#1
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Seeking Observations From Matrix VT Enhance Users
I'm curious as to how folks are using these Martins in gig situations.
Does the use of much "enhance" cause feedback problems in a higher volume setting? If so, is a bass rolloff at the mixer enough to control the problem, or is a more precise EQ device needed? (I'm presuming that the onboard tone control, which ranges from a flat signal to a deep midrange cut, won't be much help with a boominess problem.) |
#2
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Hi Gary,
Last Fall, I purchased a new Standard Series 2016 Martin GPC-18E with the new Fishman Aura VT Enhance Pickup/Preamp System. First of all, let me state the actual Martin GPC-18E guitar is a fine-sounding and easy-playing acoustic guitar! Now, on to the Aura VT Enhance. I had high hopes for the Fishman Aura VT Enhance system as it combines a single, always-on Aura Image overlaying the signal from a Matrix UST, which can then be blended with a signal from an SBT pickup. The SBT pickup can be dialed completely out of the mix or dialed in to suit the player's tastes. Here's what I heard: First, I played the guitar with only the UST/Aura section of the preamp. With the tone control dialed all the way to the "flat EQ" end of the soundhole module's tonewheel, the tone was decent but a bit too shrill so I dialed-in more of the "scooped EQ" feature of the preamp which gave the amplified tone a full more pleasing sound but with a trebly brittleness. Next, I returned the UST/Aura to it flat EQ position and gradually added in some of the SBT signal via the Enhance's soundhole module's blendwheel and I immediately noticed a trebly- and mid-rangy tone to the amplified signal but it now had top and body resonance as witnessed by tapping on the guitar. The more I advanced the Enhance's soundhole module's blendwheel, the more pronounced and irritating the amplified tone! I found the best UST/Aura and SBT tone resulted from having the UST/Aura's tonewheel at its midway point of travel and the Enhance's blendwheel about 20-degrees-of-rotational arc from its "Off" position. This "best" tone to my ears is just barely passable for my style of play which uses mostly a flatpick. Conclusion: The Aura VT Enhance is usable BUT should be used with the channel EQ section of a mixer or amp or that of a standalone preamp. I make this claim after playing three Aura VT Enhance-equipped Martin Standard Series new-model guitars. The first was an in-store audition of the Martin OMC-18E. The second was my first-ordered Martin GPC-18E that I returned because it arrived with several scratches. The third is my current Martin GPC-18E. All three of these guitars are acoustically stellar but the Aura VT Enhance performed similarly. Can the Aura VT Enhance's internal endpin preamp be adjusted for better amplified tone? I sent an email request to Martin asking if there are any pots or switches on the preamp that can be adjusted to enable further adjustment of the system's tone to suit a player's taste? I never received a reply. One more niggling thing that can be annoying about this system and any of the Martin systems with the endpin/preamp/battery-box unit is that if the 1/4-inch plug gets wiggled by pulling on the cord, it can cause the system to crackle as internal contact is momentarily lost and re-established. Perhaps, the Aura VT Enhance has been improved since its introduction a little over a year ago? If not, it may be a decent system for a flesh-and-nails fingerstyle player but for someone who uses a flatpick most of the time, it will likely need some external signal-processing help. Regards, Ken Martin GPC-18E Specifications at Martin Guitars Website (click the circled i on page for specs): https://www.martinguitar.com/guitars...odels/gpc-18e/
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Martin HD-28 Sunburst/Trance M-VT Phantom Martin D-18/UltraTonic Adamas I 2087GT-8 Ovation Custom Legend LX Guild F-212XL STD Huss & Dalton TD-R Taylor 717e Taylor 618e Taylor 614ce Larrivee D-50M/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Blue Grass Special/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Sunburst Larrivee C-03R TE/Trance M-VT Phantom RainSong BI-DR1000N2 Emerald X20 Yamaha FGX5 Republic Duolian/Schatten NR-2 Last edited by SpruceTop; 03-18-2017 at 08:56 AM. |
#3
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Hi
I did not buy a guitar equipped with the VT enhance but have spent some time with it at the shop to compare it with my own IR process. I also attended to a Martin "show" were the demo guy said Retro guitars were better because you could use the manual mode to tune the tone you like. At this demo the Retro with full fishman Aura sounded miles better than the Aura enhance. Cuki
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Martin 00-18V Goldplus + internal mic (2003) Martin OM-28V + HFN + internal mic (1999) Eastman E6OM (2019) Trance Audio Amulet Yamaha FGX-412 (1998) Gibson Les Paul Standard 1958 Reissue (2013) Fender Stratocaster American Vintage 1954 (2014) http://acousticir.free.fr/ |
#4
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Thanks for the thorough recounting of your Aura Enhance experiences, Ken.
