Does a TUBE PREAMP add warmth to your SYNTH?

[@WoodyPianoShack]

Vintage Keyboard Collection - Montage/MODX www.purgatorycreek.com/index.php/montage-modx/

[@antonyfaulkner8649]

Dear Woody, here's a tip from a guitarist, we use valve amps a lot. The secret is to find the valve amp's "sweet spot". You play into the amp with all the volume you can muster*, and gradually turn up Amp gain until it starts to overdrive (Distort, Crunch). You leave the gain there, then turn down your instrument a touch. On a Keyboard this would be the Master Output Volume. * On a Keyboard, this would be your maximum Normal High Velocity playing volume (not necessarily Master Volume at Max). Whats going on at the sweet spot? Basically compression, but rather than hard (square) clipping, the waveform is folding back in on itself at higher harmonic frequency... sweetening the sound. 👍

[@antonyfaulkner8649]

Some additional stuff... the Tube Preamp is analogue. So, with gain set at its sweet spot... any "digital" effects you send into it will (hopefully) be smoothed/less harsh. For example:- Setting a (switchable) Boost Effect on the MODX, will push the Tube harder and make it overdrive/distort without getting (much) louder... we guitarists recommend Treble Boosters, to stop Bass flubbing/farting out. Similarly, adding a mild overdrive/distortion effect with unity or slight boost in gain will be sweetened by the valve and also change its character. You can experiment to get creamy vs gritty distortion and all in between. The aim is to get the digital effects sounding more analogue/vintage/natural.

[@MeatyController]

I just wrap my instruments in a nice Snuggie and hit Record

[@PastTime777]

You could review a Neo Ventilator 2 for the organ Leslie if you can get one. It has over drive. The organ Leslie is lacking in the clones. With the Vent2, you can run a synth through it, pull up a Rhodes sound, turn up the distortion, and you can play all the Three Dog Night songs which Jimmy Greenspoon played on a Pianet A (Joy To The World, Old Fashion Love Song). Then if you turn on the Leslie, you can play Mama Told Me Not To Come and have that warble effect. There's a few Leslie pedals out there for the keyboards, and the Vent2 is one of the top. I run my Hammond XK2 through it.

[@ChrisCebelenski]

6:00 - Woody forgets he's making a video (again) and goes off playing for 3 hours... :-)

[@WoodyPianoShack]

haha, you're noticing a pattern... :)

[@evetsnitram8866]

Forgets to play some SYNTH sounds.

[@gcoudert]

I had the same unit. I'd only bought it as a phantom power source for my condenser mic but it turned out to be brilliant. I never considered putting a synth through it though.

[@trevypoos]

The 80s Fan Me too, my mixer phantom power was on the fritz so I needed a cheap replacement. I have bunged quite a few things through it over the years and it has a very gritty sound. Fun but always that musically useful.

[@senfboy7687]

same for me XD

[@stephenlennartz3466]

Are you using the preamp live? I recently went with a Sennheiser condenser mic with phantom for live performance and it is phenomenal. Always on the tone quest though. Would you recommend for live? Thanks so much.

[@trevypoos]

Stephen Lennartz No, sorry. I was using it for recording I am afraid.

[@stephenlennartz3466]

@@trevypoos All good. Thanks for your note.!

[@Noone-of-your-Business]

The short answer: It adds harmonic overtones. And you lose some of the very deep end. I don't know if I would call that "warmth". But then, all these tonewood adjectives are so subjective anyway. Which is why I prefer scientific descriptions that cannot be argued with. What good is a statement if its truth is limited to a certain group of people?

[@kalinmirchev]

Hey Woody, nice video again! I think this type of cheap "starved tube" preamps should be considered mostly as an effect or a "color", but they are far, far away from the top-class analog preamps like API or Neve, that can actually do the magic. With that said, I would appreciate if there was a comparison between the MODX build-in distortion effects vs. the cheap outboard tube pre distortion/saturation. Maybe this will be a good point for a next video - build-in digital synth effects vs. cheap outboard "analog". Anyway, keep up the good work!

