NAD: BluGuitar Amp1 Iridium

Richard_G said:
I picked up the used Bluguitar Amp1 Iridium.

I was a bit surprised when I opened the package and saw that the previous owner had removed the magnets on the backside. I then noticed that the warranty seal (covering on of the holes for screws keeping the amp together) was broken. More alarmingly; when I turned it on I noticed that the fan didn't start running, but just made a kind of clicking noise in intervals (as if the fan is trying to start, but is not working properly).

I contacted the seller about this. He claims that the fan will only start when the amp has been in use for a while.

But I see that on BluGuitar's support pages they write that the fan on the Amp1 (at least on the Mercury Edition) starts running as soon as the amp I turned on: "We get lots of feedback from AMP1 users who are surprised that the AMP1's fan is running permanently. In fact, the fan starts running as soon as the amp is turned on." (link: https://support.bluguitar.com/en_US...-amp1-fan-to-make-a-very-loud-operating-noise).

@laxu and @2dor (and other owners of the Amp1): Do the fan in your amp start running as soon as the amp is turned on? And is it then running permanently?
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Never buy something like this used unless from tv so you can return it
 
No worries, Tim. That post is from back in June. I resolved this with the seller a long time ago (got a full refund).

We have a pretty well-functioning local/online marketplace here. I have to admit, I might enjoy buying gear a bit more than selling it — but I do use it for selling too (in fact, even today). It forces me to be honest about what I’m selling and its current condition, which is only fair, really. Still, I always get nervous when selling gear.

( I do seem to buy more gear than I sell — maybe that’s why I like the buyer protection scheme so much.)
 
Richard_G said:
No worries, Tim. That post is from back in June. I resolved this with the seller a long time ago (got a full refund).

We have a pretty well-functioning local/online marketplace here. I have to admit, I might enjoy buying gear a bit more than selling it — but I do use it for selling too (in fact, even today). It forces me to be honest about what I’m selling and its current condition, which is only fair, really. Still, I always get nervous when selling gear.

( I do seem to buy more gear than I sell — maybe that’s why I like the buyer protection scheme so much.)
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Oh I should have looked at the post timing… I know what you mean . Just sold a g&l tribute fallout locally and didn’t realize g&l isn’t making guitars anymore so value of it is gonna go up I bet
 
How are you guys setting up the Iridium Edition for the Modern channel? I feel like I struggle with the tone of it the most.

It's somewhat like a Mesa Mark series with the Preset EQ but the Preset EQ is the little custom tone knob on the side where it gets brighter, bassier and mid-scoopier the more you turn it up.

Compared to my Mark V 90, I feel the Iridium Modern channel often has some really nasal midrange frequency that I don't enjoy. The rest of the channels are easy to dial in by comparison.

I've now relegated Modern to kind of midrangy lead duties and use Classic for my high gain rhythm tones. I run the Classic with the custom tone knob at about 7/10 which gives it a character I'd describe as "Diezel-ish", and makes it more different from the Vintage channel voicing.
 
laxu said:
How are you guys setting up the Iridium Edition for the Modern channel? I feel like I struggle with the tone of it the most.

It's somewhat like a Mesa Mark series with the Preset EQ but the Preset EQ is the little custom tone knob on the side where it gets brighter, bassier and mid-scoopier the more you turn it up.

Compared to my Mark V 90, I feel the Iridium Modern channel often has some really nasal midrange frequency that I don't enjoy. The rest of the channels are easy to dial in by comparison.

I've now relegated Modern to kind of midrangy lead duties and use Classic for my high gain rhythm tones. I run the Classic with the custom tone knob at about 7/10 which gives it a character I'd describe as "Diezel-ish", and makes it more different from the Vintage channel voicing.
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I don't like the Modern channel to be honest; works for some leads but I mostly roll with the Classic and Vintage channels.
 
2dor said:
I don't like the Modern channel to be honest; works for some leads but I mostly roll with the Classic and Vintage channels.
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Yeah I much prefer those channels as well.

I found that I liked the Modern channel more with my 4x10 GB cab. It seems to tame the offending frequencies a bit more. With my 2x12 V30 cab I like the Clean, Vintage and Classic channels just fine.
 
Interesting discoveries:

The channel selection on the Mercury Edition has a slight effect on the feel of the poweramp. I've always just had it set on the clean channel when plugging in a modeler. I can't even tell exactly what the effect is when switching channels and using a modeler, but there is some difference. I assume this applies to the Iridium as well but didn't test.

But more importantly, I finally found a way to make the Iridium Modern channel not grate my ears:

Throw a decent overdrive up front. It doesn't sound like it would make much sense on such a high gain channel, but I tried some of the Fractal AM4 drives as well as my analog ones. Lo and behold, they do something to the Modern channel sound that takes away some nasty honky frequency that I deeply dislike. After that, the channel sounded great!

I'll probably need to slap a parametric EQ up front to really hone in on where that problem frequency is. The other channels thankfully don't have this sort of problem, and they have so much gain that skipping the Modern channel completely is a valid strategy.

