dbmck - Posted - 06/22/2025:  05:21:46

I like the JD Aura pedal, but I have to run it through a separate DI to go to the mixing board, and to have mute and boost capabilities. I've been using the Baggs Venue for that purpose. It works well, although I get lost in the various knobs.

I picked up the Baggs Voiceprint and was able to make a voice print for my Beard with the Nashville pickup in about five minutes. This pedal has a mute, and by duplicating my basic setting with one that has a higher volume, I can achieve a "boost" by toggling between those two. Of course, I won't know how well it sounds until I use it on stage. But having said that, I never really know how well the Aura sounds out front when I'm playing on the stage. I just have to rely on people I know in the audience for feedback.

So, as my post's title asks: has anyone switched from the JD Aura to the Baggs voiceprint (or another IR creating pedal)? Any possible downsides I'm not considering?

Thanks!

SlimPickins - Posted - 06/22/2025:  12:12:34

I can’t personally speak for for the Baggs as I have the Aura for my set-up, but I do believe Rob Ickes has switched to the Baggs Voiceprint. I remember him doing a video on his website showing that he could change and make images and things with his phone. I’m not very tech-savvy, so it’s beyond me but if it helps answer your question, there is a pro out there who has made the switch.

MarkinSonoma - Posted - 06/23/2025:  10:57:25

I don't have personal experience with the Voiceprint other than hearing it "up close and personal." Going on four months ago I saw Rob & Trey (for as I recall the sixth time) at the Sweetwater Music Hall in MIll Valley, just north of San Francisco. 

As mentioned earlier Rob is now using the Voiceprint. I've watched his stage gear over the years evolve from playing into a mic with Blue Highway, Earl Scruggs, Tony Rice, Three Ring Circle and others to going with the JD Aura pedal, to the Fishman Spectrum Aura and now the Voiceprint. And he's gone from Scheerhorn to Byrl guitars in the past few years as well. A fellow dobro playing friend and I were able to hang out backstage after the show and Rob allowed me to take his Byrl signature model for a test drive - great guitar, but different of course than his rosewood spruce Scheerhorn, which might be the one reso I covet more than any other. 

I don't play out much these days, so I'm still happy with the JD Aura for plugging in and can't justify the cost of the Voiceprint unless there was something about the sound through the PA speakers that blew me away.  And it didn't stand out to where I went "oh man - I need one of these things." In the same venue in the past couple years I've also seen Jerry Douglas and Andy Hall who are of course both using Jerry's pedal.

There is definitely something a little different about the sound of the Voiceprint - difficult for me to articulate, I would need to do an A/B comparison between it and the Aura. I could see it for being a multi instrumentalist since I also play acoustic guitar.

Dan, I have seen you on Facebook in pedal steel discussions - you should check out the Dobroholics group there and check and do a search for "Voiceprint" at the top of the page - there have been some recent discussions about the device.

Florida luthier Damon Wack is using the Voiceprint now. He has built some beautiful resos but he doesn't like the sound of the Nashville pickup unplugged, so he doesn't use it for his bridge inserts. He has gone with the Krivo Resophonic surface mounted humbucker pickup which for several years he had run through the ToneDexter by Audio Sprockets but more recently he has switched to the Voiceprint and he likes it. 

JC Dobro - Posted - 06/23/2025:  12:38:28

Rob's playing through the Voiceprint can be heard here (link) - from last week's Grass Valley fest.  Forward to 2:42 for his first solo.

youtube.com/watch?v=c9Nawhi8tXw&t=861s

Sounds good enough, but I don't detect as much of a "cone honk" vs. what I typically hear thru a JD Aura.

I'm a constant tinkerer, but I'm gonna' sit out the Voiceprint for now.  I've been blending an ATM350 clip-on and a JD Aura thru a dual input Radial PZ Pro DI for my live sound, which gives me flexibility from "all pickup / no mic" to "all mic/no pickup" (or, usually something in between...) depending on the venue.  It's the happiest I've been with my amplified sound.   

dbmck - Posted - 06/23/2025:  15:48:41

Thanks folks, this is good feedback. Mark, I did checkout the FB group (which I apparently joined years ago and forgot about, doh!) Good info there.

I'll have several chances this summer to try the voiceprint. I am primarily a pedal steel player,so a lot of these gig only call for dobro on 4 or 5 songs, so not enough to swap out between sets or anything, but at least one of these is at a very familiar room, so I have a good idea of how the Aura sounds there (at least from the stage).