effects loop a tube preamp?

[mikegee]

i hope this isnt a silly question...

are there any tube preamps/direct boxes out there that you could send and return in an effects loop on a mixer? i thought it could be a really cool thing to do, but i dont know if theres any out there that could be used that way. maybe its not possible, since it isnt technically an effect.

thanks

mike gee

[Nubus]

I seem to remember playing through a bass amp that was all solid state with one "tube" knob you could blend in for some color. I'd imagine that was a similar idea. Am I understanding you correctly, that you'd simply like to blend a bit of the tube sound in with your "dry" sound?

[mikegee]

Originally Posted by Nubus

I seem to remember playing through a bass amp that was all solid state with one "tube" knob you could blend in for some color. I'd imagine that was a similar idea. Am I understanding you correctly, that you'd simply like to blend a bit of the tube sound in with your "dry" sound?

well, i guess, similar idea, but different... i have a yamaha mixer mg102 with multiple channels, and i have my mics and instruments plugged into the channels, so, normally for effects i can send return to all the channels, so i was wondering if it was possible to do this with a tube preamp. that way i could warm up all my channels with tube, instead of buying multiple tube preamps for every mic and instrument. im sure i could buy a multi channel tube preamp, that will probably be the best solution.

hmmm, i wonder if they make tube mixers, now theres an idea...

[dagosto]

Originally Posted by mikegee

well, i guess, similar idea, but different... i have a yamaha mixer mg102 with multiple channels, and i have my mics and instruments plugged into the channels, so, normally for effects i can send return to all the channels, so i was wondering if it was possible to do this with a tube preamp. that way i could warm up all my channels with tube, instead of buying multiple tube preamps for every mic and instrument. im sure i could buy a multi channel tube preamp, that will probably be the best solution.

hmmm, i wonder if they make tube mixers, now theres an idea...

I don't see any reason you couldn't do this. The only thing I would keep in mind is that this could cause level matching issues (line, mic, instrument. . . dig?). The inert of your mixer will be outputting that at line level which to hot to not distort a tube "mic" preamp. An instrument input, like a guitar preamp can handle the level ok but you will want to turn the trim down on the mixer a bit. Of course some people like hitting preamps a bit harder than they should.

Most DI's that I have used can handle a line level input just fine, of course the cheapy ones may not use enough copper to prevent distortion and signal loss. a good way to connect the line level Insert to something expecting a mic level would be a good DI like the Radial JDI for example.

All that being said, the usual way to set it up would be preamp first and mixer second (using the channels line in).

[mikegee]

most awesome advice, thnx!