I want a valve sound that is clean and 'true', but I also want pre-sets. Someone said that digital pre-sets distort the valve sound.
As long as the signal path isn't overloaded, the output can be clean in a tube circuit just like solid state. Pre-sets usually just vary the pre-amp signal before the power amp circuit. If you use a loop, you're taking the pre-amp signal, effecting it, and then giving it to the power amp. Some tube amps come with presets and effects now, like the Line 6. A tube amp purist will want nothing in the way of the tube circuits - they will just use the channels on the amp to switch between sound set-ups - like Clean Distorted, etc. It's not that a controller will distort the tone, it's just that it may color it somewhat.
First off, valves aren't meant to be clean or true. Technically the reason we like tubes is that they distort fairly easily, but in a pleasing and musical way (largely 2nd order, etc). Just being picky. =) Digital things can sound very digital in a tube amplifier depending on the quality of the DSP chip and how it's used. It looks like what they're doing in this case is modifying the gain values of the tubes digitally. This doesn't actually interfere with the signal itself. It's kinda like using a digital thermometer to control your heater instead of an analog one, or turning it on and off by hand - the heat still comes out, the method of when and how much comes out is all that changes. I'm very impressed with this amp. Whoever said that digital presets distort the valve sound were talking about something else - maybe the Line 6 Spider 3 or something, where the distortion doesn't come from the valves but from a DSP chip. Your amp there is a different beast completely. Saul
