From djacques@csulb.edu Tue Oct 05 07:25:15 2010
Subject:Re: Ocean Beach Digital Drawbar Controller - first impressions!

How much does it cost?

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-----Original Message-----
From: "ccmacdon"
Sender: CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tue, 05 Oct 2010 13:24:09
To:
Reply-To: CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [CWSG] Ocean Beach Digital Drawbar Controller - first impressions!!

To all the Nord users.. Ken Hall asked me to pass on my impressions once I received my Ocean Beach Digital Drawbar unit.. Well I got it late yesterday afternoon (exactly one week after it was shipped), and went through the 3 minute installation and configuration process (basically set one dip switch to tell the unit I have a C1/C2, press 3 buttons to start/end the midi learn process, play a couple notes on each manual so the unit which midi channels each manual is set to) and the unit works flawlessly on my NORD C2 using only midi buss power.

The drawbars feel great and despite it using sliders rather than actual drawbars, it feels just like grabbing a set of Hammond Drawbars! The slide in/out with basically the same amount of pressure, and the travel of the sliders is virtually identical to the real hammond drawbars (about 4 cm, I actually measured this and compared it to my real hammond).

The unit is fantastic.. installation was easy.. it even comes with suction cups AND adhesive stickers to help the suction cups adhere to the top of the Nords which are not completely smooth.. I haven't attached my stickers and suction cups yet, because my C2 is brand new and I want to make sure there aren't any problems that would require returning it, because I'm sure they would not be happy to accept it back with these stickers on it.. So I'll give it a week or so before I commit to placing the suction cup stickers on my new C2.

So I have to say, that my first impressions are WOW, fantastic.. shipped on-time, well packaged, all the materials were well organized (even a list of what's included in the box), easy to understand manual, simple installation instructions.. fits perfectly on top of my C2, works perfectly, and does what it says it will.. emulates a real set of Hammond Drawbars..

Just to ensure that this is a balanced review there are two things I noted that might be areas for improvement:

1. When using a two manual set up, like the C1/C2 there doesn't seem to be an indicator on the unit as to which manual the drawbars are currently controlling.. you sort of have to keep track of that. This is not an issue for me.. (it's certainly not a hard thing to keep track of).

2. The other thing that might be an issue is the fact that it doesn't seem to work with the C2's "preview function".. but the way it's implemented is perfect in my opinion.. I will explain.. the C2 preview feature allows you to set your next drawbar setting without affecting the current drawbar preset. I would have assumed that when you press "preview" and the preset button you wish to change that the drawbar unit would control the preset being previewed but this is not the case.. the drawbar unit remains in contol of the live sound NOT the drawbars preset being previewed. At first I was surprised and thought that this would be a flaw, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the way this worked.. This way, I can continue to control the live sound using the drawbar unit, and I can change the preset being previewed using the traditional NORD drawbar switches, so effectively I have access to two different drawbar sets at the same time.. with the drawbar unit always in control of the live drawbar set, and the NORD switches being used to set my next preset.

I hope I've explained the above correctly.. Anyway, I love the unit, it works flawlessly and my only real gripe might be that it doesn't have an indicator as to which manual the drawbar unit is currently controlling, but again, this is a very minor flaw, or perhaps not a flaw at all.. perhaps it's my old brain that is flawed expecting the unit to tell me what I really should know ;-)

Kudos to Ocean Beach Digital!! Money well spent as far as I'm concerned.. and for all those NORD naysayers.. NOW YOU CAN GET REAL DRAWBARS FOR YOUR NORD ORGAN, IF YOU REALLY FEEL YOU NEED THEM!

Craig

PS you can also use two Ocean Beach Digital Drawbar Controllers if you want a dedicated set of drawbars for each manual..




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