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Hi Friend,
It's the last day of the month, and February's Newsletter came in just under the wire.
Many of us use tubes in our audio gear and guitar/bass amplifiers, but did you know that vacuum tubes are being used all around us every day?
That's right, there's a magnetron tube that makes every microwave run, and if you fly anywhere, the aviation radar systems are still tube based.
That being said, there's been no changes in the technology in about 40 years, and all of the tubes that we use in audio and music are now made outside the U.S.
That may change soon though, so read on. |
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The Downside Of Tubes 1. They're hot. Just the way they work generates heat, and that eventually degrades the electronic components around them.
2. The gear is heavy. Most vacuum tubes require high voltages to work, which means heavy transformers, which means the gear is heavy (ever try to lift a Twin Reverb or SVT head?).
3. Tubes are fragile. Hey, it's just a glass bottle with the air sucked out, and a thin one at that.
4. They're not made inside the United States anymore. The large industrial manufactures don't sell enough to make it a worthwhile business, and small companies can't get into it because of high-cost OSHA safeguards.
5. But we love the sound. It's that even harmonic distortion that appeals to our ears in the mics, preamps, compressors and amplifiers that we're so willing to spend big money on.
Despite all the negatives, tube technology will be finally changing! |
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| The Vacuum Tube May Soon Evolve 5. DARPA wants to take tubes to the next level. Yes, the United States government's Defense Advanced Research Agency (the same people that brought you the basis of the Internet, GPS and high powered lasers) has launched a new program called Innovative Vacuum Electronic Science and Technology to develop some brand new tube technology.
6. Why do they care about such an old technology? It turns out that tubes are the only electronic component that can generate high power at super high frequencies (the 75GHz range). Oh, and they're impervious to the EMP generated by a nuclear blast too, both of which will fry solid state electronics.
7. What that could mean for the audio business. The next generation vacuum tube can look very different from what we have today. It may be smaller, have more power, require lower voltages, and last longer. Will they sound the same? That we don't know yet, but the chances are good they will. And because it's a Defense Department project, these tubes will need to be made in the United States, which could possibly mean a spinoff for some of the tubes we now know and love.
8. And the revolution has already started. Korg launched a line of tube products at NAMM based around something they call NuTube, which is basically a twin triode vacuum tube on a chip (see below). The technology is borrowed from the video display world and is said to be a pet project of the president of Korg. |
| | The Bottom Line
We gave vacuum tubes up for dead in the 80s and they made a big comeback that no one could have predicted. Now it's possible we may be on the cusp of a new generation of audio and music gear based around some new innovation.
REMEMBER: More often than not, what's old becomes new again.
If you've read through to the end, you now know a little more about our Music 4.0 world than the majority of people in the music business today. Aren't you glad you subscribed to my list?
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| | | Get my new Lead And Background Mixing Tricks coaching program for just $57!
Only for you because you're a subscriber to my list. Use the coupon code LISTVOC at checkout to get the program for just $57 instead of the normal $97, but HURRY because this deal is only good until March 5th!
See you next month!
Bobby |
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