Fatman iTube iPod Valve Amplifier

Fatman iTube iPod Amplifier

This looks like being a really cool product. It combines 2 things that I am fond of: the Apple iPod, and Valve (aka Tube) amplifiers.

I don't think a valve powered iPod would ever make it past the Apple drawing board. I love digital, low voltage circuits.

Valves are magical things, aside from being less eco-friendly than solid state devices. In pre and power amplifiers, they do something to the sound, that engineers have struggled to emulate with transistors and software for decades. Logic Pro's Guitar Amp Pro and N.I's Guitar Rig, do a pretty good emulation. But if you heard a nice tube amp, like a Class A Vox AC30, Fender, Marshall or one of the boutique, hand-wired varieties being used in anger, you would soon realise that nothing quite gets that 'brown' sound, like a tube amp.

Tubes bring sweet harmonics to the mix. Some solid state guitar amps really suck when compared next to, say, a 60's Fender Delux Reverb amplifier. That's not to say that solid-state amps can't sound sweet. Pignose amps and my little 9V powered, belt-clip Marshall amp (as worn by Jack Black in School of Rock) can produce some nice tones.

So, a remote-controlled, valve powered amplifier and iPod dock, is getting me very excited. It's made by Fatman, part of Pro Audio group TL Audio, so I would expect good things from them. I haven't had a chance to listen to them yet, but my bet is that the iTube and a decent pair of monitor speakers would be a very sweet sounding combo. Not quite as portable as an Apple iPod Hi-Fi, but probably a very sweet sound. We'll have to wait and see when the iTube starts shipping next month.

iTube Features

• iTube Vacuum Tube Amplifier
• iTube Docking Station
• Brush / Glove for cleaning
• Power cable
• Audio cable to connect Docking Station and Amplifier
• Banana Plug speaker cables
• Aux source audio cable for connecting CD player etc
• Video cable to connect from docking station to TV
• Power Output 13Wx2
• Frequency Response 20Hz - 20KHz (±1.5Db)
• Harmonic Distortion 0.5%
• Signal-To-Noise Ratio 86Db
• Input Impedance 100K
• Output Impedance 4ohm, 8ohm
• Valve Type 2x6N1(ECC85) 1x6E2(EM87)

Fat Links

Fatman iTube Discussion
Fatman Site