Still really enjoying the sound of the Iridium overall through my 2x12 diagonal V30 cab. Balls to the wall big and very fun to play.
 
laxu said:
Interesting discoveries:

The channel selection on the Mercury Edition has a slight effect on the feel of the poweramp. I've always just had it set on the clean channel when plugging in a modeler. I can't even tell exactly what the effect is when switching channels and using a modeler, but there is some difference. I assume this applies to the Iridium as well but didn't test.

But more importantly, I finally found a way to make the Iridium Modern channel not grate my ears:

Throw a decent overdrive up front. It doesn't sound like it would make much sense on such a high gain channel, but I tried some of the Fractal AM4 drives as well as my analog ones. Lo and behold, they do something to the Modern channel sound that takes away some nasty honky frequency that I deeply dislike. After that, the channel sounded great!

I'll probably need to slap a parametric EQ up front to really hone in on where that problem frequency is. The other channels thankfully don't have this sort of problem, and they have so much gain that skipping the Modern channel completely is a valid strategy.

Still really enjoying the sound of the Iridium overall through my 2x12 diagonal V30 cab. Balls to the wall big and very fun to play.
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It seems that a common thread is that the modern channel is nobody’s favorite. Maybe if one plays in low tunings and/or extended range guitars, but I play between E and D Standard and have never really gelled with the modern channel. The mids get honky here easily so I always run it with the tone control right of noon to scoop it a bit and add more low end heft. Some days, I sort of like it and it kinda reminds me of the Engl e530 preamp, a dry and cutting voice. Other days I can’t stand it. It often seems to get a sort of harsh quality to the top end also, and seems very sensitive to fret buzz and string noise, which don’t help the harshness. One can roll back the tone control CCW to take off that brittle top end a bit, but then that brings out the honky mids. Turning the treble down can easily make it dull; I can never seem to get it sounding right to me using the Iridium’s controls. I’m sure a graphic eq in the loop would help, but I tend to just not use the modern channel.

Funny that you found that adding a boost in front of the modern channel helps. Unlike the classic channel, I don’t like the onboard boost with the modern channel, seems like it accentuates the qualities in this channel that bother me. But lowering the Iridium’s gain and running an MXR M77 or my Joyo Precision Drive clone (both of these allow one to not cut too much low end also, which is nice as the already very tight modem channel doesn’t need to be tightened up at all) seems to do something that does fix the modern channel for me. I haven’t tried just running a graphic eq pedal in front of it yet, but I’d think that would work well here. On that note, however, I’ve also found that although typically when boosting a high gain amp I keep the gain on the boost pedal at zero, I actually prefer dialing in a little bit of gain on the boost, just a touch. It seems to fill out the modern channel, makes it sound thicker and less brittle. I still need to play around with this a bit. I also note that on an older “Academy of Tone” YT episode, Thomas Blug discussed using the Warm Audio ODD Box (OCD clone) to boost the modern channel, which he said he learned about from the guy that does the KillerToneTexas YT channel. Blug noted that this addition sort of replicates a clipping stage in the Soldano/5150 lead channels. I’m going to try that next and compare the Iridium’s modern channel to my 5150 Iconic 6L6. While the Iridium’s vintage (boosted with the M77 is *chef’s kiss*) and classic (with onboard or outboard boost) channels are very good as it is, I’d like to have some way to make the modern channel more useable for me also.

I mainly play old school death and black metal and have found that the Iridium works really well in these applications, as it is full of modded Marshall “DNA”. The one thing that I find really lacking here is that there are no actual resonance and presence controls for the power section. Yes, the tone stack eq has sort of a quasi-res/pres thing going on but these seem more like semi hi-low shelves baked into the treble and bass controls and don’t allow for the kind of dialing in that I often feel the the Iridium needs — e.g., some top end sparkle without pushing harsh treble (the iridium gets too BRIGHT very easily IMO) or some low end thump on the classic channel without woofy bass. I have found that running the GupTech PDEQ in the loop does help on both ends, though still not the same as being able to dial in actual res/pres controls.

I also feel that the Iridium sounds much better running through one of my cabinets (4x12 with V30s/DV77s or 2x12 with 90s era T75s) than through my Two Notes Captor X. Must be something with the Captor X impedance curve that doesn’t agree with the Iridium, I dunno. My EVH Iconic sounds excellent though the Captor X, so I figure something just isn’t a good match here. I haven’t tried another load box so I don’t know if the Iridium sounds better in front of a different impedance curve or what. If I spent some time messing around with post-eq in the DAW, I’m sure I could also get it to somewhere I prefer, but I’d rather spend more time playing.
 
