Too strange to be true

[Wombat]

AOpen is putting out a new motherboard with a vacuum tube for the onboard audio!

http://www.aopen.com/products/mb/ax4b-533Tube.htm

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MzAy

This is wrong on so many levels.

[Greebe]

Bwahahahahahahahahaa

[roadie]

This is wrong on so many levels.

i don't know that much about audio, but wouldn't it be good for a home theatre/entertainment pc???

[KvHagedorn]

now that's just silly..

[Marshmallowman]

valve (pre)amps have a nice warm sound but pairing it up with ac97 software codec just makes even wronger.

unless thats the only way to get decent sound out of AC97

if the board was uATX with on board video and a good sound chip, it would have made a nice dedicated mp3/video machine.

Instead its a bit of a frankenstein..well at all l33t OCerz wil have another glowing thing to show through there perspex case windows

[Technoid]

HAHAHAHAHAHHHHHHHHHH...........(not getting any air....)

That must be one of the most stupid ideas I have seen or a very late first aprils joke.....

[Gurm]

No, it's a great idea. Only problem is the power requirements of a tube.

- Gurm

[Dr Mordrid]

Yes!!

In many applications, especially amps used with acoustic instruments, vacuum tubes can be much better sounding than solid state. You should see the $$ being made by companies importing Russian tubes for high end audio systems to accomodate this market segment.

Many small vt's are available for this use with some being no larger than a cap and work with filament voltages of 1.5 volts;

http://pw2.netcom.com/~wa2ise/radios/penciltubes.html

Dr. Mordrid

[az]

And yet, it's connected to an AC97 CODEC... I'd rather have an external tube amp connected to a 6Fire 24/96... although that'd be much more pricey...

Will the tubes' sound be altered by the (non acoustic) noise inside a PC (distortion, or acoustic noise)?

AZ

[Dr Mordrid]

Not if the tube is shielded.

Dr. Mordrid

[Jon P. Inghram]

I can just imagine what would happen if someone bought that and didn't properly secure all the wiring in the case... "What's that burning plastic smell? OMG!!!"

[thop]

Re: Too strange to be true

Originally posted by Wombat
This is wrong on so many levels.

why?

[Wombat]

Just think about the power and noise issues alone. Why have a vacuum tube and a X GHz-insane-current-step processor on the same power grid (vtubes are voltage-stepping), not to mention that they're in the same Faraday cage. Also, isn't your case hot enough already? vtubes have to be warm just to function correctly. And vacuum tubes blow out. And they're only augmenting some 2nd-rate sound chip anyway..........1000 other reasons.

I think vt amps are great for sound creation (instrument amps), but for sound reproduction, I know that high-quality, well-designed FET/BJT systems will outperform them handily.

[cjolley]

First there was OverClocking,
Now there will be OverAmping!
Pull that puny tube out & slap in a 6L6GC from a fender guitar amp
chuck

[Dr Mordrid]

OH HELL YEAH!!....but you'd better look into a nice 6" fan for the top of the case first

Dr. Mordrid