Studio Devil Virtual Tube Preamp

[@midnight]

assuming that Wave Arts done their modelling well there must be some added magic missing...

The "magic" missing is the interaction between the two coupled stages in grid current limiting conditions.
When the second triode saturates in the positive region, the load seen by the first stage changes, causing its gain and saturation behaviour to change as well. The decoupling capacitor will also charge faster, modifying the low-frequency response and the transient response when the triode exits the positive saturation region.
Putting two triodes in series that don't interact with each other is (and sounds) quite different (and is also a lot lighter on the CPU) from modeling all the interactions between two coupled triode stages.

Hey man, sounds like you know lot of things on the subject .

Maybe well see a plugin preamp with multiple tubes from you in the future ...

They already do.

http://www.igniteamps.com/audio-plug-ins

These guys make hardware, and they also make circuit models of hardware and offer them as free plugins.

Pretty cool, eh?

[StudioDevil]

Do you mean a guitar amp featuring 4 tubes or 4 stages with multiple tubes in each ?

stages...when I say "stage", I'm usually meaning "half-tube"...like a 4-stage preamp is one with 4 triode-stages...to discern from 4 "tubes", which in the case of the 12ax7a (having two triodes each) is like saying 8 stages...so to be clear, a guitar preamp with 2 or 3 tubes (i.e. 4 to 6 stages). Can't say more about that yet...except that it's awesome sounding here and I want to release it.

Well, it's always good to have both, like you said, a VTP, and a VTP Deluxe .

indeed

On a side note, with the new modeling technology you built and your recent work on the Clariphonic DSP, I really hope that you'll do more contract work like that, when it comes to modeling a particular unit, because it ended up sounding so good.

I hope so too...that's really up to which developers want to take advantage of my expertise and wretched perfectionism (j/k, but not really)...I plan to continue to reach out to more to see where that goes.

Is it true to assume, that you are not only able to model tubes properly now, but also transistors, transformers, op-amp and all the rest that can be inside a hardware gear like a tube equalizer, or tube compressor ?

Yes...although I have been able to and have done much of that years ago, so it's not all that new really. Expect to see a guitar product with a fully emulated push-pull into transformer-coupled loudspeaker reactive load very soon...lots of simulation going on there...not for guys still using their 2006 Gateway core2 Duo laptop.

more soon!

Any other suggestions for VTP?

Marc

[K-Slash]

assuming that Wave Arts done their modelling well there must be some added magic missing...

The "magic" missing is the interaction between the two coupled stages in grid current limiting conditions.
When the second triode saturates in the positive region, the load seen by the first stage changes, causing its gain and saturation behaviour to change as well. The decoupling capacitor will also charge faster, modifying the low-frequency response and the transient response when the triode exits the positive saturation region.
Putting two triodes in series that don't interact with each other is (and sounds) quite different (and is also a lot lighter on the CPU) from modeling all the interactions between two coupled triode stages.

Hey man, sounds like you know lot of things on the subject .

Maybe well see a plugin preamp with multiple tubes from you in the future ...

They already do.

http://www.igniteamps.com/audio-plug-ins

These guys make hardware, and they also make circuit models of hardware and offer them as free plugins.

Pretty cool, eh?

Yep, I knew that .

I just thought more versatile tube gear, that can be use to add character to everything.

It's not like it would benefit a piano recording to be run through a guitar amp .

[@midnight]

Did you even look at the page?

It's a couple tube preamps, a tube bass amp, and an overdrive stompbox.

[K-Slash]

Is it true to assume, that you are not only able to model tubes properly now, but also transistors, transformers, op-amp and all the rest that can be inside a hardware gear like a tube equalizer, or tube compressor ?

Yes...although I have been able to and have done much of that years ago, so it's not all that new really. Expect to see a guitar product with a fully emulated push-pull into transformer-coupled loudspeaker reactive load very soon...lots of simulation going on there...not for guys still using their 2006 Gateway core2 Duo laptop.

more soon!

Any other suggestions for VTP?

Marc

Wow, that's exciting ! Why is 2013 so far ?!

By the way if you have plans for more developments toward bass amps/speakers emulations, I'm all in.

I'm still enjoying Mark Studio 2, Ampeg SVX and the last Orange bass amp from IK, but as always, curious to hear a new technology at works here, especially knowing that there are room for progress.

Keep it coming !

[K-Slash]

Did you even look at the page?

It's a couple tube preamps, a tube bass amp, and an overdrive stompbox.

I have them all.

