From wrtlake@colfax.com Thu Mar 09 08:50:16 2000
Subject:Micro B, the laughs on me

Even taking the limitations of running the Micro B through my stereo system I was surprised how bad it sounds.I picked up a 1/4 in adapter and routed it's signal into the stereo on the same line my computer signal takes using a switchbox.Talk about a noise machine,even with the line level situation improved it's noisy and has these obnoxious clicks when the key activates the tone and when the tone is deactivated.Running the signal through the RPM-1 does help some but still leaves a lot to be desired.The real joke is on me though because I haven't been suckered in a while, even buying on the net. I asked the fella I bought it from how the unit sounded and he said to his ears it was very close to a B3 and the Leslie sim was great.I'm not sure what he has for ears or what's in them but the laugh is defiantly on me.I researched the Micro as much as I could on the net and didn't expect a lot but this sucks.Is it possible I have a defective unit or are they just noisy beasts that need a lot of massaging to even sound decent. I wasn't expecting miracles for 125.0 but I thought it would at least sound better than the soundfont I'm using. The soundfont is a bit synthetic but has a full rich tone whereas the Micro is slightly more realistic but thin, shrill and no beef.I suppose I could pick up something like the Quad 2 or a Roland GT-3 (with very good amp sims,several eq stages,chorus, reverb, noise gate, etc.) and further massage the tone but I'm not sure it would be worth it. Any cheese out there to go with my cyber Whine. The more I listen to the tunes I collected at the Hammond site that Rufus put up the harder it is to listen to crummy Hammond tones.Maybe it's time to see what is ailing the M3 I have and try running it through the RPM 1 or god forbid find a leslie for it( wife will love that, more furniture she didn't pick out) Well, enough venting for now.

Later,
JT