Alternative to Fishman Aura Spectrum

Epsilon · June 2023

Will be playing solo acoustic live in a few months. I don't often play live and I was hoping to pick up a Fishman Aura Spectrum for DI/EQ but they seem to have dropped off the face of the earth. None for sale anywhere.

Any alternatives out there that people would recommend? I like the relative simplicity of the Fishman combined with the impulse response options.

Rig will be Lowden -> K&K pure mini Western pickup -> DI / EQ pedal -> venue PA system.

Thoughts gratefully received.

shufflebeat · June 2023

If you’re handy with a mic and a computer you could make your own IR and load it into a Mooer Radar. To gat the most out of its other features takes a bit of setting up but once done it’s plug and play.

The input impedance isn’t really high enough for passive piezo but if you have an EQ like the Boss GE-7 that would take care of that. The Radar has a balanced out on TRS jack so no DI required, just a short TRS-XLR lead to work as an adaptor for mic leads.

Battery power can be provided by a 12v power pack if mains power isn’t always available.

The NUX Optima Air also gets lots of love from its fans. I haven’t used one myself but have explored the manual and reviews as I take an interest.

I have several IR options including the Radar and Tonedexter so don’t really feel the need.

ICBM · June 2023

A Boss TU-2 or TU-3 also makes a good 1M-input buffer (what the K&K needs) and also doubles as a handy tuner

.

A simple all-in-one option that sounds good - not great, not as good as the Aura but not bad and can be more predictable into a PA - is the Boss AD-8. It can’t load external IRs but the onboard ones are usable. Discontinued now but not too rare. I tried the newer AD-10 and didn’t like it as much - too complicated and fussy.

The Zoom AC-3 is also simple to use and good-sounding.

Winny_Pooh · June 2023

NUX optima air can help you record your own IR from your existing quitar. Has reverb and basic EQ too

Supportact · June 2023

Like @shufflebeat I immediately thought of the Mooer Radar for IRs and then augment that with whatever tuner/eq/boost etc you fancy. Probably could put it on a pedaltrain nano as a little acoustic pedal board.

Also i wonder if Fishman are planning on releasing a new version of the Aura, as it seems they're not selling the original anymore? I use one and they are very good (setting aside the fact you have to be prepared to spend a fair bit of time experimenting with the settings)

Grangousier · June 2023

You can also buy professionally produced IRs - e.g. https://www.3sigmaaudio.com/acoustic-impulses/ - to load into a Radar or a HX FX / Stomp.

I've an Aura box somewhere that I've not used for years if you want - not a Spectrum, it was technically a specifically acoustic guitar one, but I found that there was a secret USB port that let me use it with the IR management software (Aura Gallery III) so you can copy your preferred models on to it. Worked very well, but as I say, supplanted by Helixes (Helices?).

thomasw88 · June 2023

Zoom AC3? Appreciate its not a spectrum but you can get every sound you'd ever need out of it.. I do happen to be selling one.

Epsilon · July 2023

Thanks for everyone's contributions. I ended up, against my initial expectations, with the NUX Optima Air. Really pleased with it. Demoing it into studio headphones and monitors provided a much more natural tone than I've been able to achieve previously. I'd previously and unfairly written NUX off as one of those cheap and nasty brands that sell pedals through Amazon.

I've tried it with three different pickup systems (K&K pure mini, LR Baggs HiFi and D-TAR dual source). Interestingly, the cheapest of these - the K&K - sounds best to my ear.

ICBM · July 2023

Epsilon said:

I've tried it with three different pickup systems (K&K pure mini, LR Baggs HiFi and D-TAR dual source). Interestingly, the cheapest of these - the K&K - sounds best to my ear.

I've found that with all the outboard modelling preamp/things I've tried - a plain passive pickup works better than one which is already preamped/EQ'd/blended or whatever so it's more accurate when directly amplified. In particular, they work very well with the worst of all passive systems, an unpreamplified undersaddle piezo strip. I suspect it's because the more complex sound of the better pickup systems makes it harder for the modelling to follow the string signal, but I don't know enough about the technicalities of it to be sure.

Whatever the reason, it suits me since I don't like having batteries and gadgetry inside the guitar, I prefer a fit-and-forget pickup with all the rest done in an outboard box.

Littlejonny · August 2023

Every demo I’ve heard of these things sounds to me like the guitar is in a small room. I wonder if the IRs should be made under a duvet or in an anabolic chamber to rule out all acoustic reflections.
I’ve tried IRs in Logic (loading them in Space Designer) and that can be pretty convincing. There’s always something slightly electric in there, but a world away from a straight up piezo.

I currently use a Journey Tek version of the K&K Pure Mini, which I think has some built in EQ. It sounds excellent in my 000 but I think it does depend on the guitar quite a bit. I’m assuming that the K&K type pickups wouldn’t work so well with these IR boxes?

Littlejonny · August 2023

Ah - sorry didn’t read this post…that‘a exciting that the NUX sounds good with K&K!

Littlejonny · August 2023

Epsilon said:

Thanks for everyone's contributions. I ended up, against my initial expectations, with the NUX Optima Air. Really pleased with it. Demoing it into studio headphones and monitors provided a much more natural tone than I've been able to achieve previously. I'd previously and unfairly written NUX off as one of those cheap and nasty brands that sell pedals through Amazon.

I've tried it with three different pickup systems (K&K pure mini, LR Baggs HiFi and D-TAR dual source). Interestingly, the cheapest of these - the K&K - sounds best to my ear.

Ah - sorry didn’t read this post…that‘a exciting that the NUX sounds good with K&K! I’ll be looking at those closely. Any chance of a demo??

Wazmeister · August 2023

I’ve recently bought a L R Baggs Voiceprint.

Not cheap but absolutely magnificent sounding. Dead easy to use, and make your ‘own’ IRs.

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Alternative to Fishman Aura Spectrum

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