From bardian@usadatanet.net Sat Jun 10 10:26:51 2006
Subject:Re: Hammond XK -1 Encounter

EQ is easy. Hit the switch under the tone control to cycle through treble, middle, and bass. Whichever is active is controlled by the tone control. The active parameter and its level is shown in the display. Did you try the percussion parameters? I agree that the percussion volumes were too loud out of the box, but I was able to get it a lot softer - perfect for me.

----- Original Message -----
From: mrk7421
To: CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, June 10, 2006 12:58 PM
Subject: [CWSG] Hammond XK -1 Encounter

I don't know if my last post made it due to the new digest format at
Yahoo but.... I have in my possession a Hammond XK-1 that I am
demoing on 30 day trial from Guitar Center.

First - I will say that the early reports that the XK-1 uses a
cheaper keyboard than the XK-3 do not seem to be true. This keyboard
feels great to me. It may even have a bit "deeper" keystroke than my
B-3, but the B-3 is a bit broken in. The keyboard seems nice.

The layout on this is a lot like the old XK-2 actually. This thing is
fairly easy to program, and the manual is simply written. I have a
few issues with the fact that you have to go through a couple
different pages to make EQ ing adjustments, but it's not terrible
either.

I also notice that the output level is not quite as hot as my VK7.
The headphone output requies a fairly efficient set of headphones
too . But it's not too bad.

This organ does have adjustable chorus vibrato- a big plus .... and
it is a feature I have not seen before. I put the chorus rate
slightly up from the default setting for C-3 chorus. You can change
the vibrato speed ( I think the XK-2 had this ) and I put it up
slightly. The chorus vibe is pretty convincing on this organ.

The overdrive is not quite up to what I have heard from the B-4 or
the Roland VK8 but it sounds fairly decent in moderation. If you give
it some subtle grit it seems to work OK.

You can take ALL the keyclick out of this...which I personally like.
Or you can add just a little. I pretty much hate most of the phony
digital click in "certain" ( I won't say which ) organs. A big, big
plus for the XK-1.

But OK...so far here is my pet peeve. I would really like to find a
solution to THIS. Perhaps some other XK-1 owner might know the
answer . In my opinion, the LOWEST percussion setting when using SLOW
DECAY on third percussion ( also using the SOFT setting) borders on
being too loud. This is particularly true on some of the notes in the
range of C5.

I personally like slow percussion, and I also like to use NO DECAY
sometimes . But on this organ , it comes close to being too loud.
DAMN DAMN DAMN. It's always SOMETHING. I don't get it.... The
percussion goes up to 15 or what ever and when using SOFT, SLOW DECAY
and chorus vibrato on C-3 some notes approach being too bright.

I am still trying to understand the different organ
types ...."Mellow" , "Bright" etc. but so far they don't seem to
make too much difference. If you are a fan of "clunk thunk" short
percussion it will not be an issue. But slow decay starts to get a
bit bright and no, I dont think a Speakeasy is going to correct this.

I have yet to dig into the leslie sim but default sounds pretty good
through headphones though I think "fast" is set too fast. I have been
demoing this in my downstairs rehearsal room that has 2 real
leslies... a 145 and a solid state 900 withn an Eico HF 85 tube
preamp.

If I can cut some of the brightness out of the percussion when using
slow decay this thing may be a keeper. But if too much high EQ is
eliminated, the rest of the organ sounds muddy. I am going to try it
through a couple other leslies and amps to see what happens.

If you haven't tried the XK-1, a lot of you are gonna LOVE this one.



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