Demonstration Of The NUX MG-400

Guitar World

“Since releasing the MG-300, people have been blown away by the sound and playability, not to mention the ease-of-use tone tweaking and intuitive interface,” says Guitar World Tech Editor Paul Riario. “And now, the MG-400 builds upon the MG-300 features, becoming arguably the best value modeler for your money.”

Transcript

00:00What's up? Paul here from Guitar World and today we're going to be checking out a powerhouse

00:22modeling guitar and bass processor that will knock your socks off, not just for its sound,

00:28but how incredibly affordable it is. The NUX MG400. Let's check it out.

00:39The NUX MG400 is the next step up from the popular MG300, or as NUX puts it,

00:47the MG300 little brother, MG400 big brother, with their flagship modeler still being the MG30.

00:58The MG400's sonic engine houses two powerful DSP chips for NUX's high-definition white box

01:07amp modeling algorithm, or TSAC-HD, which stands for True Simulation of an Analog Circuit

01:14and Core Image Post Effects, which basically translates to you're going to feel the difference

01:21and playability and experience realistic amp and cab sounds from the MG400.

01:33Since releasing the MG300, and if you've ever played it and own it like me,

01:37I was completely floored by the sound and playability, let alone how easy it is to tweak its tone.

01:42The MG400 builds upon the MG300's intuitive interface and features,

01:50and is poised to become one of the best modelers for its price.

01:58The MG400 comes loaded with 25 amps, one bass amp and one acoustic amp, and of course,

02:04a multitude of effects. What's great is NUX's proprietary white box amp modeling algorithm

02:09replicates the sound, feel, and playability of these amps, and NUX is consistent in firmware updates,

02:16so you can pretty much bank on NUX amp and cab sims at some point. Just keep an eye on NUX's

02:22online page and Facebook page and groups. The MG400 includes an impulse response library of 512 samples

02:29each, and you can also load third-party IR files using NUX's QuickTone edit software.

02:35What's included is 25 guitar cabinet IRs that combine four different classic microphones with

02:41three positions of mic placement. Also included are eight bass cabinet IRs and three acoustic guitar

02:47IRs. Looking at the eye-catching 2.8-inch color LCD screen, you can see you have 10 independent and

02:54flexible FX and signal blocks that you can move freely on the MG400 and or on the QuickTone editing

03:01software if you use your computer. Over to the left is the color LCD screen where you see your patch,

03:07and you can begin to edit from there. On top, of course, is the location of your patch. You can see

03:12up on top here where your expression pedal is set at. If I hit the pedal button, you'll notice I can assign

03:20the expression pedal for different functions. Right now it's a wah, but watch. I can use it for effects,

03:29amp, mod, delay, reverb. Next to it, you'll see how the control one and control foot switches

03:39are set up. One is tap, and the other allows you to scroll sequentially through the preset scenes.

03:45To the right, you'll see which scene you're on, and you'll see hitting the control one,

03:51which is the tap button, changes the BPM reflected by the icon there.

04:01On the bottom are the 10 signal blocks that comprise of amp, effects, and EQ, and you'll see your signal

04:08chain flows from left to right. To edit, simply hit the edit exit button, brings up another screen,

04:16and wherever the arrow cursor is, is what you're editing, and in this case it's the amp. Use the

04:22control button to edit pages of that parameter. You'll see on this one it has two from the underscore lines.

04:31Now use the one, two, and three knobs to change settings, and or use the rotary select knob to

04:41scroll through the amp models. Be careful when you're editing, just say on the amp. When you're

04:46using just these controls, you're tempted to go to the left and right arrow buttons, and if you do that,

04:52it'll just move the cursor to the next signal block, and then you're onto a different editing screen.

04:58What's cool is if you wish to add a block that's not in the patch, simply move the arrow, then hit

05:03select control to turn it on and make it active. So in this case, I've activated a CE1 course,

05:11but if I don't want that and say I want a phaser, I can simply just turn the rotary knob until I get

05:19a phaser. In this case I have the phase 90 over here. Now if I wish to move it in my signal block,

05:26all I gotta do is long press the select knob till it turns red, then use the left and right arrows to

05:32move it where I want it in the chain, and hit select again till it turns green.

