From bw@ashbysolutions.com Thu Dec 13 10:45:49 2012
Subject:Re: Korg CX-3 analog vs digital?

Don,

The extra harmonics are very important, IMHO. Looking at the waveforms
visually doesn't tell the whole story, because the human ear can easily
hear sounds that are 30-40dB down from the dominant tone, while the
human eye won't catch the same. There are a number of digital clones
out there that can either dial in some harmonic content (ex: Korg
CX-3), or select from several tonewheel sets of differing 'vintage'
(ex: Nord Electro 3). The different choices run from a pure sine wave
with no leakage/crosstalk or hum, to levels that I personally find a bit
annoying. Very few players that I know opt for the 'cleanest' settings;
in fact, most go for the other end of the spectrum.

This was the area I was referring to when I mentioned how picky modern
players can be. The Hammond tone generator was an attempt to generate
sine waves, but an imperfect one. Early clones tended to either overdo
the harmonics (Hammond X-series), or filter them out pretty much
entirely -- like the analog CX-3. I think that's a part of the reason
why people who love the old CX-3 tend to preface it with, "but I always
treat it as its own instrument." So, if you want to build the ultimate
clone, I think you need to study the level and frequency of harmonics in
a typical Hammond organ.

Regards,

-BW

Bruce Wahler
Ashby Solutions.com™
bw@ashbysolutions.com
http://music.ashbysolutions.com
877.55.ASHBY (877.552.7429)

On 12/13/2012 12:20 PM, donstavely wrote: