NUX Optima Air Review/Demo - I’m Surprised!

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

From the demo Baggs posted, it does seem as though they are on to something.

I would not put all my faith in a YouTube add



When Baggs session DI came out. Lloyd said the session DI idea came from theIr YouTube videos production.

The mixing engineer added distortion and multiband EQ and the tone was open up, more warmth more dimensional, richer... (See video)

My reaction watching this was: So all the previous videos were a « lie »??!!??

Honestly the Lyric videos sounded bigger than the real thing.

I am not trash talking about L.R. Baggs. Probably all manufacturer do the same and I still think the Anthem is one of the best pickup around, but I don’t trust Baggs YouTube videos since.

Nota Bene: Baggs has one of the best Customer support in the world. They sent me tape for a second hand product all the way to France!!!

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by Cuki79

I would not put all my faith in a YouTube add



When Baggs session DI came out. Lloyd said the session DI idea came from theIr YouTube videos production.

The mixing engineer added distortion and multiband EQ and the tone was open up, more warmth more dimensional, richer... (See video)

My reaction watching this was: So all the previous videos were a « lie »??!!??

Honestly the Lyric videos sounded bigger than the real thing.

I am not trash talking about L.R. Baggs. Probably all manufacturer do the same and I still think the Anthem is one of the best pickup around, but I don’t trust Baggs YouTube videos since.

Nota Bene: Baggs has one of the best Customer support in the world. They sent me tape for a second hand product all the way to France!!!

Oh for sure, buying into a demo video from the manufacturer is never a good thing. All I am saying is that to me, it doesn’t sound like the Voiceprint makes the typical IR that I am used to hearing. It seems as though their process adds some mic like quality but still retains the beneficial aspects of the pickup itself. Mind you, I am also getting this from Lloyd’s description. The demo just helped to confirm some of his ideas.

[AeroUSA]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

Oh for sure, buying into a demo video from the manufacturer is never a good thing. All I am saying is that to me, it doesn’t sound like the Voiceprint makes the typical IR that I am used to hearing. It seems as though their process adds some mic like quality but still retains the beneficial aspects of the pickup itself. Mind you, I am also getting this from Lloyd’s description. The demo just helped to confirm some of his ideas.

What they need is a fussy, independent YouTuber to make an honest video about the Voiceprint DI... If only I could think of someone...

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

What they need is a fussy, independent YouTuber to make an honest video about the Voiceprint DI... If only I could think of someone...

Haha I am not buying one until I see your video. Have you received any word about getting a unit before they officially hit stores?

[AeroUSA]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

Haha I am not buying one until I see your video. Have you received any word about getting a unit before they officially hit stores?

You will be the first to know!

[Akousticplyr]

I just noticed some thing else peculiar about this IR pedal (perhaps all of them?) in a pedal chain.

I have a Harmony GXT after the Optima Air and have been hearing a lot of subtle or wobbly off-key vocal harmonies (that I’ve otherwise never had issues with for the past 9 years or so with this pedal.)

I’m wondering if and/or how much an IR pedal can affect the guitar signal being sent to any of the commonly used vocal harmony pedals? Or even POG/ Sub n’ Up type octave pedals? I think it might be significant.

Anyone experience something similar with their IR pedal chains?

Perhaps this is worth testing with harmony, etc pedals that use guitar signals to generate a musical key?

Or maybe the IR pedal should always be at the END of the signal chain...? That would solve the awkward XLR output placement on the left side of the pedal. Hmm. But this defeats its purpose of being a DI, no? Especially for passive pickups.

An enigma wrapped in a riddle.

[Marty C]

Originally Posted by Akousticplyr

I just noticed some thing else peculiar about this IR pedal (perhaps all of them?) in a pedal chain.

I have a Harmony GXT after the Optima Air and have been hearing a lot of subtle or wobbly off-key vocal harmonies (that I’ve otherwise never had issues with for the past 9 years or so with this pedal.)

I’m wondering if and/or how much an IR pedal can affect the guitar signal being sent to any of the commonly used vocal harmony pedals? Or even POG/ Sub n’ Up type octave pedals? I think it might be significant.

Anyone experience something similar with their IR pedal chains?

Perhaps this is worth testing with harmony, etc pedals that use guitar signals to generate a musical key?

Or maybe the IR pedal should always be at the END of the signal chain...? That would solve the awkward XLR output placement on the left side of the pedal. Hmm. But this defeats its purpose of being a DI, no? Especially for passive pickups.

An enigma wrapped in a riddle.

