NAD: BluGuitar Amp1 Iridium

BahamaDada said:
There's a preorder on the Bluguitar Homepage for the translucent version, that is scheduled for summer 2025 (very unspecific...). Just placed a preorder and when they will available in stock you get notified for buying the thing with "Vorkasse" (Pay upfront). Nice.
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I really want the blue Mercury Edition but I can't justify spending that much money for literally just a nicer look.
 
FYI BluGuitar has a pretty comprehensive list of topics in their "Blugipedia". Worth checking out for existing owners and prospective buyers.

BluGuitar Knowledge Base

BluGuitar Support Center helps you to find FAQ, how-to guides and step-by-step tutorials.
support.bluguitar.com
 
laxu said:

What is HALF POWER MODE, and how does it work?

What is the HALF POWER MODE? HALF POWER MODE is available for the AMP1 Mercury Edition and the AMP1 Iridium Edition. It reduces the output power of the A
support.bluguitar.com support.bluguitar.com
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laxu said:
FYI BluGuitar has a pretty comprehensive list of topics in their "Blugipedia". Worth checking out for existing owners and prospective buyers.

BluGuitar Knowledge Base

BluGuitar Support Center helps you to find FAQ, how-to guides and step-by-step tutorials.
support.bluguitar.com
Click to expand...

Thanks!
 
If you want to optimize the gain vs bright cap behavior, you can use the MIDI CC 20 "gain range" feature. I typically cut out about 20-30% gain of the Mercury overdrive channels when using humbucker guitars.

The idea is that you set the maximum amount of gain with the OD gain knob on 10. Let's say you drop the gain by 20%. Now if you run the gain on 7, it's less overdriven but the bright cap effect is negated more.

On the Iridium you can store these settings, on the Mercury you cannot so your MIDI controller needs to send them when switching channels.

What is INDIVIDUAL CHANNEL GAIN, and how does it work?

INDIVIDUAL CHANNEL GAIN is available for the AMP1 Mercury Edition and AMP1 Iridium Edition. With the help of the REMOTE1, you can set an individual maximum
support.bluguitar.com support.bluguitar.com

Sometimes I'm lazy though and just roll my guitar volume down more if I can't bother hooking up a MIDI controller.
 
Thx guys for giving us so much info.

TB should definetly consider a giveaway to you for all that praise and advertising. You wanted a blue ME? :D
 
BahamaDada said:
TB should definetly consider a giveaway to you for all that praise and advertising. You wanted a blue ME? :D
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Would not mind that at all! Thomas Blug, if you're out there and reading this...

I wish the blue one at least integrated the new features from the Iridium firmware. Ability to turn off the analog cab sim on the line-out, the "reverb turns on the soft noise gate" feature. Don't remember if there's anything else.

PS. Apparently the clean channel always uses the soft noise gate if either noise gate setting is enabled. I had no idea. Makes total sense tho as a fast gate is not that useful there.
 
2dor said:
Managed to shoot some NAM profiles of the Iridium today.

www.tone3000.com

BluGuitar Amp1 Iridium NAM Profile · TONE3000

Check out 2dor's neural amp head capture for guitar, bass and recording: DI captures of the BluGuitar Amp1 Iridium edition on all 4 channels: - Clean - Vintage - Classic - Modern Reamps done with the St.Rock ReactIR II reactive load with the Mode pushed IN (frequency response similar to a Mesa...
www.tone3000.com

These have the input gain calibration metadata cooked into them; just dial your interface's input value (in dBu) in the NAM plugin and you're all set.

I did not spend too much time fiddling around dialing the unit in to get "the best tones" out of each channel but rather settled on what seemed to be serviceable & representative tones for each of the 4 channels:

- Clean
- Vintage
- Classic
- Modern

I gotta say ... it feels like a real amp. Vintage mode with the Gain dialed at about 7 and a boost pedal in front ... just puts on the smiles.
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Played around with these a bit today. Nice captures!

What settings did you use on these?

I haven't bothered to make more captures of my Amp 1 ME, but the closest to the Classic channel seems to be the Vintage channel on the Iridium.
 
laxu said:
Played around with these a bit today. Nice captures!

What settings did you use on these?

I haven't bothered to make more captures of my Amp 1 ME, but the closest to the Classic channel seems to be the Vintage channel on the Iridium.
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I don't recall what the dials were set to tbh; just dialed them in until they felt ok and reamped.

I love the Vintage channel on the Iridium - it's probably my favorite of the bunch. It's very articulate and with a boost in front it can easily go into hi-gain stuff (at least for riffs you can discern lol) a la Gojira etc.
 
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Might as well piggyback on your NAD thread.

Just picked up a used Amp 1 Iridium!

Gave it a spin through my BluGuitar Nanocab and Fatcab at home volumes!

I haven't properly compared it to the Mercury yet but initial impressions:

The feel of the Iridium is very different. "More modern" is just the best way to describe it. It's more immediately responsive, snappier, less sizzly. The gain is more tuned towards humbuckers where the ME seems to have a lot more gain at similar settings, and far more aggressive bright cap.
  • The clean channel is similar to ME, but as if you gave it a more polished touch. Like everything, there's less sag to it and less hair with higher gain settings.
  • The Iridium Vintage channel is perhaps the most similar to the ME Classic channel. Just a nice Marshall style tone.
  • The IR Classic can be similar to its Vintage channel unless you crank the Tone knob higher. Then it gets a distinctly different tone that I feel I can't quite get out of the Mercury.
  • I'm still not sure of the Modern channel. Like on the Mercury, it's my least favorite, even though it sounds good. There's just a certain honk to the mids that I'm not sure I like, even though it gets much more scooped if you turn the Tone knob. I'm interested to compare this to the Mesa Mark V and see if I can get into similar territories.
EQ knobs seem different. The ME seems to get a lot more midrangy a lot easier if you turn up the Mid knob, whereas the treble/presence comes on stronger on the IR.

