The Evolution64 - Is it worth the money?

[@k-d-n]

Dave, about the sound comparison, if you take the two recordings, and line them up 100% in a DAW or audio editor, and then reverse the polarity on one of the tracks and then play both tracks simultaneously, they should cancel each other out completely - if the tracks are identical. If not, you would be able to hear ONLY the difference between the two tracks. Then you can save it as a new track and import it back in the DAW, if you want to compare the waveforms.

[@generalardi]

So, I'm curious... is the SID chip itself precise enough that any two renditions of the same tune would ever come out exactly the same (even when played on the same hardware)?

[@k-d-n]

@@generalardi That's a damn good question! I don't know...

[@progressiveshitpost4588]

Audacity itself have a function to combine multiple tracks into one and generate a new track.

[@AiOinc1]

If one needs to go to such great lengths to determine the difference, then the difference is not great enough.

[@Cythil]

Because what you want to actually remove is noise I think, and do correct me if I am wrong, best way to do it actually record several recordings on each setup. Do the track comparison described by KDN above, and see which setup has the most divination between recordings. Yes. You compare the same setup with itself. That is a fair bit of work. But that is if you are interested in the noise reduction part. Other elements may also have an impact on the sound. Like getting a softer or harsher sound. But those difference I would say is more of a subjective quality. While consistency of playback is more of an objective quality.

[@AbbreviatedReviews]

A $500 upgrade that is almost imperceptible and requires a full spectrum of additional hardware to appreciate in any capacity really exemplifies the "audiophile" culture.

[@retrogameplus3838]

I'm waiting for an audiophile blockchain powered AI that is funded by an MLM scheme.

[@volvo09]

That's pretty much what it is... If you blind A B test you usually can't tell the difference between "quality" and "top of the line, fully engineered for audio quality". For the potentially incoming comments, how many people have a C64 hooked up to a fully analog amplifier? Probably not many... And this is a computer, released in the era of transistors. It's sound profile is what makes sid chip tunes sound the way they do, changing that is not an improvement in my opinion, that's never how it was used. (Edited for spelling)

[@dominikschutz6300]

But this VFD style amplifier tube is awesome :)

[@Tahngarthor]

I didn't think it was imperceptible at all and I'm not in any way an audiophile. There was a bit of fuzziness to the original recording that was simply not there on the nutube recording. Is that worth $500? hell no. but I could hear a difference.

[@jonathaningram8157]

I listen to good old mp3 on my airpod pro and couldn't be happier.

[@AndersEngerJensen]

Regarding vinyl… yes, I reduce a lot of stuff before sending off to the plant. For instance I sum the bass frequencies to mono below 100 Hz and I roll off a lot of the high frequencies from around 10 kHz and up. Also, the intensity is compressed all over to reduce most of the spikes. Vinyl is often pretty much lower quality compared to Chrome tape like the Attack of the Petscii Robots is… or even better, the 24 bit 44.1 kHz digital masters that people get as downloads. So vinyl… yes it gives a certain analog feel and even «warmth», but it is inferior in most ways nowadays. 🤷🏼‍♂️😄

[@belzebub16]

I think it'd be best to accept that there are people who just like the sound of Vinyl for whatever reasons, that's why I'm avoiding any kind of "technical" discussions, because you can't really discuss about personal preferences imho. And technically the answer is very clear imho as you (and alot of others) have pointed out.

[@Eddy0042]

I totally agree where we're talking about New vinyl - where I have found a better result from vinyl certainly compared to CD is older stuff (70s/80s) where the CD was mastered badly. Unfortunately this seems to be a major issue on a lot of stuff. A well mastered CD (without getting into Hi-Res audio) can sound better than vinyl, but on a lot of stuff the vinyl beats it because it was mastered by people who knew what they were doing and not out to 'get it on CD and flog it'. And there's something romantic about vinyl, and it's not all sound - it's nice to know that on earlier stuff it's a direct analog representation of what actually took place in the studio - but I appreciate that modern and remastered stuff negates this. David's view here is spot on with the tube amp - maybe it's better/preferable, but is it worth $500? If it makes you feel fuzzy inside knowing it's there and $500 isn't a lot to you then maybe... I won't be buying it ;-)

[@UberAlphaSirus]

even back then, a lot of stuff was mastered on digital tape.

[@8BitNaptime]

Master to dbx! Unless Dolby doesn't let you license a 50 year old analog technology...

[@Jackpkmn]

That "warmth" has always come from analog distortion.

[@RemnantCult]

I appreciate your brutal honesty in your reviews. You don't let the fact you get these enthusiast items for free get in the way of the review.

[@fixitalex]

I'll try to make it clear. Vacuum tube doesn't improve sound. It's actually distorts sound. Vacuum tubes modulate... They add some harmonics to sound, even harmonics to be precise. But unlike odd harmonics even harmonics somehow (it may be related to human nature) convincing us that it sounds good. You can get that "improved" sound by connecting any source (analog or digital) to tube amp or even tube amp emulator.

[@Psythik]

This is why people like tubes so much. They color the sound in a way that is technically "wrong", but sounds better to some people because tube amplification makes the sound "warmer". You can hear this even when the audio is converted to a lossy digital format. If you use a lossless format at a high enough bit depth and sample rate (44100Hz @ 16 bit, for example), the resulting waveform that comes out of your speakers is *identical* to an analog source. Which is why the whole analog vs digital argument for audio is pointless. The point I'm making is that tube amplified audio will still sound the same, even if converted to digital (so long as you use a lossless format like WAV or FLAC, neither of which KZbin uses, in order to save bandwidth).

