From ccmacdon@rogers.com Thu Aug 25 06:18:20 2016
Subject:Re: Is the Hammond XK-5 about to blow the competition out of the water?

Graham,

It's an interesting question..

First the XK-5 demos sound pretty good, but they are all through a real Leslie, and most of today's clones sound great through a real Leslie, so? The first demo I heard of the Mojo (through a Leslie) from over 3 years ago, sounds every bit as good as the XK-5 demos I've heard so far. So I remain unconvinced that the XK-5 will sound any better than today's VB3 II and HOAX based products.

Until I try the "9 virtual contact" system in person, the system remains a mystery. It's something that could be nothing more than a gimmick, or it could be a complete game changer. However, the fact is that it's just another "scheme" to simulate the keyclick, spit, and sputter of a real Hammond. The Mojo's and the HX3's do a pretty good job of creating authentic keyclick without the need for additional contacts. That said, if this new "9 virtual contact" system is any good, I think that it's usefulness will vary dramatically based on your playing style. So some will appreciate it more than others.

The XK-5 was announced in April, it's now 4 months later, we haven't even heard a demo of the internal Leslie sim yet, and apparently shipments have been delayed and it's not even shipping until October, maybe later. I think that the announcement of the XK-5 was premature and a result of HS recognizing that their VASE III engine is no longer competitive (hence their "complete" redesign of the HS engine). I think that HS realized that they have to do something dramatic to regain market share lost to the Mojo's and HX3's. The Mojo/Mojo 61's are selling very well, as are the HX3 modules, many of which are being used to replace tired VASE III engines on XK and SK series products. I doubt that HS is very happy about this.

We still haven't heard any demos of the internal Leslie sim! As far as I'm concerned HS has never had a very good Leslie sim (as evidenced by the huge number of XK3/c and SK owners have purchased Ventilators). So will the XK-5 have an internal Leslie sim that's as better than the vents, and internal sims of the Mojo's, HX3's? I don't know, but based on my experience, HS has NEVER had the best internal Leslie sim. I'm pretty sceptical on this point.

Lastly we get to the price of this thing.. Holy crap it's expensive! The "system", with lower manual, B style case, pedals and bench is around $9K! That's prohibitively expensive, and not affordable for the average player. The system is clearly targeted at the HOW segment. The single manual XK-5 by itself is $3600 (last I heard), and that's absurd when compared to a Mojo 61 at $1500 which sounds/feels awesome, and plays beautifully. Obviously, HS haven't designed the XK-5 to compete with the Mojo 61 but, the fact is that it's up to the consumer to determine what products they compare. If I can get a Mojo 61 for $2100 less than an XK-5, I'll pocket the difference and I won't give it a second thought (actually that's not true, I'll spend the difference on a new synth workstation, but you all get my point).

This is a rather long winded response to your question.. However, to net it out, I don't think that the release of the XK-5 is going to have much impact on the non-HOW market, even if it does set a new bar as far as sound and playability. It's too expensive to appeal to most of the members of this clonewheel group (or the other forums that I participate in). In a given year, how many of us upgrade our clones... Maybe 25%? Some portion will do so by adding an external sim (vent/burn etc), some portion will replace the engine (this is now possible with the HX3 module), and some portion will buy new.. Maybe 15%? How many of this 15% will choose the expensive XK-5 over a Mojo 61 (which BTW comes with great EP/Combo/Pipe organs and now FM and an Acoustic Piano).. Maybe 5%..? That's not a lot.

Let's also not forget that the competition also continues to innovate, and by the time the XK-5 ships in volume, where will the the competition be at? I expect that the Mojo 61 will have a low cost lower manual available, we may even see an inexpensive HOAX based clone, maybe an update of the VR-09 from Roland..?

So I don't think that XK-5 is going to have much impact.. And as usual the competition will just keep on competing.. If/when HS releases an updated XK/SK that has the new engine/9 virtual contact system (at a lower price point), THEN we might see a more significant impact on the market.

Craig

Sent from my iPad

> Aug 25, 2016, at 5:08 AM, graham.stow@yahoo.com [CloneWheel] wrote:
>
> Looking at the declining use of this group, I'd thought I'd liven things up a bit.
>
> From what I read, if the XK-5 is as good as it promises to be, it'll blow everything else away. But will it? Take the new multi contact keying - from what I read each key has 3 physical contacts with each having 3 virtual contacts. What the hell is a 'virtual contact'? - surely a contact is a contact - either contact is made or it isn't?
>
> Assuming the XK-5 sets the bar higher, will others be able to rise to meet it, or will they simply give up trying and either fold or settle for providing lower/ inferior spec, cheaper instruments?
>