From djacques@csulb.edu Mon Jul 19 08:24:41 2004
Subject:XK3 Review

Last night I performed with my band, The Blue Academics, with the new
XK3. Over the past week I was able to work on the organ, tweaking it to
performance specs, and getting used to its ergonomic layout and
performance features. The performance rig was an XK3 with its expression
pedal run though a stereo Speakeasy rack, straight into twin Mackie SRM
450's. Below is my honest, no-holes-barred opinion on how it performed
in a live blues/jazz quartet environment.

PROS:
Incredible even sound. This organ probably has the best overall sound of
all the clones I have played. It is remarkably even across the board,
from the thundering lows to the screaming high end, it sounded
great-especially around the middle of the keyboard (where many clones
fail). Don't pay too much attention to the demos, it really does sound
great! Good work, H/Z!!!

Percussion - In one word. Outstanding! This baby bites hard
and really thunks. I took several solos where I featured the percussion
(Melting Pot, Hang em High) and it really delivers. No clone comes close
to this.

Chorus/Vibrato - Excellent!!!! It sounded great on several
songs last night. I would still like an adjustable chorus saturation
parameter.

Keyboard Feel - It was a pleasure to play this action.
Although I feel the keyboard triggers much too shallow (not authentic to
the B3), the touch of the keyboard felt great. I think that Hammond
should do what Korg did, give the user software options for a shallow or
deep trigger.

Expression Pedal - What a joy to play with this! Yes it
weighs a ton, but it's worth it! Love the Leslie switch on the side.
Make sure you include it in your purchase as it's worth every penny! It
really helped me feel like I was playing one of my consoles.

CONS:
Leslie Sim. Yes, even though I tweaked away all week, the
Chorale speed of the Leslie sim is just not there. I can imagine that
this board is Killer with a Leslie 21 or Motion Sound Pro 145, but I
cannot afford these accessories right now, and I am truly spoiled by the
CX3 Leslie sim. The fast speed is fine. It's just when you switch to
slow it seems to loose all presence. And remember, I am running this in
stereo. Even when spreading out the mike angle to 180, tweaking the mike
distance, and switching to Deep Leslie tone, it just isn't there for me.


Drawbar Layout - I found myself reaching over my hands
constantly to adjust the drawbars. I wish that they would have copied
the Korg's double drawbar layout, and put the data window in the center
so it's easy to edit.

Black Preset keys - OK, I know that this is blasphemy, but
there is a time when copying the original is not a good thing. A few
times during the night I was lost on which drawbars and/or presets were
activated. I know that they have little red lights, but.. The black
presets seem to be a gimmick to me. they are a waste of space and only
add extra weight to the unit. I much prefer the preset buttons on the
CX3--much easier to quickly select your preset and impossible to
accidentally engage while playing (which happened several times last
night).

Distortion - Damn, how can two tubes sound so crummy? It
must be the way it's routed in the effects chain. I used it several
times last night and was not impressed. Don't believe the hype and think
that it replaces the Speakeasy. it doesn't.

Percussion Select - Why do they have separate buttons for
2nd and for 3rd percussion? This is where you DO copy the B3 (which Korg
did) and use the same 2nd and 3rd percussion toggle switch. Yeah, I know
the answer: "Both buttons are there so you can use both 2nd and 3rd
percussion at the same time!". Yeah, tell me who does that? H/Z should
have a parameter that allows you to choose a 2nd and 3rd percussion
toggle for one of the buttons.

Weight and Size - It really does weigh a ton. Maybe I am
just used to my CX3 (which is also heavy, but not this heavy).. The
added black key presets also make the XK3 much longer. On my way to the
gig the organ was in my convertible in its Motif 7 soft case (which, by
the way, fits this organ perfectly) on my front seat wrapped in a white
blanket. The wind was blowing the blanket around the organ and I am sure
that the commuters passing me thought I had a dead body in my front
seat. "Weekend at Bernies" revisited!

FINAL CONCLUSION: It's an outstanding board! People were telling me all
night how great it sounded. And yes, it did sound great.

I am of the opinion that like everything else, it will be up to you. Go
and order one, play it for a week, and decide for yourself if you want
to keep it. I hope that Hammond/Suzuki considers the comments of our
members and offers a software upgrade that adds the features previously
mentioned by me and my fellow players. This, it seems, would be easy to
do.

Who knows. I may splurge and purchase a MS 145 or Leslie 21 system and
then be truly amazed by this organ. H/Z has raised the ante to all the
other clone developers. I am looking forward to their answer to this..

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]