I've just discovered through experimentation that I love the tone of the regular Norton in the neck position of my HH strat. My reason for joining this forum was to ask the following:

How dramatically does the Air technology change the pick attack and dynamics of the pickup?

Is the tonality as close to identical as Dimarzio indicates?

I most recently had an Air Classic installed and one of the reasons I pulled it from the guitar was that the pick attack always seemed softer than what I wanted, I don't want that quality if it effects the Air Norton similarly.

The advantage the Air Norton would give me is the lowered output, giving me more flexibility with my bridge oickup choice. (That is where the regular Norton was before I gor the experimentation bug.) The advantage of the Norton is that I already know I like it there with downside that the output is higher, since I usually like about 50% more output from the bridge for my use.

Due to spacing whether I choose Norton or Air N I've got to buy another pickup anyhow, so it's not a tiebreaker that I already have a Norton.