I've recently had some "challenges" with running sound for a friend's guitar, and I just discovered yesterday (upon looking it up) that its one of the new 15 series models with the Matrix VT Enhance. On my initial encounter with the pickup, I thought it might be a poorly installed UST, since it was behaving like a boomy SBT. In retrospect, I suspect he had the Enhance turned up and the tone set for a big mid cut. The result was a boomy, feedback prone sound which made it difficult for the light picking sections of his music to cut through. The second encounter with amplifying this guitar went much better, as setting the onboard tone control for a flat signal made it easier for me to tweak the tone. We were still unaware of the "Enhance" aspect of the signal, however. I have no idea how much Enhance, if any, was dialed in. In any event, I find it very relevant that you never did get complete satisfaction with your Aura Enhance sound, and that you believe offboard EQ help will be required for optimum results. My friend does a lot of plug'n'play stuff (Nashville writers nights and writers-in-the-round shows) where he needs decent control of his guitar sound from the stage. At this point, I'm thinking that his trusty old Tak (with its palathetic pickup system and onboard three band tone controls) is a better option. |
#5
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Next time you do the sound for your friend, let me suggest turning off the Enhance SBT to get a reference tone from the UST/Matrix and then have him add in just a little Enhance to hear if it improves the amplified tone. A little Enhance goes a long way! For comparison, the Taylor ES2 is what the Aura VT Enhance and Matrix VT Enhance were out gunning for but they both missed their mark. The Taylor ES2 has the immediacy of attack of a UST with the body resonance of an SBT and can be adjusted from mellow to wonderfully warm to shrill using only its onboard guitar controls--No outboard EQ necessary.
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Martin HD-28 Sunburst/Trance M-VT Phantom Martin D-18/UltraTonic Adamas I 2087GT-8 Ovation Custom Legend LX Guild F-212XL STD Huss & Dalton TD-R Taylor 717e Taylor 618e Taylor 614ce Larrivee D-50M/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Blue Grass Special/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Sunburst Larrivee C-03R TE/Trance M-VT Phantom RainSong BI-DR1000N2 Emerald X20 Yamaha FGX5 Republic Duolian/Schatten NR-2 Last edited by SpruceTop; 03-18-2017 at 10:33 AM. |
#6
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The reason I kept the Martin GPC-18E with Aura VT Enhance is that I got it for $2295 compared to this dealer's regular $3059 MAP. There was a Yellow Tag Sale in which this dealer moves the stock that wasn't selling very well (IMHO these new Standard Series Cutaway E Models should be selling better). So, basically, I got an excellent-sounding guitar with 1930s-style goodies like forward-shifted, scalloped bracing, open-gear tuners, dovetail neck joint, all-solid-wood, including Genuine Mahogany back and sides for a great price. I can always remove the Aura VT Enhance System and install a Trance Audio Amulet M Dual Mono in its place and I think there's even enough clearance for the Trance preamp to fit the Martin's endpin-jack/battery-box. Of course, this process can also be reversed without damaging either system.