[@FatLingon]

@Dr. Octogon Yes they do, but also there could be different stages in a signal chain that introduces different kinds of distortion. Take a guitar for example, it is common (in metal music) to use an overdrive pedal like the Ibaneze "Tube screamer" which mostly adds distortion to the peaks of the signal, and then goes into a guitar amp that does have a pre-amp (where most of the raw thick distortion is added) and then the output amp stage which compresses the sound and adds the tube saturation. So, one can layer the distortions with a pleasing result. Not sure though if the EVO64 people managed to do this or not.

[@EMAngel2718]

I wonder if this is because they have a quadratic-ish response rather than linear

[@roadtonever]

Because audiophools are confused about production and reproduction.

[@fixitalex]

@@EMAngel2718 It's because of how tubes work. One of the reasons is internal capacity between electrodes.

[@drdrums1]

You are correct that the NuTube is a VFD - that's the exact technology they used to create it. The two little rectangles not only light up when the tube is powered (seen at 4:43), they vary in intensity reflecting the signal that's being supplied. If you're curious, the tube itself is a twin triode configuration, with a directly heated cathode. A directly heated cathode is the typical arrangement for a VFD. I think that's also why the rectangles vary in intensity - in an indirectly heated arrangement, the filament just receives a set voltage.

[@frankowalker4662]

I was going to say that, they are'nt propper valves, just VFD's, so you would'mt get the rich valve sound anyway. It's just a gimmic.

[@colinstu]

@@frankowalker4662 boil tubes and VFD down… they're glass-encased with a vacuum pulled with emitters/cathodes/filaments/plates etc. If the VFD replicates the same thing a tube can do, who cares what shape it is?? It is a gimmick however in this case, even if full sized tubes were used.

[@erlendse]

@@frankowalker4662 They are valves. Maybe a indirectly heated cathode would be a upgrade. Otherwise quite much the same stuff!

[@Bleats_Sinodai]

@@frankowalker4662 they are actually valves, they're just not built in the traditional arrangement of a valve. Just like Nuvistors and Subminiature tubes are still valves despite not looking like a 300B. Are they flashy with the phospher that lights up? Yeah, but so are magic eye tubes (and even those you could use as a preamp). They're neat options that unfortunately haven't caught up, but sound amazing for guitar. Now, are they a gimmick in audiophile gear? ABSOLUTELY. Tubes ARE gimmicky. They're way more nonlinear than transistors, noisier and less reliable too. But that's not the charm behind them. The charm is seeing their filaments light up, physically getting hot, and sometimes even having a purple-y blue-ish cloud of electrons build up inside them. It's the connection with what was seen as cutting edge tech back then, and it still working today, that is the gimmick. Kinda like owning a muscle car. It's not efficient, it's loud, and it's environmentally horrible to run them, but damn are they a great collection of engineering achievements coming together into a beautiful piece of gear. It's the kinda thing you throw in there for fun, IMO.

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

Vacuum tubes in the old days were the opposite of reliable. Do you know if they have they fixed that issue?

[@TheJonBrawn]

In that first audio section, I could clearly hear A difference between the original and the valve version; in the next section, not so much. I'd be hard-pushed to say that the valve audio was better though - part of the charm of the 8-bit computers is the raw-sounding audio.

[@belzebub16]

But keep in mind that this was comparing the original stock C64 and the NUTUBE64 output from the Evolution64, I wish the standard ("transistor") output from the Evolution64 would have also been included. So the difference you heard is probably due to the very different circuitry and filtering between the stock C64 from the 80s and the Evolution64.

[@mrmimeisfunny]

I thought it was a bit less noisy.

[@ian_b]

The tube one sounded like it had a little "warm" distortion on it.

[@RyanDanielG]

Seemed to have a thicker padding and warmth. 500$? nah

[@StormsparkPegasus]

It didn't sound better to me either, just sounded like there was a little more bass. Which is probably just due to amplification more than anything. There was no comparison done with the default output of the new board, only the original C64 output (which is 40 years old at this point).

[@jstinn123]

I like that there are options out there to keep the C64 alive.

[@JosephDavies]

Me too. I really wish there were more projects like this, specifically for the Atari 2600 and TI-99/4A systems.

[@Okurka.]

A free emulator does that, too.

[@JosephDavies]

@@Okurka. Emulators are great, and they also serve a purpose, but having accurate hardware (especially new hardware rather than antique chips) fills gaps and complements emulators in important ways. It's a healthy system that has both.

[@stevethepocket]

Thing is, replacement boards like this are among the least useful such projects, because what's really in dwindling supply are the chips themselves. If anything, spare boards (and cases) should be getting _easier_ to find because of all the computers whose chips have died.

[@JosephDavies]

@@stevethepocket Very true. The chips (and the same for the TIA chip in the Atari, as I understand it) are really crucial and I hope something's being done to RE and rebuild them at some point. We're going to need them more and more to preserve these systems.

[@timhoover1346]

I love the Klingon nod with the word Qapla' right in the upper middle.

[@MishraArtificer]

I can't believe I had to scroll this far to find someone else who mentioned that...

[@laureeeeeeeeeeeeeeen]

The tagline on Korg's product page for that tube is "A new vacuum tube which puts vacuum fluorescent display technology to practical use"

[@retrotechtive]

I used those ZIF sockets on my Amstrad CPC builds. They are not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but they are very good indeed.

