The Verdict: The NUX Optima Air Will Make You WANT to Gig Acoustic Again
A long time ago, I watched a video from a very popular, guitar-centric YouTube channel. I can't remember which it was, but even though the video was about Fender's, then-new acoustic guitar pedals, the duo who starred in it spoke very honestly about the nature of being a working, gigging musician, and specifically guitarist.
It was years ago now, and back then, I don't think there were that many channels that were speaking as honestly as these two guys were in that moment.
The one truth that stayed with me was this: Even though 99% of guitar content on YouTube and other platforms is electric, and electric guitars get 99% of the marketing and gear designed for them... These guitars only represent 10% of the music that is actually played on a nightly basis in any city.
Think about it, you are in a crowded area in a major city, anywhere in Europe or in the US, how much more likely is it that there'll be a musician playing an acoustic guitar as opposed to electric? Acoustics are less fussy, more dynamic and better able to sound "like a full band".
Acoustics, especially among people who consider themselves guitarists, have this aura of boredom to them, that make electrics the way to go if you're in a band, or that an acoustic isn't as versatile on stage. But I think this comes from differing genres. You obviously need electrics for metal. But what's undeniable, is that most of a music scene from any city, is played on acoustics first.
So why is the industry so beset on electrics? And is there any gear that is as exciting as a Line6 Helix for acoustics? And the answer to that is a resounding yes. That's why I want to talk about one of my favourite pedals ever: The NUX Optima AIR
NUX Optima Air
The ultimate solution for eliminating piezo quack and delivering studio-grade acoustic tone on any stage.
One Pedal to Rule Them All
Those crazy percentages definitely apply to me, for every 10 gigs that I play, I use an acoustic guitar in nine of them. And guess what? Most acoustic guitars have a problem in common, a problem so big that it spawned the pedal we're about to talk about today.
The dreaded glassy, plasticky tone of a piezo pickup for an acoustic guitar. Most acoustic guitars outright sound bad, not necessarily because they're cheap, but because their electronics are. Very few brands actually put money into this, and it's one of the reasons companies like Takamine, Martin or Taylor are still loved by working musicians to this day. The electronics are usually the last part most brands invest in because most acoustic guitars will be played acoustically most of the time.
Piezo pickups are built nothing like electric guitar counterparts. A piezo pickup is a small stick that sits just under the bone-colored bridge in most acoustics. And while they do deliver a bigger sonic resonance, they still only "listen" to the vibrations of the strings. They don't take the body of the guitar into account, meaning you generally need to tweak the sound with the onboard electronics on an acoustic guitar. Increasing bass, lowering mids or adjusting the highs.
And even if you masterfully equalize a guitar with the onboard controls, you still won't fix the piezo "quack" out of it, you'll realize that it sounds close to an acoustic guitar, but it's not quite there, you wouldn't record that sound direct. Enter the world of IRs.
What Are Acoustic Guitar Impulse Responses (IRs)?
IRs are essentially hyper-detailed EQ profiles for your guitars, think of an EQ pedal, except instead of having seven bands, like the classic Boss GE-7, these profiles literally tweak every single frequency on the spectrum, individually.
IRs are mostly used to emulate electric guitar amplifier cabinets, think of that massive Mesa 4x12 speaker, or an 8" Fender Tweed. I use them all the time on my Ampero 2 Stage and it really breathes life into an otherwise very digital sounding processed cabinet.
There are entire websites dedicated to finding these IRs for all sorts of amps, the most famous one being tone3000.com
Using this technology for acoustic guitars on the other hand is sensationally smart. And NUX was the first in my mind to focus specifically on this with the Optima Air.
Hardware and Interface Breakdown
Visually, it's a very simple pedal, it's only slightly wider than a standard Boss pedal and is the same height. The two foot-switches operate the IR section and a dedicated Power Amp section which is tailored to acoustic guitars. As for the knobs, you have your IR Level blend, meaning how much of the new, created signal you want in the mix, a gain knob, your standard three-band EQ, and finally a dedicated Reverb which sounds amazing, and the knob used to select what guitar you want your guitar to sound like!
Photos: On the left: home recording with the NUX Optima Air. Middle: A fully fleshed out, electric and acoustic rig I used to use with my band "Adam Khan & The Coyotes". Right: My typical acoustic gig rig.
This thing is built like a tank, and I should know, I've used it in so many ways it's crazy that it's still alive. But the most impressive thing about it, is that it's not just a pedal, it also converts your signal to Balanced XLR to make a soundguy's life easier, and is an interface for if you wanted to record with it! Not only that, because acoustic guitars tend to favor time-based effects, like delay and reverb, they even included an FX loop. This is absolutely crazy value for just one pedal. For a little while, this was the only pedal I used for my acoustic, until I added a TC Electronic Forcefield compressor before it.
This pedal got me so many compliments on how my guitar sounded. And I truly believe it set me apart because the sheer joy of hearing a guitar sound exactly like a guitar should was amazing.
How to Dial it in for Live Gigs
You'll have to experiment with your favourite IR for different guitars. The way I've seen it work, is that there will be exactly one IR that sounds masterful with your specific guitar. My Faith jumbo guitar really favored the Taylor 814ce profile, but my parlor did really well with a J-45 profile. I'm not really sure why, but once you find it, stick to that.
One of the coolest things about this pedal is that you can actually load other IRs too, so while it isn't designed for electrics you could use it to monitor yourself for example, while you send the raw signal to a real amp.
Speaking of using electrics for it, each profile has the option to be used with a piezo pickup, or a magnetic pickup. Using a magnetic pickup (found in electric guitars) to emulate an acoustic guitar with this pedal delivers a much nicer result than using a dedicated acoustic simulator in my opinion. Good for people who mostly play electric, but have one or two songs in a set with acoustic, but don't want to bring a whole other instrument to a show.
Price, Value, and Final Verdict
Because this pedal is now a little older, you can often find good deals for it on major retailers such as Thomann, Sweetwater and even Amazon. For some reason, they're harder to use in the used market, but I take that to mean that people want to keep them, like me!
Nowadays, since my move to Vietnam, I've moved on to my Hotone Ampero II Stage both for acoustic and electric gigs, as it can load both types of IRs, and also load up my acoustic with effects, such as compressors, really nice reverbs and even a little drive when I'm feeling a little itchy. You can check out my review on that product here.
However, when I travel back to Europe, and book the occasional Return Tour, I use this pedal almost exclusively. I could not recommend it enough. It will make you WANT to play acoustic gigs again!
NUX Optima Air
The ultimate solution for eliminating piezo quack and delivering studio-grade acoustic tone on any stage.