05:38And then, of course, if I long press it and move it back to where it was behind the amp, it sounds so much different.

05:56And then, of course, if I long press it and move it back to where it was behind the amp,

06:05it sounds so much different. But, I like the way it sounds when I move it over there. Right there.

06:21Over here is the mode button that sets up how you wish to configure the MG400 output. Also pressing the

06:36edit exit and save simultaneously will bring up the system menu. There's also a built-in tuner on the

06:42MG400, but you'll see I'm also using the Cherub FlowTune clip tuner that features a compensated tuning

06:49mode. But let's get on with the MG400. You'll notice the presets were made by well-known influencers

06:55and musicians from around the world. What's so great is just how nuanced all the sounds are. So,

07:01even when you fire this up and you have this preset here, this is sort of like that Bogner,

07:07Bogner high gain sound. It's so different when I go to the next preset,

07:11which is more of a British sound. Take a quick listen.

07:41Even some of the cleans are really nice. In this case, this is a very affected sound.

08:01Here's a great heavier sounding preset and, of course, the NU-X noise gate block is just incredible.

08:26Take a listen.

08:39Less buttons, controls, and switches means you'll need to know how they are assigned to edit your

08:58settings. But don't worry, it's super easy. First up, you'll see the up and down foot switches that

09:03take you through the presets. I love the bigger covered orange knob that NU-X included, so your

09:08foot doesn't hit knobs as you're reaching over with your foot to bank up. You'll see the overall

09:15master volume knob, which you'll want to set up for a comfortable volume. Keep in mind a lot of the

09:20presets vary in volume as you scroll through. One of the features I love is its scene functionality,

09:27where you can use scenes to engage disengage blocks with either control foot switch. Here,

09:32you can assign control one or control two to activate the scene functionality, or use one control to

09:39engage each scene sequentially and use the other control as a tap switch. There are many versatile

09:45possibilities. Here's a great example of how to use the scenes. This one is set up for the control one.

09:52It's set up to turn the delay signal block on and off. Right now it's just with a heavy reverb. And then

09:59if I go to the second scene, indicated by the color, this is more of a modulated, but with this one also

10:05has a delay on the control one. And you can turn on and off. Take a listen.

10:20dot come out.

10:23dot come in.

10:24dot come in.

10:25uh

10:29dot come

10:50Each preset has three scenes which are snapshots within a preset and it's an

11:04important function for live gigs where you can tap into a rhythm or lead tones

11:08or affected tones. You'll notice each scene can engage disengage signal blocks

11:14freely and it retains the delay reverb trails when you disengage them. If that's

11:18not enough, the MG-400 includes a jam button for drum accompaniment and a looper.

11:32The MG-400 has NUX phrase loop synchronization with rhythm, so you can play a rhythm, record

11:39your phrase loop, and the MG-400 will beat match the phrase to fit the current rhythm BPM.

11:48You can choose either stereo mono looping, stereo is 30 seconds, mono is 60 seconds, and there

12:02are two recording modes. Normal recording works as a typical looper, and then there's auto

12:07recording which will stand by until you press the control loop foot switch, and once you hit

12:12the strings it will start to record your phrase loop. Once you download the QuickTone Editor

12:19from the MG-400 product page, you'll find it to be a helpful and easy to use interface for

12:24tweaking parameters, dragging block order, set up scenes, saving patches, loading patches,

12:29exporting patches, load IR, setting up USB routing and control settings. And I can't forget that its USB audio

12:37capabilities allow you to record tracks, re-amp, and even do live streaming. The NUX MG-400 is a

12:44powerful guitar and bass modeler that offers so much functionality and stellar tones at a price that

12:51fits working musicians and casual players' budgets. Plus, its compact design allows you to take it anywhere

12:57from the studio to the stage. You'll find, like me, its model sounds are seriously on par with many

13:04renowned modeling processors. I totally dig this. Definitely check it out.

13:34Alright, let's go!

Category

Transcript

Recommended