[@WoodyPianoShack]

ok, noted! next step for me is to run it through the amp modelling on my Fender Mustang, as I don't have access to any high-end preamps or other hardware emulations.

[@sweeterthananything]

i came here to say this - most of these low voltage "tube" circuits use conventional op amps or transistors for their gain and simply allow you to mix in some of the distorted starved plate tube sound. it's not necessarily bad (or good) but it's a very different thing, and it was heavily used as a gimmick starting in the late 90s where the manufacturers like ART and behri counted on you not knowing what the tube actually does in it. running synths through guitar amps and amp/cabinet simulations can be great for adding "color." the amp simulators are good for when you specifically want overdrive, although it's the speaker (simulations/impulse responses) doing the most for me when a synth sound that started out sounding "too direct" and wide-bandwidth. they essentially work as idiosyncratic filters/EQs since guitar/bass speakers have a very different frequency response from those used in PAs, keyboard amps, studio monitors, and hifi speakers. i'm happy using plugins/impulse responses and my digitech cabdryVR pedal for these applications, because they do that job well enough with sufficient variety and tweakability that i don't think i'd benefit much by having real amp+speaker stacks for instruments i don't actually play and fussing around with mic placement and all the usual issues with reamping a line level signal. whether they do any good for classic electro keys like rhodes/clavi sounds is a matter of personal preference, but basically they aren't going to do much besides fancy versions of overdrive and EQing. the kind of professional class A microphone preamps that the OP is talking about are their own league still from "real tube" guitar/bass amps, and i don't know if they've been digitally simulated with any degree of accuracy.

[@RogerBrenon]

Woody, just get a BBE sonic maximizer. For keys get a 882i. It's all you need. It's been every keyboard players secret weapon since the 80's.

[@emachineseventyseven7164]

I have one how do you use it

[@localtechnique]

The distorted Rhodes at the end sounded great!

[@kaufmann6988]

The Wurli got more character with the pre-amp. Nice video !

[@jmachling]

That's a starved plate design so you're getting nowhere near 'driving' a 12AX7 with something around 50V on the plate. The distortion produced is partly unpleasant tube coloration and partly from clipping the solid state opamp. It'd be a more useful comparison to run it through an actual tube preamp with decent plate voltages >150V.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

indeed, any examples of those kind of preamps?

[@jmachling]

On a budget, not many choices. Good transformers and the associated circuitry quickly bump up the cost. The ART Pro Channel or MPA get closer and are in the sub £500 bracket, but still don't run at particularly high voltages. A true tube preamp will be >£1000 e.g. Manley/UA/dbx etc. Fender Twin/Deluxe will sound great paired with a Rhodes. The most accessible will be a software tube saturation emulation, of which there are many good choices.

[@nickwallette6201]

I tried something like this on a dbx 386 tube pre. IIRC, I tried running some tracks from a multitrack session through it to warm them up. It did not clip very gracefully. I think it may be similar in topology - with an op-amp somewhere that runs out of headroom before the tube. Might have to dig out that old box and see what's going on under the lid.

[@PeterWalkerHP16c]

Yeah that's what I reckon. If the voltages aren't trying to kill you then it's not driven right. Roll on TIP2955 / 3055

[@PeterWalkerHP16c]

@@nickwallette6201 The deal is to have the valve 'clip gracefully' by rounding off the troughs / peaks (unlike solid state which really does 'clip' them off)

[@whoadog8725]

I do something slightly similar. I run my synths through a DI box and then into the preamps on my UAD Apollo. I several different pre-amp/channel strip combos I can use to suit my taste including SSL, Neve, and Helio 69. The UAD plugins do some kind of two communication with the preamp to accurately model the impedance of the classic hardware. It sounds a bit gimmicky, but it does make a big difference in the sound.

[@erikas6874]

I am not so found of tubes. But when thinking about that the sound is modulated by a grid-controlled electron stream on their way to the target (anode), the sound is transfered by the smallest elementary particle known to man (electrons) to the anode. Your sound has travelled in vacuum ;)

[@2chrisward]

This is cool and all, interesting thought and cool sounds, but damn those playing chops. Like a boss!

