NUX Amp Academy - First Thoughts (and NPD!) (2024)

After a Sunday gig with my Bassbreaker 30R generated a few complaints about volume (even though the amp was behind a closed door in the choir loft stairwell), I was looking for an ampless alternative. I've had really good results using the NUX Mini Studio as an acoustic IR loader, so I was considering the Solid Studio for electric, when several suggestions came in for the relatively new Amp Academy.

I texted a used Reverb listing to my wife, asking her what she thought, and she said it had already sold.

... To her, for an additional $10 off with a promo code she had.

I love my wife. She enables me.

Well, it arrived in the mail on Saturday, and I got a few hours to plug in and play yesterday. My thoughts:

Pros:

• Really nice look and feel. The '70s-era flocked steel shell is substantial without being overkill, and feels very vintage even though what's inside it is very 21st-Century. Knobs are smooth, switches are soft-click, overall a very well-done presentation especially for a $200 MSRP.
• Initial setup/firmware update was a cinch. I will note that the latest Windows app treated the pedal as being in "bypass" mode until I upgraded the firmware, so it's a fairly necessary step, but the only thing I needed to look up in the manual was how to boot the pedal up in "update mode" (hold both footswitches down while plugging in power).
• Sound quality is excellent. I was playing my Swiss Army Strat (P-Rails) into my usual pedalboard and then this, through a Mackie 1202VLZ Pro and from there into a pair of Adam F7 studio monitors. The stock amps are wonderful, a little more variety might have been nice but the Fenders, Marshalls and Mesas that make up the majority of the available models give a good cross-section of tones. Gain response and EQ ranges are very intuitive, and you have a master volume even for NMV amp models (so cranking a Twin is actually a feasible option).
• More features than I really need. I thought I was looking for a pedal platform, just a single good-sounding DSP to replace an open-air amp/mike for a silent stage. I have a setup with the Twin Reverb model that does that job beautifully, but that's just the beginning. The range of models/gain available, especially with an onboard gain boost/dirt pedal, threatens the utility of my usual gain pedals, and even the reverbs are well-designed and highly useful. The unit does work very well with gain boxes in front of it (unlike a few modelers I know), but if you set up the scenes/channels to your liking, you might find yourself foregoing your current gain stack in favor of the presets.
• Onboard Morning Glory! A nice surprise as I'm a fan of this pedal for light drive and to roll off brighter amps a touch. Currently I'm using the Katana boost into anything already set to be edgy/cranky, and the Tube Screamer into the scooped high-gains as a mid-push, but the MG works really well into the Twin, Vibro King and even the JCM800 for that little something extra without getting too harsh.
• Very expansive and intuitive software control of the unit. The manual barely mentions that you can adjust the signal chain order in the app, luckily many YouTubers have pointed this out so I knew this going in. Besides that, the software simulates every physical knob/switch function (except effect bypass) and a lot of things you can't do from the pedal itself (amp/EFX selection, signal chain order, EFX parameters besides volume level) with a very intuitive interface.

Cons:

• You really do need to plug this into a computer and do quite a bit of fiddling for full effect. No problem for me, I have a home studio in my mancave plugged into my desktop, but I know plenty of musicians for whom their rigs are a welcome escape from the ubiquity of these devices in our lives, for whom this would be anathema (but they also avoid modelers overall so no love lost, really). Spend some time with the USB connected to a laptop at rehearsals or home practice to dial in your presets and you shouldn't have a problem at the gig, but if it's NKR during sound check, even with the pedal's ample surface controls you may not have the ability to tweak what you need without plugging in. I eagerly await the Android app as a safety net in these situations (iOS already has a mobile control app).
• No scene copy-paste in the software app. That sounds like a minor thing, but it's huge for the workflow I wanted to have with this pedal; set up one scene with the basics, then copy/paste/tweak for 2 and 3. Nope, no dice, you have to start almost from scratch on each scene (the amp models for each slot are a global choice, almost everything else is scene-specific which is a lot to go through to duplicate a full scene). Hopefully that's something the NUX developers can incorporate fairly easily into a software upgrade, it seems simple enough to do given the software's total access/control over pedal settings.
• Why on earth is the default signal chain in the order it is (with the IR placed pre-EQ, pre-insert, pre-reverb)? Actually I kinda get it, it's closer to the chain you'd have miking up a cab in the studio for processing, so with the USB audio interface you have a one-stop shop for simple guitar tracking. But, if you're using the DI into a more general-purpose setup, you still have processing available after the box. So, for my planned live use, I set the chains up to simulate the guitar-through-amp signal path I'm after; Gate->EFX->EQ->Amp->S/R->(RVB/IR, order dependent on reverb type). And IMO (and I'm not alone here) it sounds better that way anyway.
• No Vox or Orange amps/cabs. Cab IRs are easy enough to load, and it does have the "Mr." Z 38 which is in the general Vox tone neighborhood, but it's odd they didn't have a true AC15/30 model in this fairly storied cross-section of amp history. Lack of Orange amps is a little more forgivable overall, but it would have been a really nice to have for me as one of my band's guitarists uses a TH30; being able to flick a couple switches and have his tone dialed in would make this a no-brainer for the OSK in case his amp throws its toys out the crib or a venue needs us to be ampless. It still is, but we'll need to work on finding an acceptable setup.
• With humbuckers and wide-open guitar volume, I got some clipping that I struggled to avoid, even with the gain low on the Twin model. Not sure if I'm clipping something not designed to be clipped, or if I'm just feeding it so much signal that I'm pushing past even clean models' threshold for "he must want amp clipping". I cut the input gain in the software with no discernable effect, but rolling back the guitar volume to 7-8 made it go away (but changed the tone a little). Not a huge problem, but I would have expected a pedal with Dual Recto and VH4 models to be able to handle high-output pickups full-on. It may still be something I can fix with pedal settings, worst-case I throw an EQ pedal in front and use the master level to back off hotter guitars.
• Amp/scene selector switches can be fiddly. To avoid damage, they're short-bat, but three-position miniature short-bat switches are not the easiest things to flip on the fly, especially when positioned in between four knobs you don't want to move if you're changing presets. I recommend you do not set this pedal up in a way that requires their frequent use (scene control is easier using the right footswitch, so you can set the scenes up with different pairs of amps selected and switch pairs with a tap or two).
• Would have liked better physical control of the effect, i.e. an on-off footswitch, maybe a second control knob, or at least the ability to assign the function of the one knob it does have; when using a dirt pedal model, I'd rather have the "Boost" knob control gain instead of level. As it is, the one-knob Katana makes the most sense in this slot, especially into overdriving amps.
• Not a knock on the pedal, but my used one didn't come with the effects loop breakout cable. No biggie, the Hosa YPP-117 will do the job for $8.50. Just be aware the pedal is supposed to come with this cable, so it's something to ask about in used listings.

