From organfreak@donobi.net Mon Jul 19 10:27:34 2004
Subject:Re: XK3 Review

Random thoughts on items in your review:

At 08:24 AM 7/19/2004, you wrote:
> 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.

I made it even better to my ears by going into the percussion
parameters
and changing the fast decay time from 3 to 2. Try it and see what
you
think. It's well within the variations presented by various "real" B-
3s.
For those who are shy of fooling around with deep menus, all you
have to do
to change any particular parameter is to hold down the button in
question,
in this case "3rd harmonic" for about a second and the adjustment
pops up
on the screen.

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

Me too. But you don't find it to be a little too deep?

> 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.

Have you tried the delay parameters? (Right after the click
parameters in
the menu, IIRC). It will give you the feeling of deeper, even though
that
isn't what it does. It's meant to emulate the gradual addition of
the nine
harmonics as a key is pressed on a real tone wheel Hammond. It
doesn't
really do THAT either, but it does give that feeling.

> 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...

Caution: if you need that switch, make sure you are getting the EXP-
100AN,
and not the EXP-100F pedal.

> 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.

Funny! Running in MONO, I have exactly the opposite reaction.

> Drawbar Layout - I found myself reaching over my hands
>constantly to adjust the drawbars.

Just like a real B-3 though.

> 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).

I dunno, it's arguable, but I think it's a gimmick that will sell
units.
Now don't take offense, but I trained myself to stop hitting those
things
when playing the B-3 years ago! It's mind over matter: just say no
to
hitting presets by mistake.

> 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.

For my purposes, jazz, blues and funk, it is plenty. I guess some
people
like to sound "really bad!"

> 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?

Exactly: nobody! Yechh.

> Weight and Size - It really does weigh a ton.

44 lbs. But the heaviest 44 lbs. I have ever lifted.

>Who knows... I may splurge and purchase a MS 145 or Leslie 21
system and
>then be truly amazed by this organ.

Man, I'm playing this through real 6-pin Leslies (buy an 1122 kit).
It
sounds wonderful. I don't find them that hard to move around.

-OF