Tube Sound Comparison - Mullard VS. Tungsram ECC83/12AX7

[@quantumkettlebells4384]

That Tungsram is beautiful. Nice attack, perfect bloom. The Mullard (although accurate) seems a little overly compressed. Nice playing! I like that riff buddy!

[@PGHJR002]

Mullard has a deeper tone and more gain, where Tungsram has what I hear as more detail in the upper midrange and maybe a little noisier.

[@Thewatcherinthering336]

Both sound great! But I kinda lean towards tungsram

[@michaelgriffin5304]

From someone who has used a ton of Mullards, they have this crazy 3D mid definition and punch that is nuts. You can crank them into gain and they are just smooth and vocal. Love them! I didn't think I liked a tube better until I found a very early RCA blackplate. The lows, mids, and highs with the early blackplate are not like the RCAs produced after it. They have very defined sound that is closer to a Euro style tube. Thanks for the demo! I recently grabbed a Heerlen (Holland Mullard) that sounds really nice! Try out CBS/Hytron Long Grey plates- kinda like a mix between an RCA and a Mullard, defined lows and nice mids with clear, sweet highs too!

[@jm_1214]

100 percent accurate description. They will ruin you

[@Johnsormani]

I worked at Philips Netherlands when I was young in 1984 and they were selling out all of the tubes they had in their company store ( employees only) . I picked up ( for little money) three miniwatt ecc83’s and two EL34’s for my Marshall JMP as spares . I never used them and I still have these after 40 years . The JMP is also still here with its original Mullard tubes. I should have bought all the tubes they had back then, but if I remember correctly there were not too many ecc83 and el34’s there anyway.

[@ecc8344]

Awesome! The famous Heerlen factory? :) I wish I could pick up some Philips tubes for little money hehe

[@jm_1214]

I've done this comparison many times on many systems and the Mullard is king. Shame they are so expensive. Once you hear them, You won't like your equipment any longer without them

[@bradnelson2637]

The Mullards on clean sounded to my ears, like they had more chime….just ordered some for my Fender Pro Jr III

[@markh.6606]

I liked the Mullards better for the detail on the clean playing , but the mid punch the Tungsram have had better punch for the rock riff...great riffs and video!

[@googoo-gjoob]

the Mullard was nice...but the Tungsram moved me more.

[@Mikexception]

Perception depends on colorisation and it in practice is ;possible to alingn such colorisation that differences likely could be unveiled . For natural perception both are enough equal so brand is not a problem for me .

[@SuspiciousAra]

i was looking for exactly these tubes, both Tungsram and Mullard and fond them exactly the oposite price, i mean Tungsram $140 and Mullard $30 for each and people are mostly agree that Tungsram sounds more natural and clean. but then there many people saying the exact oposite. i think people don't understand that one cannot just swap tubes, they have to be tuned a bit for voltage and current, maybe some caps need to be swapped as well.

[@Ruddigore]

Both are great, but if I was forced to choose I would opt for the Tungsram.

[@yaniv-nos-tubes]

great video as always. 1. the tungsrams sound great. i never knew about them. another cheap alternative to mullards are japanease matsushits'a ,the tube king, my mentor, sold me a 6681 matsushita from his private stash once and it's an amazing tube, brighter than mullards and great for clean and drive. have you read the tube king's guide ? it's all about nos on guitar amps. 2. even though guitar players go more to digital these days ,tubes are making a comeback in home audio: tube amps, preamps, dacs, buffers and headphone amps are seen more at audio shows like axpona. i'm listening through an ifi tube buffer loaded with a ge and a rogue rp 1 tube preamp with vintage mullards and it sounds great through speakers and headphones .since the source has become mostly digital for most people tubes are needed more than ever and it's not slowing down. check out ocd mikey's youtube latest video :"isaac 100k system" to hear the highest level of tube gear in home audio. thanks

[@johnmarshall3903]

Link to the tube kings guide please?

[@yaniv-nos-tubes]

@@johnmarshall3903 i think it's not available anymore maybe on some forums. but mullards are the best that's the bottom line don't go through the rabbit hole you don't have to try 17 options start from the best mullards rcas ge's one of those should suit you, if you have a specific question just ask.

[@naradaian]

I agree with your comments exactedly but once the more complex music began the tungsram was a liitle more confident or upfront....sadly i only have 12's now not EC's

[@LosFicosMusic]

EXCELLENT WORK

[@Madmart54]

I just listened through my iphone13 and was surprised at the difference. I preferred the Mullard’s with a sweeter detailed sustained sound. The Tungsram sounded more muted to me and not so enjoyable.

[@pongmaster123]

cool channel. i have around 500 vintage ecc83😵‍💫 i'm in the process of testing them with a neuberger rpm375.

[@insanetubegain]

In a live situation, setting in the mix, the subtle difference in tone will be mute, and either brand will work just fine. However It would possibly make a difference in certain studio recording situations, such as this one. That said, I do appreciate the tone comparison test, and the way you performed it, good job.

[@RRickenbacker]

Great video. I like the Tungsram better clean and the Mullards better dirty. I still have not made time to watch all of your videos but I plan to. Thanks!

[@ahhsgvr]

The Mullard sounds a bit thin compared to the Tungsram

[@gregj.gotham4402]

I’ll stick with RCA black plates from the late 50’s - 60’s NOS with D shape getter with copper stress rods. Burned in for 24 hrs then thoroughly matched.

