Schatten Design HFN Player VT aktiv

When you have a high-end guitar and do not want to stifle the acoustic sound, you will have to use a transducer pickup like this. It functions like the well-known K&K pure mini, but in my opinion it is better.
I also have a LR Baggs Anthem on my other guitar and I like the sound of it but if you want to be sure that 100% of the acoustic sound is there it is recommended to avoid any type of material under the saddle.

The install is quite simple and the result is very clean.

Being active, the pickup has more gain and will be easier to work with PA setups. Don`t forget to adjust the gain inside the endpin jack. If it`s set to low (which it may be-out of the factory) you will need to adjust to get a good and strong signal.

All in all, I am very pleased with the result.
I do not use my best guitar(with this pickup) very often live, But when I need to do it I have a very natural sound, matching the acoustic sound of my instrument.
Some people say that an UST pickup does not make any difference for the acoustic sound...But why risk? It depends of what you area after. There is no real alternative to a good condenser or ribbon microphone for capturing the acoustic guitar but LR Baggs and Schatten are getting close, at least in my opinion.

At the end of the day it all depends on the use case scenario.

In a mix or in a band, the acoustic guitar has a more rhythmic role, and in a solo context the picked sound is more important.

Your miles may vary (to cite a common expression from Acoustic Guitar Forum).

I am using this and its passive version in two of my guitars in which I do not want to use glue for installation. After having tested multiple transducer/undersaddle/... pickups (including Trance Audio, various LR Baggs, the Ultratonic, K&K, ...), I have to say this is overall my favourite when considering tone and ease of installation (and deinstallation). Adding a microphone or a magnetic pickup, the tone one gets is imho very close to the real thing.

However, both of the HFNs I bought from Thomann stank disgustingly of cigarette smoke. In fact, they stank so bad that I had to immediately throw away the paper and foam packaging, and my wife still noticed the smell of cigarettes in my room (we are non-smokers). What gives, Thomann? Hence, only 4 stars.