Fishman Aura Ellipse Review
by Maury Rutch
Now the best sounding acoustic/electric guitar can be yours ... and I mean the one you already own!
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As some of you may already know (from my past reviews) - Tim Perry and I have been playing Martin's Aura-equipped guitars for sometime now. I'd been doing 2/3 of my gigs with my OM-28V and 1/3 with the OMC-16RE Aura. Tim plays the 000C-16RGTE Aura. Now Tim and I can't claim to know everything about everything, but when it comes to the Aura, we're dangerously familiar with what it can do. Small noisy bars, medium size auditoriums, 1000+ seat venues ... we've been lucky to "test" this great gear in many different rooms. The Aura is so versatile its scary. But there's something about playing my favorite guitar too - even if it wasn't Aura-fied. Well now it is!
Yep. Fishman has now released the new Ellipse Aura. This new system comes complete with the Ellipse Aura unit that hides neatly under the lip of your guitar's soundhole, and the legendary Acoustic Matrix undersaddle pickup element. Its a plug and play system that can be installed in any guitar with a drop-in style saddle. Plug in its USB cable, connect the unit to your PC, and quickly download your favorite 4 sound images from the included software, and you're ready to go! Now you no longer have to buy a new guitar to enjoy the Aura's killer tone. You can have it with your favorite, most "comfy old shoe" guitar. Yeah, you can dig it. :)
The kind folks at Fishman have loaned me a beta unit and I've been participating in their beta test run. I installed the unit in my guitar, and within 30 minutes I was tuned up and ready to proceed. Next I installed the Aura image gallery software (included) on my PC and plugged in the USB cable. Next, I scrolled through the list of sound images and found those that most closely matched my OM-28V. I found several OM-42 images, so I tried them - 4 at a time. Once I dragged-and-dropped the images I liked, it took all of 6 seconds to load them into my guitar. I simply unplugged the USB cable and plugged into the PA. I found 2 images were too bright, so I repeated the process until I found 4 great sounds. Its that easy.
I've been using the Ellipse Aura in my OM-28V for over a month now, and I've auditioned it in many ways. Recording at home. At some full band gigs. Through my Bose PA here at home ... just as many ways as I can - to find its strengths and weaknesses. In reality, I'll probably only use 1 image 99% of the time - but its nice to have 3 more in there just in case. The fact that I can blend back and forth between UST sound and Aura sound, always lets me get the necessary amount of ambiance for each gig. There are certain rooms we play that sound very lively and boomy, and for those I dial in much more UST signal. Other times we can afford to dial in more of a mic'd tone - and its SO great to be able to decide these things on the fly. The Ellipse Aura sounds extremely rich, fat and alive. I usually like a blend of 1/2 Aura and 1/2 UST, and with this mixture I get a nice immediate punch, but with a very smooth, robust decay to every note - whether I'm strumming or playing soft fingerstyle. The overtones are all there, but not tinny or harsh. Just a nice wash of chime mixed in with the thick tone my 28V is putting out all on its own. Tasty stuff!
I have 4 more weeks of beta testing before I have to hand in my review to Fishman. For now, I can honestly say that this is the best tone I've ever had from my OM-28V. Thanks Fishman!
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