Since its founding in 1984, Applied Research and Technology (ART) has been committed to designing great-sounding products that are reliable, easy to use, and accessible for the average musician. In 1995, that mission produced the Tube MP: a compact, affordable tube microphone preamp.
Despite its small stature and modest price tag, the Tube MP was recognized at the prestigious TEC Awards in 1996, where it was nominated for Outstanding Technical Achievement in the Mic Preamplifier Technology category.
Today, the Tube MP remains in production and has fostered a full lineup with additional features like compressors, reamping, and presets.
“What’s truly remarkable about the Tube MP is how it’s stayed relevant through three decades of massive progress in recording technology,” states Jeff Cowling, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Yorkville Sound – one of ART’s original distributors, which ultimately acquired the brand in 1999.
The Tube MP launched at a time when tube mic preamps would typically cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, and made that classic sound affordable for project studios. As new formats started to emerge, it provided an affordable tube front-end for digital tape and hard disc recorders.
Today, as more music is mixed in the box with plugins, a Tube MP is a convenient character preamp that can complement any audio interface. Even as technology continues to advance, nothing quite compares to the warmth and saturation of a real tube.
With thousands upon thousands of units sold over the past thirty years, the Tube MP is ART’s best-known product, and a serious contender for the title of World’s Most Popular Tube Preamp. It also remains a testament to the spirit of innovation and of empowering musicians that drove a team of engineers in upstate New York to create a modern classic that remains relevant three decades later.
