NUX Optima Air Users

[anonyrat]

Hey Marty thanks for the reply and as it turns out you did misunderstand probably because I didn't explain it very well.
Yes you can save to the pedal and that is good.
Yes you can save your IR's to a PC that is good
but
A preset (1-9) is a combination of IR and pre-amp settings.
This is what I cannot save to the PC as a back-up.

So as an example say I have 9 presets for Taylor, Fender, Gresch, U-bass, banjolele, and 4 different uke's. The presets are working well. Then the pedal goes bung and has to be replaced. I can get the IR's from my PC but not the Presets as a whole.

When you select a new preset on the NUX the knobs all change in the software so it should be easy for NUX to save a whole preset.

Been playing with it for hours today and noticed a few odd things. One is I created presets on the NUX via the editor on one computer. Then went down to the studio and when it was plugged in and the presets brought up in the editor on another computer, different preset names - strange fruit...

[erniecaster]

Hi Folks,

one maybe stupid idea:

I like WYSIWYG and stompboxes where one knob does one thing. I don´t even like to have presets. All I need is one sound in two different volumes. And I am not too much into IRs as well because my guitar sounds wonderful through the pickup.

My idea is to make a preset with a special IR - it should do exactly nothing. Then I could dial in the amount of reverb I need, use the preamp for tone-shaping and via engaging the IR, I could get the right amount of volume boost with the IR level control.

My idea to make a "IR that does nothing" is to split the signal of my pickup and pretend that it´s the mic as well.

Or does it already work with the empty IR-spaces?

I won´t find the time to check it out until the weekend.

What do you think?

cu

erniecaster

[jonfields45]

An IR that does nothing (bypass IR):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hzS...ew?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/11ee...ew?usp=sharing

[erniecaster]

Thank you very much!

[anonyrat]

Originally Posted by erniecaster

Hi Folks,

one maybe stupid idea:

I like WYSIWYG and stompboxes where one knob does one thing. I don´t even like to have presets. All I need is one sound in two different volumes. And I am not too much into IRs as well because my guitar sounds wonderful through the pickup.

My idea is to make a preset with a special IR - it should do exactly nothing. Then I could dial in the amount of reverb I need, use the preamp for tone-shaping and via engaging the IR, I could get the right amount of volume boost with the IR level control.

My idea to make a "IR that does nothing" is to split the signal of my pickup and pretend that it´s the mic as well.

Or does it already work with the empty IR-spaces?

I won´t find the time to check it out until the weekend.

What do you think?

cu

erniecaster

Erniecaster,
You can have a preset with or without an IR. I have done something similar but with the IR.
To set up, create your preset in the editor on a computer with the pre amp knobs set how you want them. Save the preset and name it eg NORMAL to position/slot one. In the editor scroll down the preset list and select MANUAL . Turn up the gain knob by the amount you want then hit the save icon it will ask you which slot you want to save it to - pick the one below the NORMAL one. Then go back into that preset in preset mode and rename it to BOOST. Now on the pedal in preset mode pressing the up /down footswitches allows you to alternate between NORMAL and BOOST.

[erniecaster]

Hi,

I knew the way you showed me.

But that doesn´t really work im my world. Just imagine that I need more boost. Okay, turn up GAIN and store it. But imagine that I need less reverb - so I have to turn down and store in two presets. Same with EQ.

I am used to work with a boost-pedal. Step on it, louder. Step on it again, boost off. If I need the boost for a really short thrown in solo, I keep my foot on that one switch. KISS.

This weekend I will try to find a way and let you know.

cu

erniecaster

[erniecaster]

Hi folks,

a few hours later but only a little bit wiser...

When you are in MANUAL mode, you can chose an empty IR slot and create a neutral boost with the IR LEVEL poti. That´s nice!

I also noticed that the preamp always colors the sound, even with all EQ at noon. There is a little boominess and hollowness.

And there are a few rather bad things. I notice a popp-sound when I use the footswitches. Then I raised the volume of the preamp and the IR LEVEL up to 3 p.m. The preamp gives a noticeable amount of hiss and a loud IR LEVEL gives a little whistling.

Come on! Do you want these kind of noise during your performance? Nah.

I will keep the unit and put it into the cable case as a backup or a D.I. if somebody needs one. But I cannot recommend it.

cu

erniecaster

[DakotaCovers]

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

Is anyone using one of these and happy with it? I’m working on a review and it would be useful to hear your experiences.

Hi Aaron,
I am new to this forum and discovered this thread after I first saw your review (and some others) on You Tube. I did not know anything about IR for acoustic guitar three weeks ago. I use Strymon Irridium IR for my electric guitar. This thread was helpful.

After having the Optima Air for a couple of weeks, I really can see IR being a big thing of the future for many acoustic guitar players. I am using it with my Taylor 612ce, Taylor 714ce, Taylor GS Mini, and an Enya Nova U Ukulele. Now, you could say that the Taylor Expression System pickups are not very good. I have zero experience with other piezo pickups so I can't speak to that. All I can tell you is that I could never hear the character of each guitar very well when I plugged them in. The worst was with direct recording or in-ear monitors, especially with strumming! Tweaking EQ on my mixer, as with most piezo pickups I assume, made a big difference but I was never happy with my plugged in sound. I used the Body Rez for several months and I felt that it really helped a lot.