[@FRobot-rx4kz]

Who makes them? I've never seen them before...original 3M textool are not a bargain either....

[@retrotechtive]

@@FRobot-rx4kz Mine were made by Aries Electronics - I got them because the normal ones wouldn't fit where I needed them, and these are extremely compact even flush to a bypass capacitor. You can get them on Mouser and Digikey, both for a princely sum ;)

[@albator1932]

​@@FRobot-rx4kz they are made by Aries Electronics and they come in 24, 28 and 40 pin count

[@HamsterSnr]

They are more than US$10 a pop

[@williammanganaro9070]

There is a problem with these ARIES low profile ZIF sockets. When you decide to use SID recreations with machined round pins, it makes it almost impossible to close the ZIF lever because of the machine pin diameter. Do yourselves a favor and use the regular ZIF socks and you won't have any issues. many recreations use these machine pins, not just the SID chips. Jameco electronics sells these at very good prices at around $13 or $14 USD so to me, that is cheap considering what folks are charging things these days.

[@RussCottier]

Audio professional opinion. The nutube is about adding saturation (distortion) nothing to do with the integrity of an analog chain. This saturation is basically addition of harmonics that can sound nice and will be “even order” in a tube/valve so it’ll sound “in tune” with the source material. I wouldn’t bother myself but it’s not about analog signal path purity. Unless you want a really cool distortion tool in your computer that can be controlled for music creation maybe🤷‍♂️ But I wouldn’t get it

[@moo80]

Listening to the dual SID chip demo with my headphones on was pretty sweet. Could really appreciate the stereo effect

[@Thanatar2]

So coming from the audio recording side of things, tubes won’t change the sound of anything. Tubes just supply voltage. The only real difference you’ll notice between tubes is in volume. Now, this is mostly coming from my knowledge of guitar amplifiers, but tubes are tubes. They’re not an eq. A lot of musicians spend outlandish money on tubes that don’t make a difference. Just thought I’d let you know.

[@OzzyMoto2K10]

04:02 This is when 8-Bit guy is at his absolute best, the music kicks in and we know that things are about to go down in an educational and entertaining way

[@user-yw8sr3uj1w]

and then suddenly cuts out whilst he's talking

[@--Zook--]

When I hear the intro music I am transported back to the 80's when your favorite tv show finally came on.

[@bfapple]

What's the name of this particular track?

[@DWDrums123123]

I don't even care about this generation of computing as it was a little before my time, I still watch all his videos. They are great!

[@Justin.Franks]

1:41 Nutube was developed by Korg, and Noritake, a manufacturer of vacuum fluorescent displays, so that makes sense.

[@bland9876]

"Screw you your ears are broken if you can't hear the difference with those tubes" - audiophile's I assume.

[@rhymelapse]

FYI Dazzle video drivers have been in the linux kernel for a while now. Just plug it in and the OS sees it as a webcam.

[@IDPhotoMan]

Dual Sid setups are awesome. I love my FPGASID in "pseudo stereo" mode. It uses Voices 1 & 2 on the left channel, then Voices 2 & 3 on the right, creating a stereo effect. Makes 1983 games pretty amazing. (It'll do full stereo as well, but for existing games, the pseudo does the trick)

[@zszs1988]

Regarding the audio you mention, you can't hear any difference between the two. The difference is clearly noticable. One can clearly hear the difference. But that depends on what your or anyone elses audio output is. I'm watching your and simmilar YT videos on my 4K TV conected to Harman/Kardon amplifier with 240W Yamaha standallone speakers (stereo only). If one is to do a comparisment on a simple monitor, TV, or any other simple audio device, probably one would not hear any difference. But that difference is there. One can clearly her it through your video. With this in mind, I assume your recording equipment must be high quality. Othervise even I using my amplifier wouldn't be able to hear the difference. You did a good job presenting the audio difference in a quality manner. Personally, I prefer the new sound. Sounds so much better to me. Weather that is of any relavance to a C64, I guess it depends on how one would use it and for what. Regarding the price, it is relative and different for any individual. Currently for me it seems too high, but on the other hand, if I would be the one who can afford it, it's possible that I would.

[@ritbolitstudios582]

Started watching in 2018 and you really set me on a course towards my love of computers and compsci.

[@negativerainbow]

I was just rewatching old 8bitguy and 8bitkeys videos as this came up, what perfect timing!

[@pauldeane8369]

This is a fair assessment. $500 is simply the price of these types audio devices...but to match it up with the most important feature of the C64 is just amazing. Expensive?...yeah...insane? ... definitely! and I love it!

[@pmyhill]

I do really enjoy that you review things honestly and provide feedback to manufacturers where needed 👍. Far too many fake videos nowadays !

[@chrisakaschulbus4903]

I don't even know if you are a real person or a bot. So why shall your words have any weight?

[@pillarcat873]

I don't even know if you are a real person or a bot. So why shall your words have any weight?

[@MCAlexisYT]

10 PRINT”BOT “;: GOTO 10

[@theteenageengineer]

I did notice that the evo board had slightly better lower frequencies, and that’s about it. The problem with audio is that you have to spend quite a bit of money to get a very slight increase in sound quality and you have to spend that money on the equipment it’s being playing from and whatever actually has the music on it (a record, a digital file, or whatever else) and then you just get stuck in this endless loop where you keep spending more and more money to get a very slight or even non existent increase in quality. And to be honest for the 8 bit music that the C64 would be making it really just isn’t noticeable, you could spend $10K on an amplifier it really isn’t going to matter. For most people, there is no difference in sound quality between a transistor amplifier and a tube amplifier. But there are always a few people who claim to think a tube amp sounds better and it’s hard to tell if they actually hear a difference or if it’s just placebo because they spent 10 times what a transistor amp costs.

