NuX Optima Air Demo and Observations

[guitaniac]

Oops. The link is no longer working for me so I'll
update with my latest results as of Jan. 16, 2022. I finally got a good user IR and EQed this one with a Zoom A1 Four. (Albeit, one can do a fairly decent job with the Otima Air's onboard EQ.)
Listen to NuX Optima Air User Created IR Test by guitaniac on #SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/xQdWN

I've been playing around with the Optima Air for a few days now. For my taste at least, its quite possible to get pleasing tones from the Optima Air by itself (no external EQ needed) using the factory installed IRs.

The big surprise has been the sheer amount of EQ needed to get a pleasing sound from any of the stock IRs. Perhaps the UST in my guitar is dramatically different from the USTs in the various guitars used the create the stock IRs. In any event, it took much less EQ manipulation to get the most pleasing tone from the dry UST signal. Go figure.

To sum it up, its now my opinion that a lot of EQ experimentation may be necessary to get the best from this box. I even needed plenty of EQ on my user created IR, but that may well be because of poor mic placement. I've yet to experiment with mic placement much, as I've been sidetracked playing with the stock IRs. They don't necessarily sound like the guitars being modeled, but several of them sound pleasing to me.

[jonfields45]

Send me a few recordings and lets see what I can do!

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by jonfields45

Send me a few recordings and lets see what I can do!

I doubt that I have the technology for it. I uploaded these from a Zoom H4 into Audacity to process. My computer still has Windows 7 on it.

For better or worse, my best playing guitar (a cheap Samick OM) has a pretty bland sound. That's why I'm interested in modeling. My next project will be making sound clips of all the Optima Air's piezo IRs to compare them. I have no doubt that will be quite the EQ "adventure".

After I've completed the IR comparison project, I'll try to figure out if I have the proper gear and software to get you the necessary guitar pickup and mic recordings, get those files to you and get the resulting IRs into the Optima Air. It would be great to have some good IRs for my Anthem SL-equipped cedar/mahogany OM. (I doubt the Anthem SL-equipped guitar would be compatible with the Optima Air's stock IRs, although I'll surely get around to attempting to get a good user IR for it with the Optima Air.)

[jonfields45]

The H4 should be perfect. Use it's external input for the left channel to input your guitar's pickup and its mic(s) for the right. 60 seconds of open position strumming is all I need. WAV file prefered.

Or use any handy mic, even a vocal mic, and use the external input left for the guitar pickup and external input right for the mic. Set the Zoom recording level for the mic and then adjust the guitar's volume to match it.

Try 8" and 16" from the soundhole for the mic and send me two samples.

You're going to find my IRs much easier to tame. Here is an example where I did nothing but record, create the IR, and demo. No EQ of the mic, no fussy mic placement (if you listen carefully the mic is too close to the guitar and kind of boomy). I will send a sampling of IRs with the IR/Pickup mix built-in. Generally the 75/25 IR is the favorite. This will make up for the Nux's lack of a straight forward IR/Pickup blend control (so I'm told...it does not have one).

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=634568

[guitaniac]

Jon,

It’s true that the Optima Air has no blend control. So far I haven’t found that any of the stock IRs have sounded too wet. The J15 IR is especially dry sounding. (I recall favoring Mama Bear’s J45 target guitar for the same reason.) Albeit, I’ve yet to hear the IR processed signal echoing back at me from the back wall of a big room. That might cause me to switch off the IR completely.

[Petty1818]

From the comparisions I have heard online, the Optima Air always seems to have the most pleasing IR tones. I just wish it had a proper blend control.

[Joe.Manganese]

people here claiming that there is no blend control. there is IR level knob, right?
my optima air was blending ir with dry signal with that knob.
am i missing the point?

[Joe.Manganese]

Originally Posted by guitaniac

https://soundcloud.com/guitaniac/tes...social_sharing

I've been playing around with the Optima Air for a few days now. For my taste at least, its quite possible to get pleasing tones from the Optima Air by itself (no external EQ needed) using the factory installed IRs.

The big surprise has been the sheer amount of EQ needed to get a pleasing sound from any of the stock IRs. Perhaps the UST in my guitar is dramatically different from the USTs in the various guitars used the create the stock IRs. In any event, it took much less EQ manipulation to get the most pleasing tone from the dry UST signal. Go figure.

To sum it up, its now my opinion that a lot of EQ experimentation may be necessary to get the best from this box. I even needed plenty of EQ on my user created IR, but that may well be because of poor mic placement. I've yet to experiment with mic placement much, as I've been sidetracked playing with the stock IRs. They don't necessarily sound like the guitars being modeled, but several of them sound pleasing to me.

