Swapping a Vintage Tube Into this ART TubePac Preamp (12az7) - The Microphone Playboy

[@TheRecordist]

I think that sounds fantastic! I'll even say, the more you talked the more extended and slightly saturated it got (just a tiny bit). ART... who knew? I put a pair of Mullard 12AX7s in my ART compressor and it changed everything. Great vid, great sound!

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Yeah, I think we are hearing that az7 sound evolving before our very ears, or at least reaching thermonic emission and it kind of is a beautiful thing. Oh how they mature so fast. I'm hooked though. I think this is a rabbit hole worth exploring in a serious manner. These ART pieces are no laughing matter to me anymore.

[@davidgbeneke1]

IMHO nothing sounds better than a good tube preamp on a voice! This one sounds great, very smooth and clear on your voice! Can't say enough good things about the ART Voice Channel, variable impedance, two different tube voltages, dee esser, compressor, expander gate and a 4 band parametric eq along with analog and digital outputs with variable switchable sample rate and dithering. It's an Avalon KILLER! They are running a little over $600.00 now and some places replace the tube before you buy them. Check it out, with that RCA 12az7, I'll bet it would be a tone monster for you!

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Thanks David! Yeah, I'm no longer ignoring the ART stuff. The Voice Channel looks hot AF and the idea of an Avalon Killer gets my blood pumping. I'm certainly very intrigued and with my intense gear-itis, I wouldn't be surprised if I snagged some kind of ART gear before year's end. Thank you for suggesting the VC.

[@davidgbeneke1]

BTW, I put a NOS Mullard Master Valve 12AX7 Pre-chosen by Tube Depot for it's 1st and 2nd triode voltages and microphonics. It was the choice of audio engineers about 10 years ago for the ART VC Tube pre, and it improved mine immensely! Avalon's have tubes at every stage which makes them smooth, but when a tube starts to fail in the chain, you have trouble. 5 min of warm up is always suggested for tube amps to get them sounding their best.

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

I appreciate the info. I actually have a tube guy who gets a lot of really cool NOS tubes and I haven't used him in a while so I'm thinking between him and Tube Depot, there are a lot of choices to customize to my liking. But first, yeah, I'd try this AZ7 and maybe maybe experiment with a few others. This is starting to sound like fun.

[@bambule5268]

Great video! How about trying a more coloured mic with it too? Also what is your opinion about the art pro mpa?

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Thanks! I can do that. I've never tried the ART Pro MPA. This is the only piece of ART gear I've ever used, but I'm hearing from a bunch of people how good they are especially when you roll in a good tube, so I'm intrigued, but unsure if I'll do any further ART exploration.

[@boco1951]

I put an AY in my art tube sounds great.

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Thanks! This is what everyone with an ART preamp seems to be telling me. Better tube = Big upgrade.