Tube screamer buffer

[robkeeler]

If I construct a seperate buffer (seperate box) can I bypass the tube screamer buffer and directly connect from the output of the buffer to the tube screamer clipping stage? Thanks!!

[R.G.]

Yes, given that you also satisfy the DC conditions for the clipping stage input - it has to be connected to Vbias by a large resistor and you'll need capacitor couple the signal in.


But - why?

[robkeeler]

I want to to try Jack Orman's parallel buffer + a tube screamer variant.  Would it make any sonic difference than the stock tube screamer setup?

[R.G.]

I wasn't familiar with that buffer, so I had to go look. It took me a minute to find. I finally guessed that the "Super" buffer comprised of four opamps run in parallel was the one.

In the stock TS circuit, you're driving the + input of an opamp and it's biasing resistor. The resistor can be quite large, and the + input of a noninverting opamp circuit (this is one of those) has a quite high input impedance. The point of a buffer is to deal with the degradation of heavy loads - and this one is not a heavy load.

Unless you're doing some really strange in your TS variant, you just don't need all the buffering. It's not a hard load to drive. I can't think of any sonic advantage unless you're locating the clipping stage 100 yards away on high capacitance shielded cable.