Fishman Aura VT Enhance vs LR Baggs Anthem in Martins??

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by Groberts

I gigged last night and brought my OMC18E with Fishman Aura VT Enhance and Collings OM2H With Baggs Anthem.



Both were great and totally Pro gear. The Aura VT Enhance is however a little more balanced and easy to get a great balance. The Difference might Be Guitar related too.

Your demo videos are excellent for someone looking to understand the VT Enhance system.

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by BluesKing777

I don’t think Martin have sold that many Retros - the word was out from the beginning that it was ‘complicated’ - I already owned the Aura Spectrum and the onboard preamp is pretty well the whole Spectrum and controls PLUS! So it is Dave, me and Bob.... I was explaining it to a friend I thought might want one but he went cross eyed and didn’t want to mention it ever again - maybe the new model is more to his liking?

Now I love fooling around with the 9 images made by using vintage mics on a 1930s D18...pretty cool! Just before, I plugged into my mixer and used the mic image no 3, which is an old RCA mic ala what Elvis would have first sung in! And there is my D18 mic’d with it, algoririm’d and locked and loaded with vol, eq, comp, feedback blaster etc....all ready to plug direct into my mixer. Fabulous!


BluesKing777.

Yes, we three (worldwide) Retro owners are totally enthralled with our mic images. The rest of the world gets a little queasy when you mention anything more complicated than a 1/4” instrument cable. :-)

[nedray]

I just picked up a GPC-28e with the Aura Enhance, and I'm impressed with the brief tryout I gave the pickup system through a Yamaha powered PA head with a 115 cab. I can see where the UST tone could be a bit thin by itself, especially with a small acoustic amp, but the tone wheel and the Enhance fader really did their jobs and I got a very natural acoustic tone out of it. Best of all, I was able to play it pretty loud in a small room and it never got close to feeding back. I'm more impressed at this point than I've ever been with the Anthem in my Gibson AJ, which is not bad, but clumsier to use. Again, I haven't played the Martin out yet, so my impressions could change, but I like it so far. In fact, I like this guitar a lot more than I expected to, even with the skinny PA neck.

[Shades of Blue]

My new 000-28 has the LR Baggs Lyric installed, but I haven't even plugged it in yet. I was looking forward to trying out some acoustic amps in a shop this weekend, but it doesn't look like it is going to happen.

I may plug it into my computer monitors if I can figure out how....maybe I just need an interface for my iPad or computer.

[Groberts]

Originally Posted by nedray

I just picked up a GPC-28e with the Aura Enhance, and I'm impressed with the brief tryout I gave the pickup system through a Yamaha powered PA head with a 115 cab. I can see where the UST tone could be a bit thin by itself, especially with a small acoustic amp, but the tone wheel and the Enhance fader really did their jobs and I got a very natural acoustic tone out of it. Best of all, I was able to play it pretty loud in a small room and it never got close to feeding back. I'm more impressed at this point than I've ever been with the Anthem in my Gibson AJ, which is not bad, but clumsier to use. Again, I haven't played the Martin out yet, so my impressions could change, but I like it so far. In fact, I like this guitar a lot more than I expected to, even with the skinny PA neck.

Nedray,

I also have a Baggs Anthems in a couple guitars. They are indeed a little more clumsy, but once I've got them set, I usually don't need to touch them again.

The Aura VT Enhance thumbwheels are however much easier to reach and adjust and I discovered the the way they are inset, I can still use a wood soundhole feedback buster. (although I haven't really needed it since I don't play that loud)

The Tone knob on the Aura VT Enhance does a nice job. I have not yet found much use for the enhance. The more I dial the enhance wheel, the more hollow my sound becomes (OMC-18E). So I use maybe 10% of it for presence.

[John Bartus]

Personally, I think Martin is going the wrong direction by moving to the Aura VT Enhance and away from the Classic and F1+ preamps. The VT only has one image onboard, and no way to control the parameters. As someone who has used and loved the Fishman Aura system through the original Blender, Spectrum DI, and my Martins with onboard Aura preamps, it takes a bit of work to get the perfect sound. And it's nice having the different images recorded with different microphones -- makes it easier to dial in one's preferred acoustic sound. And the new soundhole-mounted volume and tone wheels make it difficult to use a feedback buster, something quite necessary if playing amplified at a moderate to loud volume.

Anthem pickups are really good for what they are, but a finely tuned Aura system is much better at reproducing an honest mic'ed acoustic tone. IMHO...

[Dave L]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

Yes, we three (worldwide) Retro owners are totally enthralled with our mic images. The rest of the world gets a little queasy when you mention anything more complicated than a 1/4” instrument cable. :-)

I had a retro system at one point. It was hard to make changes on the fly. I had to keep the cheat sheet handy and even then I would screw up.