The Fishman Aura 16 is the Bee's Knees!

Big.Al · #1 07-09-2011, 09:00 PM

I've been doing a little more experimenting with a Fishman Aura Sixteen pedal and my Larrivee D-03SO with the Baggs Element pickup. I found an image that matches my guitar really well and I bought a small Alesis USB mixer so I can record directly to my computer without a lot of noise.

Please have a listen and let me know what you think!

Here's the guitar recorded with a Blue Snowflake condenser microphone:

Miked Guitar

Here's the same guitar plugged in through the Aura at a 50% blend . . . recorded straight into the computer:

Aura At 50%

And, for comparison, here is the raw pickup output, direct to the computer:

Raw Pickup

In some ways, I actually like the Aura recording better than the one miked acoustically. I can't wait to try this in public!

southpaw pete · #2 07-09-2011, 10:34 PM

Sounds great, Big.Al
Thanks for posting more clips to compare. It really does a great job of making your guitar sound more "mic'd." Which image did you use for your guitar?

Looking forward to hearing how it works for you live. Please keep us posted.

Big.Al · #3 07-09-2011, 10:46 PM

The image I wound up using is a maple Baden guitar close miked with a DPA 4011 . . . which is somewhat unlike the actual guitar . . . but it seems to work very well. I only tried about 40 of the 800 images provided. Maybe there is another image that would be an even better match, but I doubt it. This combination is plenty good enough for me. Church choir season is over for the summer, so I might not get to actually play out with it for another several weeks. I'd better stop playing with electronic toys and get back to working on my chops until then . . . .

John Bartus · #4 07-10-2011, 11:47 AM

COOL!

I love my Aura Spectrum DI as well. It really makes for a better plugged-in acoustic tone!

SpruceTop · #5 07-10-2011, 12:22 PM

Fishman Aura-based preamps, whether onboard or pedals, are an easy way to get what is basically a plug-and-play setup when applied to the variety of venues and the challenges they can present in achieving a good amplified acoustic-guitar tone.

Regards,

SpruceTop

southpaw pete · #6 07-10-2011, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big.Al

Church choir season is over for the summer, so I might not get to actually play out with it for another several weeks. I'd better stop playing with electronic toys and get back to working on my chops until then . . . .

Ha ha Yeah, I hear ya there.

I'm a songwriter, and occasionally my wife would tell me: nobody pays royalties for "tone" - why don't you take some of that time and write a song? It's just so fun to try out the different "toys of tone," comparing different settings, whether it's Aura images or reverbs or different overdrives on my electric... Of course, I do find myself more inspired when I like what I'm hearing.