Doesn’t the GTX have a “guitar thru”? If so, it would work to put the Optima Air last in the chain so you get a clean guitar signal for the harmony and still be able to use the DI out of the Optima Air. You can also use the Optima reverb as well. If you had this first and also used the reverb, this could be the cause of the harmony issue .

[AeroUSA]

Originally Posted by Akousticplyr

I just noticed some thing else peculiar about this IR pedal (perhaps all of them?) in a pedal chain.

I have a Harmony GXT after the Optima Air and have been hearing a lot of subtle or wobbly off-key vocal harmonies (that I’ve otherwise never had issues with for the past 9 years or so with this pedal.)

I’m wondering if and/or how much an IR pedal can affect the guitar signal being sent to any of the commonly used vocal harmony pedals? Or even POG/ Sub n’ Up type octave pedals? I think it might be significant.

Anyone experience something similar with their IR pedal chains?

Perhaps this is worth testing with harmony, etc pedals that use guitar signals to generate a musical key?

Or maybe the IR pedal should always be at the END of the signal chain...? That would solve the awkward XLR output placement on the left side of the pedal. Hmm. But this defeats its purpose of being a DI, no? Especially for passive pickups.

An enigma wrapped in a riddle.

I never had an issue with Tone Dexter in this regard although a raw piezo may be ‘easier’ to read I don’t think so. I’ll keep an eye on it.

[Akousticplyr]

Originally Posted by Marty C

Doesn’t the GTX have a “guitar thru”? If so, it would work to put the Optima Air last in the chain so you get a clean guitar signal for the harmony and still be able to use the DI out of the Optima Air. You can also use the Optima reverb as well. If you had this first and also used the reverb, this could be the cause of the harmony issue .

Indeed it does. I was running GTR - Radial DI - Sub n Up - Harmony GXT - QSC Touchmix 8 and swapped the Optima Air for the Radial DI. I like to add/control the overall reverb for the master mix via the Touchmix exclusively, so I keep the Optima reverb at zero.

I may need to put it at the end of the signal chain and try it out. Either that, or I forgot how to sing. It's possible

[Akousticplyr]

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

I never had an issue with Tone Dexter in this regard although a raw piezo may be ‘easier’ to read I don’t think so. I’ll keep an eye on it.

I was using a JJB 330, so it might be a simple matter of incorrect gain staging across the various inputs/outputs and level adjustments....

[lkingston]

Originally Posted by jonfields45

Lately I'm finding that magnetic pickups, with strong unwound string response, are a better fit to what I am doing when performing. In a duo a great acoustic tone is lost in the mix, but a weak high E very clearly hurts classic rock covers. Many have commented on my better tone and few of them were guitarists.

I went all magnetic pickup for awhile, often using a jazzbox with a floating pickup. Then I discovered adding just a touch of mic to that (30% or less) gave it just that bit of air. If I'm recording I do it with a mic. If I'm on stage I do it with a mic mounted in the guitar. It's not everyone's asthetic, but I love it!

Martin Taylor recordings are perhaps the best example of that magnetic/mic blend that I love.

[shufflebeat]

Originally Posted by lkingston

I went all magnetic pickup for awhile, often using a jazzbox with a floating pickup. Then I discovered adding just a touch of mic to that (30% or less) gave it just that bit of air. If I'm recording I do it with a mic. If I'm on stage I do it with a mic mounted in the guitar. It's not everyone's asthetic, but I love it!

Martin Taylor recordings are perhaps the best example of that magnetic/mic blend that I love.

You've just reminded me of some experimentation I did 25+ yrs ago with a cheap mag pickup and a couple of electret elements I glued to the front to catch rhythmic pick sound. At the time I thought it was brilliant but couldn't think of a way to mix the signals without an external box, which I didn't have.

They're everywhere now, I could have been sooo rich.

[Petty1818]

I know this is the Nux thread but for those interested, Lloyd just did a new interview for the virtual guitar show and around 45 minutes in, he talks about the voiceprint. I like how he discusses the fact that most IR’s capture the room and they worked on eliminating that. Oddly enough though, he wasn’t sure how the app would be delivered and this is a month before it’s supposed to be released.

https://www.musicradar.com/news/lr-b...r-making-hippy

[AeroUSA]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

I know this is the Nux thread but for those interested, Lloyd just did a new interview for the virtual guitar show and around 45 minutes in, he talks about the voiceprint. I like how he discusses the fact that most IR’s capture the room and they worked on eliminating that. Oddly enough though, he wasn’t sure how the app would be delivered and this is a month before it’s supposed to be released.

https://www.musicradar.com/news/lr-b...r-making-hippy

I have a feeling it will be just fine.

[erniecaster]

Hi,

what do you guys think about the missing ground switch on the Optima Air?

cu

e.