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Martin HD-28 Sunburst/Trance M-VT Phantom Martin D-18/UltraTonic Adamas I 2087GT-8 Ovation Custom Legend LX Guild F-212XL STD Huss & Dalton TD-R Taylor 717e Taylor 618e Taylor 614ce Larrivee D-50M/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Blue Grass Special/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Sunburst Larrivee C-03R TE/Trance M-VT Phantom RainSong BI-DR1000N2 Emerald X20 Yamaha FGX5 Republic Duolian/Schatten NR-2 |
#7
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#8
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I'm personally a fan of the Aura technology when used with custom sound images (sound images created using the same guitar/pickup rig that you'll be using with the Aura preamp). My New England friend Cormac McCarthy uses custom sound images with his Matrix-equipped Guild and the original Aura box. He gets awesome amplified tone. To my way of thinking, the best onboard Aura system will allow the user to load it with custom sound images created for (and from) that particular instrument. |
#9
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Martin HD-28 Sunburst/Trance M-VT Phantom Martin D-18/UltraTonic Adamas I 2087GT-8 Ovation Custom Legend LX Guild F-212XL STD Huss & Dalton TD-R Taylor 717e Taylor 618e Taylor 614ce Larrivee D-50M/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Blue Grass Special/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Sunburst Larrivee C-03R TE/Trance M-VT Phantom RainSong BI-DR1000N2 Emerald X20 Yamaha FGX5 Republic Duolian/Schatten NR-2 Last edited by SpruceTop; 03-18-2017 at 01:02 PM. |
#10
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At least, there is hope Cuki
__________________
Martin 00-18V Goldplus + internal mic (2003) Martin OM-28V + HFN + internal mic (1999) Eastman E6OM (2019) Trance Audio Amulet Yamaha FGX-412 (1998) Gibson Les Paul Standard 1958 Reissue (2013) Fender Stratocaster American Vintage 1954 (2014) http://acousticir.free.fr/ |
#11
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I'm tempted to get a ToneDexter but shouldn't spend more money on stuff but probably will. I'm a gear slut!
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Martin HD-28 Sunburst/Trance M-VT Phantom Martin D-18/UltraTonic Adamas I 2087GT-8 Ovation Custom Legend LX Guild F-212XL STD Huss & Dalton TD-R Taylor 717e Taylor 618e Taylor 614ce Larrivee D-50M/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Blue Grass Special/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Sunburst Larrivee C-03R TE/Trance M-VT Phantom RainSong BI-DR1000N2 Emerald X20 Yamaha FGX5 Republic Duolian/Schatten NR-2 |
#12
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It'll be interesting to see, with ToneDexter, if folks find an industrial strength miked-guitar sound to be as useful in a high volume setting, or more useful in a high volume setting, as the more string-oriented and immediate sound of a UST, mag pickup or in-saddle pickup like the Graph Tech Ghost or Barbera Soloist. Some of the folks here seem to prefer the more immediate pickup sound for certain applications. |
#13
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#14
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__________________
Martin 00-18V Goldplus + internal mic (2003) Martin OM-28V + HFN + internal mic (1999) Eastman E6OM (2019) Trance Audio Amulet Yamaha FGX-412 (1998) Gibson Les Paul Standard 1958 Reissue (2013) Fender Stratocaster American Vintage 1954 (2014) http://acousticir.free.fr/ |
#15
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If I were a ToneDexter user who was unsure that a miked guitar sound would be the best sound for a certain application, or feedback resistant enough for a certain application, I'd probably just bring a backup preamp which works well with the guitar's pickup. Whether I end up using a miked guitar sound (from ToneDexter) or a dry pickup sound, I'll want control of the EQ and volume level from the stage. If ToneDexter does indeed give users a less expensive and easy-to-employ method of getting amplified sound on the level (or above the level) of Aura used with custom sound images, it will indeed be something special. Even presuming it will do that, however, it remains to be seen if people will actually prefer a miked guitar sound (over a more immediate pickup sound) for various high volume applications. In my own case, I always felt that the digitally enhanced (by Aura or Mama Bear) pickup signals were a bit more feedback prone than the dry signals. (In the case of Mama Bear's target guitar #9, a lot more feedback prone.) It remains to be seen if feedback susceptibility (as compared to the dry pickup signals) will be an issue with ToneDexter. If it isn't an issue, I suspect ToneDexter will be popular with a great many folks, if not everyone. I'm reminded of a guitar forum comment which I read ten or fifteen years ago. The commenter speculated that pickup systems will eventually get so good that folks will be buying custom pedals which reproduce the "vintage" sound of a quacky piezo undersaddle pickup. I may need such a pedal for my Anthem SL-equipped and Lyric-equipped guitars, but it appears that ToneDexter will make it possible for folks to keep their quacky piezo pickups and convert to a miked-guitar sound whenever they choose to. |