[@nlk294]

Techmoan used an audacity feature to combine the two tracks (one has to be inverted as well) and if there would be any quality improvement, there would have been a signal. If not, they would have been identical and x - -x would still be 0.

[@auro1999]

Phase is irrelevant, as long as it is different between channels.

[@PubstarHero]

You mean x + (-x)

[@nlk294]

@@PubstarHero yes

[@Angelgreat]

Are you keeping up with the Commodore? Cause the Commodore is keeping up with you!

[@AndersEngerJensen]

Isn’t he always? 😂✌️

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

And its stuck in my head AGAIN!

[@stephensu4371]

i remember the Australia commodore ad

[@Anth369]

Creepy commodore! Leave me alone!!! 😂

[@NeverlandSystemZor]

Dual SID sounds are incredible for an old platform. I LOVE it.

[@RabiesKills]

Hi. Semi-professional audio engineer here. To my ears, the tube chip sounded warmer than the original. But in the faster parts of the song, I couldn't tell much difference.

[@williamsquires3070]

The dual (stereo) SID-chip option definitely sounds better; I can easily hear the stereo separation on my iPad Air 5 (in landscape orientation.) 😍

[@nneeerrrd]

Let's appreciate the beautiful music by Anders Enger Jensen!

[@deborahberi3249]

I think the target market is not the average joe out there but someone that wants a newish and hopped up C64. You would be shocked at how much ppl spend to Mod their cars, lol. -Mark.

[@richardkelsch3640]

Vacuum tubes invert the signal, if only one tube per channel is used. Tubes are not better than high quality MOSFETs (that act similar to tubes). Some people like tubes because they introduce distortion that, believe it or not, sounds pleasing to the ear. Tubes are not usually flat in their frequency response. What tubes do is bring out the vocals, because of their favoritism of the midrange frequencies. In audio power amplifiers with transformer outputs, tubes also act like audio "shock absorbers" softening the "punch" etc due to their high-impedance nature. This softening is also pleasing to many audiophiles, but make no mistake, modifying the signal is distortion. Solid state, typically being high current, can handle audio bursts and punches accurately, provided the power supply has enough voltage and amperage to handle the signal. Audiophiles consider this "harsh", even though it's actually an accurate representation of the signal. As to the die hard tubers, the SID chip is solid state, digital and analog. The tube MAY introduce the tube distortion many audiophiles love, but being the SID is already solid state, the $500 is a waste of money. Even $200 is a waste of money.

[@magnum333]

The sound is crisper and cleaner with the vacuum tubes, trust my ears. Good to have news from you Dave!

[@mibnsharpals]

I don't think that the quality comes from the tubes, but rather that the whole circuit is much better filtered in terms of the power supply and the audio path is better designed.

[@RubenJavierTovarEsparza]

@@magnum333 Like he said, even if it does sound better, in no way is it $500 better.

[@winstonsmith478]

Those unusual sockets are Aries Electronics ZIF sockets and cost $11 in unit quantities.

[@Colin_Ames]

Interesting video, as always. It’s great to see continued support for the C64, although a $500 audio upgrade is pushing it a bit.

[@runeingebretsen8378]

Way to much money for minimal upgrade,and not all chips are there,they could at least put in clones,as much as possible.

[@davidsmith-ih2kk]

David I'm not even a commodore 64 guy and certainly no where near the level your at with old style computers, but this motherboard is well wonderful and lovely to look at. As to price for an aficionado like you, yes its worth the price. It's just absolutely brilliant. I especially like the vacuum tube device, but the rest of the board is so beautifully designed. No David for you or any other collector of old school devices its definately worth the money and I believe your wife would love this device also. I'm no collector but I love just looking at those soft close IC holders, no David it's simply a wonderfully brilliant motherboard and a must have for a collector such as yourself no matter the price.

[@TehAlekzi]

I think that the nutube sounded marginally better but it really is an audiophile feature from the start. It's just impossible to convey how much difference those two have over a youtube video.

[@ebridgewater]

I always hum along to your intro when I start watching each of your videos 😁

[@boriscat1999]

My theory for your inverted audio output: the Nu Tube is a pair of triodes and I suspect it is being used as an low input impedance inverting amplifier because that's the easiest way to make a low noise amplifier with a single triode (or transistor, works roughly the same way). There are two triodes so one of these simple class A amplifiers for each of left and right output.

[@nyaray6981]

They even don't thinked about non-inverting amp circuit (Actually just need to connect to a different pin and have one another resistor to do that).What more,they sounds like oversaturated😂.

[@techkev140]

I love your video's intro. It just smacks of something good is about to happen. Never having owned a C64, I'm a ZX Spectrum kind of guy, i find these videos really interesting and informative. Keep them coming.

