Nu-X Optima Air - Review

[Akousticplyr]

Originally Posted by Marty C

I found it on Reverb. It was sold by a company called “The Pedal Guy” in California. It was $149.00 with free shipping and I think about $10 for California tax. Good price for all it does. https://reverb.com/item/34903208-nux...er-pedal-nai-5

Thanks- just picked one up!

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by Marty C

IR volume - Yes
Loud with preamp gain- yes, very loud.

Thanks, I might give it a try...

[Willie_D]

I'm dying for some audio-visual reviews on the Optima Air.

[Akousticplyr]

Got mine a few days ago —so far I think it has promise and I might be happy with it- just need to really deep dive and explore as well as run it through my live PA rig to see if it stays on the pedalboard. It would replace a Radial Acoustic DI.

Upgraded firmware and downloaded their separate desktop app. I did have an issue connecting to my PC so I unplugged, rebooted the pedal and PC and plugged in. Still nothing so unplugged , meddled with all the program settings...including the MIDI setting in the program (couldn’t hurt) and when I reconnected it worked. No issues connecting since then.

The stock IR’s that came with the pedal itself are all over the map in usability, but some did a nice job of making a quacking piezo sound MUCH more natural. In fact it made me crack a smile and say ‘wow’ lol

I think many players will just use the stock IR’s as starting points to fiddle and edit or more likely delete them and load their own. But you never know - you might find one that works for your rig. Haven’t had time to IR capture any of my guitars yet, I’m looking to do it this weekend.

It is really 2 pedals. An IR capture and blending pedal as well as a DI that can be eq’d venue to venue.

I’ll try to update as I gather more impressions. I’m keen to compare IR’s on the same guitar made with the pedal vs. with Cuki’s generator (thanks for that!)

[Marty C]

Originally Posted by Akousticplyr

Got mine a few days ago —so far I think it has promise and I might be happy with it- just need to really deep dive and explore as well as run it through my live PA rig to see if it stays on the pedalboard. It would replace a Radial Acoustic DI.

Upgraded firmware and downloaded their separate desktop app. I did have an issue connecting to my PC so I unplugged, rebooted the pedal and PC and plugged in. Still nothing so unplugged , meddled with all the program settings...including the MIDI setting in the program (couldn’t hurt) and when I reconnected it worked. No issues connecting since then.

The stock IR’s that came with the pedal itself are all over the map in usability, but some did a nice job of making a quacking piezo sound MUCH more natural. In fact it made me crack a smile and say ‘wow’ lol

I think many players will just use the stock IR’s as starting points to fiddle and edit or more likely delete them and load their own. But you never know - you might find one that works for your rig. Haven’t had time to IR capture any of my guitars yet, I’m looking to do it this weekend.

It is really 2 pedals. An IR capture and blending pedal as well as a DI that can be eq’d venue to venue.

I’ll try to update as I gather more impressions. I’m keen to compare IR’s on the same guitar made with the pedal vs. with Cuki’s generator (thanks for that!)

Thanks for taking this step with me. Looking forward to share experiences. I had a similar issue getting it to connect to my pc as well. Like you said, once connected, I had no issues.

I found one of the stock files from Cuki’s webpage that worked really well with my Taylor with ES2. Since I downloaded a bunch and made several of my own, my next step is to clean up the memory, change some strings on my Martin and start to work on it. I have it loaded with several that are not usable. With the ES2, it doesn’t take much IR level to get a good sound. Just enough to take the harshness out of the high end.

There are a few things that I noticed that could be improved in a firmware update.
1. On the pedal, it doesn’t seem to save the IR blend level. Maybe I am wrong, but it doesn’t seem to. The reverb seems to function independently as well.
2. When using the manual mode, you can turn off the IR or the preamp or both. It in preset mode, you cannot.
3. If you want to change a preset in the manual mode and save it, it will be saved in the preset mode. Both good and bad. The good - it gives you two banks of presets to work with. The bad - you need to bounce back in the manual mode to access the stock presets.

Overall, I am liking mine and can’t wait to learn more. I need to get my hands on some additional mics. I only have vocal mics and a few cheap condensers. I am not that fond of my own IR that I generated. I don’t have that much experience with recording acoustic guitar so I am learning about mics, mic placement and proper gain settings to capture the best IR.

More to learn l but it’s really a fun process.

