RO4404 Triode Vacuum Tube

Triode4V / 0.65A4-pin EuropeanSPICE
SourceRVF Roehrentaschenbuch M1 1947 / TeKaDe 4K60 card; Visseaux equivalence table (RO 4404 = P 460)Reviewed2026-05-17StatusDataModelCalcModelKoren v1PDF

High-power directly-heated triode for single-ended amplification

Datasheet ↗SPICE
3.45
1.4kΩ
2.5mA/V
5.2pF
7.0pF
5.70pF
GAIN3%
POWER25%
DRIVE99%
LINEARITY95%
SPECIFICATIONS
Heater4 V · 0.65 A
Max Plate Voltage250 V
Pa max10 W
Gain Factor3.45
gm2.5 mA/V
rp1.4 kΩ
Inter-electrode capacitances
Cgk5.2 pF
Cgp7 pF
Cpk5.7 pF
Pinout4-pin European
Era1930
RarityRare
HEATER4V / 0.65A
MAX PLATE250V / 10W
BASEb4-eu
Manufacturer datasheets (PDF downloads)
PDF

Visseaux / Televisso

Visseaux maker equivalence table · 1 pp · FR

PRIMARY source documenting RO 4404 = P 460. Single row from the Visseaux equivalence table printed by the maker; promotes RO4404 from third-party-table inference to the strict D404 / RE604 / P460 / 4K60 / LK460 core.

PDF

TeKaDe (RVF Roehrentaschenbuch M1, 1947)

RVF Roehrentaschenbuch, Band M1, 1947 · 1 pp · DE

CALCULATOR DEFAULT. Single cleanest operating point in the whole family: 250 V / −45 V / 40 mA, S = 2.5 mA/V, D = 29 % → μ = 3.45, Ri = 1.4 kΩ. Maker-printed equivalences on the card: D404 / RE604 / P460 / LK460.

PDF

Philips / Miniwatt (A40 base)

Philips / Miniwatt D404 sheet 13/6/33 · 1 pp · FR · EN

Two-anchor bias table: 250 V / −40 V = 40 mA and 200 V / −30 V = 30 mA. μ = 3.5, S_max = 3.5 mA/V, S_norm = 2.7 mA/V, Ri_norm = 1.3 kΩ. Capacitances Cag 7 pF / Cak 5.7 pF / Cgk 5.2 pF. Soft grid-current onset near Vg = −2 V. Pa max 10 W, VaL max 250 V, Va0 max 500 V, Ik max 60–65 mA, Wo = 1.7 W @ Vg_eff 27 V into 3.5 kΩ.

PDF

Telefunken

Telefunken RE604 maker sheet · 1 pp · DE

Maker bias table 100 V / −6 V, 150 V / −15 V, 200 V / −25 V. μ = 3.5, S ~ 3.5 mA/V, D ~ 27 %. Va max 200 V, Pa max 12 W. Note: Telefunken allows 12 W; AmperaTubes applies the 10 W conservative ceiling family-wide.

PDF

Tungsram (Hongrie)

Tungsram Memento, 1937 (160 p.) · 160 pp · FR · HU

Highest-value next acquisition. Now that the Visseaux table fixes RO4404 = P460, the Tungsram P460 entry in this Memento is the missing fourth independent maker anchor — would enable a RO4404_TUNGSRAM_P460_1937 SPICE variant. OCR of the P460 operating point still pending.

