Nylon guitar DI stuff like Fishman Aura alts and/or VSTs?

[samesung]

So, I've been looking for something to get a more natural sound from my classical guitar's piezo. And of course, there's a ton of stuff on acoustics, but nylon stuff is almost impossible to find. I found about NUX Optima Air which seems quite alright for acoustics, but I wanted to hear your impressions for the nylons.

Also, is there a way to do this in DAW using convolver/IR loader/whatever? Where do you find IR files for nylons? This is what I would prefer to get, in fact. I'm not in love with pedals and hardware gear and if there's any way to do it using software, I'd like to hear about it

Help a fellow nylon appreciator

[donkey tugger]

I've never tried it with nylon guitar, but with steel strings I've got ok results using IRs such as from;

https://www.3sigmaaudio.com/items/categ ... l-guitars/

Loads of freebies here too;

http://acousticir.free.fr/spip.php?rubrique2

Revalver will also do it and has some free models of their ACT system;

https://revalver.headrushfx.com/

Still for me always not as good as miking up, but appreciate that sometimes it's not possible.

[Winstontaneous]

What’s the signal chain between the piezo pickup and sound card input? If you don’t have a buffer preamp somewhere, no amount of ITB DSP or IRs will help you overcome signal degradation due to impedance mismatch.

[samesung]

What’s the signal chain between the piezo pickup and sound card input? If you don’t have a buffer preamp somewhere, no amount of ITB DSP or IRs will help you overcome signal degradation due to impedance mismatch.

I have an onboard preamp by LR Baggs. Should that work? I don't know much about impedance differences and signal chains so if you could explain the most important aspects in a condensed form so that I don't get too much info at once, I'd appreciate it

[khanyz]

Magnetic pickups need an input impedance of ~1M Ohm. Piezo need a much higher input impedance of ~5-10M Ohms.

You need to make sure your preamp has the best impedance for the pickup.

For example, the Behringer ADI-21 has an input impedance of 5M Ohms, the Boss AD-2 Acoustic Preamp is 10M Ohms.

There are some variable preamps like the Lehle Sunday Driver where you can switch input impedance.

For a simple effects chain, try the DDMF Channel Strip + PSP EasyVerb. You may also need a dedicated notch filter or utility eq, such as DDMF IIEQPro, to fix any resonance/tone imbalance issues, due to piezo position.

[samesung]

Magnetic pickups need an input impedance of ~1M Ohm. Piezo need a much higher input impedance of ~5-10M Ohms.

You need to make sure your preamp has the best impedance for the pickup.

For example, the Behringer ADI-21 has an input impedance of 5M Ohms, the Boss AD-2 Acoustic Preamp is 10M Ohms.

There are some variable preamps like the Lehle Sunday Driver where you can switch input impedance.

Before, with my acoustic which had a Fishman Prefix Plus T onboard preamp, I would just plug it in, and it worked just fine in my DAW. Now, I would just like to add the DI stuff like Fishman Aura Spectrum or Nux Optima or, ideally, just add something in my DAW - I'm here to find out what my best options are - and that's it.
I'm reading a Thomann page on Nux Optima Air - it doesn't even mention impedance anywhere. I don't use amps, but I go to audio interface where I can chose line or mic, and also has phantom power - does any of that have any use here? Is it possible my onboard preamp is enough?

[liqih]

Anybody tried Palmer Pocket AMP Acoustic?
https://www.palmer-germany.com/en/produ ... tic?c=2179
Seems a good tool.

[lfm]

Skip using your piezo alltogether, maybe.

Simplest might be a DPA dvote 4099G clamp on mic
https://www.classicalguitartones.com/ho ... microphone

DPA into a preamp/mixer with phantom power. It could be one in your pants lining too.
Easy to move to any acoustic guitar. Around €500 or so.

I have the highest confidence for K&K sound pickups that I use on 2 steel stringed guitar
https://www.kksound.com/acoustic-guitar
There is a model for nylon as well.
So bypass or throw out you piezo, is another way.

My guitars had no piezo or anything, so had to drill a hole first. But if that is already in place just glue under bridge inside guitar. Takes mostly an hour or so. Around $110 or so.

I use both on acoustic guitars to get stereo. And home recording.

[BertKoor]

I go to audio interface where I can chose line or mic

Both mic & line are low impedance. Electric guitars are high impedance (labeled "instrument" or "Hi-Z" on interfaces) except when they have active electronics they could (or could not) output low impedance. So it depends...

Is it possible my onboard preamp is enough?

Onboard what exactly?

Skip using your piezo alltogether, maybe.

This I strongly agree with. Most piezo elements fitted in acoustics just don't sound any good, and no matter what you process them with helps. Have you heard of the expression "polishing a turd" ?

[samesung]

I don't think a mic would be helpful because I have a guitar without the sound hole and I don't think it would sound as nice as on a proper classical guitar. I have an active onboard preamp with volume and 3 band EQ controls. All of the aforementioned is why I'm looking for these IR options so if anyone has any idea on how to do it in DAW, that'd be great. And I agree, the IRs don't sound as nice as mics, but I'm not looking for the perfect classical sound, just ways to improve the piezo.

[TVbene]

edit: 3 sigma audio were already mentioned, my bad…

There are IRs for nylon guitars by 3 sigma audio, I just found out that I already own one, the Cordoba H. I‘m a big fan of that concept, I don‘t want to use mics. I hope I can try these IRs during the weekend, I just bought my first nylon guitar with a piezo a few months ago and haven‘t found the time yet. I also own a few IRs for steel strings but Blue Cat Audio’s Re-Guitar VST got the best results for me with my dreadnought. There‘s also a demo of Re-Guitar.