[@WoodyPianoShack]

wow, means a lot to me, thanks.

[@DarkSideofSynth]

And it's the '60s again! ;) Time for me to finally try this with my Orange Micro Dark amp & my pedals. ALL THE GAIN! :))

[@SpeedySPCFan]

At around 15:40 it started to sound like a gritty FM clav, haha. Definitely the most impressed I was with that tube - I didn't find there to be much of a difference between the two, though that could perhaps just be KZbin compression. Or, maybe my MDR-7506s aren't good enough to hear the change? Who knows. I know tubes can make a difference, it's quite noticeable with my Triton Extreme if you have the right settings.

[@rsherid]

Hey Woody, would something like this help boost the volume of a vintage synth with only a mono output? Thanks.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

totally good for that

[@rsherid]

@@WoodyPianoShack Great, thanks for letting me know. Does it matter left or right?

[@t55a2]

@@rsheridleft

[@alves0andre]

Cool video. My Roland has a low output sign..can a scarlett focusrite or a m audio interface..give a boost on the volume without using a computer.. i just want my roland go keys, a pedal loop and more gain! Thanks

[@thespectator2976]

Ahhhh. This day will be great. Video from Woody and a great hangover. What can go wrong today :)

[@jacobrosen]

Hey, im in the same position!

[@scottlarson1548]

When you said, "Far too much distortion there," I thought it sounded fabulous. I'm glad you really drove it hard later in the video.

[@jeremythornton433]

I like these Pre-amps so much I have 3 of them. The trick is to not use too much gain. I've found that just using enough so that you can hear something there is just enough. Too much and it doesn't sound all that pleasant. Of course there are exceptions to every rule. I've had good success with using it on electric bass running a direct signal in. I've also used it on a vocal mic.

[@divingduck1970]

Good job, great playing. I just ordered a used MIC 200 model that has an added rotary dial with preset tone models for various applications, including piano. The ones on the right side are "neutral" and un-tube enhanced, the others given the tube treatment. I'm using it mostly for a mic preamp for recording, but this really demonstrates the usefulness of one of these devices pretty well. Behringer makes good product overall.

[@delanobersan7344]

Is it good for digital piano? Does it have stereo outputs?

[@divingduck1970]

@@delanobersan7344 Don't know about digital piano, but it does NOT have stereo outputs or inputs, unfortunately.

[@andym7333]

what is difrence of 100 and 200 model

[@jeffevansmusic]

Another option is using virtual valve circuits If you have got a DAW this is easy to do. Try pulling up a digital sounding virtual synth and running it though some sort of valve emulator. Also another (better) option is to run the digital synth through some form of analog synth filter emulation. (e.g. Arturia's Mini Moog filter plugin) Then you will really hear results. Plus you can control how much warmth you are after.

[@michalkysel4351]

For me, I recommend use good stereo passive DI between MODX and mixing desk. Transformers adding some subtle coloration (especially in lower part of spectre) and slight touch of compression, so everything sounds much fuller, more balanced and warm. I also tried same method for e-drums from Roland, and sound has more punch and definition, especially kick and snare. So, for "warming" and "inflating" of sound of digital instruments, is good way use transformer saturation.

[@TigansUp]

Nice video. What if you output keyboard to mic input Scarlett? Or output keyboard go to mixer input microphone? What your opinion about this? Thanks

[@WoodyPianoShack]

I don't think that would sound great and i'd be worried about damage sending line output to mic input

[@WoodyPianoShack]

join my discord and post links to your music and many will listen!

[@crnogor]

I wounder , why y stuck only with Rhodes samples , not go on Hammond ? Catch is here , you can go only mono throw preamp .. Regards !

[@panzerivvvvvv]

Clipping a piano is like nails on a chalkboard for me, and I listen to dubstep lmao

[@bontempo1271]

You can see in the waveforms how it takes the peaks off the audio, but also that it's only doing that on one side of the polarity.

