Tubes on a MOBO?

Pugsley · Post by **Pugsley** » Mon Oct 21, 2002 10:10 pm

sombody showed me a Mobo with tubes on it and asked me if he should get it. Why the hell would you want tubes in your computer?!?! And yes i know probbly why they are there, for the audio section.

for 1 tubes burn out after so long. 2 they make mucho heat. 3 they use a hella lot of power.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Mon Oct 21, 2002 10:12 pm

"Are you on crack? Because that would explain a lot..." - An Enron Employee to a VP of the company

WTF are you talking about Pugsley? There is no such animal. I think someone is pulling your leg.

PreDatoR · Post by **PreDatoR** » Mon Oct 21, 2002 10:18 pm

Oh but old wise one there is! AOpen makes it and yes the sound is using tubes... brb i'll go find a link

*edit*
http://www.aopen.com/products/mb/default.htm

this otta do it

Jim Z · Post by **Jim Z** » Mon Oct 21, 2002 10:33 pm

it's a stupid gimmick. tubes are at their best when your entire amplification stage is tube. This thing still has a shitty DAC feeding the output tube. GIGO.

besides, it's only using a dual triode 6922, so it'll only be usable for a pair of headphones. Worthless for the 5.1 output.

Not worth the loss of PCI slots, IMHO.

for 1 tubes burn out after so long.

properly operated, they'll last for years.

2 they make mucho heat.

that little guy is a preamp tube, not a power tube. not too much heat.

3 they use a hella lot of power.

they need high voltages (IIRC the plate voltage of a 6922 is 100V) but again, it's a preamp tube.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Mon Oct 21, 2002 11:44 pm

That's the dumbest idea I ever heard. There is absolutely NO BENEFIT to having a tube pre-amp. Yeah, tube finals have a nice sound that transistors have never duplicated, but a tube pre-amp is pointless.

Someone please post a link - I have to see this stupid thing.

Tomuchtime · Post by **Tomuchtime** » Tue Oct 22, 2002 12:05 am

I was asking the same question not too long ago but I thought the board had an amp with bottles for both stages plus a driver - now that I think of it that A-Open sounds more like a novelty. Still, I guess for audiophiles it wouldn't be a stretch to take the output and try to massage it alittle.Beats me.I really don't have a problem with the little I do have.

Pugsley · Post by **Pugsley** » Tue Oct 22, 2002 1:23 am

well... your still feeding it digital... If a real audio anil person (like myself) wanted tubes, id get a regular rack mount tube amp. Not spend god knows how much on a mobo that has them.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Tue Oct 22, 2002 7:00 am

Okay, here's the stupid thing: http://www.aopen.com/products/mb/ax4b-533tube.htm

Hit the "More picture" link for a better look.

I have no idea how they got certification for it. Having a high voltage supply on the mobo for the tube defeats the concept of isolating all dangerous voltages inside the PSU.

Jim Z · Post by **Jim Z** » Tue Oct 22, 2002 7:47 am

Having a high voltage supply on the mobo for the tube defeats the concept of isolating all dangerous voltages inside the PSU.

Well, it's at pretty low current (a few mA) so it's only dangerous to the other equipment

oh, and they're at it again:

Hipnotic_Tranz · Post by **Hipnotic_Tranz** » Tue Oct 22, 2002 8:55 am

check the space around the CPU socket

You could fit a big 'ol heatsink on there

BillyGoat · Post by **BillyGoat** » Tue Oct 22, 2002 12:06 pm

tube preamps are not dumb, in this case yes, but i had a lee jackson tube preamap back in the day, and it put out some of the most killer tone you could get, the benefit was you didnt have to crank your amps volume up all the way to get that warm tube crunch, since you could crank it at the preamp first

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Tue Oct 22, 2002 1:37 pm

I used to be a sound engineer. While I love tube finals, I don't want to see them in the preamp stage. They inject too much noise for my taste. But that's my opinion.

Other than the fact that it would look sexy through a case window, though, there is no point in putting tubes on a mobo.

Well, it's at pretty low current (a few mA) so it's only dangerous to the other equipment

Doesn't take much current at that voltage to stop your heart under the right conditions. I certainly wouldn't want to get bit by it. I used to work on tube-based 2 meter Amateur Radio equipment (fondly remember the day I grabbed both ends of the secondary output of a 250 volt transformer I was bench testing).

Jim Z · Post by **Jim Z** » Tue Oct 22, 2002 5:51 pm

Well, it's at pretty low current (a few mA) so it's only dangerous to the other equipment

it takes 100 to 200 mA through your heart to cause fibrillations. You'd need mains current from hand to hand or hand-to-foot in order to get that critical range through your heart.

Pugsley · Post by **Pugsley** » Tue Oct 22, 2002 6:21 pm

No... what really hurts is 600V DC!!! that will nock you on your ass!!! I found out the hard way.

I had to clean the brushes on a large DC motor that ran the 72" lathe. The MG hadent come to a compleat stop yet and i went to grab the bolt holding the brushes in and BOOM! nex thing i know im looking at the ceiling wondering what just happend. Luckly i wasnt hurt and nobody saw me do it!

This is the beast of a motor that caused this to happen. Ignore the 7.5 HP thing. thats just the electric box for runnig the brush grinder

Tomuchtime · Post by **Tomuchtime** » Thu Oct 24, 2002 12:28 am

Originally posted by Jim Z

it takes 100 to 200 mA through your heart to cause fibrillations. You'd need mains current from hand to hand or hand-to-foot in order to get that critical range through your heart.

Thats why it's allways a good idea to keep one hand in your pocket when you work on some of these jobbies. That practice alone saved my life once when I hit a 22K backside on a 1amp transformer I was screwing with.Very good point.