[@RubyRoks]

1:45 That's exactly correct. NuTubes are repurposed/reengineered VFDs used to give vacuum tube characteristics like sag to audio circuits without requiring the excessive power draw of 100+ year old technology. They're most common use is in the Vox MV line of guitar amplifiers and a certain variant of the Ibanez Tube Screamer overdrive pedal Listening to the demo, there's a minor EQ difference likely caused by the amplifier circuitry and NOT the NuTube. it's an incredibly small difference and charging $500 for an upgraded amplifier for a 40 year old 3 voice synth is simply end users getting fleeced by bad faith promises. For reference, i'm listening on Beyerdynamic DT770s plugged into an Audient iD14 Mk1 interface

[@borek6164]

I got a nutube in my Korg Volca NuBass, wich is a 303 like acid synth. The nutube is used in the oscillator and suboscillator drive. Sounds quite pleasing.

[@LondenTower]

even though i didn't grow up with this computer, i do love both the original and evo64 board

[@derekchristenson5711]

This is the sort of project that always piques my interest on a technical level, but then (inevitably, due to what goes into it, NOT overpricing, I think) prices itself waaaay outside my budget. Thanks for making a video about it! I have to admit, BTW, that with all the Commodore 64 / 128 / etc. videos you've made over the years, I had assumed that you probably had a massive stockpile of C64 IC's in your workshop, LOL. Apparently, "assuming" strikes again!

[@NekoArc]

Aside from audio with the upgrade sounding a bit brighter with certain ranges, it would honestly be difficult to justify $500 for that add-on for any regular C64 enthusiast. The video quality though is a stark difference given the comparisons on here!

[@retrotv1tech]

What a Time to be alive when you can build a brand new C64 from all new parts! I like the flexibility of this board that you can build a brand new system, or use original C64 chips.

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

Cool but a costly endeavor considering PC emulsions are cheap or free.

[@blakegriplingph]

@@HOLLASOUNDS *emulation

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

@@blakegriplingph Good lord Dyslexia strikes again.

[@espressomatic]

If you count FPGA. And if you count FPGA, get an Ultimate64 instead. If you want an "authentic" C64 then it can't be built from new parts because new parts don't exist to replace the old ones. If you have a bad board, buy a replacement C64. if you want a clean board with reclaimed chips you can cheaply buy a brand new PCB.

[@vytah]

@@espressomatic You will be able to build a true new C64 as soon as the CIA chips are made available, it's explained in the Perifrastic's video. Unless you are really picky about what counts as a replacement.

[@more.power.]

Thank you David and excellent video release.

[@falazarte]

Great video. I am still in disbelief how much people still invest in our beloved C64.

[@DerSchrauberClub]

Nice Star Trek reminiscence at 1:16 - QAPLA' 🙂

[@UltimateTechHub]

Very cool Zif-Socket! I've never seen that before! Thanks for the review!

[@albator1932]

they are made by Aries Electronics and they come in 24, 28 and 40 pin count

[@Sebastian_Athea]

I think you have misunderstood the audio vacuum tube amp purpose; I own a pretty high end headphone setup which consists of rebelAmp (solid state class a headphone amp) paired with Sennheiser HD 800S, and using something like NES with the system will make your ears bleed (which is caused mostly by the attack speed of the system, on "normal" speakers the square waves will rise and fall slowly with rounded off edges, but on systems like mine that won't happen), plugging an vacuum tube buffer which by design has soft sound in between the source and the amp fixes the issue and makes the system usable with retro machines. the audio amp on that board probably has the same function, although it's overpriced, I built mine for 100usd in parts and it took about 30 min to assemble.

[@6stringmonk]

I can definitely hear the difference without and with the NuTube. The NuTube has more of a scooped sound. I would be hard pressed to say which I prefer without using it for many hours. Definitely not worth $500 for most people. It is interesting though and I would pay the add on price if it was much cheaper... like maybe $100-$150. I could see how this would appeal to folks who use the C64 in music creation. I will add that I don't think the development of the NuTube add-on is dumb idea. I think it is an awesome idea.

[@rhydermike]

I work with audio and music and I could clearly hear the difference too. I could also see that the valve-processed waveform was smoother with fewer spikes. Probably better value than that $500 add on would be an external on valve amplifier such as a headphone amp that could be used with lots of devices.

[@vilvicuk]

Interesting video and a new music discovery! Awesome music by Anders Enger Jensen

[@NeedGamesNow]

Great review as always - I am on the preorder list for the basic stuff, I was really hoping the NuTube would be something fantastic, but it just seems like a waste of money for 99% of the people. :( I have a keyboard and case waiting for this! :)

[@casanovafunkenstein5090]

I think that the issue is that, while valves can sound really good, just having a valve in a circuit doesn't make the circuit good by being there. Couple that with the component not being a valve that's intended for audio amplification and you're not really going to have an easy time recreating the same qualities that you'd get from a high end audio product unless you have some very good engineers designing the circuit. You'd probably get similar, if not superior, valve emulation from using a JFET-based circuit (which would likely be considerably cheaper as well). This is of course somewhat of a moot point given that the waveform that's being fed into it isn't particularly complex. The SID chip is very musical in its own right but it's got hard limits when it comes to the actual sophistication of the sound as compared to a record. If you're comparing the two amps you're probably going to need to hook them up to something that's outputting a high fidelity recording made in a studio to really identify much in the way of difference between the two, as that would give a better idea of the difference in response between the two designs

[@CraigRodmellMusic]

Thanks for another interesting, enjoyable episode. Nice to know about options like this for keeping those old machines alive

[@ScottJWaldron]

It's cool seeing the C64 continue on with new equipment! That was my first computer. 😁

[@billkeithchannel]

I watched that episode of Retro Recipes and he was in ecstasy at this board. He also designed, fund raised, and got manufactured the clone keys for an authentic keyboard.

