AER Compact 60/3 vs Acus One 8

AER Compact 60/3 vs Acus One 8

No EQ and no dynamic processing except slight low-cut.

Guitar: Maton EBG808TE
Recorder: Zoom H6.

Pavel Lychagin plays for us.

[soundknight]

I think the AER is more balanced although the top and bottom is reduced, it is also dryer and flat for effects with better note separation. The ACUS is boomy and shimmery on top and more dynamic.
My head likes the AER, my ears like the ACUS

[captainjaneway]

Acus sounds warmer woody. AER sounds cool crisp. Thanks for doing the comparison. I like the Acus because warmth moves my soul. Both good amps though.

[ariakiss]

wow I gotta say i had an AER and returned it they are both great amps but...ACUS wins!!!
I can see what people like about AER especially if they're electric guitarists.. not unlike
electric guitar amps they favor midrange.
Nice review thank you

[paul]

Here is my feedback concerning AER and Acus. I ordered the Acus OneStreet10 because of the youtube videos where the Acus seemed more musical than the AER.
When I received the Acus amp, I wasn't satisfied with the inherent noise and the poor quality of the reverb. So I got the AER mobile compact 2 in order to compare them. WHen you have them side by side, I can tell you that you notice the difference.
My advice is that you should not be fooled by the Youtube videos. With headphones, the Acus seems fuller, whereas the AER seems to be only mids focused. There is some truth to that, but in a real life scenario, the AER handles everything way bette rthan the Acus. To my mind, the Acus is biting more than he can chew. It gives more bass than the AER, but the sound gets too boomy very rapidly and as a consequence too muddy. It also has more features than the AER (more channels, compression on channel 1, more effects settings, Bluetooth, etc.) but I did not find these features very qualitative. The AER has less but it does it better. Everything stays in its place, there is no excessive bass. As a consequence, you get a super sound for what it was designed for, i.e. guitar and vocals.
In addition to that, the build quality is top notch. The amp is dead silent, contrary to the Acus. The reverb is very good and compliments vocals really good. I still prefer an analog spring reverb for the guitar (surfybear or Carl Martin Headroom), but still, it is very good, and makes the vocals really shine. The amp is sold with a top quality bag and it already has batteries inside. Sure, the price tag is high, but in the end, the price difference with the Acus is not so great.

[dr_lulz]

Nearly went with Acus after watching the YT vids but demo’d an AER Compact 60/4 in Oak today and bought it on the spot. Got it home, tried it out and I’m really happy. It has a much fuller, more natural sound than comes across in any of these videos (though it is a newer model). It is punchy but it’s not as thin and gainy as it sounds on YT. Much less coloured (though there is a colour button which I suspect is “on” in most of these vids). I’m sure the Acus is great too, it’s cheaper and should be louder (not that you need it) but it only has reverb, no chorus or delay and it’s twice the weight and about 50+% bigger. You really have to demo amps but if you are buying blind I can assure you that the AER sounds much better than is represented here or elsewhere on YT and the Oak finish and included gig bag are great quality. In the UK, the Acus 8 is currently £740 (amp) + £50 (bag), the AER 60/4 Oak version is currently £870. Personally I absolutely feel I made the right choice and I started out expecting not to like the AER.

[markharwood]

Both companies make outstanding amplifiers. I have heard both brands and would happily use either. On this demo the Acus sounds more natural, the AER just a little more like an electric guitar amp on the cleanest settings. My Laney and Marshall acoustic amps are fine but if I were starting again I'd have the Acus 6. It really is a matter of what works for you.

[MrGB]

Hi, I had an "Asus Street For One" and it had a constant hiss !!! The loudest volume on that amplifier was really weak and when performing on the street the noise of the traffic always drowned it out !
I shipped it back to the store in Germany for a refund but it probably cost me around $200 or more just to ship it back ! If it wasn't for the constant hiss, I would say it had a very nice sound, but it still wasn't loud enough to use on the streets that I like to perform on !