[@acheleg]

Try a tubescreamer. Have you ever played the korg sv 1?

[@WoodyPianoShack]

would love to try one, also on guitar! have a fender mustang with amp and pedal sims, will try running the modx through that and micing it up.

[@xp50player]

The SV-1 Valve Reactor sounds great, and has a lot more to it than this Behringer. It has a low wattage power amp and dummy speaker circuit. The manual has a good diagram of it.

[@andym7333]

can u set threshold for limiter ??

[@MrVinylistic]

Nice video! Yes ...it makes sense! I really recommand to pre-amp synths and drum-machines with dedicated pre-amps. I use an TL Audio A4 tube summing mixer as an keyboard submixer for all my synthesizers before they go into the DAW. With this tube summing mixer I can saturate them and generate an sym. signal from an unsym. signal. Additionaly I use an Universal Audio LA-610 MKII for my bass synths and for re-amping my soft samplers. It only makes sense if the tube pre-amp sounds great. Even some non-tube pre-amps are often used in studios for pre-amping synths e.g. Chandler LTD Germanium, Focusrite ISA Two, Neve 1073 DPX etc. It is worth to try it. The best pre-amp for synths is the Thermionic Culture Vulture. It's on my wishlist ;)

[@ramoncaubetmusic7991]

Hello, Woody, a question, I have the MODX great synthesizer, but since something is just from memory, and I have installed the Rhodes affair, which I find spectacular I also have the Chick mark V but I saw your KZbin video about the Purgatory Creek bookstore on vintage EP It is worth installing this or it is better the Chick s Mark V unfortunately all do not fit for lack of more memory thank you

[@WoodyPianoShack]

you can have vintage keys and chick loaded at same time. i probably prefer the vintage keys library, as you get more than just a single rhodes, but chick is free of charge, so hard to pick a winner. gotta have them both!

[@ramoncaubetmusic7991]

Thanks

[@vincenzoaquila167]

Does this have stereo inputs?

[@WoodyPianoShack]

yep, it handles stereo, or two mono inputs if you prefer.

[@davek12]

What about some of the DX style sounds? That choice of samples again makes me think that you'd really like the Reface CP.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

i intended to run the dx piano through it, but forgot! i'm sure i would like the refaces!

[@SuperBriansmoke]

Reface CP is fantastic. Get a couple of sets of rechargeable batteries, and forget the power supply. Instant EP joy, wherever you are. With the case, it fits as hand baggage on a plane!

[@juliangramajo7010]

is it the stock tube?

[@anthonymiller7992]

How does it sound running a guitar into it?

[@TooSlowTube]

I like it, personally, though it's all subjective. It works well with a bass too, so you definitely wouldn't be losing any low end, with a normal guitar. It's pretty easy to swap tubes/valves on them too - just with a screwdriver. I own two, and I put a lower gain valve in one of them, just to see what happens - something, definitely. It's all a matter of personal preference though. The valve it comes with is a Behringer 12AX7, but other 12AX7s will sound a little bit different. You can also use 12AT7 or 12AU7, for less gain.

[@huslaa4188]

Play around with your valves, try some different ones for different sounds. You can get some nice effects and warmth. To memory the behringer use cheap Chinese valves. Chuck a decent 12ax7 mullard and remember if your using a stereo try getting a matched pair or a non matched pair so you get a slight different sound from the 2 channels or your left and right but be carful as you can get phasing problems if there not matched at times. Swap them out se what you like, clarity, warmth, crunch, punch there’s all sorts of flavours. Good luck and have fun

[@DonSolaris]

Congratz. We have the same IKEA lamp. 😁

[@zombieman81]

My favourite part was the clav part with high (but not max) input gain! So much funky character! Now I want one for my current live keyboard rig where in an amateur band without a bass player I have a keyboard (JUNO Gi) that 90% of the time has a split of bass guitar and wurli sounds, along with my more general purpose right hand keyboard (MOX) which is a lot of piano, organ and synth sounds.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

i noticed after making the vid that these are only $30 so a useful and affordable tool to add to your gigbag!