[@Nelwyn]

When I saw that PLA that says QAPLA I immediately thought of "Qapla" from Klingon speak.

[@jimtekkit]

I've only been working on electronics for about a year, but just one glance at that board and you can tell it's a very high quality build.

[@volvo09]

Yeah, to me it looks like the designers had fun designing it and trying to throw everything at it just for fun, in a "we can make this work" style. I think it's really cool, even though I'd take original hardware.

[@alexanderkuhn2298]

I rather do not like the somewhat hodge podged nutube daughter board design and screw terminals for connecting it, but the rest looks real slick.

[@pretol7920]

When I hear that dx7 bell-"piano", and the synth toms going up and down like its nobody's business...

[@jamesslick4790]

The analog VS digital audio debate for me is dead. I love my analog formats from a tactile/nostalgia point of view. It's satisfying to "drop the needle" or spool up an O.R. tape. (and this does add an unquantifiable element to listening to old music). However, I don't at all miss having my tape heads out of alignment deck to deck, or the speed differences deck to deck (or turntable to turntable). Not to mention generation loss during editing. I'm not some "kid" who thinks digital is better because that's what I grew up with. I was born in 1962, So TECHNICALLY a "Boomer". I was ALWAYS in search of a "perfect" way to record without these issues. MiniDisc was the first that rivaled my O.R. decks, and now we have LOSSLESS digital recorders for FAR FAR less money that will "smoke" my old O.R. decks. I have a Tascam DP-006 that not only is a multi-track recorder, but has a built-in mixer, and it is the size of a paperback book. It cost me about what a few 7" reels of tape would now. As to using a vacuum tube amp in THIS use case? I don't get it. Even if one used an all vacuum tube TV from 1950 as the monitor, The source sound is generated by a solid state (transistor) device in the first place! 🤷‍♂️

[@CrippleX89]

I love projects like this! It’s important to keep old computers working and they’re awesome to play with. While I do hear a big difference with the NuTube (it sounds a lot clearer imho, especially the highs), it’s definitely not worth the money as far as I can tell from a highly compressed KZbin video.

[@jmorv8866]

:25, love the Klingon reference. Btw, I want that t-shirt!

[@SakuraNyan]

I do think I heard a *slight* difference in quality for the vacuum tube amp vs the other system. If I had to describe it, I'd say that the non-tube one sounded slightly tinnier, but only on the first one.

[@LarryTalbot_1313]

An aminated John Wayne playing a SID guitar? Now I've seen it all!

[@M2T77]

The new chip sound is way smoother. I always loved the scratchy sound of the original C64 but I can def hear a difference. Would love to see a video with more game music like R-type, Skate or Die, Outrun. Wizzball but most of all Nemesis The Warlock. Love those tunes. Great video!

[@TheOriginalJGuns]

there's definitely a 'flavoring' of the sound that the tubes add, even when being recaptured by digital equipment. it's not massive, mind you, and the speakers/headphones are going to make more of an impact to the listener in most cases. that said, i definitely hear a difference. whether thats worth the expense or not is in the eye, or ear, of the beholder.

[@sonicunleashedfan124]

One thing I did notice in the first audio section, is that the real C64 seemed a bit sharper sounding, with the nutube reducing those peaks, but maybe the audiophiles can help me figure out what that means

[@ozzyp97]

It's hard to say for sure without putting the audio thorugh a frequency analyzer, but I'd expect the higher quality audio system gets a bit more lows through, effectively reducing overall emphasis on high "sharp" tones. Tubes also add some distortion of their own, which tends to subjectively round out the sound a bit.

[@Nightykk]

Hah. That PLA chip is named Qapla'... - that's Klingon for 'Success', 'Have a nice day', 'Good luck', etc. 10/10, would nerd again. Even has the '. Definitely Klingon. I see what they did there.

[@ultrametric9317]

Thanks Dave! Interesting video! I can DEFINITELY hear the difference in sound - it is in the accuracy of the attack and the overall smoothness of the sound. The note decay seems MUCH more realistic. (As to digital vs. analog - meh. If you sample high enough you're OK. My digital piano is just fine.)

[@stevecommodore]

Great job, always interesting video, congratulations

[@lwilton]

1) It's pretty. 2) It works. 3) It's $300, plus you find the main chips. 4) The video is obviously better if you have a good monitor like the 1084. If you have to use a TV or going thru an NTSC (or even some S-Video) converters, you will have a hard time seeing the difference. 5) The vacuum tube audio signal is inverted. However, this might only matter if you are summing this output with the output of a real C-64, and probably not only then. The human ear can't hear the difference between speaker polarities, unless you have intermodulation between multiple speakers. 6) The vacuum tube audio sounded notably different to me, it seems to have more highs. You could see that in the capture waveform too. Whether more highs is a good or bad thing may depend on the audio you are playing. Whether the marginal improvement is worth any money at all to you depends on your desires. Audiophiles would like it, because for them More Money = Better. Overall, it's pretty, it works, it is somewhat expensive, and it sounds and looks slightly better/different from the original. That would make it worthwhile for some people, and not so for others. It would have been interesting to hear a capture from the non-vacuum tube audio to compare. The amount of highs basically depends on the value of a cap and a resistor, so it might have more highs also. Is there a pink noise or white noise generator for the C64? Capturing the output of that and using an RTA to get an envelope of the audio output on this and a C64 would be interesting.