On Drums, bass, acoustic guitars, orchestral stuff, it's not tailored for this kind of material.

There are not versatile preamps. Great for bass and guitars, not much for the rest, expect if you're looking for effected sounds, sorry.

[StudioDevil]

I like Ignite Amps and others...a lot has evolved since I joined this party in 2006 with BVC...

...I'm very happy to see that so much better non-linear modeling is going on out there.

Marc

[K-Slash]

I like Ignite Amps and others...a lot has evolved since I joined this party in 2006 with BVC...

...I'm very happy to see that so much better non-linear modeling is going on out there.

Marc

That's the benefit of competition.

It forced everyone to step their game up with every new release, for the joy of users .

The only one that's not happy is our CPU. I think everytime I start a session he is swearing "please no, not today, I'll do whatever you want". That's great, because I want you to run these tube preamps .

[A.M. Gold]

Well, to be fair, Ignite has their new Pultec emulation, which has basic transformer input & output stages as well as tube gain modeled (AFAIK, their description implied they modeled all components). True, it's not a mic preamp, but it's worth trying even if you keep the EQ flat.

[Wild Hades]

Guys, thanks for mentioning Ignite Amps and for the appreciations, but I don't want my post to cause a derail on a thread where a new product by another developer is being presented, so better leave this discussion to Marc and his new creation.
If you have questions or want to discuss Ignite Amps plug-ins, just PM me or open a new thread.

As a side note, I think circuit design can easily be more important than modeling complexity. Just as an example, CPU aside, you can have a well designed single stage that works and sound very good and a bad designed coupled stage circuit which is more complex and advanced, but sounds worst because it gets into 'blocking distortion'.

Cheers!

[StudioDevil]

As a side note, I think circuit design can easily be more important than modeling complexity. Just as an example, CPU aside, you can have a well designed single stage that works and sound very good and a bad designed coupled stage circuit which is more complex and advanced, but sounds worst because it gets into 'blocking distortion'.

Again, 100% true!

or, can have a two stage that sounds practically the same as a single stage because one of the stages is operating strictly linear...

I had a quote on Gearslutz that is very apropos here too...especially the last part, where one can certainly "screw up" both an analog as well as a digital design...

certainly...if I added an EQ to a plugin, I would insist on it being circuit modeled. That has always worked out exceptionally well for me in the past. And, with the nearly infinite supply of filter-based eq's out there, I don't think there would be a need for anything other than a simulation of a classic analog circuit. You really can get the standard stuff from a million places out there.

plus, that's what I enjoy the most..."desire analog, embrace digital" is our slogan, and that pretty much sums it up for me...to strive to mimic analog stuff. It's hard to do, and it requires specialized treatment and care...which is exactly what went into the design of the original analog equipment in the first place.

digital is not inherently flawed...it's just fast and easy...and when you take a fast route, you can miss some of the finer details that make a product special. if a designer takes his/her time, you can get great things from digital just as you can from analog.

and, as far as analog...if you throw something together...you can wind up with mush as well...it's not about analog/digital....it's about design sense, care, and time.

[evo2slo]

Been demoing VTP and am really impressed. Great analogue tube saturation. I especially like the Bass Contour and Treble Rolloff controls. So smoooooth. I could tell there was something different about them than standard filters... interesting to find out in this thread that they are not EQs but are actually emulating the properties of a preamps circuit capacitors. Not sure exactly what that means but I love the way they sound.

Question for StudioDevil: I want to get this but am not sure I can swing it before the end of the year. Does the existing customer discount expire along with the introductory offer or is it permanent?

[StudioDevil]

Question for StudioDevil: I want to get this but am not sure I can swing it before the end of the year. Does the existing customer discount expire along with the introductory offer or is it permanent?

you can use your loyalty discount anytime you like...if you have a valid serial number for VGA, VGAII, VBA, VBA Pro, or AMP...you get VTP for $79, no matter when you're able to purchase...even after 12/31...no problem! we don't have a deadline for the "keep it in the family" discount...

...hope that helps!

[StudioDevil]

actually giving a 2-stage tube preamp sim a spin today...this might be a cool option for VTP...might be a few more days before I can say...but I want to thank everyone for their suggestions for feature adds...we're listening and implementing them

more to come...

[K-Slash]

actually giving a 2-stage tube preamp sim a spin today...this might be a cool option for VTP...might be a few more days before I can say...but I want to thank everyone for their suggestions for feature adds...we're listening and implementing them

more to come...

Amen to that !

That's what I call a responsive developers that cares about his users.