pianomike Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 I was wandering if anyone on this forum has used a speakeasy stereo tube preamp on thier keyboard? Im thinking about getting one for my nord ex stage piano to fatten up the sound a liitle bit. I saw a demo on you tube with somebody using it with thier nord stage, but I don"t think the recording was that great. You could deffinetly tell that it helped out on the organ, but its the piano sound Im tring to improve on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 I have one. Nice sounding piece of gear. I used it on my ES8 for a while, but these days I mostly use it to warm up my Pod. I like the way the MOTIF's piano sounds though it. Hope that helps! dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicbysterling Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 PM sent. �Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here!� J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 One of the vendors at NAMM had one set up to use at their booth. I think it might have been Tokai (Brasilian B3 emulation). Unfortunately I can't remember if I tried the Speakeasy at NAMM or not, but it isn't really possible to evaluate things in that environment anyway. It looks like a nicely built piece of kit. Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary75 Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Overpriced IMO, try an Alto or Art Dual MP, Ashby Solutions had a review of the Dual MP up, I remember hearing a demo of an Alto preamp used with a clone and thought it sounded better for a fraction of the price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Hmm, could be, but I've never A/B-ed. I did own a couple of variants of ART's dual rack-mount mic preamp at various times, and consider it excellent value and very good quality. I moved on to higher-end gear, but for the studio not the stage. I still recommend the ART stuff for giggers who want tubes, but specifically the MPA series not the table-top series or 1u rack gear, which in general I have found to be of lesser sound quality. Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMcS Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Overpriced IMO, try an Alto or Art Dual MP, Ashby Solutions had a review of the Dual MP up, I remember hearing a demo of an Alto preamp used with a clone and thought it sounded better for a fraction of the price. There is an MP3 of this comparison in the Yahoo Clonewheel Group's files section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Does anyone know if Alto and ART are merely part of the same distribution group or whether the Alto uses the same technology as the ART? I originally thought the Alto was a re-branding of ART stuff for different geographical markets. The relationship seems far more complex though. Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pianomike Posted January 22, 2010 Author Share Posted January 22, 2010 Thanks everybody for your replies, Im going to have to take a look at more preamps. The speakeasy looks really well built but the cheapest I could find it for is $800, the guy who designed these told me he sell me one for $1259 so Im thinking it might be a newer model, I"ll have to call him back up and ask him why the big price difference bettween the two Ive looked at. The Alto and the Art are alot cheaper but also not built as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gd1 Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 I have owned mine for a few years now, bought used for @ $500. I also own one of the ART Tube Pre's. The Speakeasy is in my rack for keys and the ART is relegated to main vocal for gigging. The Speakeasy is built like a tank - it fell about 3' unto concrete floor, only the power switch broke the rest was fine. It was Dave's recommendation that led me to it in the first place, very glad that I listened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillWelcome Home Studios Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 What you guys are probably hearing is the distortion of the tube, or possibly the effect of the output transformer (more often than not, that great 'tube' sound that people rave about these days comes from the output transformer...) Has anyone tried one of the guitar stomp boxes with internal tubes? Might be a cheaper and smaller answer, though not near as sexy. Oh, and changing the tubes changes the character of the distortion, so pulling the cheap tubes and putting in something a little better can really make a difference. See our friend Myles in the 'ask Myles' thread in the guitar players forum. "I believe that entertainment can aspire to be art, and can become art, but if you set out to make art you're an idiot." Steve Martin Show business: we're all here because we're not all there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary75 Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 The Art has an all metal case just like the SE. Don't presume because it's not 2u like the SE it's not built well. I guarantee if you drop both units from 6 feet, it's not going to make a difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gd1 Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 I agree the ART is built like a tank as well, even the inexpensive Tube PAC is built to last. I just found that with the gear I am running I preferred it on keys. Bill - I have run my keys through a Vox Tonelab as well, piano, miniD sound great through it, I just couldn't dial in the sound I wanted with the P08. My other synths I usually just go with onboard fx. When I still owned a Voyager it played nicely with the Tonelab as well. Right now I am running the P08 through an original Ibanez stereo chorus pedal that I've owned since new and looks like its been through hell but sure sounds nice though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 I've been using tube pres on keyboards for years. Love 'em. I run mono ones through my Groove Tubes VIPre, and stereo ones through either the Speakeasy or my Summit TPA-200B. I keep the TPA wired into my digital mixer so I can use it as an insert effect as well (same with my Manley Vari-Mu compressor). dB Disclaimer: I work for Summit Audio, but I've had the TPA for longer than I've worked for them. ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicbysterling Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 Overpriced IMO, try an Alto or Art Dual MP, Ashby Solutions had a review of the Dual MP up, I remember hearing a demo of an Alto preamp used with a clone and thought it sounded better for a fraction of the price. The Speakeasy is a very high quality piece of audio gear and the ART stuff isn't in the same league. Speakeasy products are handmade in PA, with Steve Hayes, the owner, personally taking all the time it takes to speak to you on the phone making sure that you are getting the product you want with all the options you need. ART stuff is generally made with inexpensive components and while it may sound decent for some applications, the self generated noise makes them fairly useless in a a recording enviornment. Besides, my manra is that if I'm playing a keyboard worth a few thousand dollars, why put a $100 piece of gear in the signal chain? IMHO of course. �Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here!� J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary75 Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 Handmade doesn't mean it's more reliable, as for noise, yes compared to four figure preamps, I'm sure it is, however if it is for studio, and you do want better quality, then there are more options in the preamp world than SE. FWIW I often my clavinet into the Art and it sounds very nice. I'd suggest buying something like an ART, if you don't like the result, your not much out of pocket. But you may be surprised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pianomike Posted January 23, 2010 Author Share Posted January 23, 2010 Well I just got off the phone with Steve and he was able to go down in price a little so I purchased the the newer speakeasy, he said the older model I was looking at sounded good but the newer model is a little more quieter. Thanks everyone for your opinions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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