Trying to explain how the love for tubes is the same for records

[Synaxis]

As my love for tubes and specifically the physical interaction with tubes and tube amps has grown, I've been contemplating in my mind how it may be similar to my love for other physical interactions.

Interactions such as using a pencil over a keyboard. Using a pad of paper to actually write notes rather than typing into my phone. And wanting to physically turn the pages on a real book instead of my iPad.

So I decided to put on video my thoughts. I explore how I think it may mimic what people who love records feel. I credit Ron from New Record Day for helping me fill out my thoughts on the experience of a record owner in this fun video exploring the idea it's the physical interaction with the tubes that draws me in as much as the sound of them.

What do you think? Are the similarities similar?

For fun I tie it into Ghostbusters and Dating apps.

 

[Tuckers]

I haven't seen the video yet, but some of what you are talking about may have something to do with intermittent reinforcement. Where the pleasure response is significantly higher when the cheese is rewarded on a somewhat random and intermittent schedule. Not every tube will give pleasure, and finding that NOS tube that creates synergy is not reliable or scheduled. What can I do with a solid state amp? Fondle the fins or caress the buttons? Old reliable doesn't give quite the boost.

Another example that came to mind is the Dorito Effect. Where the flavoring on the chips is not spread out evenly, with something like 10-20% being super charged with flavor. Keeping the eater digging into the bag longer and leaving a subconscious imprint to buy more in the future - creating a low key addictive behavoir that is bankable.

 

[adrianywu]

I haven't seen the video yet, but some of what you are talking about may have something to do with intermittent reinforcement. Where the pleasure response is significantly higher when the cheese is rewarded on a somewhat random and intermittent schedule. Not every tube will give pleasure, and finding that NOS tube that creates synergy is not reliable or scheduled. What can I do with a solid state amp? Fondle the fins or caress the buttons? Old reliable doesn't give quite the boost.

Another example that came to mind is the Dorito Effect. Where the flavoring on the chips is not spread out evenly, with something like 10-20% being super charged with flavor. Keeping the eater digging into the bag longer and leaving a subconscious imprint to buy more in the future - creating a low key addictive behavoir that is bankable.

I think what you are saying is more true of digital music and solid state electronics. At least, in my experience, many more modern digital recordings are disappointing than not. The same is true of solid state equipment. This maybe because the bad analogue recordings and tube equipment of the past have already been forgotten, and only the best ones remain.
Here lies the problem. The old "golden age" recordings from the 1950s to the late 1960s, the revered "shaded dog", Living Presence, ASD/SAX and SXL records etc., were made using tube equipment. I suspect the only way to hear what the engineers/producers intended is to use analogue and tube equipment for reproduction. This is not nostalgia, which is essentially what the presenter in the video is alluding to. The unique performances of these artists cannot be replicated today, even with state of the art techniques (both musical and scientific). I therefore endeavored to reproduce these recordings to be as close as possible to the original intentions by building a clone of the Marantz 7 tube tape head preamp for my Revox four-track tape machine, as well as tube preamp and amps, and loudspeakers using field coil drivers. Why tapes ? Because they tend to be in better condition than the LPs from the same era (which often suffer from careless handling and/or damage by the primitive playback equipment of the era), and tape technology was much more advanced than vinyl technology in those days. It is a whole new listening experience for me, while it is difficult to say whether it is "better" than listening to modern digital sources or even LPs. I wouldn't say it is nostalgia, since by the time I got into this hobby, it was already past the time of commercial open reel tapes. Nostalgia for me would be "Dynaflex" LPs, with little to be nostalgic about. But with these tapes, I tend to concentrate a lot more on the music (instead of the sound), and I almost always sit through the entire performance. I find the tapes better at communicating the music than other formats.

 

[Tuckers]

Whew, I finally made it through your feverish video! You have rabbit-holed yourself with the NOS tubes. Enjoy the funhouse ride! I've been there. I eventually did find a bit of cake to eat, but I still get rabbit-holed in audio land every once in a while.

 

[Synaxis]

Whew, I finally made it through your feverish video! You have rabbit-holed yourself with the NOS tubes. Enjoy the funhouse ride! I've been there. I eventually did find a bit of cake to eat, but I still get rabbit-holed in audio land every once in a while.

Yes - I think it's going to be a long rabbit hole.