ART Pro MPA 2 Preamp for tube saturation

I've been experimenting with this for a while and found the best way for me to use it was to run the MPC through it and into the mixer. So basically everything is saturated slightly but maintains overall consistency. I swapped out the stock tubes with Tungsol 12AX7s and it sound great. It was difficult as first to determine the right settings as my sound card (EMU PCI) is 'pro standard' level so I kept the +4db off in the back of the ART unit for compensation and have the settings at basically 2 clicks away from the +18 for input gain and output level at -2 or 0. Since the MPC is going directly into the unit everything that is going out of the unit has the same saturation levels. Also keep it on dual channels and just match settings on each side (2 TRS to XLR cables from MPC main outs --> preamp input).

As I'm writing this I'm also realizing that I can also send individual outs to the unit and/or use mixer aux sends, so lots of possibilities.

Anyone else use this unit or a similar method for tube saturation?

that sounds dope, those boxes are pretty good huh? i guess people that get theirs modded are really happy with the sounds. it would be cool to get one for what your doing.
i think running a sample through it might be pretty fun too.

It's a decent unit. I'm mainly using it for light saturation/tone (just to add a bit of warmth to the overall outputs). But you can crank that thing, especially good for adding harmonics to bass and synth lines. Recording through tube amps is mostly associated with guitar but it can add some life to a ton of other sound sources and instruments.

Different tubes add different coloration. There's a whole subculture dedicated to the intricacies of that: