Eplex7 DSP released Vintage vacuum tube VD76

Eplex7 DSP releases Vintage vacuum tube VD76 plugin effect

Vacuum tube (or also called valve in Great Britan) is electronic component / device used in audio industry mainly as amplification component before transistors were found.

While transistors are cheaper and more effective with longer lifetime, vacuum tubes are very popular until today and preferred by many audiophiles from hi-end listening rooms (vacuum tube amps) to professional recording / mixing studios (equalizers, preamps, compressors, warming devices).

The type of vacuum tube known as a thermionic tube / valve uses the phenomenon of thermionic emission of electrons from a hot cathode (electrons are emitted in vacuum tube space of glass tube) with use of heater supply (that is why tube is glowing) and is used for a number of fundamental electronic functions such as signal amplification.

Thanks to heather inside tube not just vacuum tube is hot, but an also sound is significantly warmer. Signal is not going thru wires but thru vacuum tube “space” and electrons are “flying” from hot cathode (warmed with heater) to anode – where amplified signal is received.
This phenomenon affect signal / sound in way appreciated by audiophiles – transients and trebles are not so sharp – they are smoother, rounder and more pleasant to ears, signal is saturated – bass is fatter and warmer, mids and trebles are colored.

Vacuum tube also produces range of unique sounding higher harmonics.

Comparing to sterile / precise sound of transistors vacuum tubes add life and vintage warmth to sound which is very desired in today’s digital music production.

Thanks to our more than 17+ years of experiences with digital sound processing and education in analog electronics we created unique algorithm simulating real vacuum tube in very realistic way + thanks to our virtual analog circuit simulation technology we also recreated real analog circuits around tubes which significantly affect sound of whole tube devices (such as production of 1st harmonics and very fat sound).

While most of digital tube plug-in emulations just produce digital distortion and unwanted, harsh sounding digital artifacts which are amplified after mastering / limiting (and not so much rounding of transients) you can hear significant difference when testing and comparing with our analog simulation algorithms – first thing you can hear transients and trebles are really softer, rounder – more pleasant to ears, there is no digital distortion but nice analog saturation, signal is really fatter when circuit power knob is turned right, signal is significantly warmer with little bit of color.

You can use Vintage vacuum tube VD76 plug-in with drums – electronic or acoustic, bass, to make synthesizers warmer and rounder, guitars, vocals, percussion or any other elements of your mix.

Features:

Eplex7 unique analog emulation technology combining virtual analog circuits, emulation of individual components (like tubes) and hardware capturing methods in selected parts of virtual circuit / scheme of plug-in.
Input knob (more input = more color and saturation of whole system)
Triode (Fatter and Warmer type saturation of Triode tube, emulation of triode tube type saturation)
Pentode (More vintage, thin and dirty type of saturation of Pentode tube, pentode type saturation emulation)
Circuit power (to add heavy “fatness” to your sound and makes bass / drums big and massive. Pleasant warm and fat sound of vacuum tubes is not generated only by vacuum tubes itself but also thanks to special electronic circuits around them – this knob control virtual circuit which emulates behavior of circuits around vacuum tubes)
Bass cut filter from 0 to 70 Hz to eliminate deepest subbass
Circuit / Tube temperature – in electronics higher temperature usually means more noise, because higher temperature means more movements of electrons. Noise is not always unwanted, little bit of analog noise can make signal more natural, more pleasant, less sharp and can eliminate sharp distortion.
Tube age this special virtual emulation allows you to switch between 3 different types of tubes:
- 2001 – bright, modern and precise sounding tube
- 1950 – old vintage tube with round transients and dark smooth sound
- 1976 – vintage tube with silky round transients, trebles and crunchy sound.