Datasheet limits (full)
Va max
250 V
Pa max
10 W
Ik max
65 mA
Rg max
1 MΩ
Va max 250 V (TeKaDe 4K60 / RVF 1947). Pa max 10 W is the AmperaTubes conservative family ceiling, applied across all three variants even though the Telefunken RE604 sheet permits 12 W. Philips D404 publishes Va0 max 500 V, VaL max 250 V, Ik max 60–65 mA. Direct-heated 4 V / 0.65 A filament — no heater-to-cathode insulation limits (the filament IS the cathode). Never exceed 10 W plate dissipation in routine work.
Datasheet operating points
Class A · single triode output
Va250 V
Ia40 mA
Vg-45 V
Ra3.5 kΩ
Vi27 Vrms
Wo1700 mW
dtot5 %
RVF Roehrentaschenbuch M1 1947 / TeKaDe 4K60 card (Rk 1.1 kΩ, Ra 3.5 kΩ, N = 1.7 W)
SPICE variants per manufacturer
Each card below is a named subcircuit inside the downloadable .subckt file. Same physical tube, different manufacturer / measurement convention. The Ampera loadline calculator uses the Philips/1953 family; copy the Koren line from any card into your own simulator to bias the engine the same way.
RO4404_PHILIPS_D404_1933
Philips / Miniwatt D404 (1933)
Va250 V
Vg-40 V
Ia40 mA
μ3.5
gm2.49 mA/V
rp1.406 kΩ
Cag7 pF
Koren fit
MU=3.5 EX=1.95 KG1=20717.27 KP=369.37 KVB=15 VCT=0
Use for Philips / Miniwatt-branded netlists and the soft Class A2 grid-current onset near Vg = −2 V documented on the D404 13/6/33 sheet.
RO4404_TELEFUNKEN_RE604
Telefunken RE604
Va200 V
Vg-25 V
Ia30 mA
μ3.5
gm2.31 mA/V
rp1.518 kΩ
Cag7 pF
Koren fit
MU=3.5 EX=1.95 KG1=22847.01 KP=212.61 KVB=15 VCT=0
Use for Telefunken / German RE604 publication. Telefunken sheet allows Pa max 12 W; AmperaTubes still applies the conservative 10 W family ceiling for sale/test.
RO4404_TEKADE_4K60_1947
TeKaDe 4K60 / RVF 1947 (calculator default)
Va250 V
Vg-45 V
Ia40 mA
μ3.45
gm2.46 mA/V
rp1.404 kΩ
Cag7 pF
Koren fit
MU=3.45 EX=1.6893 KG1=6758.86 KP=400 KVB=15 VCT=0
Default for the AmperaTubes load-line calculator and the RO4404 / RO4404_602 wrapper aliases. Carries the single most explicit and internally consistent operating point in the family. Maker-printed equivalences on the same card: D404 / RE604 / P460 / LK460.
Transfer curve comparison

Ia vs Vg at Va = 250 V — each manufacturer Koren fit overlaid. The de-rated French families (μ=30) read lower than the Philips/1966 high-gm family (μ=32) at the same grid voltage.

051015-10-8-6-4-20Vg (V)Ia (mA)
Philips / Miniwatt D404 (1933)Telefunken RE604TeKaDe 4K60 / RVF 1947 (calculator default)
4 Koren fits
TYPICAL OPERATING POINT
Va225V
Ia33.74mA
Vg-48.717927499999995V
Pd7.59W
RL3kΩ
Av8.3dB
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The RO4404 is the Visseaux / Televisso branding of the strict pre-war European 4 V directly heated low-power output triode (c. 1930), a confirmed sibling of the Philips-Miniwatt D404 / Telefunken RE604 / Tungsram P460 / TeKaDe 4K60 / Valvo LK460 family on the European 4-pin B4 base. RO4404 = P460 is documented by the Visseaux maker equivalence table itself — promoting RO4404 from third-party-table inference into the strict equivalence core. Three primary-source manufacturer datasheets agree on the same physical tube under different measurement conventions: TeKaDe 4K60 (RVF Roehrentaschenbuch M1, 1947) carries the single cleanest operating point in the whole family at Va = 250 V, Vg = −45 V, Ia = 40 mA, S = 2.5 mA/V, Ri = 1.4 kΩ, D = 29 % → μ = 3.45 (Ampera load-line calculator default); Philips / Miniwatt D404 (13/6/33) gives μ = 3.5, gm_norm = 2.7 mA/V, Ri_norm = 1.3 kΩ with a two-anchor table 250 V/−40 V = 40 mA and 200 V/−30 V = 30 mA; Telefunken RE604 publishes μ = 3.5, S ~ 3.5 mA/V at the same physical envelope. Single-ended Class A output at 250 V / 40 mA delivers about 1.7 W into 3.5 kΩ. SPICE status: model not bench-verified — fits are anchored on the well-documented D404 / RE604 / 4K60 maker data, and the pre-war wide-spaced geometry pushes the Koren EX exponent high (Philips / TFK variants at EX ≈ 1.95), so the model is accurate at and around the published operating points but should not be trusted for fine prediction far outside them or for Class A2 grid-current behaviour. The Visseaux 602 is treated as a probable mechanical / construction sibling (operator note: same construction and same plate as the RO4404), exposed in the SPICE deck as the provisional RO4404_602 alias pending a confirmed 602 datasheet. The E406 is NOT an equivalent (4 V / 1 A heater, μ ~ 6) and must never be swapped in via PX4-style adapters. Plate-dissipation ceiling held to the conservative 10 W family figure even though the Telefunken RE604 sheet permits 12 W.

APPLICATIONS
SET outputPush-pull outputHeadphone output
Generic triode power (se) stage
Hi-Fi stereo Headphone amp
HISTORY
Introduced1930ManufacturerVisseaux·Televisso
Pre-War
METRIX TESTER

Test this tube on a Metrix