Philip Hunt
February 24, 2010

Rating: 8/10

I bought this product as I needed something to raise the volume of my mic signal without raising the sound floor. I\'d been using an FA 101 firewire interface with built in preamp but I kept getting hiss when I boosted the signal beyond a certain level; and forget whatever they tell you about in the box plugins, you can\'t find a decent plugin to replace even the simplest of preamps. If your original signal path is not hot, it never will be.
The Art Tube does everything I want it to do, which is make my input signal sound hotter without having to sacrifice a)lots of money b)a long learning curve c) sound quality.
I\'ve been using it with the tube that the model ships with, though I bought some Fender Groove Tube Valves as I read somewhere that this improves the sound (though this voids your warrenty). One day I\'ll swap them out and see if this is true.
On the downside: Sure it would be nice to have some LED lights, or presets, but for a small project studio with a small budget you can\'t go wrong at this price.

Dave Dix
April 30, 2009

Rating: 1/10

I got one in early March, and as you can see from earlier review I was really pleased with it. Gigged it a couple of times, and thought i\'d be able to get rid of my Bassman. Then at a rehearsal it started playing up, so i contacted Customer Services at Dolphin for a replacement. All well and good - they said they\'d send a courier with a new one and take the old one away. Simple.
A courier did turn up, the Friday a week before Good Friday, took away the old one but didn\'t have a new one. So I phone dup. They said they\'d send me another. It never arrived (I know they had warehouse system \"issues\" to that\'s understandable.) So I rang again and they said they\'d call back. Never did. I rang again. They said they\'d call back.
In all i\'ve rung at least six times and they\'ve never honoured their promise to call me back. Still waiting now (end April). I just want my money back now. Will get one somewhere else.

Dave Dix
February 20, 2009

Rating: 9/10

I got mine to play blues harp through. I recently got to use one by accident, guesting at a piano bar in Switerland. Both vocals and harp sounded really rich. I commented on same to the pianist who told me the secret, so I ordered one on my return.
For harmonica it\'s fabulous. You can plug in either low (eg most vocal mics, SM58 etc) or high impedance mics (eg most bullet harp mics like the Shure 520 or Astatic JT30/Bluesblaster), then plug the Tube MP into the PA. Turn the input gain up just a little further than the booklet tells you too - till the light goes red - and you get a big, rich overdriven harp sound. Which means you don\'t have to lug a big amp around any more. And your harp sound is coming out of the PA speakers so gets far more dispersal than it would from a directional amp.
Also, you have control of the output gain, and you can also wind up the input gain even more for a really crunchy sound.
Whatever you\'re putting in, it seems you get best results from going out into the PA XLR-XLR, into the balanced input. But jack-to-jack works just fine too.
I\'d give it ten marks only I haven\'t gigged it yet.. can\'t wait though.

Alan McGain
November 11, 2008

Rating: 10/10

This Preamp Processor accomplishes all that the manufacturer claims. A very cost effective way of \'warming up\' a microphone signal going into computer recording software, via an audio interface. That is the main purpose that I have used it for so far. The effect of the valve (tube) through which the signal passes is that of both warming and boosting the signal. I have used it to good effect with relatively cheap dynamic microphones. I have also used it on a mono signal from a Roland digital synth to improve \'vintage\' sounds such as emulations of Hammond organs and Rhodes electric pianos. The handbook is clear. I have yet to use it for some of the other functions that it will cater for, such as a DI Box, using phantom power or on a piezo equipped acoustic guitar. I have no doubt that it would acquit itself equally well in such situations. A ruggedly constructed device in a metal casing that should last for years. If you want to avoid sterile sounds in a digital environment, you will not find a more cost effective way of doing that.

lawrence kirkham
June 24, 2007

Rating: 10/10

I've used the art tube in live settings as a preamp to add more depth and warmth for vocalists and blues harmonica .Other uses have been as a preamp into digital recordings which has made recordings less flat .Its clean warm sound make it a must buy.