Behringer VT999 tube swap: replacing the stock 12AX7 valve w/ 12AT7 & 12AU7. Is starved plate a lie?

I wanted to find out if/how changing the tube/valve in my Behringer VT999 would change the tone. A few people suggested I should do this because it could either improve tone or improve the spread of the gain over the range of the gain control (with the stock tube I found it kinda maxed out at 12 o'clock). The catch being that 'starved plate' designs like this pedal which are often considered to be a scam by purists. These designs/circuits run tubes with anode (plate) voltages that are much lower than normal. it avoids needing a conventional high-voltage power supply, but it radically alters the characteristics/behaviour of the tube. As a result it has often been said changing the tubes won't make a discernible difference to tone or gain range / drive. I wanted to find out if this was the case.
0:00 intro
4:55 how to change the tube/valve
6:33 tests
11:49 results (tone)
14:28 results (gain range)
17:01 results (noise)

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