A martin om28 IR will not make your guitar sound like a Martin.
I am astonished people still think it works like that.
The Martin OM28 ( as an example) is intended to be used by martin om28 guitars to reproduce their sound while being miked.

[jonfields45]

Originally Posted by guitaniac

Jon,

It’s true that the Optima Air has no blend control. So far I haven’t found that any of the stock IRs have sounded too wet. The J15 IR is especially dry sounding. (I recall favoring Mama Bear’s J45 target guitar for the same reason.) Albeit, I’ve yet to hear the IR processed signal echoing back at me from the back wall of a big room. That might cause me to switch off the IR completely.

If you need a lot of EQ to be happy with an IR, then something could be much better. I suggest you make some IRs yourself with Nux's software or use one of the free custom IRs offered on the AGF.

Generally in live performance a blend control is useful when a live room makes what sounded great in a living room too much. That is one of the reasons I now generate 50/50, 60/40, 75/25, and 100% IRs. Cabinet IR pedals typically have no blend controls (not generally needed for measured IRs).

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by Joe.Manganese

people here claiming that there is no blend control. there is IR level knob, right?
my optima air was blending ir with dry signal with that knob.
am i missing the point?

The IR level control is a volume control, not a blend control. I reached out to the NUX to confirm this. They told me it’s just a level control.

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by Joe.Manganese

A martin om28 IR will not make your guitar sound like a Martin.
I am astonished people still think it works like that.
The Martin OM28 ( as an example) is intended to be used by martin om28 guitars to reproduce their sound while being miked.

I once owned a OO-sized Cort with an onboard Aura system. The model specific Aura sound images in that guitar worked well enough, but it sounded much better to me when I turned off the onboard Aura and ran the dry UST signal through an Aura Spectrum preamp which was set on OM sound image #4. I couldn't tell you specifically if it was a Martin OM28 (although I eventually learned it was), but it definitely made my little Cort sound like a bigger guitar and it definitely yielded a more pleasing amplified tone than the Cort's model specific sound images.

The conventional wisdom is that an IR will work best with the same guitar/pickup rig which was used to create it. That doesn't mean that an IR can't be useful when used with certain other guitar/pickup rigs. Fender's Acoustasonic series of guitars is a prime example of that.

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by jonfields45

If you need a lot of EQ to be happy with an IR, then something could be much better. I suggest you make some IRs yourself with Nux's software or use one of the free custom IRs offered on the AGF.

Generally in live performance a blend control is useful when a live room makes what sounded great in a living room too much. That is one of the reasons I now generate 50/50, 60/40, 75/25, and 100% IRs. Cabinet IR pedals typically have no blend controls (not generally needed for measured IRs).

Jon,

Yesterday I experimented with all five of the Optima Air's stock piezo IRs. It surprised me that the Gibson Hummingbird, the Gibson J15 and the Martin D45 all favored nearly the same EQ settings. (bass - 10:30, mid - 10, treble - 11:30)

I'll eventually get around to making more of my own IRs with the Optima Air and sending you recordings for an IR or two, although I'm clueless as to how I'd get your IRs into the Optima Air.

Could your IR creation system handle the Anthem SL pickup system, or should I stick with recording the UST-equipped guitar?

[guitaniac]

Here are some recording samples from yesterday. I was using the Optima Air preamp's EQ. No reverb was added. The order of the samples is dry UST, Gibson Hummingbird piezo IR, Gibson J15 piezo IR and Martin D45 piezo IR.

Listen to Test: Nux Optima Air IRs vs dry pickup signal by guitaniac on #SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/ugxFg

[Chriscom]

Originally Posted by guitaniac

I once owned a OO-sized Cort with an onboard Aura system. The model specific Aura sound images in that guitar worked well enough, but it sounded much better to me when I turned off the onboard Aura and ran the dry UST signal through an Aura Spectrum preamp which was set on OM sound image #4.... The conventional wisdom is that an IR will work best with the same guitar/pickup rig which was used to create it. That doesn't mean that an IR can't be useful when used with certain other guitar guitar/pickup rigs. Fender's Acoustasonic series of guitars is a prime example of that.

Past threads with detailed discussion of the Fishman Aura Spectrum pedal included more than a few AGF'ers--possibly including you!--who found pleasing sounds by selecting IRs made for other guitars. Why that's so is over my head and into Jon Fields/Cuki territory.

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by Chriscom

Past threads with detailed discussion of the Fishman Aura Spectrum pedal included more than a few AGF'ers--possibly including you!--who found pleasing sounds by selecting IRs made for other guitars. Why that's so is over my head and into Jon Fields/Cuki territory.

Definitely! One of the best live tones I ever had was with a Jumbo image on the Aura paired with my Taylor dreadnought. On paper those guitars are not similar at all, but it worked well.