Fishman Onboard aura User manual

User’s Guide

Fishman Onboard Aura™

www.fishman.com www.martinguitar.com

Welcome

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

It is our goal to provide you with the finest acoustic amplification

products available: high-quality, professional-grade musicians’ tools

that empower you to sound your very best. We are confident that

the sound you can achieve with the Onboard Aura will enhance

and inspire your music making.

Overview

The Onboard Aura bridges the gap between the beauty of pure

studio sound and the convenience of plugging in. With the Onboard

Aura, you’ll discover unexpectedly realistic acoustic guitar sound

from a pickup, with tone quality you thought you could only hear

from a top-shelf microphone in an ideal studio environment.

The Fishman Onboard Aura system uses powerful Acoustic

Sound Image algorithms prepared especially for this instrument

to seamlessly adjust the “view” of the pickup so the pickup sees

the guitar in the same way a microphone does, with all the subtle

acoustic nuances intact.

Although the Onboard Aura is technologically advanced, we offer

it to you with a refreshingly organic approach. When you plug in,

you’ll feel and hear the true acoustic, unamplified sound of your

guitar, only louder.

With the OnboardAura, we create totally custom Acoustic Sound

Images especially for the guitar you have before you, so you can

be assured that your plugged-in tone will precisely match your

Onboard Aura™

instrument’s unamplified voice. We use a variety of top-shelf

microphones to create the Acoustic Sound Images, with six

different variations to choose from.

Three bands of useful EQ, a convenient onboard tuner (with mute),

afeedback fighting phase switch, plus an automatic anti-feedback

circuit round out the Onboard Aura’s features.

What does it do?

The Onboard Aura is the next step in the evolution of blending

technology, pioneered by Fishman over a decade ago. With a

traditional onboard blending system, the proven utility of a pickup

is combined with the realism that only a microphone can add. The

Onboard Aura takes the blender concept a giant leap forward by

eliminating the microphone from the equation and replacing it with

six sophisticated Acoustic Sound Images created for your guitar

in a professional recording studio environment.

Is it modeling?

Acoustic Sound Imaging and modeling share similar goals: to turn

“acoustic-electric” into “acoustic.” But when you look at the sound

and science of Sound Imaging, you’ll see why we make the

distinction between it and modeling products.

Listen to the sound of the Onboard Aura, and you’ll hear uncolored

acoustic guitar with a heightened realism that is beyond the scope

of modeling preamps.

The reason for this is that unlike modelers that use a one-size-fits-all

approach, the advanced algorithms in Sound Imaging form an

exclusive partnership with your guitar.Acoustic Sound Imaging is

acollaboration between your instrument and the digital realm,

where modeling is more like a one-sided conversation.

User’s Guide

Quick Start

Set the controls as shown:

1. Check Play/Edit Switch

Be sure the Play/Edit switch is set to “Play.”

2. Plug In

Connect the Onboard Aura into your amplifier or PA with a 1/4

inch instrument cable.

3. Tune Up

Press the Tuner button. The output will mute when the tuner is

engaged. Toexit, press the Tuner button again.

4. Select

Increase the volume to a comfortable level, and use the Image

Select knob to browse through the Acoustic Sound Images.

Refer to the Acoustic Sound Image Reference Chart online

to identify the microphone (and placement) associated with

each Sound Image.

http://www.martinguitar.com/guitars/reinforcements/userguides.html

5. Blend

Move the Blend slider to mix in some pickup signal with the Sound

Image.

Onboard Aura™

Image Select: #1

Volume: Seven o’clock

Blend: Set to “Aura”

Bass, Mid, Treble: Centered (at detent)

Anti-Feedback: Off

Play/Edit: Set to “Play”

User’s Guide

6. Phase (master)

Put the Phase switch in the position that sounds most pleasing.

If feedback occurs, change the position of the switch.

7. Shape Your Tone

Set the Play/Edit switch to Play, adjust the Bass, Mid and Treble

sliders to shape the pickup sound to your liking.

Go Deeper

EDIT •Programmable Tone for Acoustic Sound Images

•Set the Blend slider to Aura.

•Move the Play/Edit switch to Edit and select a Sound Image.

•Adjust the Bass, Mid and Treble sliders to taste.

•To save, move the switch back to Play. When you switch to Play, you

freeze the tone settings for the last selected Sound Image(s). When

you returnto Edit, your bass, mid and treble settings for the Sound

Image(s) will not change until you move the respective sliders.

Anti-Feedback

•Move the Anti-Feedback switch left to the On position and push

the Measurebutton once.

•The letter “F” in the tuner display will flash. Turnup the volume

until you reach the threshold of feedback. The automatic filter will

identify and eliminate the offending frequency.

Relative Phase (pickup)

•Fine-tune the sound by changing the phase of the pickup relative

to the Sound Image you’ve selected.

•Center the Blend slider and move the Play/Edit switch to Edit.