[@zombieman81]

Yep still available after all this time, plus a slightly higher $50 ish version which supports not just Mic and Line inputs but Hi-Z guitar too AND a selector for the "mode" of the pre-amp AND a built-in USB audio interface. It doesn't have the XLR format output though...

[@benjahnz]

Good old starved plate valve preamps. They definitely do something... good or bad? thats not always clear.

[@0e0]

starved plates are mostly useless for "tube vibe" but i do like using this one as a "DI" sort of thing.

[@projectz975]

the tube in a King Korg straight up makes it sound like an analog synth. normally i call snake oil on anything like this, but tube preamps pretty much make anything sound better

[@illustriouschin]

That overdriven clavinet gave me a trouser accident.

[@fernandes5986]

Very nice video. Clear and precise explanation, without to much technical explanation, that would make as fall asleep. I own a similar tube pre. You were able to get that Motown 60s vibe or the theme From All in The Family on your keyboard. I had used for guitar. I already subscribe to your channel. Greetings from Portugal.

[@RaveyStabs]

The quest for the secret sauce continues?! Very subjective, and for every preamp you try, someone will name a better one.

[@mgregory22]

I had the same idea a few years ago for my Yamaha AN1x and Roland GAIA synths, so I bought two Behringer Mic200's and two Art Tube MP's so I could run two keyboards in stereo (I bought different types just to experiment). I've concluded that they don't really sound that good. I've heard keyboards through really expensive preamps on KZbin and they sound amazing, so I think it's just the cheapness of the units that make them not sound good (or the quality of the expensive preamps that make them sound so good, however you want to look at it).

[@delanobersan7344]

Hey, could u give me a hand? I have a rd 800 and am wondering send his sound to a receiver, them to the speakers. Do u think a preamp like that could help? Thx

[@DaraM73]

Hey Woody, mate, any preference on DI boxes?

[@WoodyPianoShack]

hi daro, never used one!

[@josedealva4205]

My mother 32 is a whole different beast when you pair it with these preamps, the voice modeler version gives you some eq curves, and the lowest gain 12au7 of any manufacturer really tames the gain, its amusing to see people expect a dim lit cosy room when they turn on their flood "rescue search" reflectors inside of it

[@mikeday62]

Isn't the output voltage of your keyboard significantly higher than that of a microphone? Yet you never used the 20 db pad on the Behringer preamp. I thought you might use the 20 pad to drop the gain a bit. I don't know, I'm still learning this stuff.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

it makes sense to think that, and yes, those inputs can be used for mic, but also line. there is an input gain control and volume knob on synth so didn't need the pad. that must be for some really super hot inputs! you can engage the pad of course, but then you need to turn up the input gain a ton more. i tried and it doesn't change the sound.

[@mikeday62]

@@WoodyPianoShack Thank you for the information in your reply Woody. It sounds like the MIC100 is more flexible and versatile than I expected. This is good news for my project.

[@aristotlekumpis7095]

Run it through an Avalon 737 preamp, and you will certainly hear a difference.

[@electrocolourfield2200]

a totally different planet, top quality stuff avalon :)

[@alexanderrumyantsev4108]

As a piano player I’m always pay attention to sustain. For me - sustain is most important aspects of sound. My experiments with tube preamps was unsuccessful, because preamps that I used they was cut sustain. I hear the same here. That works good for funky riffs, but not works if you try to play long notes.

[@izvarzone]

seems like it have built-in gate but no button to disable it.

[@ejmusicofficial]

Nice stuff Woody! I was wondering what your opinion was on this sound library. Is it any good?

[@WoodyPianoShack]

well, i think it's great, you can hear for yourself I hope!

[@bluename4]

would you advice to use a preamp in genaral to boost a head-phone out audio-signal up to normal line level? (as far as i understand head-phone is also line level but at lover audio volume?)

[@WoodyPianoShack]

not sure about that, you gotta take into consideration impedance and stuff that i don't understand, but at the end of the day it would probably work.

