MOTM

IMHO, the *best* B-3 emulation these days is the Hammond XK-2.  It has the sound
down, including a really nice overdrive that overloads much like a Leslie 122.  You,
know the sound of old tube amps overloading, going from a warm round sound all the
way to "my god, it sounds like bacon is frying in there"...  

The key difference (pun intended) between the XK-2 and any other B-3 wannabes is
that it has the squared off keys just like a B-3.  You just can't do good organ key
slides on traditional synth keyboards with the keys coming out to a sharp edge. 
I've come very close to drawing blood trying to do slides and glissandos on those
keyboards!  This problem goes away on the XK-2.  

The XK-2 only tries to emulate a B-3, there are no superfluous string or brass
sounds like the Roland VK-7 (which has a nice B-3 sound on its own).  The XK-2 is
also cheaper than the VK-7.  It also responds on 3 MIDI channels for upper & lower
manuals and bass pedals.  The XK-2 can act as a MIDI controller but it doesn't send
key pressure.

I am convinced that a good portion of decent B-3 "emulation" is in the feel of the
keyboard so I don't think separate MIDI modules can cut it.

Eric

--- ivancu@... wrote:
> I love real tone-wheel organs, but this looks quite promising as a portable 
> compromise:
> 
> http://www.clavia.se/Electropreview.htm
> 
> I'm not a huge fan of virtual anything, but when you are looking for true 
> emulation rather than knob-tweeking, it can be a good alternative.
> 
> Ivan
> 


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