anyone using MG2 or MG3 familiar with or use cycfi Research NU multi Pickups?
Joel de Guzman
This is a system similar to the Roland GK pickup. In addition to the Nu-Multi pickup you need the Nexus interface, a internal MIDI module, cables, switches…
With MG2 or current MG3 this makes no sense.
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fwiw, i installed a set of the cycfi nu multis on a fretless bass, but could not solve the issue of cross talk between strings.
the pickups are very sensitive, and i couldn’t find a workable balance between pickup height and the necessary gating.
cycfi has a great product, i’m not criticizing the nu’s, they sound quite fine.
on guitar probably there would be less of an issue.
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@ kimyo interesting, this kind of practical usage info is helpful.
there is also LASER tech (by different company) that is being used per string that looks interesting.
~ Thank you
That’s really fundamentally wrong. The Nexus is just expensive robust multi pin cabling, completely unneeded. If you have a Nexus you still absolutely need an audio interface and there’s still no midi involved.
All you ACTUALLY need is a cabling to get pickup output (line level) to your audio interface with 6 free inputs. At that point you have a hexaphonic guitar, where each string could use a monophonic instance of MG.
This would of course improve chordal tracking a great deal.
the linked article provides a lot of generic note detection info, and i don’t believe anyone said no audio interface would be required.
whether or not the nu’s are superior to gk2/3, graphtech, rmc etc. is an open question.
in my personal experience piezo’s have proved to be both reliable and effective, plus they’re easier to maintain/install than the gk’s or the nu’s.
this is a video of my mg2hex setup in action:
using this system, a notable plus is that a long held chord on piano fades out naturally. this is not possible with boss synths like the gp-10 and sy-1000, with them holding a piano chord till it fades out produces weird artifacts and highly unnatural cut offs.
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I was merely saying the expensive Nexus stuff is not needed for getting the signal to MG at all. You just need pickups and any sort of cable to the audio interface. Nu pickups is line level so any old cable/connector would work.
the nu’s require power. it is possible to use 9v batteries but they go flat pretty quick.
Then please show me the cable you made from the Nu PU to your audio interface. If it shall last for some time and function properly you don’t get around the internal breakout bord, the 19 pin connector plug built into your guitar and a 19 pin cable you can cut and solder 6 XLR or TRS plugs on (another 140 bucks on top of the Nu PU price).
I just made a breakout box for GK2/3 pickups and therefor know that such things are possible to do!
BTW, if you don’t power the preamps of the Nu’s they are never line level but that is not an issue if your audio interface has good preamps.
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i don’t know what we are talking about here. You said some stuff about how you NEED this item and that item (internal midi module??) That’s not true. A functional setup needs only a connector installed, cable, and then tails to the audio interface. The cheapest connector would be a free VGA connector.
I’m not saying Cycfi cabling breakout isn’t good, I literally called it robust. However since you could use any cable you want it’s not a NEED. Two ethernet cables (up to 7 string) and connectors would work fine and have actually better audio performance (inaudible but very measurable).
You NEED only 6 pairs of wires plus power and ground.
i used a shielded audio cable with 4 separate pairs for my bass. a problem is that is it much heftier than a typical guitar cable. for power i tried a usb 9v adapter, perhaps i had a bad one but it was too noisy to use.
i was getting about 36 hours of reliable use from a 9v battery if you choose that path.
i believe that using twisted pair/network cables will be problematic interference-wise, especially on stage.
but please build it and post some photos, let us know how it works.
my final solution was to install a dante interface on the bass. so i am using twisted pair, but for data only, which is what they are designed for.
One would think more expensive and thicker is is better, but often the expense is for handling/coiling characteristics, niche manufacturing, and also profit. Lots of audio cables don’t even test at 100% shielding but Cat 7 is 100% per pair and then 100% around everything.
Anyways Whirlwind sells analog over Cat 5-6 (product line Catdusa) with a 1500 meter distance rating so obviously they disagree with it being problematic in a stage environment.
from the whirlwind product description:
Catdusa is a 4 channel analogue snake box that uses shielded Cat5 cable instead of traditional multipair cable.
Each channel has paralleled male and female xlrs, allowing for greater flexibility. The two Neutrik Ethercon RJ45s (IN/THRU), let you daisy chain multiple boxes. If shielded Cat5 cable is used, Catdusa can pass phantom power and DMX. The Mini stage box design means Catdusa can be placed almost anywhere.
the wiki re: ethercon
The EtherCON is a ruggedized and lockable connector for Ethernet over twisted pair wiring. It is manufactured by Neutrik and is designed for professional audio and stage lighting network applications.[1]
EtherCON connectors are used on many audio over Ethernet and audio over IP products.
ie: this is a digital device, and that is why it can run for 1500 meters. otherwise a great deal of magic would be involved.
hey it’s ok that you have something to learn here. “Catdusa is a 4 channel analogue snake box that uses shielded Cat5 cable instead of traditional multipair cable.”
It’s just a cable adapter, it’s unpowered, it literally has nothing but wire. Think about what you quoted, it’s saying it passes phantom and DMX, that’s because it’s wire, it also can be used for AES-192 or whatever.
You seem to be hung up on the Ethercon part of it, but you certainly can use plain old cat-5,6,7 to connect and it plugs and works.
https://www.soundpro.com/content/product-documents/catdusa_manual.pdf you can see the internal wiring of this audio adapter here.
PS it shouldn’t be surprising that a cables design to transmit 600mhz over 100meters work much farther over 20-20kHz. I don’t remember where I saw the Whirlwind 1500M claim, but even if it’s only 2 or 3 football fields it’s a lot.