NUX Amp Academy

Gear I use to make my videos

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I am a Fractal Audio beta tester. Pronounced bee-tah.

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At times gear highlighted on this channel will be provided by the manufacturer, purchased at a discount or be made available to me on loan. In these cases you will see the "contains paid promotion" icon.

[DarylMaihori]

After watching multiple videos on the NUX AA, you spoke in terms I understand and have confidence to navigate it. Great video, great playing. Thanks

[axeslinger]

The stank face at 10:02 is priceless! Pretty much sells the pedal based on Uberschall tone ALONE! 🫡👏

[ji]

Cramming an fx loop into a single TRS jack is something a lot of pedal manufacturers should take note of.

[bladerunner]

I picked up a used one for 150 bucks to use as a low volume practice amp. Might be the best deal going right now for that type of thing.

[distillerycats_clt]

After having to put two beloved tube amps in for repairs ($$$), I picked up one of these. I use it with HX Effects and a 50W stereo power amp into a pair of 1x12's. Amazing flexibility and sounds fantastic. I tend to play cleaner, and love the organic feel of the clean models. I also didn't care for the Soldano or Rectifier models, but the other High Gain options are exceptional. I can cover damn near any genre with this rig- not sure I'll go back to tubes except for straight blues gigs, but could do that as well. At $199 USD, crazy not to have one of these at least for a backup rig in your backpack. I have also heard they have a software update upcoming soon to address some of the feedback from the initial product launch.

[sgmarshall]

Wow, I wish equipment was this good when I was starting out!

[prsdave]

Cool pedal! As a self-confessed Strymon fanboi I have to admit this does seem to be a more appealing version of the Iridium 👀 I also like how they named one of the modes 'Iridium' haha

[BishopEddie]

Leon Todd was the best guy to demo that pedal!

[peterharvin]

I'm with you: that Uberschall really shines. I guess I'm showing my age here, but the fact that they can cram that many goodies into a package that small is a source of wonder to me.

[OldGeezer]

how did I miss this.
The Fender and Ubershall models sounded best to me, although it sounded fizzy to me, but good enough. It's amazing what one can do with hear for little money now and go direct or record with. Too cool.
Thanks brother. 🤘♥️

[russgoos]

I use a Fractal FM3 and I'm considering getting this NUX Amp Academy just to have in my gig bag as a backup in case the FM3 fails. Have this little guy plugged in and ready just in case... then it's just a quick swap of an XLR from the FM3 over to the Amp Academy and you'd be up & running again with usable tones. Super portable solution for this scenario.

[jhonfelo]

I've had this unit for a few weeks now, and I have to say it's really impressive for the price. Fully loaded with great functionalities and tones. I bought it with the idea of complementing my pedalboard, placing it at the end of the signal chain to work as a swiss knife amp, but it seems that it doesn't like pedals in front so I've decided to leave it on my studio desk as a tool for random noodling with my guitar.

[steveliberty]

My 2 main rigs are based on an HX Stomp and an Iridium. I bouight the AMp Academy as a backup device, but it is surprisingly good. I now use it on a very light pedalboard when going to jams. It will still be my backup of course as well. They didn't do a great job of the UI, since there are 12 models, but only 6 are switchable without MIDI. And the MIDI features are not documented at all (that MIDI Editor screen is not documentation). But, if you can figure things out for yourself, it is a nice tool for $199 US.

[futurekarlos]

Just asked the missus for this as my birthday present. Can't wait for it to arrive. It'll be a great silent practice setup for me and will mean I don't have to fire up the JCM 2000 all the time and disturb the neighbours 🤘

[williamphillips]

I specifically didn't get an Iridium based on a few things - no XLR out, no super dirty amps, and the lack of an app (that I could see) for controlling presets, lack of 4CM support, and the midi implementation seemed a bit convoluted when I was looking at the manual. It is a great sounding unit though

I ended up going with a Mooer Preamp Live, which has all those features (and more, like amp capture) but lacks the end user support that cheaper brands tend to typify. I've had it for a couple of years now without any dramas but perusing FB groups would suggest that they can just up and die. The number of possible amps, captures, and IR support leads to a bit of option paralysis like many multis do.

Another one I checked out was the Neunaber Neuron, but it didn't have an app at the time iirc. Lack of XLR out was an issue for me.

The Amp Academy looks like a great unit, lots of similar features but the amp selection seems limited and I'm not sure how reliable a UBS port is for midi control on a gigging board.

What I'm super interested in, is the Two Note Revolt, which looks like it has all the connections and control, but with just a few amps with boost on each channel. Only the one IR, but if it sounds great, then it's probably going to be all a cover band guitarist is going to need.

[pipi-ho]

Awesome! Can you share a bit? How did you achieve the sound at 9:50?

[Scorstin]

Thanks Leon, nice vid. I was interested in a review of this for a while, glad you did it! In the end, I don't think I'll be moving away from the Atomic yet though :) People often seem to forget the Atomic Amplifirebox in these comparisons (Nux vs Iridium vs Walrus etc), but in my opinion it's the best one of the bunch. The amp models are really good IMO, covering everything from clean to chuggy, it's got compression, overdrive, noise gate, EQs, some basic reverb but also some really nice delays. I used to own the Mk1 version. I used it as the center of my pedalboard/ampless setup for about two years before making enough space for the larger Amplifire 6, I was always happy with it. The only thing it's missing (for me) is Midi.

[lightiskalkin]

LEOOONN!! Is it possible to record two separate tracks simultaneously with this as an audio interface, like on one track an unaffected direct guitar signal and on the other the amp signal?!? Anybody else tried this out like this??

[bmoklsc]

Here's why I bought this over the Strymon, ACS-1, or any of UA's offerings: XLR out, effects loop, IR loader, and headphone jack. On a blind listening test, I don't think anyone can accurately tell the difference between amp modelers these days, or even between a mic'ed cab and and an amp modeler. The only feature the NUX is missing is stereo, but that isn't a deal breaker for me.

[DanielFPaulo]

Thank you so much for this review, Leon.

I'm very interested in the Amp Academy, but I can't find much on some specific questions. I'm looking for an alternative for silent practice using headphones that doesn't suck completly (like a headphone plugged directly to an amp). I would also love if this alternative also allow me to send the signal into a cabinet; so I can "feel the air" ever now and then.

(1) Have you ever tried using headphones directly out of the phone out jack? How does it sound?

(2) This might be a silly question, but can I connect the Amp Academy directly to a cabinet using the output jack, or do I need a power amp between the Amp Academy and my cabinet?

Thank you so much for all your content,
Dani.