NUX Optima Air Review - Improve Your Acoustic Guitar Pickup Tone 

Great review and channel. I've had this pedal for a month or so, and I'm enjoying it. The manual/user guide is not very detailed, and so I was confused about a few features. Scott (@The Pedal Guy) was nice enough to contact NuX with my questions, and I got some answers straight from them. I'll post the Q & A here, in case others have similar questions. Q: Why and when would it be good to use the effects loop on the pedal? A: The FX loop is located at the last position of the internal signal blocks, before the outputs. It is for inserting outboard pedals into the Optima Air, and uses its XLR DI out as the main output to the mixer. Q: How exactly does the IR Level knob work? A: IR Level Knob cuts/boosts the IR file signal at 8dB. Middle position is 0dB. For example, if you find an imported IR file sounds too loud, you can use this knob to turn it down to avoid distortion. The editing software even offers bass-cut and treble-cut to fine tune the IR files. It doesn't give any dry signal, so it's not a balance/mix knob. Q: Both my amp (Katana 100) and my mixer (Zoom L-12) are already coloring the tone with their built-in preamps. Is it considered a "no no" to have a preamp going into another preamp? A: If your acoustic guitar already has a built-in EQ preamp, you can use the Preamp section of the Optima Air as a tone shaper, or a booster for different paragraphs in a song. For acoustic guitars that don't have onboard EQ, like Fishman Goldplus pickups, the preamp section of the Optima Air is more helpful.

I did buy this pedal. My Taylor K14 BE guitar never sounded good plugged in. I made my own IR using a Shure Beta 87 condenser mic and a QSC TM 16 digital mixer that has phantom power. With this Optima AIr? Night and Day difference. I have not played out live with my Bose L1,YET. I will let you know how it went once I actually perform live. Thanks again, for all you do.

Thanks for the little review and tutorial. 👍🏻 I find it always interesting when people compare IRs to the real acoustic sound. Because let's face, it's ALL better than that weird quacky piezo sound!! Game changer for me!

now THAT Is a good Review. I think this kind of pedal Is the future of good sounding acoustic guitars. And man, that pedal sound awesome! I can't believe that sound for the price! Please make a comparison video between this and the ToneDexter + Voiceprint. It would be incredible to see that battle of IRs. Thanks for all your work dude.

I finally bought it yesterday after watching several of your videos. It sounds great. I like the fact that they modeled the Pre-amp after the Neve 1073, and that explains why it sounds so great. The fact that we can also create our own IRs with our mics, was also important for my purchase. That and the fact that it has a DI.

Wow - what an eye-opening (or rather, ear-opening) discovery you have made me privy to! Thanks for exposing me to the joys of IRing! So far I‘d dismissed Dexter and such as things I wouldn‘t need or want...but this demo of this inexpensive and amazing little pedal just convinced me to reconsider big-time! Having the presets, the reverb and all the tweaking capabilities on board in such a small package is absolutely irresistible. I wish they would add one more thing to the software, though: compression. With that, I‘d be good to go for ALL purposes. I can live without delay and chorus (though always nice to have), but I really want some mild compression running all the time, such that my fingerpicking is evened out and elevated a wee bit and my hard strumming is slightly tamed. If they added compression (and heck, why not also a nice chorus and delay), that would be a killer package! At that price point, I‘d buy one for a couple more instruments and skip having to recable and jump through presets. Thanks for kindly showing us your previous IR and comparing it head-to-head with the one made in the video, and with the mic and pick-up sound. Very convenient for the viewer, and it makes a clear statement. Indeed, although I liked your new IR, too, I preferred your earlier one, for it had a bit more of the sparkle of the original guitar (also as evidenced by the pick-up sound AND the mic sound). The later IR lacked a bit of that sparkle but was warmer/fuller in the mids to upper mids. I suppose, though, that one could take either IR and tweak it to taste with EQ, yielding two very useable signals depending on one‘s preference (or the song at hand). At any rate, I‘m really thinking about getting one of these babies and getting IRs of my old Martin D-35, my Lowdon jumbo, my Voyage Air, my Yamaha.... Heavens, we are certainly living in good times, eh? ;-) EDIT: And I‘d love to see your future comparison of this with the Dexter, etc.

