PlanetZ forums - scopeusers.com

nightscope wrote:David Bock, who designed the mic, advised me that in his experience about half of this particular type were good enough. The original tube is still going strong but I will get a bunch to avoid disappointment.

no doubt.

buying from a good supplier helps. good companies test the tubes for low noise and microphonics and sort according to gain. they also warrant the product for at least 6 months.

here in this part of America, we use Ruby tubes, but Electro Harmonix and Groove Tubes also screen for bad tubes before screening on their logo. product from these guys is pretty consistent. i'm sure someone does the same in the UK and Europe.

i never deal with electronics store tubes or no name product, so i see fewer unusable tubes. naturally, just because they are so variable, if one has the budget, buying a hundred to choose two has always been good practice. anyway, if it's 12ax7's, i wouldn't worry about them being available. if you have a good supplier, you won't see many bad ones. soundelux certainly got bulk tubes and tested for themselves. a good supplier would test before shipping.

I think for instrument and mic pres live the sound I get from the FMR RNP 8380's is fine, but having the right mic and mic pre make all the difference when recording.
Since I can't afford the Crane Song's or Manley's, or the Neumann U76 mic, I rent them from a friend for favors like doing keyboard tracks, or paying cash.
I would suggest using the best quality you have access to if the recording is a demo that could bring you extra work.
Not being a Tube basher, but I find the sound of the Solid State design from Crane Song w/ an AKG C414 or Neumann U76/86 to be a perfect reproduction of a vocal.
Sadly our vocalist has no ears whatsoever, and claims she likes the sound of her BETA 58 over the Heil PR40's, and the FMR's over the Crane Song.....
I have held off on making any further purchases of mic pre's until I test the ones that Juergen chose to use w/ the XITE-1. I am thinking they will be fine for live work for sure, but for recording the rental of high spec'd stuff is the way to go for me.
I am looking forward to not hearing vocals for a long time though.........