Ronald Meij Maker · 1 d ago
Paul Wolff bought API in 1985, put the 2520 op-amp into proper production, and invented the 500-series lunchbox that half this forum's gear plugs into. He now builds under his own name and owns Pultec. When he explains why an amplifier sounds the way it does, he is explaining circuits he drew himself. Nineteen, longest first. The top five are interviews between one and two and a half hours, which is where the real explanation is. The last six are two minute pieces from his own channel and are the most circuit specific things here: transformers, clipping, why amplifiers differ, class D. Part 1 of the transformer series and of the amplifier series could not be found. If you know where they are, post them. 01 Young Guru and Paul Wolff on Analog Gear, Tone, and Taste Wolff Audio An hour and twenty of Wolff on transformers, mic pres and topology, and why those choices end up audible on a record. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynm8dNJqeO4 02 [Chilled Music Version] Young Guru and Paul Wolff on Analog Gear, Tone, and Taste Wolff Audio The same conversation with different background music, for if the first version's bed gets in the way. www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUmiqhAvZ68 03 RSR387 - Paul Wolff - Designing Immersive Analog Consoles and Studio Gear [API, Tonelux, FIX] Recording Studio Rockstars Nearly two hours across the whole career: consoles and outboard at API, Tonelux and Fix, and rebuilding classic doubler and flanger circuits. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UFRotzUPq8 04 Insights In Sound 92 - Paul Wolff, Pro-Audio Visionary, S10, E2 Daniel Liston Keller Another long one, on product design at API, Tonelux and Slate, and what he thinks makes hardware work. www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C6HtcH-Hgg 05 Audio Engineer Paul Wolff "The Greatest Audio Podcast Ever" The Roundtable with Drew Two hours and twenty. Four decades of designing recording equipment, including the API years and Tonelux. www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG_joLsklOQ 06 Now Available: Quad Tutti - Interview w/ Paul Wolff and Paul Camarata of Sunset Sounds Recording Wolff Audio Wolff and Sunset Sound's owner on the Tutti, the preamp Sunset designed in house, in front of the console it has fronted for nearly fifty years. www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFzts0_WH-s 07 Inside Sunset Sound: The Tutti Mic Pre, from the Console to the Quad Tutti Wolff Audio The 1978 in house design walked through, with an engineer on how it behaves in a session. www.youtube.com/watch?v=34YQQweQGSI 08 An Interview With Paul Wolff | Wolff Audio Wolff Audio Short one. What makes a piece of gear good, from somebody who has designed rather a lot of it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKx1FAYWIQE 09 The Wolff Audio Story Wolff Audio Wolff and Jared Vogt on the problem they were trying to solve, and gear that puts an analogue path under digital control. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-rTE0MCxIs 10 Wolff Audio Purchases Pultec - Steve Jackson and Paul Wolff Full Interview Wolff Audio How Pulse Techniques came back, and why Wolff Audio bought it. Chaptered in the description. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouLk2Tr2yhg 11 Hands-On With the Wolff Audio Console - Inside Matt Yonker's Studio Wolff Audio A 24 channel Console ST in use, the tone cards, and the hybrid workflow behind it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHB1n9EsVcQ 12 Young Guru Visits Wolff Audio: Warehouse Tour Wolff Audio How the gear is designed, tested and put together, walked through the factory. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-biFZk82gmo 13 The Console Preamp in a 500 Series Slot: Andrew Masters on the Wolff W1 Wolff Audio Four minutes of the W1 driven with everything wide open into a ribbon on an acoustic guitar, to hear what it does at the limit. www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_OYnm5I_ZM 14 Paul Wolff Talks Mic Pre Transformers and W1 - Part 2 Wolff Audio Two minutes, and the most circuit specific thing on the channel. What the input transformer is actually doing. www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DBAH3PyBOw 15 How Clipping Works - Part 1 Wolff Audio Short. What happens at the moment a stage runs out of room. www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb_yjRMBB5Y 16 How Clipping Works - Part 2 Wolff Audio The second half of the same. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a3IeIUCYP4 17 Why don't all amplifiers sound the same - Part 2 Wolff Audio Short answer to the question everybody argues about, from somebody who has built both kinds. www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm12aTVClro 18 Why amplifiers sound different - Part 3 Wolff Audio The next part of the same thought. www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIYqhcVk1ng 19 Understanding Class D Amplifiers - Part 4 Wolff Audio And the last part, on class D specifically. www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWqUOO6SsQw Every link in this channel was checked against YouTube itself: the title and the channel name under each one are what YouTube returns for that video, not what anybody remembered. That check earned its keep more than once, because a search result is quite happy to hand you a title that belongs to a different video. What could not be done is watch them all. So the line under each link comes from the verified title and channel, not from having sat through it. If one turns out not to be what it says, reply and it comes off the list. Same if a link dies, which they do.