Usually, 'warm' simply is a frequency balance thing, where ~500 hz and down is relatively greater than the rest of the audible band.

I think the low midrange bump is a part of warm, but think of it as the "dark" part, dark being a sound that is not "bright." To me warm requires a warm/pleasing "feeling." It has mellow/smooth/darkish tendencies, but also the pleasing qualities that make me appreciate the enhancement of "transparency" the "warmth" offers. This typically brings a "tubey" sound...a bit bigger and more atmospheric sense than pure transparency offers, but it feels transparent having a good balance of darkish with space and detail....setting up a "feeling" of very pleasing interaction with the music in this room....each aspect of euphonic effect working in concert to feel better than pure transparency.

This is tricky by my tastes. It needs to sound real. So too far a segue from transparent is unnerving, not sounding real. If the euphonic effect goes even slightly into "syrupy" or becomes too "sweet" (or even worse for me, too dark) it feels false to me, and even if the feeling is on some subconscious level, it feels wrong. This is the real test to me. Do I just feel comfortable with the way the sound is enhanced, and if so, I am good. It makes the music in the room feel sort of "warm," perhaps a bit sweeter, more natural, definitely more atmospheric, and more.... without any sense of falseness! In my tube, level and room adjustments, I like to go for "transparent" and then enhance it just enough with atmospheric warmth.

Dark could be upset by a sense of reduction of detail. Whereas warmth requires that very pleasing spacial atmosphere that tubes can bring including all the good things we love about great musical presentation....detail, micro and macro without hardness, macro and micro dynamics, smoothness, a real feeling soundstage including near and far ambient cues around the players and room....and so on.....some might say this contributes to a sense of "analog," but at this point in my sound, I would just leave out the habit of digital versus analog transition and simply say it sounds more musical and real.

I think warmth potential is huge in the well executed tube amp, and that it is part of the "magic" of Decware...it utilizes the harmonic richness that playing music cleanly through tubes can offer, in the end, giving us a good chance to be seduced by total musical engagement in our own rooms.

I agree. a great post by will.

When I think of "warm" I think of the neck pickup of my favorite guitars, and the sound of classic vintage tube amps. . . which are "warm" to excess to my current ears, but which I loved as a kid and young adult.

I need the "dark" component myself in my current room, but as has been said it's a dark coupled with an aliveness that makes the right "warm."

The cool thing about Steve's stuff, is you can make each component go warm to neutral to cool depending on setup and tubes. The baselines are all close to neutral...perhaps a little warmer....but easily adjustable.