VERY impressive! This may be the best IR pedal I've come across to date. Great review!!

In creating may own impulse response, i used my mixer preamp, for the mic eq, to severely lower the freq below 80 Hz and the IR create was very useable.

Really useful demo which answered all of the queries that I had about this pedal and tested all the features I wanted to see. Will be ordering one.

Excellent demo! NU-X should be paying you!

I think I already commented on another video where you did a shootout but I wanted to write in and say I recently picked up an 80s Martin Shenandoah HD2832, which shipped with a passive piezo. I paired that with the Nux’s Piezo HD28 preset and 😮😮😮 sounds incredible! So much better with a passive piezo than it was with my fishman rare earth blend - even though I was able to get that sounding pretty good too.

Thanks for this vid, IT'S GOLD!!!! definitely I'm gonna buy one. I just wonder if you don't need to do some fingerstyle ( which is what I do the most) to make your own IR or just strummig is ok. And if it's possible to use an audio interface as a mic preamp. Thanks a lot.

Maury is impressed!!

Thanks for the detail explanation throughout the whole video! However I still would like to ask would you recommend this for someone who wanted to record acoustic guitar at home? Like a acoustic fingerstyle guitar cover, or acoustic guitar + vocals cover? I am living in a pretty noisy environment, my neighbourhood is full of dogs and kids and they are making so much noise throughout the entire day, and there is a highway outside of my house so there could be vehicle noises no matter during the day or night, so using a condenser mic is not an ideal option in my case... and my free time is quite limited so I can't deal with so much noise when I have time to record, otherwise I would ended up recording nothing. I tried to record though stock DI, but that sounds like garbage. So I was wondering would you think this Nux Optima Air can be a tool to help me out to get a nice sounding acoustic guitar recording? I'm not expecting it to sound like a mic up guitar 100%, but at least 60-70% close to a mic up guitar so that it doesn't sound like plastic (or garbage). Sorry for the long ass rant, but I'm desperately looking for help lol. Please kindly advise.

Hi Aaron, Great review that made me buy one, but as I think the user manual could be better I would be very happy if you would like to make a clarification. After creating IRs for my two guitars, how do I save them to be able to shift between them using the pedal foot switches? From what I have found out they only work in what they call preset mode. In a live situation you want to be able to shift between your guitars using the pedal switches and not just between preamp settings without IR. Best regards Sten Sweden

great review Aaron, always enjoy watching your vids, I was wondering if i can ask what level you had on the volume and tone controls on the Martin Matrix pickup

For the money seems like the best deal going. Think I made my mind up and going to get one. I have a nux looper / drum machine and it's a quality item. Looks like I'm becoming a nux guy. Nice review 👍

You just provided an epiphany for me. I used my Headway preamp to create IRs. They sound OK but not great. Then you mentioning your Helix premap made me think "holy $h!t, I can use my Focusrite!!". It has to have a better mic premaps so the end result has to be better. It really never occurred to me that I can use the Focusrite. The first IR I just modeled immediately sounds better and almost as good (just a touch less bright) as the sound of mic. Thanks!

Sounds good, especially for the price. But I have my pre-order for the LR Baggs SoundScape, which I know you will be doing a review, without a doubt. I would prefer to have the Programmable EQ, instead of the reverb. Great video!

Great review, many thanks!

Great video. Can you make a video with the Nux and the Cole Clark 3-way. Like you I find the mic in the Cole Clark knocks so much treble off it's a bit of a problem. And I find the bass shelf very "inarticulate" so that it leaves way too much sub 100hz in. I'd love to see how this pedal goes with the CC. Could be THE most realistic love sound. Or could be a feedback disaster because of the IR boosting the specific treble frequency of the inbuilt mic...

The included 814 IR has been great with my 814 (not surprising at all), almost perfect for live use but I just wish it had a notch filter to help deal with feedback (I have to rely on the soundtech/front of house to deal with that).

