Controls overview:

• Input: This knob controls the input gain, but, it is not a simple volume control - it is the critical control for getting realistic valve overdrive.
• Noise Gate: This will attenuate the input signal when you stop playing.
• Valve Mode: Aura has three amplifier modes, all controlled by the simple valve mode section:
  1. Valve Mode off: Aura emulates a clean solid-state amplifier. No matter what settings you choose, the output signal will always be distortion-free.
  2. Valve Mode on and Overdrive knob at minimum: Aura emulates a classic valve amp. You control the amount of valve overdrive by adjusting the Input Level knob and the Compressor.
  3. Valve Mode on and you increase the Overdrive knob: Aura emulates a modern high-gain amplifier, capable of creating very overdriven sounds.
• Tone: The tone controls operate like a classic hardware guitar amp. You can completely change the guitar tone by slightly tweaking these controls.
• Compressor: Simple single-control compressor, optimized for guitar. When Valve Mode is on, increasing the compression will also increase the amount of overdrive.
• Reverb: Emulation of a classic spring reverb, optimized to sound good with guitar signals.
• Master: Sets the overall output level. The output stage of Aura incorporates a brickwall limiter, to prevent nasty digital distortion if you push the amp gain really high. However, if you keep the output meter within the green zone, this final stage limiter will not activate, giving you a nicer sound.
• Echo: This section actually includes two effects, a stereo echo and a stereo doubler.
• Phaser: A classic 4-stage phaser, modeled on a vintage hardware stomp boxes.
• Tremolo: A classic tremolo effect, as found on many vintage amps.
• Chorus: A stereo chorus effect, again modeled on a classic stomp box.
• Auto Wah: A flexible wah-wah effect, which automatically tracks the guitar sound.
• Cabinet: This switches Aura between one of 6 speaker cabinets.
  1. 1x8 Tweed is a small speaker, typically found on blues practice amps.
  2. 1x12 Blues is a classic sounding speaker, ideal for blues, jazz & clean sounds.
  3. 1x12 Twang is excellent for country & blues tones, either clean or slightly overdriven.
  4. 2x12 Vintage is a rich, full sounding cabinet, ideal for classic rock tones.
  5. 2x12 Modern is a brighter sounding 2x12 cabinet. Goes well with a clean chorus sound.
  6. 4x12 Rock is the cabinet of choice for heavy overdriven sounds, with bags of bass and strong midtones. Crank up the Input, Overdrive and Compressor controls, and use a close microphone for the heaviest sound possible.
• Mic: Four microphone positions are possible.
  1. Close emulates a microphone placed on-axis, directly in front of the speaker cabinet. This gives the fullest-range sound, with a strong bass sound due to the proximity effect of the microphone being placed very close to the source.
  2. With Off Axis, the microphone is moved slightly away from the cone at an angle. This attenuates the extreme high frequencies, and can be a better mic position for bright single-coil sounds.
  3. With Edge, the microphone is moved right to the edge of the speaker, but is kept very close to the cabinet. Here, you get the full low and midrange frequencies, but the highs are cut further.
  4. Far emulates a microphone places several feet away from the cabinet. The proximity effect is lost (less bass) and the overall sound is less "full". However, this is a better position for making the guitar sit nice in a very full mix.