[@neotropeusa]

Ha. I've been using one like that for years -- the 'better' one has a dial to select input type (voice, keyboard, etc.) and makes digital synths and cheap mics sound amazing.

[@josedealva4205]

And if the glass is a jan philips a ge or any good 12au7 yr in heaven.

[@davidosolo]

Isn´t there a similar tube on the KingKORG?

[@WoodyPianoShack]

yep i think so, and korg have a digital nutube thing on some other keyboards.

[@SuperBriansmoke]

Yes. I have a KK, and it does have a tube/valve circuit. It is lit up with an LED which gets brighter as you turn up the drive. It does sound good though. They have the same thing on the Korg SV1.

[@davidosolo]

@@SuperBriansmoke Perfect analog addition for a completely digital synth don´t you think? I think the KingKORG is still the best VA out there. The only hardware synth that can match U-He DIva. At least that is my opinion. What do you think?

[@turbounionn]

Could you teach us, how to play the 6:35 piece? Please

[@WoodyPianoShack]

thanks, i would very much like to do that sometime, i learned it from Dr John's New Orleans piano books, so check that out if you want it from the source.

[@turbounionn]

@@WoodyPianoShack Wow, thanks a bunch. I'll try it. I hope i'll be able to play it like you

[@kalleankaa7536]

It does what it says it does. Alot of folks actuallh use the mic 100. Or 200 as an insert send return into an aux buss on master channel to drive the master hard. Much like what most studio does on their ssl consoles.. try it.

[@strobelightstrobelight]

In my opinion at that price range... Im not suggesting expensive non affordable. But this...

[@fjzingo]

Ha, I used exactly the same on my nord electro. Exchanged the tube to AU7. Quickly ended up on a shelf, recently repurposed to a mic preamp for the kids ipad adventures.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

that's funny Fredrik. well better that than being left in the attic!

[@MatthewMouras]

That cheap little tube preamp sounds great to me, but I'm a huge sucker for lightly overdriven tube sounds. Your playing is great as always. What I'd like to see a comparison of is a hardware tube amp vs some of the newer amp modeling software. I stopped using my hardware when I slimmed my setup down, but I still wonder if I'm missing something.

[@s.kxx1956]

Remember the korg triton extreme came with a valve system built in, i think it worked quite well

[@jamiepastman5594]

yes it did, it made a huge difference. i toured with an Extreme 88 for years, it was great

[@blueeyedsoulman]

Different tubes and electronics sound different. That's why people pay big bucks on Ebay for certain tubes (valves if you like.) Neither "tube" nor "valve" is a good description. The little glass bottle is an amplifier. It just needs a way to connect to your gear and Behringer has done it their cheap way. A high quality stereo tube preamp will set you back some quid.

[@dgp1080]

As always, thanks a lot for all this work👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@jamesmcmahan1236]

Woody your playing sounds fine, liked a few of the licks! What a clav on that sample library! Sounds more defined than the Modx!

[@WoodyPianoShack]

it's 500MB dedicated to just vintage keys, so yeah, much more detailed and a clear improvement.

[@ejmusicofficial]

Nice stuff Woody! I was wondering if you personally find the keys on the modx to be loud and clanky?

[@WoodyPianoShack]

Not really, no more than any other synth keys!

[@mgscheue]

Nice watch and strap!

[@iloveguitar84]

You should try using a Joyo American Sound preamp, its an analog recreation of a 60's Fender amp. They are actually very good and only about 30 bucks! Extremely popular as cheap, portable backups for guitarists incase of amp breakage etc

[@grahamehadden4320]

Seen your watch. What regiment did you belong to.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

oh sorry! i'm not ex-military, just some random NATO strap!

[@dr.papadopolis7171]

I'm studying this, any new ideas ?

[@WoodyPianoShack]

nothing more to add from me!

[@urbannpa]

I have a A.R.T. Studio V3 Tube Amp that I use to boost my Korg Monologue.

