From k2mojo@groovedaddies.com Sat Oct 25 12:39:40 2003
Subject:RE: (was Nord Electro) ranting about the CX3

I play a CX-3 (v.2) through a Stereo Rack Speakeasy using only the internal
Leslie and I'm very happy with my Hammond/Leslie sound. To my ears, it is
the best self-contained Hammond/Leslie available right now. However, there
are SO many factors that can change what the audience actually hears, I
believe the CX-3 gets blamed for problems beyond it's control. IMHO, if you
can get your CX-3 to sound good at lower volumes, such as when you are
recording straight to a mixing board, but it's not cutting through the band
mix at higher sound levels then the problem lies with your amplification
system and not the keyboard. The amplifier, the speakers, where the
speakers are placed, carpeting, no carpeting, how many warm bodies are in
the club, etc.: all these things and more can seriously affect the final
sound reaching the audience. With 9 drawbars and the treble & bass
controls, add in the tone controls on the Speakeasy and you've got a lot of
flexibility with EQ in your CX-3, certainly enough to dial in just about any
tone you want. Think about it - a real Hammond/Leslie rig will only get
just so loud and obviously the whole audience can't gather around the Leslie
to hear it in the sweet spot, so in a larger venue the Leslie is mic'd and
beyond that how good it sounds to the audience is entirely dependant on the
P.A. system and the soundman. The same situation happens with your Clone,
whether you are playing through a combo amp or straight into the P.A. I run
my sound straight to the P.A. and I run a monitor mix for myself through a
JBL EON15-G2, but I don't base my entire sound on what I'm hearing through
the JBL. Instead, I will often have another band member briefly play my rig
while I stand out front and then I either adjust my tone controls or make
adjustments on the P.A. mixer. I also sometimes make recordings of what is
coming out of the P.A., not just a board mix recording, but setting up
condenser mics to record what comes out of the mains (this also helps keep
soundmen on their toes). We use three different soundmen in this area and
all three are very keen about EQing to get the different instruments to lay
in the mix well without competing with each other, and I feel lucky to have
some competent guys to work with. Usually, if I feel I'm needing a little
extra to cut through on a solo, I'll pull out drawbars 7&8 a notch or two
instead of changing any global tone controls, and this generally won't mess
up the entire mix.
Anyway, if you like the sound or tone you get from your CX-3 or any other
Clone, but you can't get it to sit in well (or cut through) with the rest of
the band mix, I would suggest you take a closer look at the sound
reinforcement end of things instead of the keyboard.

Ed Fliege
k2mojo@groovedaddies.com


> but I cannot get a CX3 to come even close to cutting it on
> louder, non-jazz
> gigs even though I have the Speakeasy, and even though I've
> tweaked the patches
> using all the wisdom on this site. Still, I know good people
> here are happy
> with the CX3. So why can't I get the CX3 to COME CLOSE to
> cutting it on the
> louder gigs?
>
> The CX3 sound seems to have insufficient body, no matter what
> I do with
> preamps. When you dial in a truly clear sound, it is shrill.
> With warmer sounds,
> I have to turn louder in search of clarity, but then things
> get all woofy and
> badly loud in the midrange so I give up, and then turn down again.
>
> On the other hand, the V5 cuts it on the gig with ease right
> out of the box,
> even with zero tweaking (even though I can't stand many
> things about the V5,
> such as its hideously error-prone midi and its wall wart).
> The V5 has a clear,
> throaty tone, with a good pitch center to each note.
>
> I'm selling the CX3. I feel like a thickhead who can't
> figure it out.