New tape pre-amp king!!

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Did you hear me gasping for air in Seattle from way down in Southern California? It was very loud and startling for people around here, and loud enough for them to think I was having a big one...

Ki where in SoCal are you
 

Bruce B

WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
Apr 25, 2010
7,007
515
1,740
Snohomish, WA
www.pugetsoundstudios.com
After much experimentation, listening and swapping out cables, I have started doing all my tape transfers through the Doshi Audio tape pre. This thing is amazing. As good as the internal cards are (thank-you Ki), they are no match for the Doshi. I have never heard a tape pre this quiet, detailed and dynamic. Nick is an amazing engineer. I just got some JPS Labs Abyss headphones. Up to building a headphone pre Nick?
 

U47

Well-Known Member
Apr 23, 2010
161
5
1,575
Portland, Oregon
www.reeltapes.net
Doshi tape preamp

After much experimentation, listening and swapping out cables, I have started doing all my tape transfers through the Doshi Audio tape pre. This thing is amazing. As good as the internal cards are (thank-you Ki), they are no match for the Doshi. I have never heard a tape pre this quiet, detailed and dynamic. Nick is an amazing engineer. I just got some JPS Labs Abyss headphones. Up to building a headphone pre Nick?

It is a beautiful sounding preamp. Ki, Charlie and I are hoping to have a shootout in September against the King/Cello if Ki still has the Doshi. It should be a fun listening session.

Rich
Portland, Oregon
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
After much experimentation, listening and swapping out cables, I have started doing all my tape transfers through the Doshi Audio tape pre. This thing is amazing. As good as the internal cards are (thank-you Ki), they are no match for the Doshi. I have never heard a tape pre this quiet, detailed and dynamic. Nick is an amazing engineer. I just got some JPS Labs Abyss headphones. Up to building a headphone pre Nick?

It is a beautiful sounding preamp. Ki, Charlie and I are hoping to have a shootout in September against the King/Cello if Ki still has the Doshi. It should be a fun listening session.

Rich
Portland, Oregon

It should be way fun because as Bruce says, this unit is dead quiet and that was my biggest fear with a tubed unit. Sounds emanate from blackness
 

mep

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
9,481
17
0
It should be way fun because as Bruce says, this unit is dead quiet and that was my biggest fear with a tubed unit. Sounds emanate from blackness

Says the guy with an all-tube system. ;)
 

andromedaaudio

VIP/Donor
Jan 23, 2011
8,462
2,815
1,400
Amsterdam holland
Good for you guys , but whats on the recording side , if the record amp ( tubed or whatever ) exhibits noise its gonna be recorded and cannot really be removed ( dolby noise reduction maybe ), so that is at least as important as repro amps .
I guess this question is more directed to the recording engineers ???.
My expirience is that there still is some residual noise when the play button is pushed, and i dont mean noise when tape is playing but when the recording actually starts
 
Last edited:

MylesBAstor

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,238
81
1,725
New York City
Say what you want, but put the all tube BH Repro (with V-caps, Tele EF806S and ECC88s) back in the system this weekend and it was 100X better than I remember (plus have changed the heads and cables since last listen). While the K/C is tighter and quicker in the bass, a little quieter and dynamic, it can't hold a candle to the BH's low level resolution (listen to the people talking and pay attention to what they are saying on the Bill Evans tape), dimensionality (musicians, say on a good RVG tape, are literally in the room) or midrange and harmonic resolution (you can tell exactly how much pressure Roebke is applying to the strings on his bass on the Josh Berman tape)
 

Bruce B

WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
Apr 25, 2010
7,007
515
1,740
Snohomish, WA
www.pugetsoundstudios.com
Good for you guys , but whats on the recording side , if the record amp ( tubed or whatever ) exhibits noise its gonna be recorded and cannot really be removed ( dolby noise reduction maybe ), so that is at least as important as repro amps .
I guess this question is more directed to the recording engineers ???.
My expirience is that there still is some residual noise when the play button is pushed, and i dont mean noise when tape is playing but when the recording actually starts

This is how I tell if the unit is quiet or not. I press record with a blank tape. While monitoring, either through the stock electronics or through an external tape pre, I take note of the noise floor. While turning up the volume on my XP-30 to full, the Doshi is at least 12-15dB quieter than the stock electronics, even though it was modified by an expert tech!
 

c1ferrari

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 15, 2010
2,162
51
1,770
Following up on andromeda's post, is anyone aware of mods on the record side of a Studer A820 and/or A810?
 

Bruce B

WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
Apr 25, 2010
7,007
515
1,740
Snohomish, WA
www.pugetsoundstudios.com
Following up on andromeda's post, is anyone aware of mods on the record side of a Studer A820 and/or A810?

I have found the record sides of much higher quality than the playback side on the machines that I've used. The only outboard record unit I've used is the Aria, which I didn't care for. I guess all you can do is replace caps and such as well as pay attention to the PS.
 

c1ferrari

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 15, 2010
2,162
51
1,770
I have found the record sides of much higher quality than the playback side on the machines that I've used. The only outboard record unit I've used is the Aria, which I didn't care for. I guess all you can do is replace caps and such as well as pay attention to the PS.

This comports with my current knowledge as well.
I've spoken with Charlie Bolois about PS mods.

Thanks, Bruce.
 

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing