have you soaker hose guys taken a piece of soaker hose, plugged one end, and blown thru it? It is amazing the amoung of psi needed. True diffusers have much less back pressure. It is easier on the compressor, allows greater flexibility of depth placement, and you can push more diffusers per compressor. This is just common sense info, but I would like to hear from someone who has tried it for more than a year to see what actually happens. We use a demo of a soaker tube and the Mix Air tube and have people blow thru them. I think I heard that you need 40 psi to go thru the soaker hose, but this seems high. I do believe that you would get a small bubble though, which is what you're after.
Robert B