Your hair has come a long way. Great video btw.

Great review Aaron! I wish it had a blend pot! I think the IR is a bit muddy. One can play with the mic position or HPF. But a parametric EQ would have been handy to tame the 200 Hz.

I don't think I would want to blend the dry with the affected signal. I imagine there would be phasing issues that I don't want to deal with.

Thoughts on this versus the Nux stageman DI? Isn’t a Maton TE custom with the very nice AP5Pro system. I’m currently using a Baggs voiceprint which I do like the sound, but having some line noise issues with it. It’s workable but may be up for a change. Thoughts?

Hey Aaron! How well do you think this will work with a Hollowbody Electric with a piezo?

is this the same as the optima air NAI 5 ? or is that a different model>

Hello there, thank you for the great review. I see that all of the IR profiles that comes by default with the Nux Optima Air are for acoustic guitars with Metal strings such as Gibson, Taylor and Martin. Do you think Is it possible to have a clean IR that simulates a clear and High quality Nylon sound of a real classical guitar (Like a Ramirez Nylon Classical Concert Guitar) with the Nux Optima Air? Is it possible to do it with the Optima Air Editor Software and save the presets for the best nylon sounds? Thank you.

The Gibson J45 also sounded best on mine. a Takamine dreadnought with an LR Baggs piezo i added. Having some difficulty creating an IR with a level and tone not dramatically different from the others, sounds like i need to load the app for better control.

Great demo. Do you think this would work ok with a small body acoustic bass guitar? It's fitted with a piezo but am also toying with the idea of fitting a soundhole bar pickup. Many thanks.

Hi Aaron. I use KK soundboard transducers on my acoustic. What Modeller Pre Amp would you recommend to use?

Nice demo. Do you know where the effects loop send/return happens relative to the preamp and the IR and reverb?

Great video. You totally EARNED my subscription "while you are waiting for me" I said to myself, self, why not subscribe? Boom.

Hi. I did everything right but when i select the newly created IR profile, there is no sound from the Amplifier. Did I miss something? My guitar has LR baggs Anthem pickups.

Hi Aaron. Do the presets allow for individual gain levels to accommodate different guitars? My primary is a Gibson Songwriter Deluxe with an LR Baggs Anthem SL installed and it has a fairly low output. My backup is a Martin DC-1E with the factory installed Fishman pickup and it has a much hotter output. I would like to be able to switch guitars and simply select another preset/ir and be ready to roll without fiddling around with the gain knob if possible. Does this pedal function like that?

Great review.... so yes your guitar sounds good with just the mic (you should delinately buy it!!). Guitar sounds really good with this unit though. A step upfrom just the mic! Really useable sounds. I am looking forward to messing around with IR recording. Thanks again!!!

Thank you.... I have a cort 500e acoustic guitar with a pickup. All the tone selections for the IR or Amp gives a screeching sound.. Are there some different settings to be done on pedal for such guitars.

Is this any good for live use through a PA for a solo musician ? Currently using a TC helicon Play Acoustic with a Gibson Hummingbird built in LR Baggs pick up. I am beginning to detest the sound from the TC as it sounds really unauthentic. Thanks in advance 👍🏻

Hi aaron! I am thinking of getting an optima air soon, may i ask if you have tried creating an IR from a strat (neck pick up) to use on a piezo equipped acoustic guirar so as to try to get the acoustic guitar sound a little like an electric (clean strat sound) , i know this is not the pedal's intended use but it will be really lovely to know how the pedal does in this set up. I play at church so i just need clean tones. Thanks !

Man that sure ain’t bad for the money.

Hi Aaron, great vid...can the NUX export the IRs you create?

Hi Aaron. Thank you for sharing! I wonder how the magnetic IRs with a LR Baggs M80 (passive) sound live and recorded direct.

Thanks! Impulse buy :)

Thank you for doing a great review! What is the power requirement for this pedal?

Hi Aaron, is possible to create a guitar sound with two IRs like in Ignite plugin! And use Nux in stereo ? Regards

Hi Aaron. Where did you place the microphone when you created the IR? Thank you in advance.

