New technology is inevitable in our ever changing world. Tech is changing on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. And it’s not surprising that the computer tech world sometimes creeps in and replaces old technologies. Over the past few years guitar gear has been getting more infused with computer technology. You see it in guitar pedals, guitars, and new digital amplifiers are being released every year from all the major music manufacturers. One of the most interesting recent releases is the series of Nutube amplifiers from VOX.

So what is Nutube? Here is the official word from the manufacturer called KORG.

From KorgNutube.com

Nutube, similar to a conventional vacuum tube, has an anode grid filament structure, and operates exactly as a triode vacuum tube. Also similar to a vacuum tube, it creates the same characteristic rich overtones. By applying their vacuum fluorescent display technology, Noritake Itron Corp., a Noritake Co. Ltd affiliated company, have devised a structure which achieves substantial power saving, miniaturization, and quality improvements when compared with a conventional vacuum tube.

KORG claims there are a number of advantages of NUTUBE over the traditional vacuum tube (or valve):

• Realising substantial power savings

By making the form smaller we have succeeded in making significant power savings requiring less than 2% of the electrical power of a conventional tube. This allows for efficient and simple battery operation.

• Real vacuum tube sound

The real triode structure produces a warm, unique vacuum tube sound, delivering excellent linearity.

• High reliability, long life

Made in Japan. 30,000 hours of continuous life expectancy

• Small size

Nutube is less than 30% of the size of a conventional vacuum tube.

Classic Vacuum Tubes - Tough to beat

If you are a guitar player, and you are into tube amplifiers, it will be hard to convince you to try any other type of guitar amplifier. It will also be difficult to convince you that anything else can sound better than a classic vacuum tube amplifier. I love my tube amplifiers (that’s valve amps for some parts of the world). I can’t see myself replacing my tube amplifiers anytime soon, but I was really curious how these Nutube amps would sound. In the past few years I’ve had the opportunity to purchase and try out two Nutube based amplifiers from VOX. I’ve had the Vox MV50 AC amplifier head, which is supposed to give you AC30 tones. I’ve also had the Vox Mini Superbeetle which is a really cool looking homage and tribute to the Beatles Superbeatle amplifiers.

If you are interested, you can buy both amplifiers online at various shops using my affiliate links below.

Get the Vox Mini SuperBeetle:

Get the VOX MV50

BUT HOW DOES IT NUTUBE SOUND?

All the specs and information sound great on paper, but how does Nutube perform in real life situations? Are Nutube based amplifiers loud enough to power your band’s sound? The best way to determine this is to try them in person so you can hear them for yourself. That’s not always an option for people, so the next closest thing is to hear videos comparisons. Although you won’t get the true ‘in the room’ sounds, you can at least get somewhat of a baseline to form an opinion. That being said have a listen to my comparisons of NUTUBE vs traditional tubes in the following videos. Let me know what you think!