Like I said above, I personally like the tone of B5 much better. I feel the B5 just nails the feel of being behind the real thing, and I seem to perform with more passion when using it. Very hard to explain, but B-3X just doesn’t have that. Neither does Blue3, or VB3 II. I am a Hammond fanatic (like you didn’t know), so I jumped on this Hammond/Leslie official product, and I really like it. The Leslie, of course, is amazing, and the Hammond sounds great. BUT, when I put it beside the B5, it just doesn’t have “it” factor. I guess the best way to explain the difference between the two is somewhat similar to a beautiful pad played in mono or stereo. Great sound in mono, but comes alive in stereo. Please understand tho, I had about 25 minutes to enjoy B-3X, and haven’t had another chance since. I am writing this during a wait in a studio, and go directly to gig when I’m done. If I get a few minutes at gig, I will use B-3X in a song tonight, just to test it’s “live” abilities.
I understand IK is already getting hit with many improvement requests, and that has everything to do with the other established Hammond clones providing updates for user requests, and understanding what users want.
Even at “sale” price of $199 US, it is quite steep. Like @FredProgGH said, brand has everything to do with it. I suspect updates are forthcoming, but IK has not been historically known for quick changes.
Guido stated an update on VB3 II is coming in the 4th quarter. So, sometime between October and December. Also heard thru grapevine he is VERY aware of IK. Ray of GG Audio personally told me of a coming improvement a few months ago, but I promised not to divulge the info. Like I said above, all this Hammond stuff is going to hit at approx the same time, as it did last year. IK threw me off…I was made to believe a Leslie update was coming, not a Hammond product.
Ha, just sat down on my studio PC and checked out the CC64 emu - works nicely for what I need. It’s a bit simplistic in its functionality re repeated notes: it simply ignores additional note repeats when one is already sustained, so you don’t get a re-triggered attack phase (key click / percussion), which feels a bit unnatural on its own. But to simply hold organ chords with the sustain pedal while my hand is busy elsewhere, it does the job. @Neil_Durant: just give it a try…
So I’ll definitely re-work WALHFMF to use the new beast with the CC64 emu now…
You’re welcome. I agree with your assessments of the current crop of Hammond plugs. The B5 does sound inspiring. I really wanted to like VB3 II but just can’t get there (yet). Blue 2 is good but there is an upper mid thing that is annoying. I’m still using the original VB3; waiting for the holy grail.
The video you posted of the Hammond B3X shows the IK offering in a much better light than the audio examples posted on the IK site. Sounds promising.
It was an in depth video by a good player. Most YouTube vids are not that way. Plus he didn’t cover it up with drums and guitars like the IK vids.
As I stated earlier, the IK is what VB3 II should have been. I hope Blue3 makes big progress. I still use VB3, but not the II version. Dropped it back quite a bit. These guys have some big dog competition now, and it’s up to them to step up or fall back. Of course, we all win!
I am recording on a 1965 Hammond B3 organ thru a 122 Leslie on today’s session, and it is sweet for sure. I want to forget about the vst’s and take this baby on my gig tonight, BUT …
No doubt my judgement about the B3X will be clouded for a few days.
Thanks @Torsten, CC64Emulator did the trick, as did using routes to filter out those preset keys.
I’m rather enjoying B-3X - I definitely prefer it to B5, as it seems to cut through better in a rock context. Not sure if it’s going to start invading my VB3 territory in my live set - I have yet to see how it sounds in a full band context, which I think is where VB3 always seems to shine.
Now…another plugin we can use to strive for the perfect Yours Is No Disgrace sound…
This is the first organ to post some demos with what I would consider a really good heavy rock sound. Again I think that’s mainly about the Leslie (which we already had) but there’s also a certain synchronicity to the whole package that may make it more than the sum of its parts. There’s a video of a pretty damn good Keith Emerson BSS era organ that really perked my ears up.
Dang it, if I talked to Dave Kerzner more of the time these days I could probably have got the dang thing for free
Funny you should mention YIND again- you know I go on a quest every time for that sound and hearing it on an isolated track I suddenly realized- it’s freaking BRIGHT! Like, nothing below 1Khz and hi end cranked bright. I never mixed that way and lately I’ve found myself hi passing the low end of my organs to a crazy degree.
In my mind that sound is big and warm and fat but- it actually kinda ain’t
Used B3X in 2 songs tonight. It did cut thru the loud 4 piece band I was with. I did have to add a lot of volume tho(was easier done with the after-fx compressor). It seemed to be really weak till I pushed it. Also, not sure I like the “grit” yet. I think the stomp box distortion worked better than the amp distortion. I am still in the newbie stage with it, so I will probably change my opinion a few times after I get into the depth of it.
Wow Paul, haven’t noticed that. I am going to do some comparison work with B5 and B3X in a day or two, and I will do some automation tests on B5. I am able to load all the versions of B5 pretty easily. What I suspect though is that your host automation is with your previous version. The new versions are not an update, and are like a brand new program within itself. They sit in UVI workstation as different plugins. I would bet there is a way to fix that. I will take a look see if @dave_dore, or @Torsten doesn’t chime in with a brilliant option before I get to it. We gotta get you back on B5.
BTW…have you posted this on KVR/AcousticSamples? Would like to see what Arno has to say about it.