Overall, I really like this pedal. Despite more cons than pros, most of the cons are more "it would be perfect if it did X" than they are "it doesn't do X and that makes it demonstrably inferior to another product". The Amp Academy is doing exactly what I bought it to do (sound like a miked-up amp) and then some, at a value-for-dollar level that makes it serious competition to many other options out there. Will comment further when it's got some gigging experience, such as it's likely to be; like I said I bought it mostly for Sunday morning, so I'm probably not going to able to comment too heavily on the Uberschall/Diezel end of the model list.

Liko said:

• Why on earth is the default signal chain in the order it is (with the IR placed pre-EQ, pre-insert, pre-reverb)? Actually I kinda get it, it's closer to the chain you'd have miking up a cab in the studio for processing, so with the USB audio interface you have a one-stop shop for simple guitar tracking. But, if you're using the DI into a more general-purpose setup, you still have processing available after the box. So, for my planned live use, I set the chains up to simulate the guitar-through-amp signal path I'm after; Gate->EFX->EQ->Amp->S/R->(RVB/IR, order dependent on reverb type). And IMO (and I'm not alone here) it sounds better that way anyway.

Click to expand...

in the end its all a digital effect - so having the EQ post "virtual cab" isn't really wrong even if you use it live. I think when using digital modellers post EQ is quite common to optimise the tone with some final touch. Its after the cab but before RVB because the latter is (AFAIK for the AA) a stereo effect. You might lose the stereo effect if you put the RVB before the cab... which just may be what you want anyway for live use (or not use the RVB anyway). In the end - its a default - they had to choose one and its a quite common order IMHO. That's why you can change the order to fit it to your purpose.

Liko said:

With humbuckers and wide-open guitar volume, I got some clipping that I struggled to avoid, even with the gain low on the Twin model. Not sure if I'm clipping something not designed to be clipped, or if I'm just feeding it so much signal that I'm pushing past even clean models' threshold for "he must want amp clipping". I cut the input gain in the software with no discernable effect, but rolling back the guitar volume to 7-8 made it go away (but changed the tone a little). Not a huge problem, but I would have expected a pedal with Dual Recto and VH4 models to be able to handle high-output pickups full-on. It may still be something I can fix with pedal settings, worst-case I throw an EQ pedal in front and use the master level to back off hotter guitars.

Click to expand...

Just some ideas - maybe not applicable here, but worth a thought:

In regard to clipping - did you check if the IR block doesn't up the level? On my MG-30 I tend to have to dial down the level on the IR block 4-6dB so that it doesn't raise the level but just applies the IR. This 4-6dB can be enough on the edge to get you into clipping.

Also something coming from the MG-30 - I don't know if it applies to the AA: It has a quite big 4KHz spike. In many of my patches I lower the 4K band up to 7dB (!). A single spike that is this big could also lead to clipping.

Great comments from the OP, and I found myself having noticed and agreed with many of your initial impressions. Definitely refer to this larger thread if you want more reading material on the device.

Next Gen Modeler on the cheap: NUX Amp Academy

I especially identified with your comments about using the editor and the lack of a Vox amp. I do feel like I can get pretty close to Vox and Matchless tones applying York Audio IR's for those amps to the Fender Twin model.

While it is absolutely true that you need to visit the software to set up your patches and tweak the effects in each preset, once you have done that, I find the on-board controls to be VERY useful in dialing in the AA.

One problem I have with modelers is that I play with headphones 90% of the time, but my set is the Beyerdynamic 880's that are 256 ohm. So it takes more output to drive those, and then when I switch to a PA or amp, my levels are CRANKED. Even so, it's possible to fix all that with the master and presence controls on the device.

I'm actually amazed at how good some of the underlying amp tones are in the AA. It's like having a few "slices" of a Helix preset copied into a stompbox-sized device. The compression, drive, and noise gate effects built in are better than you'd think, as well.