[@zbaby82]

The Mullard sounds better. I base this on the overdrive riffs. Nice playing. And a good video.

[@thebeaner687]

Mullard sounds great. Tungsram sounds smoother but there’s a huge sound difference. Mullard sounds like a big engine, easily creating any sound. While the Tungsram sounds like a smaller engine, struggling with the high notes, peaking very fast. That smoothness is from everything peaking. Sort of like using a DAW and everything getting capped off at the top of the sound wave/more compression which makes it sound smoother when it distorts.

[@LilArt2k6]

What year is the mullard? Im looking to purchase a mullard for this sound!!! Also, any tips when looking for this tube?

[@ruidedavid4539]

Very good explanation! TKS.

[@matthewtaylor7355]

People often say mullards sound dark.. None of the BBC recordings from the 40s and 50s sound dark.. They sound inherently clean and clear etc

[@milanmihajlovic8569]

I have both and I prefer Tungsram.

[@Radio478]

Great video thanks from England

[@12_inch_spinnerz]

I'm running a FOSI Box X2 with Riverstone 5456 tubes, I was curious if you think the Mullard would be a good investment or should I just stick with the riverstone?

[@ecc8344]

Riverstone? Thats a rebrand 100%..check tube structuture and serial number to check which manufaturer is. If you like the sound right now stick with those tubes otherwise Mullard (made in England) is definitely a phenomenal tube :)

[@12_inch_spinnerz]

Thanks! I'll check out Mullard, I did just pick up a matched set of Voskhod letting them settle in, however I think I'm going to develop a tube rolling problem LOL@@ecc8344

[@suzukiax100rd3]

caul recommend me to record voices for a presonus preamplifier that uses 12AX7 what brand and model is good for that

[@ecc8344]

If you can afford..you will not go wrong with Telefunken :)

[@suzukiax100rd3]

@@ecc8344 OK, thanks a lot

[@quantumkettlebells4384]

I will name this the Tungsram riff

[@walteravvento1320]

Il suono delle Mullard a mio avviso e' piu cristallino con una sensazione di spazialita' molto maggiore, le Tungsram sembrano dare migliori risultati con la musica rock. Nell'insime le Mullard a me sembrano nettamente superiori.

[@curioustraveler1390]

Sounds like there is chorus effect on the tungsram.

[@ecc8344]

But its not :)

[@jairobotero3266]

Excelente vídeo

[@thebeaner687]

You should try RFT, the German tubes, then play some rammstein du hast guitar chords. I heard amperex, bugle boy, BRIMAR and RFT. Oh and you should order some new BRIMAR 12ax7’s. Not the Nos but the new ones and compare them against any of the NuTube Russian brands that are made nowadays.

[@ecc8344]

There's no such thing as new Brimar, maybe some rebranded JJ or Russian tube, but they are not making them in UK 100% ;)

[@thebeaner687]

@@ecc8344 yeah I thought the Great British Valve Project had been a success but I guess it hasn’t become reality yet. My bad!

[@EpicWinz]

Tungsrams sound richer and more harmonically complex - to my ears anyway 😂

[@EpicWinz]

Subscribed BTW ❤

[@ceylonmooney]

well, the tungsram sounded better to me. more punch.

[@NERDOFUNK]

Tungsram

[@ceylonmooney]

the short plates, yeah...i think you get more upper extension the further up the quality chain u go, from short to long to box plates.

[@Ht-ic9qq]

Tungsram is more much better!

[@peterk.rosenthal1417]

Not one single person would be able to tell the difference if the name wasn't on the screen. Especially not in a mix.

[@Cipollae]

🥱

[@michaelgriffin5304]

Maybe you can't discern the differences but they are fairly obvious, even when using lesser speakers. Glad you can't hear the difference, leave the good tubes for the rest of us. I personally roll different tubes in my guitar amp and just changing V1 alone makes a difference.

[@HANDBALLDIEHARD]

I will never ever use Mullard 12ax7's in high gain guitar amps , i had a hum issue that broke me mentally trying to solve the 60 cycle hum i was getting , in the end it was the Mullards , brand new top quality ? even tube shields didn't fix the issue ,had no effect so i did not suspect it was the Mallards ! JJ's almost cured the issue , with shields were ok , the best lowest noise tubes were golden lions gold pin, they were humless even without the tube shields ! Mullards , the batch i was given while modifying a 70 tremolo Marshall were in my opinion JUNK ! You like very high gain ? Stay away from Mullards ,Total Crap !

[@ecc8344]

Are you sure you had experience with real Mullards and not re-issued made in Russia Mullards? Because I never heard a single complaint bout original UK Mullards being bad in any amp :)

[@HANDBALLDIEHARD]

@@ecc8344 Yes the new ones currently available , vintage is an other story . Brand new like i said this was about 5 years ago, Are UK mallards still being produced ? Nope. Yes i was told the new labeled Mullards are not legit .Yes you nailed it the Russian ones.I still have them , for phase inverter stage or a clean amp like fender they are ok.

[@ecc8344]

Yeah, well thats technically a Sovtek 12AX7LPS rebranded into Mullard...and its NOTHING like sonically like vintage Mullard...The UK Mullards are not made since early 80s.