The Iridium just seems much more in control than the more raw and unruly Mercury.

The Iridium works much better for my 7- and 8-string guitars. The low end and faster response suit those really well.

I've tried this amp a couple of times before and maybe the cab wasn't right or I was trying to dial it too much like the Mercury, but I didn't like it. With the BluGuitar cabs at least I had a great time with it.

One minus on the Iridium is that it doesn't have the jack labels printed on the top panel.

Next up I have to get the Nanocab back on the floor and build some crazy dual amp rig...
 
laxu said:
Might as well piggyback on your NAD thread.

Just picked up a used Amp 1 Iridium!

Gave it a spin through my BluGuitar Nanocab and Fatcab at home volumes!

I haven't properly compared it to the Mercury yet but initial impressions:

The feel of the Iridium is very different. "More modern" is just the best way to describe it. It's more immediately responsive, snappier, less sizzly. The gain is more tuned towards humbuckers where the ME seems to have a lot more gain at similar settings, and far more aggressive bright cap.
  • The clean channel is similar to ME, but as if you gave it a more polished touch. Like everything, there's less sag to it and less hair with higher gain settings.
  • The Iridium Vintage channel is perhaps the most similar to the ME Classic channel. Just a nice Marshall style tone.
  • The IR Classic can be similar to its Vintage channel unless you crank the Tone knob higher. Then it gets a distinctly different tone that I feel I can't quite get out of the Mercury.
  • I'm still not sure of the Modern channel. Like on the Mercury, it's my least favorite, even though it sounds good. There's just a certain honk to the mids that I'm not sure I like, even though it gets much more scooped if you turn the Tone knob. I'm interested to compare this to the Mesa Mark V and see if I can get into similar territories.
EQ knobs seem different. The ME seems to get a lot more midrangy a lot easier if you turn up the Mid knob, whereas the treble/presence comes on stronger on the IR.

The Iridium just seems much more in control than the more raw and unruly Mercury.

The Iridium works much better for my 7- and 8-string guitars. The low end and faster response suit those really well.

I've tried this amp a couple of times before and maybe the cab wasn't right or I was trying to dial it too much like the Mercury, but I didn't like it. With the BluGuitar cabs at least I had a great time with it.

One minus on the Iridium is that it doesn't have the jack labels printed on the top panel.

Next up I have to get the Nanocab back on the floor and build some crazy dual amp rig...
Click to expand...
They should make 1 unit that encompasses both units
 
One thing I like about these amps is how easy it is to dial a good tone.

My Mesa Mark V is more granular but it sucks to turn a bunch of knobs and a graphic EQ a lot of the time.

By comparison the BluGuitar only need the 3-knob EQ with slight adjustments and the knobs don't interact either.
 
laxu said:
One thing I like about these amps is how easy it is to dial a good tone.

My Mesa Mark V is more granular but it sucks to turn a bunch of knobs and a graphic EQ a lot of the time.

By comparison the BluGuitar only need the 3-knob EQ with slight adjustments and the knobs don't interact either.
Click to expand...
What I like about them concept wise is the use of a tube in the output section like myolddddd vox ad212 vtx amps I still use that get that tube like dynamic from the similar concept
 
BahamaDada said:
@laxu @2dor Will the built-in boost also boost the volume for a lead/solo? Or does it just "fatten up" the sound? I guess it depends if it's a pre or post boost?

EDIT: Just looked in the manual, it's a pre.
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One thing I forgot that could work for you. The little channel volume knob on the side for the Modern/Classic channels. I just set these so all channels are about the same volume but nothing stops you from using e.g Modern for your leads by turning up the volume knob more. Modern also has a ton of mids by design so that could help with it cutting through.

The Classic can be dialed to sound fairly similar to Vintage so that could be used as a Vintage -> "Vintage lead" type thing.

You would need to use MIDI or the Preset mode (can save channel/boost/reverb for each of the 3 footswitches).
 
The Classic channel is definitely the highlight of the Iridium. It can be an extension of Vintage, or dialed to be its own thing.

I absolutely love how it sounds for high gain sounds with the side tone knob turned a little above halfway. It feels really good to play where it responds in a very right immediate way, without sounding dry.

I really enjoyed playing through this with my 8-string Skervesen, a guitar I've been struggling with a bit with the Mercury.

The Vintage channel is also really good, but it's more familiar territory for me as I think I could get the same sounds out of the Mercury Edition, just not as modern feel.
 
laxu said:
The Classic channel is definitely the highlight of the Iridium. It can be an extension of Vintage, or dialed to be its own thing.

I absolutely love how it sounds for high gain sounds with the side tone knob turned a little above halfway. It feels really good to play where it responds in a very right immediate way, without sounding dry.

I really enjoyed playing through this with my 8-string Skervesen, a guitar I've been struggling with a bit with the Mercury.

The Vintage channel is also really good, but it's more familiar territory for me as I think I could get the same sounds out of the Mercury Edition, just not as modern feel.
Click to expand...
That's pretty much where I have the Tone knob on my own unit too; it has a very satisfying response whether in standard or dropped / low tuning.
 
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