G-Sonique has released the Neovintage series Valve System VA645, a plug-in simulation of a vacuum tube/valve.
Tubes in a digital signal path are able to transform a sharp sound into a soft, rounded one with round transients, and also add colour, energy, and ‘density and fatness’. Vacuum tubes add a series of higher harmonics to the sound, including the first harmonic which creates an excellent fatness of the sound, also significantly saturates and rounds the sound depending on the input volume and the type of incoming signal.
Many plug-ins try to mimic the behaviour of tubes, but instead only create digital saturation, which adds a lot of digital aliasing/digital harmonics that is accentuated when mastering at higher levels.
A vacuum tube – or thermionic lamp – is an electronic component that was widely used in the early days of electronics to amplify and switch electrical signals.
It consists of a closed glass or metal container containing various components, including electrodes and a vacuum. When its cathode is heated, electrons are released into the vacuum as a result of thermal emission. These emitted electrons form a cloud of negative charge around the cathode.
A positively charged anode attracts the emitted electrons. The control grid, which is usually placed between the cathode and the anode, can be negatively or positively charged with respect to the cathode. This change changes the electric field between the cathode and the anode, either attracting or repelling the emitted electrons. In this way, the flow of electrons from the cathode to the anode is controlled.
The main function of a tube is to amplify a signal. This is achieved by changing the small signal voltage on the control grid, it is possible to modulate the flow of electrons from the cathode to the anode. A small change in voltage across the control grid can result in a much larger change in current across the anode, resulting in amplification.
The changing current at the anode, now amplified according to the input signal applied to the control grid, can be taken as the output signal of the tube.
Key features:
- Input volume knob for setting input volume and level of saturation.
- Pentode control; Triode Control (behavior of the tube); Tube voltage control.
- Tube type selector: Modern, Old Vintage, Soviet.
- Analog hiss level.
- Low-Pass Cut.
- Output level.
