From jwagner_pa@yahoo.com Fri Jul 02 20:53:54 2004
Subject:XK3: Initial Thoughts

I got to play the new HS XK3 Thursday evening at my local Mom & Pop
music store. Here are my initial thoughts:

Pros:
This is a beautiful looking keyboard.
The cherry wood finish is quite stunning.
The key action is wonderful - light, quick, but also firm enough. A
player's delight.
Layout is great. All of the controls are exactly where you want them.
The tube amp adds some added "oomph," for lack of a better word.

Cons: Some of these aren't really cons, just some impressions and
some questions! Don't beat me up, please!

I noticed an increased volume presence when using just the drawbars
and not a preset.

Are some of the presets voiced correctly? For instance, I expected
to hear some grinding organ when I selected "Some Lovin." Why is the
leslie break engaged on this preset? "Whiter Shade" was also off,
IMO. However, some of the gospel settings were spot on!
I was also wondering why the preset bars didn't latch as on a real
Hammond, but that's just a quibble.

The Leslie sim, was somewhat lacking. I understand that this can
probably be edited, though.

Bottom line: impressive, beautiful Hammond clone, but I don't think
that I will be replacing my Roland VK8. I'm quite happy with the VK8
for now, so I don't see a reason to update.

Curious for some feedback on the presets.

Take care,
James