Fishman F1 Aura+ vs. Fishman Aura VT Enhance?

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by noledog

Dave,



* While I'm sorry you weren't able to get an F1AP Retro, I'm happy for you that the VTAE Retro is working for you. I got one of the last F1AP Retros as you know and am glad of it. There is only one other that I know of locally.



** My 000-18e Retro-F1AP is a very nice & versatile tool in my toolbox as one who makes a living at music. I will say as well that unplugged this guitar is very sweet and seems in a short time to have blossomed a bit.

Now while I enjoy my D-18/M80 a bit more in certain applications and it certainly remains organic, hence an heirloom instrument, the 000-18 could be re-fitted, if necessary, with a new system, tho would likely lose value.



*** While it appears no future upgrades will be available, the F1AP hardware/ust can be removed. Yes the 3 small holes on the side will diminish any resale BUT you can make lemonade and either plug 'em, make 'em a soundport, or jus' leave 'em be. The jack can still be used...etc...etc...I could easily wire in my spare M80, if I felt I couldn't part with this guitar.

Hopefully I'll get my moneys worth out of it and enjoy it as one of "tools".



**** I still say that I would rather the VTAE be "re-imagined" by removing the SBT portion of the system and hardware in a single ribbon mic image that you can blend using the current enhance wheel. That would fatten up the trebles, add air and overall warmth. That said, both the F1AP & VTAE are nice workable systems among the best out there currently.



Keep rockin' Dave & enjoy that beasty HD!



eric

I agree! I would rather eliminate the enhance transducer and dedicate the blend wheel to dialing in more Aura image. Alas, there is no perfect pickup in this world. Martin was trying to appeal to the younger crowd who want to use their guitars like percussion instruments. Go figure.

You make a good point about the holes in the guitar. I would not mind plugging the holes in the F1+ guitars in the future. It wouldn't bother me in the least. But, I'd want to find a way to keep that handy tuner!

I watched the video interview with Fishman and Martin employees discussing the new system. It was clear from the discussion that the impetus for the change was the fact that CFM himself, and his R&D guy, did not like like the F1+. They didn’t like the holes and the myriad of options. But, I could tell from the video that Larry Fishman did. He has stated previously that the best work he ever did was with the Retro models using F1+. And, many of the Martin employees feel that way too. That said, the new system will sell much better with its discreet controls. And, CFM and the marketing team know what sells.

Ultimately, the new system is intended to fill that gap that you describe. Folks wanting to keep their prized heirloom Martin, purchased with hard earned money, as organic as possible, but wanting to plug it in.

I guess if I can’t have F1+, I’m still better off with Aura VTE than with the other after market systems I struggled with. The passive K&K needs a ton of processing before hitting the board. That’s OK if you have control of the board. The K&K active multi source systems sound very good but are very feedback prone. The Matrix alone works, but is unconvincing without the Aura pedal. The Aura Ellipse system sounded amazing, but required too much weight to be added to the soundboard and killed the instrument’s responsiveness. The LR Baggs is good, but I don’t care to have the element pickup in my guitars. The truth is that if Fishman released the Aura VTE to retail for aftermarket installation, nearly every AGF member would buy one because it’s light, doesn’t ruin the guitar, and probably sounds better than what they have.

Adding the Tondexter to any of the above solves the problem, but it’s not always convenient to plug into one of those.

[JackB1]

Having tried both, the Aura + system is waaaay better sounding the the Aura VT Enhance. Having 9 images to choose from is a lot better than one. Also the enhance feature makes the guitar sound very unnatural to my ears. I would rather have had a blend knob, to blend between the pickup and the image.

The Aura + is a great sounding system and it's not nearly as complicated as some folks make it sound. There is an easy mode where you just pick opne of 3 images and also the full blown mode takes 10 minutes to understand. Its as easy as picking your favorite image and adjusting the amount of blend. All the EQ and other items you can leave flat if you don't want to fiddle that much. Personally I love having that much control over tone shaping. Eliminates the need for any additional pedals, EQs or other processing.

[SpruceTop]

I prefer the Aura+ system. I've had both systems and the Aura VT Enhance just sounds too trebly for my taste when adding in the Enhance pickup to the mix.

[JackB1]

I agree. I had the VT Enhance and everyone told me my guitar sounded thin. Adding more of the Enhance knob didn’t help and anything more than a little of it sounds very unnatural. If you do have a VT Enhance pickup, you will need some major EQing to get it sounding decent.

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

I prefer the Aura+ system. I've had both systems and the Aura VT Enhance just sounds too trebly for my taste when adding in the Enhance pickup to the mix.

[AeroUSA]

I prefer the Enhance system as it picks up the body sounds. It is currently my pickup of choice.

[JackB1]

What happened to the Shatten HFN?

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

I prefer the Enhance system as it picks up the body sounds. It is currently my pickup of choice.