[Marty C]

Originally Posted by Marty C

IR volume - Yes
Loud with preamp gain- yes, very loud.

Cuki,
After further review, I don’t think this IR volume in the software is a blend adjustment. I think it is an adjustment in the volume of the IR in the wav file. Then when you download this to the pedal, the overall output can vary greatly between presets. Turning the gain in the Pedal will help to lower/raise the overall output, but it will also lower/raise the preamps adjustments. There seems to be a big difference in adjusting this software IR volume level as compared to the blend knob on the pedal. Kind of like the gain versus volume on my Yamaha mixer. It seems this builds/reduces gain in the IR wav file.

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by Marty C

Cuki,
After further review, I don’t think this IR volume in the software is a blend adjustment. I think it is an adjustment in the volume of the IR in the wav file. Then when you download this to the pedal, the overall output can vary greatly between presets. Turning the gain in the Pedal will help to lower/raise the overall output, but it will also lower/raise the preamps adjustments. There seems to be a big difference in adjusting this software IR volume level as compared to the blend knob on the pedal. Kind of like the gain versus volume on my Yamaha mixer. It seems this builds/reduces gain in the IR wav file.

I got it, it's to even the volume between IRs. Thanks for your feedback.

[rb1591]

Marty C. or anyone,

Have you used – and hopefully gigged with – the Optima Air enough to come to conclusions yet? At $149 it's got to be a good deal, but how good? Looking forward to hearing summary comments when possible.

[Akousticplyr]

Earlier this evening I finished generating IR's for six different acoustics. Two Taylors, one Lowden, one GS Mini, and two Martins -with a variety of pickups including the ES2, Fishman Prefix to JJB 330 and everything in between.

I have to say- it does a VERY impressive job making a quack piezo sound like a natural acoustic tone using studio headphones. However, it's clear to me that there will need to be EQ and gain adjustments from PA to PA and venue to venue once you get there and soundcheck. Nothing earth shattering, just keep in mind that a guitar with an IR suffers from the same sound level and feedback issues any other guitar rigs face.

1-The good news is it will be an easy task. Think of each preset as having two halves (hence the two footswitches). One is for the IR, the other for the preamp/DI.

2-I generated the 6 IR's and then tweaked them with individual preamp EQ / gain settings on studio headphones using the software and my main gigging guitar- volume set at gig level and EQ set neutral (ES2 Taylor). I saved them as six separate presets (IR plus preamp eq'd and dialed in for that IR) so my main guitar could "sound" like 6 different guitars. It's a good baseline for when you start soundchecking live. In this "preset" mode, the footswitches are simply left and right preset channel selectors and the display shows the preset name.

3-The IR can be turned on and off separately from the preamp and vice versa. This can be done in "manual mode" by pushing both footswitches at the same time. The display now shows the IR name. You have basically allowed the pedal to decouple the IR and the preamp. So if you aren't happy with your IR sound live, you can kick off the IR side & just use the pedal as a standard preamp/DI. If you want to hear pure IR without any of the 'color' the preamp eq adds, you can turn off the preamp side. I suppose if you turn off both it's just your guitar passing right through, but then what's the point of having the pedal?

4-In either preset or manual mode, when you start adjusting knobs on the pedal (bass, treble, gain etc) the preset name / IR name shows a * denoting it's being edited. Adjust to your heart's content for that soundcheck and either save it via a knob push, or restore to your original preset simply by cycling to a different preset and back. Also, if you are editing a preset, you can push the IR footswitch to exit without saving. The pedal then ignores the physical positions of the bass, treble, gain etc knobs and reverts to what was stored until you move one of the knobs again. Then the * cycle repeats.

5-As stated earlier, you can't adjust the "IR volume" unless you are editing the .wav via the software on your computer. Not a big deal, as it's really for smoothing the initlal wet/dry mix i.e. getting rid of the hiss that sometimes gets generated with an IR as you integrate it with your signal. I'm fairly certain that once you've set this IR volume via software, you won't need to mess with it anymore anyway.

6-Then, you can adjust the IR blend of your wet/dry (IR/guitar pickup) using the physical IR LEVEL knob anytime you want. And you still can control your physical gain knob too. Hope this makes sense.

I like it. I think it may stay on the pedalboard but first I need to setup my PA system and really ring it out. I also need to try Cuki's generator and compare the differences.

