Fishman Aura Sixteen User manual

www.fishman.com

USER GUIDE
AURA® SIXTEEN

Welcome

Thank you for making Fishman a part of your acoustic experience. We are

proud to offer you the fi nest acoustic amplifi cation products available;
high-quality professional-grade tools to empower you to sound your very
best. We are confi dent Aura Sixteen will both enhance and inspire your
music making.

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Quick Start

Power – Install a 9V alkaline or lithium battery (not included).
Set the controls – Volume at minimum, select at #1 and blend at

its mid-point.
Plug in – Use standard ¼-inch shielded instrument cables. Place any

other pedals after Aura Sixteen.
Set trim – Play hard and adjust input trim (right side) so clip/batt LED

fl ashes occasionally.
Select an Image – Raise the volume and audition the 16 Images with

the select knob. Since Aura Sixteen ships with dreadnought Images, it’s
important to use a dreadnought style guitar or see page 12 on
downloading Images for your instrument.

Blend to taste – turn left for more pickup and right for more Image.
Kill feedback – If feedback starts, change the position of the phase

switch.
Bypass – Step on the foot switch to alternate between blended Image

sound and dry pickup (this is the default setting).
Mute – To alternate between blended Image sound and mute, hold the

foot switch down until the LED fl ashes. Repeat to return to bypass.

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What is Aura?

Aura Acoustic Imaging Technology uses digital algorithms developed in
Fishman’s audio laboratories to restore a studio-miked sound to an
acoustic instrument. To achieve this, we record instruments using world­class microphones and techniques to capture an “Image” of the natural
sound that your acoustic instrument emits when miked in a professional
studio. This Image, when recorded direct or played through an amp,
mixer or PA, blends with your instrument’s pickup to produce an
incredibly accurate recreation of the original recording.

Aura Acoustic Imaging processors sound best when used with Fishman
undersaddle pickups and magnetic soundhole pickups. When we record
each instrument, we use our Acoustic Matrix undersaddle pickup. So,
when you play through an Aura processor, you’ll get the best results using
our Acoustic Matrix pickup. We do not recommend soundboard-mounted
pickups, bridge-plate pickups, multi-sensor pickups or microphones for
Aura products since they include unnecessary resonances that can
interfere with the Aura processing.

Choosing an Image

To get the most realistic tone from Aura Acoustic Imaging, you should
always match your Images with the instrument type you’re playing. For
example, choose dreadnought Images when plugging in a dreadnought
body style guitar; choose mandolin Images if you’re playing a mandolin.
Don’t hope to derive a mandolin sound from a dreadnought or try to turn
your orchestra body style guitar into a 12-string. If you are not sure which
body type your guitar falls into, we suggest you audition several Images
from using the search tools in the Aura Image Gallery and let your ears
decide. See page 12 for details on Downloading Images.

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Aura Custom Shop

For the ultimate in Aura Imaging, be sure to check out the Aura Custom
Shop at fi shman.com. For a modest fee, you send us your instrument and
we’ll create a set of Images using our best microphones, custom
recorded for you.

Aura Image Gallery

The Aura Image Gallery software manages a vast library of Images
created from an ever-expanding list of instruments, and provides tools to
search and store sets of Images. Browse the Image Library to fi nd your
instrument, then drag and drop an Image into an Image Set for download
into Aura Sixteen.

If you own an Aura Imaging Pedal, you can upgrade your device to access
the Aura Image Gallery. Be sure to check out page 13 for details.

Making Connections

Playing live

For the best sound reproduction when performing live, connect your Aura
Sixteen to an acoustic instrument amp, PA system, powered monitor or
other full-range system.

Going direct

For direct recording, there is no better solution than using Aura Sixteen.
In fact, an acoustic track recorded with just a pickup can be re-recorded
using Aura to restore the miked sound.

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