From ccmacdon@rogers.com Tue Dec 20 18:00:28 2011
Subject:Just got my Hammond Sk1 - intial reaction/problem?

So, I just picked up my Hammond Sk1 this afternoon and I've spent a couple hours with it, and I have some initial reactions that I want to pass on, a question, and I think my unit may have a problem...?
 
First the question.. does anyone know how I find out what level the OS is on my unit? I can't seem to find it anywhere in the manual? I don't see anything on the display when it powers up, and I haven't been able to find anything on the Hammond site.
 
Second, the problem.. my unit seems to have a prounounced hiss on the acoustic piano samples.. but it's most pronounced when you sustain notes, the acoustic piano fades but leaves this loud hiss..??  The hiss eventually stops about 3-4 seconds after the sample ends.. ?   Has anyone experienced this problem no their unit? I've contacted Hammond support and we'll see what they say.. perhaps a simple OS updgrade will fix this.
 
My initial thoughts are:
 
The Hammond tone is very nice.. percussion is good, C/V is good, and even the Overdrive, that seems to have gotten a lot of flack, isn't that bad.  The leslie is very good (and an improvement over the XK3/XK1), but it doesn't quite give me that sense of motion that the ventilator does, and it sounds a little artificial in the high end, but I haven't done too much tweaking yet (but I expect I'll use my ventilator). The drawbars feel nice and work well. The keyboard itself is nice but seems a little stiff, which I think is due to the fact that it's using the lower trigger point (that's been discussed here), but I'm liking it for the piano and electric pianos.. (the stiffness works well for these sounds).   The extra voices, are OK.. not fantastic, by any means, but the EP's are good and the Clavinets are good (although I still have to spend more time with them).  I will reserve judgement on the acoustic pianos until I have sorted out this noise
problem.
 
Things I don't like, I find that the factory patches are a very odd grouping of programs, odd splits and weird combinations, and frankly I can't seem myself using more than a handlful of the factory programs (if that).  When switching patches I get audible clicks when I turn the knob (I expect due to effects cutting off abrubtly), and the differences in volume levels from one patch to the next can be quite extreme. The interface takes a bit of getting used to... It has 4 perscussion switches but they don't correspond to the normal hammond configuration .. and the display is small and it's a bit tedious to get around.

Bottom line, it's a good sounding organ, and it's 15 pounds.. not sure quite yet if it's got enough functionality to work for me in my classic rock band for small gigs.. we'll see.. definately not if I can't sort out the noise problem with the acoustic pianos..  If anyone has any suggestions on this, please speak up..  thanks.

 
Regards,
Craig MacDonald

11STEPS Debut CD has been awarded "2010 Best Toronto Rock CD Album" by Toronto Exclusive Magazine! "11STEPS' debut album isn't some plastic replica of today's trendy interpretations of rock music; instead, it's a shiny vintage 1970's rockin' Rolls Royce!"Cashbox Canada Magazine - September 2011
 
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