[@dazdavison1]

Woody your videos are great I’ve got a question for you ,I own the Roland jdxa synth which is great I love it but I want piano sounds if I sold the jdxa would I be able to cover most sounds with the most , what’s the difference ?? Thanks

[@KenDavis761]

The warm glow is a LED :-)

[@WoodyPianoShack]

you sometimes see that yeah, but behringer did not stoop that low, thankfully.

[@nickwallette6201]

They did on some of their "tube" processors. (Was it a compressor?) Maybe not this one though.

[@muzikman2008]

My Triton Extreme has a valve/tube, it adds nice distortion for guitar type sounds and Rhodes, but meh I could live without it. Lol.. You can also route external sources through it.

[@SpeedySPCFan]

Hey, another Triton Extreme user! Agreed, I usually find myself turning it off but there's a few sounds that are pretty nice through it.

[@hammondvoodoo9555]

I've owned a Triton Extreme as well (the 88-keys version with the RH2 keyboard). The built-in tube never sounded good for distortion. If dialed in very carefully it added some nice body/tone but that's it. Apart from that, the Extreme was poorly introduced by Korg (in 2004). At that time, the Triton Studio was still available, which still felt like Korg's flagship despite being outdated, and about only a year later (!) the OASYS came out. That really offended me. I still consider it a dick move by Korg. Also, I had a really hard time getting rid of it although it wasn't a bad keyboard at all.

[@muzikman2008]

@@hammondvoodoo9555 I have the Extreme 88 too, fitted with MOSS board and full sample RAM it's a great workstation even today. I was a bit peed off with Korg releasing the oasys too, it was a pricey board, but all Korg Synths ever since have been poorly manufactured and not many new features, sounds added either. Korg and Roland seem to have gone into the cheap plastic toy synth market. Yuk. Nothing has inspired me in the last few years. Sad.

[@hammondvoodoo9555]

@@muzikman2008 Yeah, right, the OASYS was really expensive, especially in the beginning. As far as I can remember, you could buy almost 2.5 Extreme 88s for the price of one OASYS 88 - totally ridiculous. In the end, I switched from Korg to Yamaha and I'm happy I did. Now, I don't even use a workstation but a simple stage piano - the Yamaha CP4 stage. I realized that all I needed was a proper weighted keyboard and very simple sound editing - everything else can be a distraction at times. The key action of the CP4 is a dream, heads and shoulders above the Korg keyboards.

[@djjuno106]

the ultragain is a great product and if you shop around youll get one for around £30 or less..ive had mine for many years and ive started to use mine too feed my monologue and neutron it adds loads of grit too the sounds.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

right, i was surprised to see how inexpensive it is, useful tool!

[@videomove]

cool, thanks!

[@izvarzone]

I use guitar plugin (TH3) for that. It's easier to tweak later or bypass. For live play I would prefer hardware.

[@kevanbarrett7411]

An interesting bit of “Friday Fun” but you can do all that from the built in effects. Do you have a link to that vintage library? 😊

[@WoodyPianoShack]

you can, but this is real analog! just added a pinned comment with link.

[@kevanbarrett7411]

Woody Piano Shack thanks Woody😊

[@ianmathews]

I say YEA, I use a vacuum bass amp for my 303 and my Vermona, it’s INSANE.

[@gimble8638]

another fantastic video woody, i used a marshall headphone/turntable pre amp yrs and years ago with my dx7 (thats how long ago) to get some crazy distortion for certain situs, i agree that warmth i dont think comes into it, its more about effects for me personally so after all these years im gonna take my valve (tube) preamp that i use with my technics 1210 turntable in the studio (it is hooked to the bang and olufsem all thru the house and plug some of my gear thru it to reminice, its ok il tell the wife its woody's fault as per :) thanks again woody :)

[@WoodyPianoShack]

happy to take the blame!

[@gimble8638]

i knew you would ;)

[@YotamPiano]

nice vid Woody, what do you think of this library compared to YAMAHA stock factory presets? this library sounds interesting!

[@Cesarsound1]

Nice experience. But the Reface CP has a very good overdrive effect for Rhodes and Wurlitzer.

