From melvinnich@aol.com Tue Oct 14 05:43:09 2003
Subject:Returning to V5 from CX3-crisis!

Dear folks,

I'm having a V5/CX3 crisis!

I went to a gig where I didn't need to cover the bass so, being physically
weak and lazy, I took the V5 (which I've been using for bass pedals) to use for
a one-manual keyboard and left the CX3 at home. I also left the Speakeasy
preamp at home.

What shocked me was HOW DARN GOOD--DARE I SAY BETTER--THE V5 SOUNDED IN
COMPARISON TO THE CX3. My setup with the V5 has turned out to be awesome. Here
are setup details:

1. I run the V5 to H&K Rotosphere to POD reverb to EON G2s.

2. The POD preamping made the CX3 percussion too shrill and pronounced, and
it was nearly impossible to dial that out. No problem--I just didn't use the
POD with the CX3. But with the V5 (with its inherently faint percussion),
the POD intensifies the percussion to the right point. It really sounds great.
Moral: The POD has proven to be a "fix" for the V5's faint percussion. I
suspect any decent clarifying-type preamp might have the same effect on the V5
percussion. (N. B. Bruce, I still want to send my V5 to you for that
percussion fix, if you still do it.)

3. What I've got to confess is that despite the $^!&@&#^ WALL WART issue
with the V5, the basic drawbar sound is so strong that I can't put it down! I'm
now thinking of using it instead of the CX3 for manual 1 on the other gigs
where I need two manuals and pedals (of course I'll have to sort out the MIDI
hell of getting all of it to work from one expression pedal and one Leslie sim).
With the POD (or equivalent preamp-reverb) the V5 is hard to beat.

4. I should mention that I like my CX3/Speakeasy setup also. The
CX3/Speakeasy setup is good if one dials in everything just right. However, I must
admit on some gigs I just got into situations where the settings were not
dialed-in correctly and it was hard to reach things to do the dialing-in because the
stage setup resembled a Houdini trick (except here Houdini doesn't make it out
of the straitjacket). So, then, the delicate
stage-volume/overdrive/treble-balance wasn't right.

But with the V5 setup, the tone is fat and balanced without a lot of dialing.
Also, the H&K Rotosphere has a low-high rotor balance control that lets you
dial in what amounts to being a global EQ to match the room and volume level.

5. For naked organ duo or trio gigs, or gigs that require a lot of
intra-song tweaking, I will still use the CX3 because of the ease of registration
changes and because the thinness of its tone is not so critical when it does not
have to compete against other thick sounds. But now I'm craving a
CX3-like-console with a fatter drawbar sound! Hence the crisis!!