? I saw a reference to this, but wondered if it was accurate ? Thx! Hey! Yes I did go over that in one of the episodes about the acoutsic treatment. It's in this one The good news ia that the version I am using requires almost no construction/assmebly at all and they seem to be just as effective as any of the more complicated ones. They sure seem to be working in my room EV |
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ev33
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Post by ev33 on Nov 9, 2023 19:53:41 GMT -6
Tube life can vary a bit and yes heat is a problem. It is important to have ventilation space above and below the UnFairchild if it is mounted in a rack. The other factor is the "GAIN TRIM" setting. We included a gain trim control. The only way to fine adjust the overall gain without adding anything to the audio path was to adjust the bias current for the 6386 tubes. That is what the "GAIN TRIM" is doing. When you adjust the bias current it changes the volume but it also changes how hot the tubes are running. It also affects the character of the compression. The lower GAIN TRIM settings sound softer and more saturated. Higher GAIN TRIM settings sound more immediate and clearer. The higher GAIN TRIM settings can be cool for certain things but it will shorten the life span of the tubes. We do our best to explain all of this in the manual. We have users that purchased units from the first 200 that have never had to change any tubes. Those units are 6-7 years old now. We've had users that had to change all of them after a year. Invariably, the users that have to change tubes sooner, have subjected the tubes to some combination of limited ventilation and high GAIN TRIM settings. My experience with the tubes has been that, occasionally you'll get a lemon that will get noisy in the first 6-12 months. The tubes that dont get noisy early will last a long time. We are encouraging users to never replace a whole set if one tube gets noisy. It is best to keep any/all tubes that aren't having any issues. Those ones will likely last a really long time. Earlier on we were being more picky about tube matching. The more experience we have with these tubes in the UnFairchild, the more we are realizing that the matching is not as critical as we initially thought. This JJ Tube challenge video is a testament to that. The UnFairchild seems to be more forgiving than other units. Larry Jasper (UTA circuit designer) did make one change to the circuit that does help both with the life span of the tubes and the ease of matching. It is related to how current is fed to the tubes in the 4 tube parallel sets for each channel. He would be able to explain it better than I. So that's my take on it after 7 years. It's the kind of thing that will continue to be refined over time. There is only one way to really know what is going to happen after 10 years. We gotta use these things for 10 years and see what happens Hey Eric welcome to our little corner of the internet! Oh the world of studio racks and venting! Funny enough I was having a text exchange with BradD about the ease of troubleshooting in an open frame vs a “ Box” rack and then was explaining the cooling advantages with a guy over lunch. Why oh why are we so concerned about looks VS overall function when it comes to studio furniture? Amen brother! The two main racks in my new control room are open frame. They hold all of my ADDA interfaces, patchbays, reverbs, headphone system etc etc. Accessing that stuff would be a night mare if the racks were in closed boxes. |
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ev33
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Post by ev33 on Nov 9, 2023 19:54:51 GMT -6
For rack cooling, these are cool. Saw them at my friend's studio and he's super happy with them. PROCOOL
Edit: master/slave spaced out in a rack seems to be the way to go These look great. I may get these going for some of my tube gear. Thank you!! |
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Post by Bat Lanyard on Nov 9, 2023 20:04:09 GMT -6
For rack cooling, these are cool. Saw them at my friend's studio and he's super happy with them. PROCOOL
Edit: master/slave spaced out in a rack seems to be the way to go These look great. I may get these going for some of my tube gear. Thank you!! Thank you, man. Huge fan of your work, channel and the UTA gear that I have. Please report back on the rack fans if you put some into play! Unrelated side note, Crazy Eric's sale videos were hilarious. The Neve rack pitch was a highlight! |
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Post by unit7 on Nov 9, 2023 21:44:21 GMT -6
Hi Eric ! How long can one expect to use a set of JJ tubes, with a daily use of the comp, before having to change the set ? Is heat a serious problem ? Thanks Owner of two AnalogueTube AT-101s here since 12-13 yrs. Knock on wood, but still no tube issues. Have had crackling sound from one tube on like three occasions during the years but it turned out to be oxide, not a bad tube. DeoxIT Gold is your friend. Fixed in 15 minutes |
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ev33
Full Member
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Post by ev33 on Nov 10, 2023 8:26:44 GMT -6
Hi Eric ! How long can one expect to use a set of JJ tubes, with a daily use of the comp, before having to change the set ? Is heat a serious problem ? Thanks Owner of two AnalogueTube AT-101s here since 12-13 yrs. Knock on wood, but still no tube issues. Have had crackling sound from one tube on like three occasions during the years but it turned out to be oxide, not a bad tube. DeoxIT Gold is your friend. Fixed in 15 minutes Hey! Yeah those Analogue tube units are really well made. Do you have JJ 6386s in yours? I see now they are saying "Newly developed 6386 Triode tubes– new feature". EV |
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Post by unit7 on Nov 10, 2023 11:29:54 GMT -6
Owner of two AnalogueTube AT-101s here since 12-13 yrs. Knock on wood, but still no tube issues. Have had crackling sound from one tube on like three occasions during the years but it turned out to be oxide, not a bad tube. DeoxIT Gold is your friend. Fixed in 15 minutes Hey! Yeah those Analogue tube units are really well made. Do you have JJ 6386s in yours? I see now they are saying "Newly developed 6386 Triode tubes– new feature". EV Yes JJs in them. I believe the “newly developed”/“new feature” thing has been stated ever since Simon started soon 15 yrs ago😄 |
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Post by kcatthedog on Nov 10, 2023 15:24:33 GMT -6
@ev thx for posting the vid:
So, are the tubes, just sauna tubes, sorry if you said and I just missed it?
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Post by christophert on Nov 11, 2023 7:54:21 GMT -6
My experience with the tubes has been that, occasionally you'll get a lemon that will get noisy in the first 6-12 months. The tubes that dont get noisy early will last a long time. We are encouraging users to never replace a whole set if one tube gets noisy. It is best to keep any/all tubes that aren't having any issues. Those ones will likely last a really long time. How do you add one new tube to a set - is it still done with the tube spec sheets? Also are the tube specs on the original paper work still relevant after use - or do they drift? Thanks for all of the demystifying of tube sets |
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ev33
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Post by ev33 on Nov 12, 2023 9:26:06 GMT -6
@ev thx for posting the vid: So, are the tubes, just sauna tubes, sorry if you said and I just missed it? Hello! i Apologize I am not familiar with the reference "sauna tubes". Can you clarify? Thanks! |
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ev33
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Post by ev33 on Nov 12, 2023 9:41:34 GMT -6
ev33 How do you add one new tube to a set - is it still done with the tube spec sheets? Also are the tube specs on the original paper work still relevant after use - or do they drift? Thanks for all of the demystifying of tube sets Hey! referenceing test data is always beneficial but not necessary. When referencing the test data you could pick a replacement tube that best matches what is being replaced but of course you would need multiple tubes to pick from. Both in our testing and user experience, it has been no problem to swap out a tube without referencing test data and still have the unit sound great. The tubes have been close enough to drop in and sound great in the UnFairchild. Regarding tube drift, my general understanding is that tubes function by having certain inner components doped with impurities. Those impurities get used up very slowly over time. The amount of time will vary depending on how hot the tubes are being run. So the answer is yes the properties of the tube will drift over time. I have noticed that in my units every once in a long while I will have to readjust the balance setting. That is most likely because of drift in the tubes over time |
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Post by kcatthedog on Nov 12, 2023 9:44:48 GMT -6
 sono tubes |
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