[@lloydieization]

If your not going to hook up to the Nutube output to half descent amp and or powered speakers (~$500+) or headphones its pointless having the Nutube pre-amp stage, the chances are slim that your going hear anything good/better from your typical 2 to 5 watt 2.5 to 4 inch full range (that's still an oxymoron even with current analogue speaker technology) speaker(s) found in TVs and monitors of this era, this also applies to the majority of External PC speakers sold, as again most only had a cheap single full range speaker in each enclosure with the usual fake tweeter (high frequency driver) thrown in for good measure.

[@MartinGalway]

I could tell the difference between the standard SID and NuTube versions of the music (in this video). Insofar as, I reckon I could identify them in an A-B test. I think the NuTube version definitely sounded better. But you're correct to say they were very similar and the $500 option won't sell a lot of copies. I would still like to hear some of my own tunes through it on my studio speakers 😀

[@stragulus]

11:46 This one was the clearest difference to me, the nutune sounds fatter, like it has a ring to it. From what I recall that is additional harmonics that should be considered distortion but people like it (it does sound warmer). Can also do that with a software filter of course, which is typically the approach I prefer because then you can color sound whenever and however you want. But hey, to each their own.

[@GeirEivindMork]

I'd say the $500 option sounded even better with Martin Galways seal of approval. ;)

[@auro1999]

Hi there. I`m Stefano - . the initiator of the project, designer of the schematic, and the producer of the boards. The nutube DOES sound different, but unfortunately the compressed/transistorized version of the clip does not reproduce that difference. Tubes (and JFETs) have a different proportion of odd vs even distorsion than transistors (or mosfet). In simple words, even-distorted sounds good. Odd-distorted sounds bad. In the nutube64 device, there are two small trimmers to make the "even" distorsion positive or negative. Once the odd distortion is minimized at the working point , biasing the grids one side you will get more "ambient", while on the other side you get more "crystalline". The personal feeling about the cost of the object is subjective so it does not require comments: the nutube64 is an add-on board, so the old-C64 board can be run without it, stereo, with the usual transistorized output, and with all the features that have been shown in this and other videos. W.R.T the original SID commodore output. It is an emitter follower with a gigantic base swing introducing a lot of non-linear logarithmic distortion. The original C64 developers chose this solution because it was quick and cheap. Perfectly fine. A better design could have been possible, but the C64 would have been more expensive, so that was ok: market penetration - not quality - was the priority. What it is done is done. The old C64 bypass electrolytic capacitor is most likely dry so its ESR is all over the place. My board has also a lot of other features to improve quality and overall I`m quite satisfied. Martin, please send an email to the evo64 guys. You will get yours, listen with your studio speakers, play with different grid-bias and enjoy your beautiful tunes.

[@rawiriblundell]

I don't think anybody else has pointed this out yet: printed beside the PLA is "QAPLA". That's Klingon, for "Success". Maybe a cute little easter egg for the eagle eyed Trekkies :)

[@Ayavaron]

Wow, that Cowboy's Dream demo sounded incredible. What beautiful stereo

[@mashrien]

1:14 QAPLA'! How did nobody else notice that?! Freaking Klingon greeting wishing someone fortune or "good luck"- That's freaking hilarious

[@The8BitGuy]

That's funny. Even I didn't noticed because I'm not familiar with Klingon spelling rules.

[@mashrien]

@@The8BitGuy I'm not really a trekkie either, but I have watched all of the TV shows, and qapla' is said frequently enough that it was immediately recognizable to me. Was just an interesting and entertaining easter egg when you were showing off the PCB.. Got an audible chuckle out of me. PCB designers showing off their nerdy sense of humor. If I had thought of it, I'd have done the same lol

[@vincesieber8828]

@@mashrien I came here to say this... wanted to search to see if any one else said it first.

[@vincesieber8828]

@@mashrien Pretty sure it means 'Success' though.

[@Samuel127849]

There is a difference in the sound, it's pretty close though, close enough that it would be personal preference. The OG recording was a bit tinny on the high notes.

[@jessragan6714]

Five hundred dollars? Hoo man, not a ghost of a chance. It was nice seeing another video from you, though! You and Lon are like the next generation of TechTV.

[@brianm6337]

So... the alternate universe has Klingons building the boards, I see.

[@jasonteknut]

I think you should heatsink that VIC-II. They run pretty hot and is normally dissipated through the metal housing on the original board…a VIC-II on this board might not run long without some fins.

[@jonathaningram8157]

I'm not sure he uses it a lot. Probably just to test some apps and make video. He codes on emulator.

[@hjalfi]

Regarding the audio comparison: the thing to do here is to subtract one signal from the other so that all that's left is the difference. That will very quickly tell you if the valve-based amplifier is actually contributing much, and how (e.g. if it's producing more high-frequency sound you'll get high-frequency noise). Ideally, the result will be very quiet, indicating that there's very little difference between the two.

[@randomexcessmemories4452]

I personally was able to hear a widened soundstage and slightly cleaner and brighter profile with the NuTube upgrade. If I had the money, I'd buy one with all the upgrades! Hopefully at some point I'll be able to.

[@holycowmanheck]

IIRC, from another guys video (Mr Carlson's Lab) when a signal is amplified through a vacuum tube, it inverts the signal.

[@readtedium]

FWIW: The vacuum tube sample clearly sounds fuller, or at least louder.

