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VALVE PRESSURE?
Interesting comment made in issue 506 in the article The Future Of Valves. The writer says: “Valves wear out, while DSPs don’t” and while that’s technically true, it’s more than a little misleading. Valves do wear out, but if looked after properly, avoiding physical shocks when hot or warm, not only can they last many years, but they usually give notice before failure. They can become noisy or microphonic or simply lose gain. But the good news is, if available, valves can be easy to change, even by the user. Conversely, DSPs don’t wear out, but they do die. And there’s the rub.
If a DSP fails it won’t be user-replaceable. Specialist tools are needed to replace a large circuit processor and in some cases the whole circuit board might need to be replaced. Even worse, replacement parts might not be available, even after a short space of time. I had to recently scrap a Line 6 HD500 because a replacement part wasn’t available.
