How much is too much? Transformers & Tubes from Recording stage to Mixing upto Mastering.

There isn’t too much. When I had my commercial studio I would track through tube and transformer output mics, to a transformer coupled multitrack, mix with tube and ss transformer coupled gear (on individual tracks and buses) and mix to a transformer coupled 2 track tape machine. It sounded big and organic, but it still sounded clear and ‘hi fi’. Sometimes if I counted there could easily be over 20 transformers from mic to final two bus processing that a single track would go through.

Up until a lot of chip based gear was prevalent (starting in early 80s) this was the norm. All the classic albums (including jazz although processing was probably minimal) were like that as there seemed to be very few transformerless gear produced at that time.

IMO when quality tube gear is in the signal path there is very little need for compression as tubes can offer enough natural tube compression capturing the signal source. Whether its just a tube mic, tube preamp, or combination of both, compression after the fact can be completely undesirable and unnecessary.

Well, if used properly everything can sound good but I find that sometimes there is a situation where there is no need for more transformers & tubes.
It's like color pallete, sometimes black and white are enough and it looks great.

If you have a piece of gear that has tubes and transformers in it, but it doesn’t make your recording or mix sound better, then it is “too much”.

When tubes and transformers soften transients more than you want them to, that's a good time not to use them. That goes for the big thumpy transients and the tiny, tingly ones ones too.

There is such thing as too much. I once made the mistake of recording a singer with too much tube gear and it was a massive headache trying to mix the tracks. The chain was a Cathedral Pipes Regensburg Dom > Manley Force pre > Tube Tech PE 1C EQ > Urei 1176F > LA2A > Cranesong HEDD192. I basically got a lot of unwieldy 2nd harmonic buildup. Some tube mics pair up well with tube pres, like the Neumann M149 or the Brauner VM1, but I'd rather run a U47 style mic into a solid-state preamp, especially if I'm going to go through the old LA2A.

I think the take away message from this example is some pieces of gear sound good together on some sources but not others. Not that 4 tubes are too much, but 3 tubes are ok like what the OP seems to be asking.

i have not read through others posts, so.

if the Transformers & Tubes are properly design it does not matter.
if Transformers & Tubes are not such great designs and offer to much harmonick distortion, then its dealers choose?

if the Transformers & Tubes of totally carp designs, well there probably not going to be in my studio. so?

When it starts to sound bad IMO. Even one wrong transformer can be too much.

Like those Jensen bifilar wound transformers for line-out. I like what they do sometimes and don't like what they do other times. When I want a clean and pristine sound, I typically like zero transformers.

When it starts to sound bad IMO. Even one wrong transformer can be too much.

Like those Jensen bifilar wound transformers for line-out. I like what they do sometimes and don't like what they do other times. When I want a clean and pristine sound, I typically like zero transformers.

All tube is too much for those into 70's music, and beyond.

All that is true, but albums tracked in the "tube era" also had other reasons for sounding as they did: they were recorded in properly treated spaces, in many cases, very large spaces, by full time engineers who really knew what they were doing. The musicians were first rate as were the songwriters and arrangers who worked behind the scenes. Equipment was maintained by staff, much of it purpose built by the studios themselves.

Situations that didn't meet the above standards managed to produce some really awful sounding records - even in the tube, tape, transformer era.

There's no free lunch or magic wand, do it right and you'll make excellent recordings, even now and without harming a single tube.

It boils down to experience, but it’s more of a musical experience with the guy behind the console as opposed to a technical experience; I just don’t buy into the whole white lab coat brigade allowing the greatness of the era. I’ve heard amazing tracks in moderately treated and small rooms with great equipment and great talent in my own time. In the 70s I would cite Exile on Main St as an organic sounding album with very likely a whole lot of tubes and especially tape and transformers.

You'd have to have one hell of a lot of tubes and transformers for it to be "too much" IMHO. A typical vocal track for me involves 4 or 5 tubes, and 6 or 7 transformers in the gear chain. I've never thought it was too much. It's the best weapon against digititus I know (with the possible exception of tape, which I will never use again). Have a Black Box mic pre on the way, so it's about to get a lot more tubey.

When you hear the gear more than the artist. Sometimes it's important to not forget what's in front of the mic, not just what's behind it.

Thank you Jim Williams for your voice of reason!
Hugh

A good lesson.

Great recordings offer a satisfying balance of both. That's subjective and situational.

I think you will know it when you hear it. The operative word being "you".

On Gearslutz the quest for "color" is an obsession and people act like there is nothing more desirable. For some, it's like asking how much money is too much?

Personally, I think it is more like asking how much bacon is too much? How much ice cream is too much? Well, when they have to put a stent into your clogged aorta so you don't die, that's a good place to draw the line.