From lydays@yahoo.com Tue Dec 13 17:27:13 2011
Subject:Re: Hammond SK2 - Gig Tested

First off, I am a Hammond clone fan. I just got rid of my XK3c only because it became to heavy for me--I have been researching "all in one" solutions for a year and I finaly pulled the trigger and got the SK2--it arrived today--and so far I have to disagree with you on a number of points--Ist off, my $350. Casio practice piano has MUCH better sounding acoustic and electric pianos--The SK2's wurlie just plain sucks--it's thin and biteing but not near as much as the Acoustic piano's which I find almost unusable-With all the memory used for a lot of toy like sounds-why o why didn't HS just alocate the memory for higher quality piano's?--The organ after dinking and running through the Ventilator is as good as my XK3c but the trigger point, which is NOT like my 3c, is  really bothering me( I didn't know about this until after I ordered)
  I  am very very dissapointed, I've been waiting for a year to get this, now I have to save up enough for insurance and shipping, hopefully within the alloted return time to send it back.  I will try installing the newest OS update to see if I get any better results but for now I am bummed.
 

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From: kurz26
To: CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2011 10:48 AM
Subject: [CWSG] Hammond SK2 - Gig Tested

 
ALERT this is a long post and I will cross post.

OK, I've had my SK2 for a few weeks and finally gigged with it at a Blues gig. My impressions are based on the gig and in comparing with my Nord C1, Electro 3, and Hammond A105. I will summarize, and then attempt a Myth Buster's approach to some comments similar to those posted under the SK1 More Leakage topic. Just remember these are my opinions, and your impressions may well vary.

Summary. From some of the prior posts one might infer, as with Rodney Dangerfield, the SK series is not getting any respect. It should. The SK2 absolutely delivers on it's promises. I just installed the 4th OS update and some new, very nice Chamber String library sounds, so HS is living up to their promise to upgrade. Except for the A105, the organ sounds are simply better than anything I have. Yes, even the Electro 3 and C1. It also sounds better to me than the XK3 system I had. Primarily because of the C/V, percussion, and Leslie improvements. But what I have noticed is that this organ wails over the entire range. The Leslie is absolutely amazing. And incredibly tweakable. The Rhodes and Wurly are good (they fixed some of the Wurly issues in an OS update), but I won't say they are quite as good as the Nord - yet. However, the difference is not much in a gig environment. On the other hand, a better description might be they are different, not worse. And
HS will be continuing to tweak. The real surprises are the acoustic piano sounds. They are great in a mix, and even sound good solo. The keybed is subtly different from the Nord, and although not a weighted keyboard, it makes playing the pianos fun and effective. The overdrive will need some work still, but one problem for some has been that the "Tube" overdrive was not selected. It does make a big difference. I would also have preferred a direct computer to SK interface instead of the memory stick. Having said that, the stick process works great and is easy to do.

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