As the inventor of Metasonix is also a guitar player, with the TM-5, he optimized his tube effect series for "colleagues". It is made to be used as a very special and fine preamp: Distortion is great. First in the path are two pentode type tubes for gain--lots of gain! Eric uses NOS pentodes only. Pentodes have a nice, strong sound and lots of voltage gain, especially at clipping. Their screen voltage may be varied to change the tube's gain. And pentodes don't need huge plate voltages to sound good. Pentodes were used in the first generation of guitar amps and professional audio equipment, almost exclusively.
The signal then passes through a special tube. The "BN6" tube was originally developed by Zenith in 1948, to act as an FM detector in table radios. It is a special "beam modulator" device, roughly similar to a pentode with a very weird structure. It gives asymmetrical clipping, which may be adjusted by varying the voltage on its screen grid. The result is a unique "buzzy" tone, which also you heavy rockers out there will find invaluable. All Sound samples for the TM-series are made with a guitar by the inventor himself. The TM-5s full distortion sound is also perfect for driving the Metasonix TM-1 waveshaper.
> tech specs
Frequency response less than 10 Hz to greater than 40 kHz. Distortion from less than 0.1% to greater than 20%, depending on input signal. Voltage gain approx. 20 with all LEVEL controls set to maximum. Hum and noise may be minimized with DRIVE/HUM BAL control. The TM-5 was designed to drive LINE-LEVEL signal inputs, such as in modular synthesizers, mixers, or other Metasonix modules. Using the TM-5 with a conventional guitar amp may result in hum and noise problems, due to the high voltage gain of the TM-5.
Inputs: phone jacks for audio input; optional input for clipping CV. Output: phone jack, audio, mono, 1k ohm impedance. Also available is an envelope voltage output, which is a DC voltage tracking the instrument amplitude--0 volts with no input, up to maximum of 1.5 volts at full drive. Power input 10v AC to 12v AC, 50/60 Hz, 1.2 amp max at idle. |
