Got my Darkvoice a few months ago and the stock tubes were pretty good for me, but it was my first tube experience (so nothing to compare it to) but everyone says they are trash so I decided to invest $40 into a pair of RCA tubes that don’t sound much different to me (although it is hard to compare tubes when you have to warm them up in between, unless you have two amps). So I wanted to see what everyone’s experience is with darkvoice tubes. It seems to be a fairly popular amp considering Zeos has one and so do many people here. I’m curious to see what people have found to be the best tubes to work with this amp.
I’m curious about this too, any specific tubes that specifically increases width.
So you wouldn’t say that going to RCA from stock is audibly noticable?
I’m also interested in tube rolling for the darkvoice , as I have a used one on the way in the mail right now…
Would like to get a good idea what kind of aftermarket tubes work really well with it for future purchasing
I mean I changed the tubes when I still didn’t know much about audio stuff and didn’t have as critical of a listening ear. Now that I know more and know what to look for I might try switching the tubes to see if I can hear the difference. Like I said though, it is hard to do so because the tubes require warming before you can listen unless you have multiple amps (which any normal person doesn’t) so by the time I change the tubes and warm them up, I will have lost my whole test.
Well you can be confident that the stock tubes will be more than fine to start with. Many people complain about a humming noise and I have one with my replacement tubes, but you shouldn’t worry, most of the time switching outlets and making sure your RCA’s aren’t near any power cords does the trick. If the humming is the actual tube (like mine) then it might need to be replaced. Mine sounds like an element may be broken or something. Still sounds fine, but it rattles like a mf
I’m surprised more people in Zeos’ community haven’t gotten a topic together about this already. I know a lot of people have a darkvoice. I don’t know why no one has talked about the tubes they use with it yet. I figured hopefully people will find this post and we can get some people with experience.
Do we know which tubes Zeos ended up sticking with though?
I watched that video a while ago, but I don’t think he ever says which one he ends up keeping
I just recieved my secondhand darkvoice today and it did not come with a power cord, that’s a little irritating but I’ll manage. What kind of power adapter do I need for this? I have a 3 pronged female adapter that fits but I’m not sure if it is compatible and I don’t want to fuck it up using something that’s wrong, does it matter? Help pls.
Iirc you either get a 110v or 220 - 240v internal power supply so the cable shouldn’t matter, just make sure the amp you got has the right voltage for your region.
Yes I figured that out late last night, I have the 110v. Luckily I had a old computer powersupply cable lying around
Holy fuck does this thing jam with my HD 6xx, I now understand why Zeos is always talking about this amp in such high regard… Its sound is just so thick and dark, this thing does stuff to female vocals in particular that is blowing my mind atm. This is on stock too, which I’ve heard the stock tubes are kinda ass… so like wtf. Making me want to tube roll to see what good tubes sound like lol
Ended up going down a rabbit hole and bought some new tubes. got a Tung-Sol 7236 and a Tung-Sol 6SN7GTB
And these are miles better than the stock. I haven’t spent too much time with them yet, but initial impressions are good. wider and more airy sounding than stock.
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I literally got a winged C… and a Tung-Sol 6SN7GTB new prod called it a day…
I understand the sophia electric preamp tube as being one of the best… looking forward to buying one when I try to see what 6080 or 6AS7G complements its weaknesses… that’s literally the goal imo… find the right combo that compliment each other and swim in the sea of musical heaven.
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I’m still rather new to tube amps and tube rolling in general, anybody have some advice on burning in new tubes? best practices, how long to burn in? stuff like that. thanks in advance.
While I don’t think this is super necessary, if you want to burn then in for the first time, turn them on and just let them sit for around 24 hours. Then after that, just use them normally, but let them warm up for around 20-30 minutes before use, and do this for the first 20ish listening sessions. After that just use as normal, and allow them to warm up for around 20 seconds before use.
The tubes sound will naturally go up in performance throughout it’s life, hit a peak, and then go back down until they start to sound bad. So make sure to turn them off if you aren’t using them to preserve the life of the tube after that initial new tube burn in
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I really enjoy my Darkvoice amp, i had severe humming with my stock tube (the small one) and my upgraded RCA, and Tungsol. I needed to let all three burn in for close to a week each. That worked for me, absolutely no hum at all now using any of my current tubes. I also use it as a pre-amp for my speaker amplifiers. There is still a little bit of hum but it not noticeable once the volume kicks in. It annoys me that i know it’s there and i’m working on finding a solution but overall i am very pleased with it and it works well with most of my gear. I don’t have a critical ear and most of my music is of the hip-hop, rap, classical rock and jazz genre so i no longer sweat allot of the audiofile comments pertaining to very subtle variations in sound. I know what i enjoy and have learned to spend more time with the music rather than the gear. The Darkvoice is a relatively painless expenditure for a bit of variety in your sound. Feel free to spend allot more on gear if your musical requirements are such, i think for an average person you can’t go wrong. At some point you will need to invest in cans that are 300ohms or more to get a bit more volume out of the amp. YMMV…
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What are some headphones that work well with the darkvoice that aren’t sennheiser 6xx line? Would like to expand my usable cans for this thing.
Also Is it worth picking up a pair of HD 600 if I already have HD 6XX? Specifically for use with this tube amp.
Regarding the 600 question, it’s probably not worth it if you already have the 650/6xx. They’re just too close
I’ve had my DarkVoice for a little while now and my current set of tubes are a Telefunken 6080 and a NOS Tung-Sol 6SN7.