[Marty C]

Originally Posted by Akousticplyr

Earlier this evening I finished generating IR's for six different acoustics. Two Taylors, one Lowden, one GS Mini, and two Martins -with a variety of pickups including the ES2, Fishman Prefix to JJB 330 and everything in between.

I have to say- it does a VERY impressive job making a quack piezo sound like a natural acoustic tone using studio headphones. However, it's clear to me that there will need to be EQ and gain adjustments from PA to PA and venue to venue once you get there and soundcheck. Nothing earth shattering, just keep in mind that a guitar with an IR suffers from the same sound level and feedback issues any other guitar rigs face.

1-The good news is it will be an easy task. Think of each preset as having two halves (hence the two footswitches). One is for the IR, the other for the preamp/DI.

2-I generated the 6 IR's and then tweaked them with individual preamp EQ / gain settings on studio headphones using the software and my main gigging guitar- volume set at gig level and EQ set neutral (ES2 Taylor). I saved them as six separate presets (IR plus preamp eq'd and dialed in for that IR) so my main guitar could "sound" like 6 different guitars. It's a good baseline for when you start soundchecking live. In this "preset" mode, the footswitches are simply left and right preset channel selectors and the display shows the preset name.

3-The IR can be turned on and off separately from the preamp and vice versa. This can be done in "manual mode" by pushing both footswitches at the same time. The display now shows the IR name. You have basically allowed the pedal to decouple the IR and the preamp. So if you aren't happy with your IR sound live, you can kick off the IR side & just use the pedal as a standard preamp/DI. If you want to hear pure IR without any of the 'color' the preamp eq adds, you can turn off the preamp side. I suppose if you turn off both it's just your guitar passing right through, but then what's the point of having the pedal?

4-In either preset or manual mode, when you start adjusting knobs on the pedal (bass, treble, gain etc) the preset name / IR name shows a * denoting it's being edited. Adjust to your heart's content for that soundcheck and either save it via a knob push, or restore to your original preset simply by cycling to a different preset and back. Also, if you are editing a preset, you can push the IR footswitch to exit without saving. The pedal then ignores the physical positions of the bass, treble, gain etc knobs and reverts to what was stored until you move one of the knobs again. Then the * cycle repeats.

5-As stated earlier, you can't adjust the "IR volume" unless you are editing the .wav via the software on your computer. Not a big deal, as it's really for smoothing the initlal wet/dry mix i.e. getting rid of the hiss that sometimes gets generated with an IR as you integrate it with your signal. I'm fairly certain that once you've set this IR volume via software, you won't need to mess with it anymore anyway.

6-Then, you can adjust the IR blend of your wet/dry (IR/guitar pickup) using the physical IR LEVEL knob anytime you want. And you still can control your physical gain knob too. Hope this makes sense.

I like it. I think it may stay on the pedalboard but first I need to setup my PA system and really ring it out. I also need to try Cuki's generator and compare the differences.

Thanks for this great information. Could you share what mic you used to capture this and also what you used as a preamp?

[Akousticplyr]

Originally Posted by Marty C

Thanks for this great information. Could you share what mic you used to capture this and also what you used as a preamp?

Sure thing. Used an inexpensive AKG Perception 220 with a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 interface that has phantom power.

Mic to Scarlett with phantom power on - 1/4 line from left output (it's mono anyway) to pedal "RETURN" as per NU-X instructions.

I think the key is adjusting the levels on the preamp properly:
1) set the gain on the 2i2 so the signal doesn't clip
2) set the master volume out of the 2i2 so that the pedal in line level shows about 60-80% peak when you play (as per NU-X)
3) set the guitar line in volume to match the above line level.

[Marty C]

Originally Posted by Akousticplyr

Sure thing. Used an inexpensive AKG Perception 220 with a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 interface that has phantom power.

Mic to Scarlett with phantom power on - 1/4 line from left output (it's mono anyway) to pedal "RETURN" as per NU-X instructions.

I think the key is adjusting the levels on the preamp properly:
1) set the gain on the 2i2 so the signal doesn't clip
2) set the master volume out of the 2i2 so that the pedal in line level shows about 60-80% peak when you play (as per NU-X)
3) set the guitar line in volume to match the above line level.

Thank you! I have that Scarlett and didn’t think about using it. I will give this another try.