[JPDC]

AER sounds like a guitar amp. Acus sounds like a beautifully tuned system. I almost bought the AER simply because Tommy uses one. Then I heard the ACUS video demos like this one and I went for the ACUS, NO regrets. Then I saw Tommy live in Jan 2018, and the AER is on stage next to him facing to the BACK, simply as a rear fill. All of Tommy's live sound now is PA and monitors, driven by the AER Colorizer. I talked with his sound guy Steve Law before and after the show... all EQ, compression and reverb is done at the board. Actually, recent interviews with Tommy reveal that. The AER is now just a token, true higher fidelity is what's sought after which TE only gets from going direct to the PA through the Colourizer, with a feed sent to the AER (which he doesn't even need. BTW, I sat front row, 20 feet from him and got to observe his live righ for two hours, best education I've had in my quest for excellent live sound (and an amazing show as a bonus, lol!). The ACUS does the job for brilliant studio sound, even for my so-so somewhat metallic sounding Taylor Expression 2 system in my 618eV2. I now use the ACUS 8T as my stage monitor, and run my Taylor through a T-Rex Soulmate Acoustic with the stereo DI's going directly to the board (and then I feed a mono 1/4" signal to the ACUS), and that has been a dream setup. Took me three years and a lot of buying and selling practically every acoustic pedal made from Boss to LR Baggs to Fishman, and they all fell short. T-Rex, ACUS 8T are the dream team for my maple Taylor.

[RADOLER]

I wanted to buy AER but I find ACUS better. Especially in warm of tone

[davidguerre]

I actually just bought the "Accus-one for street" amp, and I love it so much!!! Such a nice warm, natural tone for my acoustic guitar! With the little reverb effect and the 3bands equalizer. Just perfect! ( The only downside is that when plugged the LEDs are on, need a switch plug sys to be able to switch it totally off)

[TheMegagerge]

Аcus объективно поинтересней звучит, гораздо больше низких частот. Про AER давно слышал что переоцененные комбики в соотношении цена/ качество. Сразу захотелось акуса) Но подключился и поиграл в тот комбик что сейчас есть - Fishman Loudbox Artist - Low на канале поставил на 12 часов и в итоге понял что и фишмане низятины тоже хоть отбавляй. По верхушке тоже все супер, при желании даже есть крутилка громкости твитера, выкрутив в 0 можно и электрогитару подключать прекрасно. В общем, засомневался стоит ли хотеть Acus взамен фишману. Возможно сделать видеоверсус Acus One 8 vs Fishman Loudbox Artist или Performer? ) Было бы интересно сравнить. Заранее спасибо.

[fassnacht]

An unfair test... the Zoom H6 recorder is set up off-axis in relation to the AER, wheras it is placed dead-on with the ACUS.

[donmailo]

Спасибо Паша. Развеял сомнения! Аер победил, хотя и Акус тоже хорош

[davidguerre]

I love MaTon Guitars! One of my dream! :) ACUS is sounding sweeter to my ears .

[whimpypatrol]

Honestly, live accoustic is the last uncharted, hostile sound frontier -- unless your on a Rockstar budget like CSNY were beginning at Woodstock. Before fender and other big players got interested in budget minded acoustic sound emulation, I was trying to emulate good acoustic guitar sounds out of a Sitka spruce Parker fly, an AER compact and a Moma Bear with little luck. I now have a secret weapon on my Helix that helps control the harsh treble ice picks a little. The reason for my lame interest in such acoustic emulation is threefold. The acoustic guitar tones I like come from guitars that typically range from $11k to $26k. Even if I could afford such, I would be locked into one sound (unless I could afford afford several). And, no matter, unless I also had an expensive sound system and an engineer, my great acoustic guitar would definitely not have studio quality sound played live. Even with a great sound system, an expensive acoustic guitar and and engineer, I still may not be able to deliver studio quality sound to a live audience. Indeed, Fender and the other top companies out there need to realize the market for great live acoustic guitar emulation and acoustic guitar amplification is bigger than they think. For now it is still hostile and uncharted.

[CoolCat]

Hi. Am I the only one who can hear what I think is a hiss from the Acus? To me the AER sounds dead quiet... I would love to prefer the Acus due to its price but not if there is a hissing noise. Help?

[theandymack]

Tried AER’s over the years and never really liked them. Tried out an Acus and now I’ve got a whole rig of their stuff.

Got videos of it in use on my page if anyone’s interest.

[Nello]

I have acus and i use with nylon strings guitar and i LOVE IT

[antoniodapote]

I have an Acus 8 whit maton ebg808te and maton Te1 ... acus forever ...

[louplay]

No way, I've heard the AER Compact and it is not a flat and thing sounding amplifier as demonstrated here. I've seen similar comparison videos and the AER seemed to win in most areas apart from bass. Recommend checking out other comparison vids before coming to a conclusion because this is inaccurate