Members whiteop Posted December 26, 2008 Members Share Posted December 26, 2008 crystal radio kits are still around... so maybe never. When you realize the difference between analog and digital is that the digital signal is sliced and diced many times and then recreated and that the analog signal is one that is steady and pure it makes you wonder if analog will ever go by the wayside so my answer is no I don't think tubes will ever completely disappear....P.S. You forgot the "Never" option in your poll...probably the reason so many punched the "15+ years or more" button... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Spizzledude Posted December 26, 2008 Members Share Posted December 26, 2008 If you go purely by market, I'm willing to wager that digital and SS modeling amps outsell tube amps by far. They have sold more VYPYRs at Peavey than any other amp they ever launched. If you go strictly by sound, then tube amps still rule , for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roby Lee Posted December 26, 2008 Members Share Posted December 26, 2008 I still love the tube amp pushed to the max. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteinbergerHack Posted December 26, 2008 Members Share Posted December 26, 2008 If you go purely by market, I'm willing to wager that digital and SS modeling amps outsell tube amps by far. They have sold more VYPYRs at Peavey than any other amp they ever launched. That's probably quite true. 15-watt practice amps also outsell high-end gig rigs by far, and $150 Squier Strats outsell serious instruments. Sales numbers are driven far more by price than quality. [The Ford Focus also outsells the Porsche Cayman. That doesn't make the Focus a better vehicle, nor does it mean that the Cayman is headed for extinction.] If you go strictly by sound, then tube amps still rule , for now. ..and for a long time to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members openedskittles Posted December 26, 2008 Members Share Posted December 26, 2008 I think tubes will disappear, but analog wont. You can have analog without tubes. Digital has to do everything in 1s and 0s, its like resolution. It will keep getting more and more detailed, but will never be able to be the real deal, though in many cases, it's already so close that it is difficult for our senses to appreciate the difference. Like cameras for example: you can have a 12+MP camera, but it's still limited to pixels, whereas film could capture the image by what the lens saw. It's also why solid state drives are catching on in new computers and flash drives and why I think video games and movies should come on little cartridges like game boy games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members openedskittles Posted December 26, 2008 Members Share Posted December 26, 2008 ..and for a long time to come. on that note, porsche is planning on producing mostly automatic cars in the future and eventually just making stick shifts for those who grew up with a stick and think they are more fun. its still a better vehicle, and it will still sell few cars, but it doesnt have to be stick or "tube" for this analogy, to have the superior results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarbilly74 Posted December 26, 2008 Members Share Posted December 26, 2008 on that note, porsche is planning on producing mostly automatic cars in the future and eventually just making stick shifts for those who grew up with a stick and think they are more fun. lulwat (Outside of the US, the vast majority of drivers drives a stick shift.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarbilly74 Posted December 26, 2008 Members Share Posted December 26, 2008 sure tube amps will probally always be around, but when do you predict digital will catch up and surpass toobs in the market place? Surpass it in terms of what? Sales?? It already did a long time ago.. SS and digital amps sell a lot more than tube amps. In terms of tone, probably not anytime soon, because our idea of "good tone" was developed around tube amps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members teemuk Posted December 26, 2008 Members Share Posted December 26, 2008 I don't really even understand this talk about tubes having better tone. Sure, there are many great tube amps that sound better than the semi-cheap SS amps that have a lot of visibility. However, if you do the research you'll find out that SS amps have been used extensively throughout their history - often by artist you'd never even guess would have used them... I was pretty shocked to find out about Santana (Woodstock), Rory Gallagher (Blueprint), Zappa and his Pignose, Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow and Standel, Brian May and Deacy, ZZ Top and Legend amps, Iron Maiden and two records made with SS Gallien-Krueger amps etc. The SS users thread can be really revealing. Not to mention all the rack gear and hybrid devices like ADA MP-1. The concepts of modern tone are created equally with both tube and solid-state amps. It's just the images of (often hollow) Marshall stacks and all the blah blah blah about tube tone superiority that has skewed our concept about solid-state amps and about how much they actually are used. The use of tubes is already pretty marginal. I don't even bother to vote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteinbergerHack Posted December 26, 2008 Members Share Posted December 26, 2008 on that note, porsche is planning on producing mostly automatic cars in the future and eventually just making stick shifts for those who grew up with a stick and think they are more fun. its still a better vehicle, and it will still sell few cars, but it doesnt have to be stick or "tube" for this analogy, to have the superior results. Porsche is moving away from their racing program, and their decision to move more automatics into the US reflects this. it also reflects that fact that they sell more SUVs than real high-performance cars. I think you would find that in a REAL high-performance environment (i.e., on a race track), a stick is not only much faster, it is a safety device. I wouldn't be caught dead trying to reach ten-tenths with an auto; the last thing you need is for the tranny to decide to change something when you are cornering at the absolute limit at 125 mph. The automatic also adds weight and reduces efficiency - neither of which is a good thing from a performance standpoint. Call me a luddite, but when I start a race, I have a standard transmission under my right hand (though it is a sequential-shift:thu:). When I go on stage, I have a tube amp (either Bogner or Marshall). In both cases, I might be able to get 95% as much from the "newer" technology. 95% isn't good enough for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sonofabias Posted December 26, 2008 Members Share Posted December 26, 2008 NEVER, NEVER, NEVER !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members grayeyes777 Posted December 26, 2008 Members Share Posted December 26, 2008 never. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members starsnuffer Posted December 26, 2008 Members Share Posted December 26, 2008 They're already obsolete. I don't think you understand the meaning of the word obsolete. That does not mean there will not still be a demand or preference for them. For the record, sexual intercourse is obsolete too. Are you going to quit that? -W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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