[phcorrigan]

The interesting thing about an acoustic guitar is that, unamplified, it will sound slightly different depending on where the listener is positioned. All attempts at amplification are trying to get the "best" sound possible, and this is a subjective standard. Getting good sound from an acoustic guitar in a performance venue depends on so many variables, and pickups were added to try to eliminate the variables that make mic'ing guitars a hit-or-miss task. They have done that, but at the cost of losing some of the acoustic character and adding some of the characteristics of the pickup itself. IR devices, such as the ToneDexter, attempt to restore some of the lost acoustic character while eliminating the undesirable character induced by the pickup itself. IMO, the result is never perfect, but for me it is as close to the sound of a properly mic'ed guitar as possible without using a microphone.

Those of us who use a ToneDexter are always looking for the Holy Grail of a "perfect wave map," which we will likely never attain. At some point we have to say "close enough," until something better comes along.