Good equipment, but mine had a bad tube
By Anonymous
Rated 4 out of 5
Date: 2017-02-16
This mic preamp/processor had everything I was looking for in one box. I'd been using an ART Tube MP portable, which was working well, so I wanted to stick with the same brand. If you're new to ART products, one of their selling points is that they've got vacuum tubes (one per channel, so this unit only has one, since it is mono). So why is this a good thing? Well, it adds a bit of analog warmth to the audio. However, it is worth noting that these are not quite the same as older preamps from past decades that amplified the signal using the tube directly. Instead, the amplification is done with solid state hardware first, and then passed through the tube. The end result is lower voltage requirements (cheaper hardware) with the trade-off of the tube having less of an impact on the audio. Another cool feature is that it is possible to open the ART Voice Channel up and replace the tube, although it should be noted that doing so has the possibility of voiding your warranty. Should you decide to do this, you must unscrew 10 small black phillips screws: 1 on top, 3 on each side, and 3 in the back. The black metal panel will then slide off the top of the unit. The vacuum tube is located on the left side. It is contained in a silver, cylindrical metal shield. Remove it (may require removing two more screws). Then gently wiggle the tube free from its white plastic cradle. Make sure you have bought a 12ax7 orECC83 model replacement tube (these are the same,ECC83 is just the European designation while I'm fairly certain 12ax7 is American). Modern manufactured tubes generally cost in the range of 10 to 25 USD. There are also vintage tubes, most of which were manufactured in the 1950s/60s/70s, but they can be really expensive. Your audio will be colored slightly differently depending on which tube you swap to. Tung-Sol, as mentioned in another review, is popular, and offers a balanced, punchy sound with sharp clarity. I opted for a Telefunken Black Diamond, which is really just a re-branded JJ tube. JJ manufactured tubes get a bad reputationtube aficionados seem to find them to be too warm and not very lively, but I'm pleased with the results. Compared with the cheap stock Chinese manufactured tube that came with the unit, the Black Diamond has smoothed the audio out quite a bit, added a lot of bass and warmth, reduced harsh sibilance, and has overall give my microphone that deep radio voice quality. Still, if I had to do things over, I'd probably opt for something cheaper. So with all that said, despite the ART Voice Channel offering everything I was looking for and more (preamp, compressor, gate/expander, an awesomely functional de-esser, impedance dial, parametric EQ, a wide variety of signal quality settings, balanced out, digital TOSLINK optical out, USB out, and plenty of gain)... I still have to take a star off. Why, you ask? After using the using my unit for a dozen minutes, give or take, it would simply stop picking up a signal from my microphone. Nothing would register on the VU or gain reduction meters, and I would have to tap my mic with high gain to get it to wake up. I was also getting some harsh distortion spikes. After wasting a lot of time tweaking various settings and swapping out cables in an attempt to fix the issue, I went online and read on a forum board that someone had had the same problem, and had managed to solve it. How? You guessed it: they fixed it by replacing the vacuum tube. I had initially not planned on changing the default tube so soon, but on the off chance that this would fix the problem, I ordered one. After a week of waiting, it arrived. I swapped it out and voilaproblem solved. I'm a little disappointed I had to go through with all this. Shipping it back would have been an expensive hassle, as the box it came in is rather large, and the device itself is built like a brick (solid and heavy). But, on the other hand, I would have replaced the tube eventually in an attempt to get a better sound. Better sooner than later, I guess?
ART VOICE CHANNEL REVIEW
By FLU SEASON
Rated 4 out of 5
Date: 2015-10-15
i purchased the Art Voice Channel close to a month ago...i chose this due to many reviews on B&H and a few other places and the high esteem of this product....and so far, its pretty good....but i felt it couldve been a little bit better compared to some of the other competitors in its price range....i do vocals, nothing else...when i first starting speaking into my microphone, the sound was good, clear, everything you would want....but it sounded TOO clear...almost like solid state would...come to find out, its a starved plate tube design, which means its not really the same as a unit with full tube characteristics....i initially felt cheated....so i replaced the cheap chinese stock tube that was in it with a Tung Sol 12AX7 tube....NOW we talking! it warmed up my vocals rather tremendously....whether on normal or high tube plate voltage...that alone made me keep this channel strip rather than swap it out with something else....i called ART at first and they say dont change the tube, its not going to make a difference and messing with the internal parts can void the warranty (a risk i was willing to make, turned out pretty easy to do)...of course they want you to keep it the way THEY want you to have it....adding a quality tube makes a difference TRUST ME...now besides that, the unit is quality made, built like a tank, knobs are smooth except for the gain/output level knobs...which is fine...alot of features also....i dont use everything because im still learning how to use those CORRECTLY...impedance selection is good and it has a wide spectrum of choices for different mics...i like the compressor, it does a good job with flattening vocals the way it supposed to be....im not crazy about the de esser its based off what the compressor is doing....EQ is good, i just make subtle changes to the vocals....i like you can put it before/after the compressor, and change the low/high frequencys to where the eq responds...the gate is AWESOME for knocking those background noises down, such as ac units, cars driving past your house, etc in a less than ideal recording enviornment (i live in an apartment complex and it works)...expander i dont use really...and the several options behind this piece routing wise, especially digital output, wordclock, etc make me sold on this channel strip...get a DIGITAL cable to use for AES/EBU, that is pretty important to get the true quality you are looking for...i use the digital output to pair with the TASCAM UH 7000 audio interface (also very awesome), and now i hear the magic...good combination...overall 4 stars (4 1/2 really) its not a 5 due to the starved plate tube design but as i mentioned, change the tube and it will become a top notch masterpiece for vocal work...