Hi Aron , thanks for the vid , i have a question if you don't mind , i can't seem to record an IR , and im doing it all the correct way , my question is when your in IR record mode and you have headphones plugged into the NUX can you hear both signals ? i can see both one straight from the gtr and the other mic to interface back to return on NUX so i can see both independent signals going in , but NO IR when i play back . i have tried many levels but none work

Great review. Can anyone clarify whether it can load 3 Sigma Ir's?

hey, just a quick question: do you know if the reverb comes before or after the IR? also, if i want to use another reverb / delay pedal, where should i put it? in the loop or after the pedal?

Is the XLR out post the IR section and AMP section or Pre? Same question about the effects loop, is it before the amp, between amp and IR or post everything?

Hello Aaron. Is it possible to mix the piezo sound with the IR sound by the IR level knob? Does this function work like Fishman aura? Thanks!

Read the reviews… they have no customer service…. Everyone has the same complaintss

Pretty cool. Thanks! Got a question about your EQ adjustment using the software at the end. The high and low cut didn't really seem to be having any effect on the waveform or in the sound I was hearing. Did I miss something or just didn't hear it?

This pedal seems too good to be true and it is. Not for the player that is looking to use it live. I had too many issues with the IR's dropping out, phantom noise and even losing the signal with it mecoming very distorted and extreme loss of volume. Too gltchy in my opinion. Still on the quest to help my Martin D-15 to sing.

Hello :) I am really interested in the pedal. Any chance you know if I need a DI box if I had this pedal? My acoustic also runs into effect pedals. Many thanks.

I've had one for almost a year and it has developed a buzzing sound that makes it impossible to use! I'm looking for another option since this was a total waste of money! Sorry to rain on your parade but I have to be honest. It did sound great before all the humming started.

Do you have any issues with noise from this pedal?

How to upload a downloaded IR to optima air? Have you tried that one? Is the ir .wav file? Thank you

Do you happen to know how to do a factory reset for getting the preloaded presets back to where they were?

Hi Aaron! do you know how it works with nylon strings guitars?

Taylor guitars sound bad (to me) both in an IR and IRL lol! Probably so much low end and mud in that IR because Taylor guitars have no inherent low end or mud. They are "ear piercing" and "ice pick-like" to me, and I can not stand the sound of a Taylor...ANY Taylor. This is the first IR for acoustic I have ever seen, since I am not the player for whom this product is marketed. Nice demo of this product, Aaron! 🐰❤️🎸🎵🤝✌️

Aaron, thanks a lot for this wonderful review! I have a specific question re. NUX Optima Air and its FX loop: do you know where does the loop go in Optima's signal chain? Is it pre/post IR? Pre/post preamp? My educated guess would be it's post IR and most likely (hopefully!) pre-built in Reverb. Not sure about the pream though. Didn't find this info anywhere in their manual and/or website. Do you have any idea?

how it compare to lr baggs voiceprint?

Did you ever use it live?

The IR makes the guitar sound out of phase and unusable. I highly doubt you will ever hear one of these pedals used by a professional acoustic player live or on a recording. I own this pedal and the spectrum aura and find the IR an interesting novelty but not musical at all. I only use the preamp section. Much better advice would be to get a three way mic/under saddle/ contact pickup system and not use IR at all. Maybe in the future when they figure a way around the serious phase issue it will be a viable option.

What’s a “jack cable”?

is it good for nylon?

Hi Aaron, I know you don't have to advise.. but I am not getting any response from NU X I have one of these Optima Air pedals and I am having issues with low volumes on two of the IR's No3 -G-HBD- Piezo and also No 15-T-314-MAG as I rotate from say No2 to No3 the volume drops very low and then if I continue to rotate all IR's are fine until I rotate to No 15 and the volume drops again significantly again. Is there a way that the unit can be reset..do you know or I'm thinking I may have a defective unit I have the manual but no help there Best Alan

😃👍

Is there a way to use tonedexter .wm irs with this?