From mate.stubb@gmail.com Tue Mar 18 10:59:12 2008
Subject:Re: Problem with VB3

I gotta tell ya, I like VB3 so much that it is at the top of my list
right now. Here's how I would rank the modern stuff that I have
personally played:

Played direct or through stationary speakers:

1. VB3
2. Beatrix
3. Nord Stage (latest OS)
4. XK-3 (untweaked)
5. B4 II

I used B4 on a recording session last year. Didn't like the tone much
and the distortion was unable to get subtle enough.

I understand that I would probably rank the XK-3 higher if I had a
chance to tweak it. I only played a borrowed one for a single gig, and
was only able to tweak what was available from the front panel. I
suspect that the sim would still let me down.

Stage is my current performing organ. It has a satisfactory sim, and
decent but not spectacular tone, percussion, and chorus vib. The sound
tends to be a little muddy.

Beatrix offers spectacular raw tone and leakage. If you like a dirty
organ, this one gives you total control. I have heard a slightly
synthetic sounding tone or two in the percussion on the low end. The
leslie sim was in its early stages when this code was last released
and isn't the greatest. According to those who have played the newer
sim in the Diversi/KeyB organs, it's pretty spectacular now. From what
I can tell from mp3s, I agree.

VB3 is the best all around software at the moment that I have tried.
It needs only to be hooked up to a great hardware controller to give
me the experience of being "lost in the instrument". It has great raw
tone, great percussion and chorus vib, good adjustibility on leakage,
and generator scaling. It has support for 4 drawbar sets which is
crucial. The contact modelling controlled by velocity is the best
attempt so far to address this issue.

Unfortunately I won't be able to take full advantage of that, since
the controller I am building is shallow triggering with fixed
velocity. Nevertheless you can also manually control the subtle delay
in the haarmonics coming on.

It offers 5 leslie models, and they are all different. I very much
like the rock 147 and the rock 122. You can move mics around, add room
ambience, etc. It is all effective. In fact, all the controls on VB3
do something useful and musical.

Played through a leslie or Speakeasy Roadbox:
1. Cathy, blonde '58 C-3
2. Charlene, mahogany '59 B-3
3. Beatrix
4. VB-3
5. Nord Stage

OK, so 1. and 2. are cheating.
Take away the leslie sims, and Beatrix gets the slight nod here over
VB3 due to its tone. Stage still comes in after because you can't play
much with its overall tone, percussion levels, etc.

Moe