Onboard Aura™

•Push the Tuner button to toggle between positive pickup polarity

(above pitch arrow in tuner) and negative pickup polarity (below

pitch arrow in tuner) until you find the setting that sounds best to you.

•To exit this parameter, move the Play/Edit switch to Play.

Setup

Battery Compartment

Pull the small tab at the top of the Onboard Aura toward you. The

body of the preamp will swing out, revealing the battery compartment.

Observe the polarity marks on the battery clip, and install a fresh 9V

alkaline battery accordingly.

Trim Control and VU Meter

•Asmall circular potentiometer is located on the underside of the

preamp just below the battery compartment. Use this control in

conjunction with the VU meter to set a clean and quiet input level.

•Toturn on the VU meter, press the Tuner button as you plug in

the guitar. The above/below pitch LEDs (two arrows and a circle)

will now display the input level of the preamp.

•Play the instrument strongly and watch the LED display. Use a

small flathead screwdriver to raise or lower the trim control so

that the top LED (below pitch arrow) lights only occasionally

with forceful playing.

•Toexit the VU meter,push the tuner button.

Endpin Jack

When you plug into the endpin jack, the OnboardAura switches on.

Toconserve the battery, remove the instrument cable from the endpin

jack when the system is not being used. As with any audio device, it is

agood idea to turn down your amp or mixer input before you insert or

remove a plug at the endpin jack. Doing so will protect your speakers

(and your ears) from loud pops.

Sleep Mode

When the Onboard Aura is plugged in and you don’t play for 30

seconds, the electronics will go into “sleep” mode to conserve the

battery. As soon as you start to play again, the unit will wake up and

return to its normal operating mode. Note that when the Onboard Aura

is sleeping, it still consumes some power, so we advise you to unplug

the system when you take an extended break.

Power Up

The LEDs in the tuner display flash briefly when you first plug into the

endpin jack, indicating that the power is on. Some ask, “Why is there

no conventional pilot light that stays on when I plug in?” Wefind that

asteadily lit LED devours too many precious hours of battery life.

Instead, we have the LEDs flash at startup, and this extends the useful

life of the battery. If you need visual confirmation that the power is on,

move the Play/Edit switch to Edit and the (#) LED will flash.

Low Battery Indicator

When the “B” LED in the tuner array flashes once every three

seconds, you have approximately 1.5 hours before the battery is

exhausted. Change it at the next opportunity. When the “B” light

starts flashing every half a second, the battery is practically spent

and should be changed immediately.When the tuner is switched on,

the low battery indicator will function only when no signal is present.

User’s Guide

Controls

Image Select

Your Onboard Aura is factory loaded with six Sound Images that were

created especially for your instrument. Each Sound Image corresponds

to a different microphone type and position. Refer to the included

Acoustic Sound Image Reference Chart to identify the microphone

associated with each Sound Image.

Volume

For the cleanest noise-free sound, set the volume as high as possible

without causing your amp or mixer to distort.

Tuner

Plug an instrument cable into the endpin jack, move the Play/Edit

switch to Play, then depress the tuner button to turn the circuit on

and off.

This digital chromatic tuner accommodates all standard and alternate

tunings. For your convenience, the tuner button also acts as a

mute switch.

Note that the tuner is calibrated to A = 440.

Onboard Aura™

User’s Guide

Tuner Display

Blend

Use the Blend slider to set the balance between the pickup and the

Acoustic Sound Image. Lower the slider to emphasize the pickup.

Move it up to hear more Acoustic Sound Image. Set the Blend slider

to the center detent for an even balance of both.

Tone Controls

The Bass, Mid and Treble controls can be set independently for both

the pickup and the Sound Images.

Flashes when the note is below

pitch.Also denotes negative

polarity when the pickup phase

parameter is engaged.

Lights up when

note is in tune.

Flashes when the note is

above pitch.

Lights up when tuner is on.

Lights up when the

note is raised 1/2 step.

Flashes when

Anti-Feedback

filter is ready

to measure

feedback.

Flashes when

battery is low.

A B C D E F G #

•

Onboard Aura™

Bass

Aboost here will add depth and weight to the sound.

Mid

This control affects how well the instrument blends in or stands

out in the mix. If you areplaying at loud volumes, cut the Mids to

achieve a more natural amplified tone.

Treble

Aboost here will help add sparkle and presence to your sound.

Conversely, cutting Treble will mellow and darken your amplified

tone.

Pickup Tone

When you move the Play/Edit switch to Play, the three tone controls

will affect only the pickup signal. Much of your useful equalization

will be performed on the pickup in Play mode.

Note that when you switch to Edit, you freeze the tone settings for the

pickup signal. When you return to Play, your previous bass, mid and

treble settings for the pickup will not change until you move the

respective sliders.

Sound Image Tone

Set the Blend slider to Aura, then move the Play/Edit switch to Edit

and select a Sound Image. The three tone controls will now only

affect the selected Sound Image. Adjust the Bass, Mid and Treble

sliders to taste. Note that a little EQ heregoes a long way.

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