[@shadowboxer47]

enough for me to drool over it

[@konirtaes]

Klingon finding this board in the future: Eh? Qapla? QAPLA!

[@Anth369]

Imagine being visited in the 80s from your future self, and being told that the C64 is still being made and has all these futuristic upgrades…

[@kingpoopra6084]

Radical, Dude!

[@GGoAwayy]

Upgrade to futuristic vacuum tube technology

[@sailcat662]

I would have believed it! I loved my C64 well past its prime. I would go to yardsales specifically for Commodore magazines so I could enter the code and feel like a programmer!

[@andreasu.3546]

Went to the future, hoping for flying cars, and all I got was an audiophile C64. Bummer.

[@illustriouschin]

You weren't pining for a home computer that could do what the C64 couldn't?

[@TestECull]

13:05 There is an improvement between tubes and, at least admittedly cheap, solid state gear. At work I usually have a boombox going to help me through the day's drudgery and of course they're cheap little things. Two solid state units made within the last ten years, both sounded like crap(Very tinny and statick-ey), both died quick. Replaced then with a Zenith from 1957 that I got off eBay for 50 bucks and oh my god it sounds so much better. Especially with particularly heavy tracks...stuff from Metallica, Judas Priest, Ozzy/Sabbath, etc...there is a definite warmth to tubes that transistors don't really catch. And I can hear that from an FM signal in a noisy job shop over the din of welding and impact guns that permeates the place during the workday! That being said, it's not enough of a difference to warrant spending a fortune on tube gear. I bought that radio in part because I just plain and simple love vintage stuff and in part because I wanted to buy a radio that I could actually repair should it need it rather than just grumble, throw away, replace. The tube set from 1957 fits both bills. It sounding a little better is a nice perk, but it's not why I bought it. It costing about the same as the more modern solid state boomboxes and already having a full recap/alignment done before I ever got it are also nice perks heh heh. I run that tube set 40 hours a week and it hasn't skipped a beat in the last 3 months.

[@elyuw]

I reckon the NuTube sound was perhaps a bit "fuller" in the Audacity test, but there's no way I'd pay $500 for that.

[@Bedwyr7]

Bonus points for naming the PLA in Klingon: "QAPLA".

[@plexusproductions]

On the issue of audio quality: there are two ways to look at audio: subjectively and objectively. The objective aspects are things you can measure such as loudness, clipping, distortions, frequency response, jitter, etc. On the subjective side, its as complex as the human mind is. Outside of obvious objective issues (eg. too distorted, not loud enough etc) the subjective stuff, aka "which sounds better?", is not something that can be objectively measured. Hence there is no right or wrong. It's personal taste and every person is going to have a different opinion. All you can do is what you did and give you opinion. But, it's vital to understnand that when speaking subjectively in terms of preference, there is no right and wrong and every opinion is valid. There is no objective data in subjective analysis unless you are doing a controlled study with a large sample set.

[@DJPeterJames]

The audio defo sounds better. Much more defined.

[@DaveMastor]

I could definitely hear a difference on the sound test between SID and NuTube. To me, the NuTube had more high frequency sounds, but that actually made it sound a little bit harsher to my ears. Granted I'm just sitting here with desktop speakers and the video isn't that loud, but the difference was notable to me. I'd be interested in seeing a very close up shot of the waveform, especially the peaks, to see how they might differ.

[@billkeithchannel]

The bottom one did sound brighter. He should have inverted the bottom wave so they matched.

[@blanknam3d]

11:19 - I do hear a minor difference... just slightly crispier treble lol Even as someone who's a bit of an audio nut, I would never pay that much more for that minor of a difference, when you could literally get the same effect by turning up the treble on your amp/receiver/whatever a little bit.

[@NiGHTSnoob]

There's definitely a difference in the audio recordings you made. The tube seems to have a slightly more full sound profile, but honestly I couldn't say one sounds significantly better than the other, they're just a tad different is all. Like you said there's recording and youtube compression to deal with, but I think with such simplistic wave forms out of the SID it really wouldn't matter much anyways.

[@vampirwrr]

Cpu zif socket power pins are labeld VDD, VCC so its easy to mout this chip right way.

[@TheSoloH]

I run this video over my audiophile audio system and notice an improvement. More defined bass and nicer overall tone. On my iPhone it sounds worst, weirdly.

[@-jeff-]

I'm still using a Dazzle DC90 too! I've been converting what's left of my VHS collection to digital for years and years (and years) 😮‍💨 on my Win XP 64 laptop. Nice to see Impossible Mission again. "Stay Forever".

[@aachaion]

The most common theory I've heard about how tubes make a difference in audio is via euphonic distortion...i.e, the tubes actually introduce distortion to the signal, but it's distortion that sounds good. Assuming that's the case, the comparison to vinyl isn't especially apt, since vinyl in theory is leaving intact data that the digital signal is losing via digital sampling. Euphonic distortion should still be audible after the signal has passed through solid state components, so maybe this just isn't a very tubey sounding tube.

[@luxurius3059]

i have absolutely no clue what any of this does, is for, or is in general but its cool.

[@DarkPuIse]

4:20 Important note to folks here: David actually sets it to the wrong voltage for his VIC2! (Or was this just to demonstrate it?) If you notice, a bit further away from the socket, you get a list of what parts need what voltage. Make sure to follow that. (In David's defense, I will also point out that in subsequent shots, he does have the jumper in the right place.)