[@XavierRadix]

This thing sounds great! But I'll have to agree that it doesn't really add any "warmth" to the sounds. I personally think you're better off getting a guitar pedal. Most of them are more tweakable and you can probably add some "warmth" to it by playing with the 'Tone' or any EQ knobs on those pedals. Still, I like the grit that this unit adds to the sounds, especially if you turn it up!

[@rokero171]

"Does a TUBE PREAMP add wamth to your SYNTH?" Maybe, but this one will add only noise, at least what it did on everything I tried...

[@WoodyPianoShack]

maybe you got a bad one, mine is very quiet...

[@savanaviolenta]

You might wanna check your tube,normally ,when a tube is dying it start to make hiss.

[@axelanas9537]

Thanks for the test. Wouldn't it more of interest to have a stereo preamp rather than mono ? Cheers.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

right on, that's actually why i chose to use the vintage style mono sounds.

[@namakudamono]

Nice one Woody! I use a similar ART pre-amp with my Electro3 and believe it adds “something” to the sound. I actually bought a second unit and replaced the tubs in both in order to play stereo sounds through them. Very convoluted, but kinda fun to connect everything up. By the way, am I correct in thinking that the source samples in Busch’s PurgatoryCreek library are mono?

[@wbertie2604]

The samples, though, sound like there was some light overdrive already applied and it sounded better with the preamp off. I have one of these so I know what they can add in terms of saturation but they weren't adding anything pleasant other than audible overdrive here, i.e. no 'warmth'. But pedantically, even compression is distortion, and 'warmth' or saturation is distortion too!

[@DJBenniboy]

Ile have my name up mate im always watching my newport lad, be brilliant if you ever come back here!

[@PsyCodeqz]

I would probably just use tubes to make something pass through the mix. It would be interesting to hear how it sounds on rich chorus type leads. Of course, it's always sort of brittle sounding when playing things like organs without anything else, like a keyboard trying to be a distorted guitar lol, as I just typed that you just said it. yeah it's a mix tool, so I would like to see how it fairs in a mix or in a live drum/key session with that rich chorus lead. yes you need to do that

[@RobertSchippers]

Video starts at 5:22

[@andreievkalupniek5717]

Nice video and playing! But as I expected from a inexpensive Behringer unit, some of the nice low frequencies are gone!

[@mechmancannon]

Try an Elektron Analog Heat.

[@MarceloDurham]

i've got one of these I found it very noise ..

[@laurentlefeivre]

I think the result is not good because this is not a distortion pedal, it is a sound card. Try with a "Tube driver" or something like that. I have a "TC electronic Tube Pilot" that sounds good with my harmonica, I 'll try it with my keyboard and tell you. ;-)

[@talkboxerr4463]

Another thing I am asking myself during your videos is how do you can have so much input with that sm58 mic? You are so far away from it ...

[@WoodyPianoShack]

haha, people ask about that sometimes, i dunno really! a fairly good room acoustically and any decent audio interface will get you there!

[@sonjaspackenberger9250]

What I heard was your interface clipping.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

not this time sonja, it was never anywhere near clipping, you can see that on the channel meters.

[@sonjaspackenberger9250]

@@WoodyPianoShack Then maybe in your DAW. There's definitely digital clipping in the video, in addition to the tube overdrive.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

i can assure you, nope! i'm meticulous about this, you are hearing the preamp.

[@DaraM73]

Interesting proposition.

[@CARLTONMOXLEYUnknownpianist]

VA ID might be nice to have a to our those right left channel might want to try that with my busking here in Washington DC you know stereos always better

[@SuperBriansmoke]

piano MOXLEY Just what I was thinking. I used to have an ART 12AX7 preamp which was similar.

[@nicksavage4763]

I LIKE YOUR PLAYING MORE THAN THE PREAMP

[@WoodyPianoShack]

haha, my playing is better than a preamp, awesome!

[@earlfunkton2745]

The fact that it has a tube in it is pretty much snake oil. It’s definitely a starved plate design so the desired characteristics of a tube aren’t really there