Remember these? -- AOPEN AX4B-533TUBE PIV motherboard (Vacuum Tube Audio) -- $149 (AR) at Newegg

[plasticquart]

I had almost forgotten about these things.

Motherboard listing on Newegg

$20 MIR

The board is $169 and there is a $20 MIR. Shipping is free.

 

[Bitman]

Review at Firing Squad. They liked it, said it had a smoother sound. Whatever that means.

Other reviews:
NeoSeeker
Active Hardware

 

[Jugernot]

Those have got to be the stupidest motherboards ever made... then again I'm not a big sound person. Hell I keep my speaker turned off unless I want to hear something in particular.

 

[SmokingGun]

Its for when you want that vintage sound

 

[Anami]

Yeah, well back in the late 70s I bought the ultimate keyboard, the Hammond B3 with Leslie speaker. As a keyboard guy, it's just the coolest thing. Still found in good, deep jazz, and giving the only touch of life to Gospel choirs. It had big time tube amps, both in the organ cabinet and in the bottom of the Leslie, with the revolving speakers. But I don't see the tube-mobo connection myself. That's one baaaad..."shut yo mouf"!

 

[huesmann]

You mean one bad mother... shut your mouf!

Originally posted by: SmokingGun
Its for when you want that vintage sound

Like "The Shadow?"

 

[Kevin]

I remember reading about this in either PC World or PC Magazine. I love my A7N8X Deluxe though...

 

[MowSow]

The tube is made in Russia ! must be MIR technology.

 

[all168]

I heard a friend of mine who had tube AMp said Russia tube is the best in the world.

 

[TheOtherBob]

I'd have guessed that all the drivers for it would've come on a vinyl 45.... two sided no less....

 

[James789]

Supposedly tubes make better audio amplifiers. Something about "pleasing harmonics" if I remember right.
I'd prob be more interested in a seperate audio card.
Cool concept though.

 

[Harvey]

I design electronic products for professional recording, including tube gear, and this product is one of the stupidest ideas I have ever heard of. Tubes are not inherently linear and transparent, but like solid state circuts, if implemented correctly, they can be very linear within their limitations. When they are overdriven, many tube circuits tend to have a pleasing musical sound.

That said, putting a tube inside a computer is really dumb. By their nature, they generate a lot of heat, they require a lot of power, and you have to generate a high voltage that is not part of any regular computer power supply. The only reason for marketing this product has to be to sell it to suckers who are more impressed with glowing glass heat and light generators than they are knowledgable about what makes a good product. This beast should be given a technological Darwin award.

 

[Nickb2b]

Well, this tube is part of a pre-amp stage so it really isn't putting out alot of heat.

 

[KMHPaladin]

FWIW, price is now $155.00 - not like I'd buy one, but what the hell .

 

[DistantHorizon]

Well, after you've gone so far as to integrate Darwinist experimentation with your space exploration program to the point that MIR's inhabitants accept near-death experiences as part of their daily routine, perhaps you just quit trying so hard.... you slack a little, your Roulette game slips to the point that you don't bother chambering a round, and pretty soon you're nothing but a vacuum tube vendor on the sidelines, watching the Asians have all the fun.

Was a neat idea for a board, and looked kinda cool, but we'd see far more benefit from a concerted effort to improve upon the computer industry's crap-quality, 1/8" jack analog audio cabling.

 

[deramon]

You got that right Harvey. I mean some engineers have limited mental ability to think things through ...

 

[TonyG]

Unless I am mistaken, you can't even see the glass tubes glowing when that thing is turned on. Looks to me like the tubes are incased in the black plastic housings, or something, as I sure don't see any good ol' glass tubes sticking up off the motherboard. Just take a look at neweggs pictures.

 

[ChiliCOnCarnage]

Well, this motherboard has been thoroughly bashed here, but I beg to differ.

Does nobody else run a computer as an integral part of their home entertainment system? One of my 7 rigs is hooked up to the 52 inch high-def monitor in the living room - and outputs to a fairly high-end home theater system. Since I use the computer's CD music, MP3, DVD, TV/FM tuner as the basis for a lot of my entertainment, getting a tube pre-amp would make a lot of sense.

Don't bash what you don't know!

 

[render]

review here

The cheap AC'97 codec bounds the might of the sound. If they used a higher-class DAC, usage of the tube could be justified.