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Antek said:
The one thing that I find really lacking here is that there are no actual resonance and presence controls for the power section. Yes, the tone stack eq has sort of a quasi-res/pres thing going on but these seem more like semi hi-low shelves baked into the treble and bass controls and don’t allow for the kind of dialing in that I often feel the the Iridium needs — e.g., some top end sparkle without pushing harsh treble (the iridium gets too BRIGHT very easily IMO) or some low end thump on the classic channel without woofy bass. I have found that running the GupTech PDEQ in the loop does help on both ends, though still not the same as being able to dial in actual res/pres controls.
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To my understanding the Bass/Treble controls are basically post-EQ bass/treble + depth/presence tied together as some kind of ratio. I think it works very well for what the amp aims to do.

I'm probably just very used to the Amp 1 Mercury Edition. It's capable of real head cutting bright cap sizzle, which is part of what makes it sound awesome. But also makes it harder to tame. The Iridium is easier to handle and I don't find it to become harsh too easily with my BluGuitar 1x12 cabs or my Bluetone diagonal 2x12 with Vintage 30s.

Antek said:
I also feel that the Iridium sounds much better running through one of my cabinets (4x12 with V30s/DV77s or 2x12 with 90s era T75s) than through my Two Notes Captor X. Must be something with the Captor X impedance curve that doesn’t agree with the Iridium, I dunno. My EVH Iconic sounds excellent though the Captor X, so I figure something just isn’t a good match here. I haven’t tried another load box so I don’t know if the Iridium sounds better in front of a different impedance curve or what. If I spent some time messing around with post-eq in the DAW, I’m sure I could also get it to somewhere I prefer, but I’d rather spend more time playing.
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Yeah the Captor X impedance curve behavior is nothing like a real cab.

Since you can disable the cab sim on the Amp 1 Iridium line-out, the Captor X is largely pointless unless you want to run it into IR cab sims without a real cab connected. I mean you can do that anyway, but having a load connected sounds/feels better.

For the Modern channel, literally just turning the boost on seemed to solve my main complaint about its tone. I need to record something with it, and use an EQ to isolate what the nasty honky frequency on it does.

The Vintage/Classic channels are easy though, don't really need anything special.
 
TDSTIAYW said:
Have any of you used it directly into a DAW with IRs? If so, how does the Iridium hold up sound wise?
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Like a regular amp. Put it on a load, run IRs and you're good.
On my band's last album, I did most tracks with the DSL and 1987x, but I did a lot of overdubs with the Bluguitar, because at some point, the Marshalls went back to the rehearsal space. By the time I started to mix the album, I had lost track of which parts were the Bluguitar. They're that close.
Don't let the pedal format dissuade you, the Amp1 is a real amplifier. It's not "like" an amp, or an amp emulator. It's an amp.
 
Currently holding on to a v1 PRS MT15 (one of the later runs, without the noisy Fx loop issues) to try out for a bit. I had one for a while a couple years ago and liked it quite a lot then, so I wanted to try it out again and see how it compares to the Classic Channel on the Iridium. There's something that I really like about where the mids sit in the MT15, it really is a great sounding little amp, thick and agressive but still articulate and with decent string clarity under high gain. IMO, however, it doesn't really quite hold up against my Iridium. This is at low to moderate volumes through my 412 , as well as "louder" into my Captor X.

Even with the bass knob on the MT15 maxed and the bass on the Iridium dialed down to like 2-3 (and no PDEQ or other EQ in the loop of the Iridium), the Classic Channel's low end just crushes the MT15. *BIG* difference when you put them head to head. And I really do *like* the MT15 a lot, the voicing is such that for recording at home and just messing around, I might wind up keeping it still, as it doesn't take up much room and the used price on this one is stupid good. It's a one trick pony and does that trick very well given its form factor and all, but I feel like the Iridium Classic Channel does a version of that trick -- the "kinda sorta Rectifier" trick -- better, and the Iridium also has many more tricks up its sleeve. And the MT15 doesn't have an anemic low end, by any means, it's just a "great low end considering that it's a ~15-20w lunchbox amp"; once you switch to the Iridium, it's not even close IMO. If I had to choose one or the other, there's no question which one would be staying. And this is just me messing around at home, not even taking into account how the MT15 will start hitting its headroom ceiling around like noon on the MV if you need to crank it in a LOUD live setting. It would be interesting to see how the Classic Channel compares against the lead channel on the MT100, I'd guess they'd be around the same ballpark.

On another note, since my last post I've been playing around more with the Modern Channel and it's growing on me. I think just because the (boosted) Vintage Channel and the Classic Channel work so well for what I do, I just haven't messed around with Modern enough. I can get it sounding good with the tone control cranked and either no boost, or as I said above, Iridium gain dialed back and a boost pedal in front. I'll need to mess around with my 10-band GEQ in the loop now, as I'm sure a couple tweaks to the mids can get it sounding really good. The more I play it, the more that it reminds me of the Engl e530, but I don't have an e530 at home to compare it to right now.

I also did try the ODD Box as a boost for the Modern Channel, as per Blug's demonstration of this. It's not for me, gets very noisy and I don't like the tone or feel at all, just sounds compressed and messy (I've never liked an OCD type pedal as a metal boost anyway). I think that the Modern Channel is going to be best suited as a drier "Englesque" channel, once I mess around with it a bit more now.
 
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