From shrockrob@aol.com Sun May 23 13:39:04 2004
Subject:Re: Digest Number 1729


In a message dated 5/23/04 10:17:25 AM, CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com writes:

> > You will find myfirst comparisons of the XK-3, CX3, Electro, and B4
> at
> >
> > www.drjohomusic.com
>

Thanks for taking the time to do this, Josiah. It's a nice opportunity for
some of us to hear the XK-3 for the first time.

If anyone's interested, I can make an MP3 of the EVB3 software organ. I
would need the MIDI file and the basic organ settings.

(However, these MP3s are in mono. Can we get them in stereo?)

As I think about this more...

All of these clones can be made to sound better with a little tweaking, so
I'm not so sure this is in any way a meaningful comparison right now. Sure it's
a quick snapshot, especially of the XK-3; but I think all of these sound
pretty dreadful in these examples (no offense to you intended, Josiah!). Yet we
know all of these clones can sound pretty good, too. I own the CX-3, B4 and EVB3,
and I know the CX-3 and B4 can sound MUCH better than this. The EVB-3 sounds
great, too, BTW. It's not meaningful in how they compare at their worst, but
at their best.

Again, thank you Josiah for starting this ball. You're a good man, and it's
much appreciated. However, since people may be making purchase decisions on
this stuff, then let's raise the bar a bit and do somewhat of a proper shootout.

Anybody interested in setting some basic criteria? There are a myriad of
setting combinations, but I think we can pare it down to, say, 5 basic settings
and employ a little stricter quality control over the recording process.

The Purgatory Creek Piano shootout is a good model for a starting point. But
a piano sound is pretty static by comparison--the organ has almost an infinite
number of tweakable parameters that will have to be matched as closely as
possible between clones BY EAR. (The percussion levels will have to be matched;
amount of grind, speeds of Leslie rotor and horn, mic distance settings, etc.)
So we'll have to define a handful of sounds and tweak each organ to match that
criteria as best as possible; because that's how we use these organs; hear a
sound we want in our heads or on a record and turn the knobs until you get it
as close as possible.

Still, it's going to be difficult because so many parameters can be tweaked,
and we all don't agree on what sounds best. Some of us may not be very good at
getting the sounds out the instrument. Few of us own, and have mastered, all
of these clones. However, I think we can do a decent job of getting the organs
in the ballpark so we can really hear what's going on between them.

Anyway, I'm game...anyone else? Josiah, are you up for more work, buddy?
:^)

Regards,
Rob Shrock

After this, all you guys with "real" Hammonds have to do a shootout. ;^)

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