I totally agree: B5 isn’t cutting through as VB3II but this was not what I wanted to express. I found out that B5 is good for blues and soul and doing a very good job with lots of character here. But always when it comes to hardrock it simply fails.
(Old) VB3 on the other hand has this special sound but for me a bit too - lets say: mellow. So I tried to combine it with IK Multimedia Leslie and voila - it had the bite I always was seeking for working perfectly for hardrock.
So my comparison was to test VB3II against this combonation and here VB3II lost the race (at lesst at first glance).
I could probably combine VB3II with IK Leslie. But than I ask myself: is there really a gap to fill (soundwise) or would the only advantage be to leave jBridge away (mapping the x86 version of VB3 to cantabile x64) and be x64 now completely (VB3 is the last plugin not working as x64). Decisions, decisions …
As some background I started last fall with RumpleRausch AZR3 and then found VB3 this Feb. VB3 was a revelation that inspired me to really learn how to play Hammond organ. I bought it about 10 minutes after installing the demo. I’ve been busy working my way through Dave Limina’s “Hammond Organ Complete” and Brian Charette’s “101 Hammond B3 Tips” plus lots of YouTube Gospel lessons and other bits and pieces such as Benmont Tench explaining his approach to drawbars and the Leslie. Some great players have been performing recently at a small venue near where I live including Bob Birch of New MasterSounds, Melvin Seals of the Jerry Garcia Band and Ivan Neville of Dumpstaphunk so I’ve gotten a good dose of real B3/Leslie listening.
My initial impression of VB3 II is it’s going sound much better playing live in a rock band than VB3 1.4 which is important for me. I like the simplified interface. I think bass and treble controls will be helpful live. The upgrade is a few more dollars than I expected but Guido priced it so I’m not paying a penalty for buying 1.4.
One thing I haven’t figured out is how to set Controller 1 to be slow-brake-fast in VB3 II. The only choice I see is slow-fast. In VB3 1.4 there is a global setting called Rotary Speed Controller which when set to “One Controller” brakes the Leslie when the Mod Wheel is at center.
I‘m aware VB3x64 is running flawlessly for some users here. I tested this several times but with no success - I always got occasional crashes.
As far as I remember this is concerned to memory allocation (I‘m not a programmer so I cannot really explain things behind). All in all it leads to the fact that some users observe crashes while others don‘t.
Just out of curiosity: are you able to load more than one instance of VB3 into a song. In my case this always led to a crash after very short time.
That’s a really good question. It would require all the parameters in VB3 1.4 to be mapped with the same names as in VB3-II, and it’s not clear to me if that’s the case. Only one way to find out (the demo will suffice if you haven’t bought it). But do make sure you do it on a copy of your VB3 rack!
Well… I like aspects of it. It does have a really clear sound that v1 lacks. The leakage and high end is really nice. BUT… the Leslie is a step backwards in a lot of respects. Am I crazy or is there just the single model? And where are the transistor organs? Those were cool. I don’t think I can get the same warmth in the overdrive, it kinds of goes from , like, a 2, to digital harsh- like everyone else. I think, just like the other Hammonds out there, for cleaner sounds and jazz this is a real step forward. The percussion sounds amazing. But for rock- it kills me to say it but I like the old one better. It feels to me like VB3 v2 copies everything I didn’t particularly like or care about in Blue3.
There’s no doubt that I am officially in utter lust with the IK Leslie. If I’m going to spend $$$ I feel far better served buying the Leslie and sticking with v1.4. I think the combo of VB3 v2 and the IK would be best in the long haul and I’m sure eventually I’ll go that route but it’s not enough of a leap to do both right now. Sorry, Guido! For people doing jazz organ out of the box though they’ll love this. But 1.4, for the sounds I like to have it’s just got a certain something. It’s like someone who refuses to give up his M3 for a B3.
After playing this half the day (my wrist hurts, lol), I must say the new engine is a big improvement. The old presets of 1.4 are much more present, and the Leslie sounds great.
On the fx page, I find many of the edits on Rotary Simulator extremely subtle, almost to the point that nothing changes. I also find the same on generator. Changing models makes mostly no difference. I also don’t like that the Leslie speed, when controlled by mod wheel, doesn’t brake when set halfway like the 1.4 version. If anyone has discovered a setting that reverts back to that, let me know. I used it a lot on 1.4.
That said, I must say, the IK Leslie gives this monster a huge upgrade in sound, much like it does with Blue3. This will probably be the way I use it, although I wish IK had a few more edit parameters. I did the upgrade with VB3, and I have no regrets. I still believe Blue3 is going to grab the crown when all this comes to a head. We, as enthusiasts, are in a great situation right now. Three+ great Hammonds on the market, and we get to play them all, and talk to the developers about our specific wants. Couldn’t do that with Laurens Hammond.
Oh that’s ok. She puts out for pretty much anyone. I really do wish IK had more flexibility in mic modeling and placement, but at least I like the choices they made. I’m really going to have to get down to the nitty-gritty to figure out whether I’m ultimately going to be more of a fan of Blue3 or VB3-2 when pared with IK. And of course Blue3 v2 will be a player soon. I’m just mystified that VB3-2 is a step backward in terms of a lot of the tweakable parameters.
I downloaded the VB3 demo 1st, just in case, cause there are no returns. I got mostly nothing on the rotary edits, and thought maybe it wasn’t working as part of the demo Added IK to it…loved it, so I upgraded, edits still do little. Very frustrating considering all the parameters of 1.4.
This is like back when, after 10 years, Stanley Kubrick announced he was making another movie, and you waited for that thing for another couple years, and it comes out! And it’s Eyes Wide Shut… and you’re like, well… it’s not BAD… there’s stuff in there that’s cool… but I’m just not sure it’s what I wanted.
Ah, now I have to re-watch Barry Lyndon …curses! His early stuff was waaay better IMO! I’m more like old Slim riding the bomb to certain explosion, at least in the old days …waa hooo