Then, in stepped Optima Air. In short, it makes a HUGE difference in my plugged in sound, whether amplified or recorded direct. There is lots of warmth and body and I can tell a bigger difference in tone between each of my guitars. I still have to use a liberal amount of EQ adjustment to get the tone that I want but it sounds great! It basically sounds like my guitars, only louder. Sometimes it's hard to tell if the guitar is even being amplified. My wife completely agrees as well and she does not have a very discerning ear. The sound difference it like night and day.

The Optima Air pre-amp alone, without IR, makes my guitars sound much better. The reverb is excellent as well. As noted by previous posters, the Optima Air pre-amp is very sensitive to small EQ adjustments. I have plugged this pedal into my Allen and Heath mixer and run it through my music room PA and it sounds amazing I just got a Fishman Loudbox Mini a couple of weeks prior to the Optima Air. When I got it, I felt that my guitars had never sounded better! It really is a great amp. However, yesterday I ran my Optima Air into my Loudbox Mini ( without the pre-amp of the Optima Air turned on) and it sounded so much better. Now, I will never plug my acoustic guitar in again without including the Optima Air (or some form of IR).

When I first got the unit, I felt a touch of buyer's remorse. I loaded some of the pre-loaded IRs for Martin and Gibson and they didn't sound that great. In retrospect, I think it was mostly because I was new to the pedal and I needed to tweak some settings to make it sound right.

However, I didn't buy the pedal to make my guitar sound like different guitars. I have no interest in that. I just wanted MY guitars to sound better. So, I downloaded an IR for my 714ce from the free IR website. It definitely sounded better than the pre-loaded IRs However, the magic really happened once I captured my own IRs for each of my instruments using the Optima Air, my AKG condenser mic, and my Roland Duo preamp. I have owned the mic and preamp for years now. I used three different mic placements and ended up liking the one in which I placed the mic about 12" from the cutout on the body of my guitars. I sent a signal strong enough for the mic and piezo to reach about 60% on the Optimal Air meter.

Then, the moment of truth. I plugged my guitars in and tested my new custom IRs. After a little EQ tweaking, I was finally in love with the amplified tone of my guitars! I am not sure why my custom IR that I captured was better than the free one that I downloaded but I assume that it is because I used MY OWN guitar to capture the IR. I have to say, I was really surprised at how great it sounded.

I have not had any feedback issues but I only play at my house for now. i do like the feedback mitigation options on the Tonedexter and Voiceprint.

The software for Optima Air works well on my MacBook Pro. You can tweak some things with IRs and download other IRs into the pedal. You can also save your captured IRs to your computer or the cloud as backup. For some reason, the icon for saving the preamp settings is not working and I have reported it to customer service. By the way, customer service has been pretty responsive via email. They usually reply within 24 hours. Thankfully, their rep is fluent in English so we can understand each other's emails.

For the price, the Optima Air is a homerun. For someone who is new to IR for acoustic guitar, this is a great option! If you don't already have a good mic and preamp, then the Optima Air is not as cost effective.

The Tonedexter and the LR Baggs Voiceprint look like amazing products and I won't take anything away from them. They have tons a great features that I think would be great to have. I would try the LR Baggs Voiceprint if I were to try anything else beyond the Optima Air. The Voiceprint appears to have powerful features.

This is a long post but I hope that future readers will find it to be helpful as I found it somewhat difficult to find much information on the Optima Air since it is still pretty new. Now I need to try some recordings with this. So far, I have only tried one video recording with my GS Mini but I think my other guitars will sound better than the Mini.

I'm an amateur musician who just loves to make music. I started posting on You Tube in 2020 to share music with family and friends.

———————————————————-
Taylor 714ce (V-Class Bracing)
Taylor 612ce (Andy Powers X-braced)
Taylor GS Mini
Little Martin

Taylor Solidbody Standard Electric
Enyu Nova U Uke

NuX Optima Air
TC Electronic Bodyrez
Strymon Iridium
Fishman Loudbox Mini

https://youtube.com/user/DakotaDrummer2


https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBk...PaS8EQbWON2ZQQ

[DakotaCovers]

Can't figure out how to delete this post.

[Marty C]

Originally Posted by DakotaCovers

Can't figure out how to delete this post.

Why would you want to delete it? It’s very well done.

[Cuki79]

Hi Dakotacovers,

Did you try my free app yet?

Cheers,
Cuki

[DakotaCovers]

Originally Posted by Marty C

Why would you want to delete it? It’s very well done.

Sorry, I was referring to this accidental post that was posted at 7:17 AM. Not the one prior to that. Thanks.

[DakotaCovers]

Originally Posted by Cuki79

Hi Dakotacovers,

Did you try my free app yet?

Cheers,
Cuki

I have not. Is it the one that you can create IRs with?

[Cuki79]

Yes

Here are the links:

http://acousticir.free.fr/spip.php?article169

https://github.com/kienphanhuy/Cuki-IR-generator

You need to install GNU Octave to use it.

[DakotaCovers]

Thank you for the links, Cuki. I only captured IR via the Optima Air so far because it was the easiest method to start with and I wanted to see how well the Optima Air does. Since I was so impressed, I have not gone back to capture more recordings. If I do, I would prefer to send them to you for the best possible IR sound.

1. Are you think that the IRs that you generate would sound even better than those generated by the Optima Air? Do you know the algorithm/technique that they use? Do you know what factors could possibly make their IRs sound less desirable?
2. Do you think that if I had you build IR for my 714 that it would be better with my 714 than the IR for the 714 that you already have? If so, what variables would make it sound better?
Thanks for all of your help and information! You are on the forefront of this IR wave.