Hey Jonny. RE:BlueTube preamp

[cdikland]

I picked up a bluetube on ebay from a "local" dealer at about $80 less than the going price here in Ottawa. Works great except for one perculiar thing. I was wondering if your pre-amp behave the same way. Here goes...

The 2nd channel on this unit seems to go into a "sleep state" after the unit has been on (but not in use) for a while and will not pickup normal level audio. I "wake up" the channel by tapping on the mike a couple of times (the mike is far enough away from the unit that the tapping does not wiggle the cable in case you are thinking "loose connection"). After that everything is normal. After a lengthy period (60 minutes or more) when the unit is on but I am not recording and there are no real audible sounds in the room the channel seems to go back to sleep. It almost looks like this is by design :shock: I have never had it go to sleep when I am actually recording.

I have tried different mikes and different cables with the exact same results.This does not happen on channel 1

My dealer want me to ship it back and he'll send it back to the factory. I just know it will be there for 3-4 months only to return with a note "No problems found". The strange behaviour seems to inconsistent.

Have you experienced anything like this???

[Jonny Hotnuts]

No brotha, mine does not, but it does sound very much like a tube is going out to me. And this is not really a big deal and can be a good thing. Preamp tubes are very inexpensive and this will give you an opportunity to install a better than stock matched set of pre tubes.

It seems like you have done all the right things as far as swapping cables and mics. This should eliminate any chance that it is something else causing you problems, with the exception of what it is plugged into. Is the pre plugged into a board, D to A converter or other device that may potentially be causing the sleep effect (this is easily checked by watching the level meters on the unit itself and/or changing the preamp outputs to their opposite channels, I am sure this is not the problem but worth looking into, stranger things have been known to be true.)

But with all this said rest assured that the technology in these preamps is very old school, and really with the exception of a tube going bad there is not really all that much that can go wrong with the unit. I have never heard of an import or export transformer going out in a preamp and with the exception of a few diodes and resistors this comprises the makeup of the entire unit.

So here is what I suggest:

Email their support group, but I will bet they will say it is likely a tube issue also (remember always change all your tubes not just the faulty ones)

Send it in only as a last resort.

****or****

Go buy a brand new unit at a blue tube vendor, and return the faulty one and ask for a refund as it does not work properly. That is if you will be able to sleep at night. It does work but I am not condoning it.

Good luck and let me know if there is anything else I can help with.

[cdikland]

Thanks Jonny. I think I'll try swapping the tubes between channels and see if the problem moves to Ch1. The dealer I got it from has been excellent. Think I'll give him a chance to help fix the problem before I would ask to return the unit.

[absmiths]

Go buy a brand new unit at a blue tube vendor, and return the faulty one and ask for a refund as it does not work properly. That is if you will be able to sleep at night. It does work but I am not condoning it.


Then why suggest it? It is illegal as well, by the way, so it is more than a matter of sleep deprivation . . .