Fishman Aura Spectrum DI using K&K pure western mini?

[Daveman]

Hoping to get some advice on using the Fishman Aura with the passive pure western mini pickup:

I've read that the Aura is intended for an UST and plays best with the Fishman Trinity. That being said,
1) Would it add to the tone of a K&K pure mini?
2) Does it transmit phantom power to the K&K and at an acceptable amount?
3) Are there any technical considerations such as "ohms" or impedance that would cause an issue?
4) Does it have the ability to be used when an internal condenser mic is wired in with the K&K? If not, could the internal mic signal be split out or cancelled somehow?
5) Can it be used before another preamp or mixer?
6) What advantages/reasons would there be for going out XLR instead of 1/4 inch mono?


Thanks for your input and I appreciate any experiences you may have had with the Aura and K&K.

[Ed-in-Ohio]

Originally Posted by Daveman

Hoping to get some advice on using the Fishman Aura with the passive pure western mini pickup:

I've read that the Aura is intended for an UST and plays best with the Fishman Trinity. That being said,

1) Would it add to the tone of a K&K pure mini?

I have K&Ks on three guitars, and have found that the Aura Spectrum enhances the amplified tone on all three nicely as long as an appropriate (body and tonewood match) Aura image is selected, and the blend is kept judicious (usually no higher than 25%).

Originally Posted by Daveman

2) Does it transmit phantom power to the K&K and at an acceptable amount?

No, but the K&K is passive and does not need phantom power.

Originally Posted by Daveman

3) Are there any technical considerations such as "ohms" or impedance that would cause an issue?

In my experience, no. However, be aware that this is a much debated topic, and you're going to get strong and differing opinions.

Originally Posted by Daveman

4) Does it have the ability to be used when an internal condenser mic is wired in with the K&K? If not, could the internal mic signal be split out or cancelled somehow?

I'm sure that at the very least you could set the blend to 0 and use the Aura Spectrum as a straight pre-amp for the transducer.

Originally Posted by Daveman

5) Can it be used before another preamp or mixer?

It can definitely be run into a board mixer. Don't know about another preamp. I would guess not.

Originally Posted by Daveman

6) What advantages/reasons would there be for going out XLR instead of 1/4 inch mono?

Interesting you should ask this...The moment I went from the 1/4" to the XLR output I thought my rig sounded better. Somehow cleaner and fuller (just by a little). I now only use the XLR output into my amp.

Originally Posted by Daveman

Thanks for your input and I appreciate any experiences you may have had with the Aura and K&K.

No problem. Again, my biggest tip is to find the "right" image and to add it very judiciously.

[Long tooth]

I purchased a secondhand Spectrum as a curiosity more than anything. I have found in my short time with it that the post above is absolutely correct.

Find images that enhance the sound. Some images are not going to work well at all. This was a ton of fun to play around with. Match body shape and tone wood as suggested.

I run 1/4" out to my stage amp and the XLR to the house PA at church. Sounds great.

I also find the anti feedback setup to be quite effective once set according to the instructions.

Enjoy...it's a cool unit to play with.

[Petty1818]

That's very interesting, I find my spectrum DI to be very picky about what pickup is used. I tried it with my K&K and it just did not match well together. I find the aura images have a hollow/mid range characteristic which doesn't work well with SBT's. I will have to experiment.

With that said, it was mentioned above that good results are found with the aura at 25% blend with the K&K. IME, you don't start hearing much of the image until you are close to 50%. It's definitely a bit lower than 50% but 25% still sounds to me like my dry UST. You might be getting so little aura blended in that it works. However, I am not sure if I would make an investment into the aura if that was my blend setting.

[Ed-in-Ohio]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

...snip...It's definitely a bit lower than 50% but 25% still sounds to me like my dry UST. You might be getting so little aura blended in that it works. However, I am not sure if I would make an investment into the aura if that was my blend setting.

I generally agree with this, though I think I'm getting more "depth" and "fullness" to the tone of my K&K with the slight image blend.

Though I think the Aura Spectrum is a great preamp, even with the blend at zero, I would not recommend it for someone whose primary guitar was not equipped with an under saddle transducer pickup. There are other, much less expensive preamps that will work as well or better with non-UST pickups.

However, if you do have an UST on your guitar (and it doesn't need to be the Matrix despite what Fishman says ) you are going to get "scary good", almost unbelievable results with the Aura Spectrum by blending in an appropriate image. Of course, YMMV.

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by Ed-in-Ohio

However, if you do have an UST on your guitar (and it doesn't need to be the Matrix despite what Fishman says ) you are going to get "scary good", almost unbelievable results with the Aura Spectrum by blending in an appropriate image. Of course, YMMV.

I have found the Aura works best with the Matrix. I know a lot of times this is just false marketing but I tried it with the Lr Baggs Element and it just did not sound that good. It's definitely a unit that calls for experimentation though!

[SpruceTop]

Experimentation is, indeed, encouraged! Some of the best amplified acoustic guitar results I've ever had were with my now sold 2007 Gibson J-45 Honeyburst Koa Custom with its LR Baggs Element Active feeding a Fishman Aura Spectrum DI with J-45 Aura Images loaded. This setup was fed into a Fishman SoloAmp.