Fishman Ellipse Blend with Aura

[mustachio]

So, I scoured AGF for the answer to this question and have some feedback and observations after an expensive week.

Here's the situation. I bought a stock 2016 D-18 in September and put a K&K pickup it. I have AER Colourizer preamp but wasn't super happy with the preamp because of its lack of tone shaping eq options. I had a great experience with the older version of the Fishman Ellipse Blend so I had one installed about two weeks ago. Very acceptable, and sounds great with the AER. However, picky mic placement makes it sensitive to position changes. Especially because I use D'Addario humidipaks and they always move the mic and I have to reposition it.

So, last week I purchased an OM-28 VTS and wanted to try a different route. Fishman Matrix Infinity with an Aura Sixteen pedal. I read numerous threads with complaints, e.g. Quack, "cavern" effect, loss of tone due to the piezo. But, I pulled the trigger and had them installed yesterday.

My thinking was this: I can use the Aura with the Ellipse and just slide it all the way to the pickup and that way I could use the D-18 for loud gigs and the the Blend for solo gigs. My logic was that the undersaddle in the Blend is the same as the Infinity. Why not, right? The Matrix Infinity, to my ear, is much clearer and louder than the Blend's undersaddle pickup. It must be eq'd diffrently in the Ellipse.

Well, once I had uploaded the images for a dreadnought and an OM, I had a chance to A/B the systems through the Aura 16 pedal. The Blend's piezo is tweaked for it to be used with the gooseneck mic and has less output than the Matrix. The Matrix in the OM was much more strident with better low end therefore letting the nuances of the images come through. The Blend, not so much. My tech, who has done some R&D for Fishman products told me that the Matrix Infinity was used in the processing capturing the images. Also, keep in mind, I've accounted for all the variables. For example, I'm using a Fishman Loudbox Artist, I switched both pickup's internal bass boost for comparison, good cables, etc.

My thoughts are these: the Blend is intended for use without the Aura. It's for your guitar's sound, but it's picky and will need constant tweaking before every session. The Matrix Infinity is great by itself, the tone mid-cut and volume knobs are incredible, but with the Aura pedal, it's the best system I've ever used. The OM images sounded great and even when using the OM with the dreadnought images! But, the best part for me is the consistency from gig to gig. I do believe Fishman amps with thier pickups are optimized to be used together. I played an AER 60/3 and no where near the quality of Fishman products. And one last thing, the complaints of the Matrix Infinity were unfounded in my experience. And I am the most picky consumer when it comes to gear. I do admit there's a little decrease in the OM's response acoustically without being amplified. But, the peace of mind while gigging is worth the minuscule compromise, it's not even a compromise. Hope this helps.