From ccmacdon@rogers.com Sun Jan 29 15:43:05 2017
Subject:Re: Best Hammond Organ Clone 2017

Talking purely about sound... I would probably start by organizing the various clones based on the various engines (software/hardware/firmware) that create the sounds. Here are the big ones, in no particular order:

Nord engine - current version is the C2D OS
Crumar VB3 - VB3CE2 in the Crumar Mojo, Mojo 61, Gemini module
Roland VKx - in VK7, VK8, VR-09 (the current product)
HOAX Engine - currently used in the HX3 module, and MAG/UHL organs
KeyB Engine - currently in the KeyB Legend and the original Numa organ
Hammond Suzuki VASE III engine* - in XK3c/XK1c/SK series products

*Note: Hammond Suzuki as just released the XK-5, which as a new engine, but it currently seems to have a lot of early life bugs (stuck notes, hanging etc), and I wouldn't consider buying one for at least 6 months.

Having owned most of these engines, I will try to explain how I rank them, along with a brief explanation of why (just my opinion of course). Here is how I rank them based exclusively on the sound, with no external effects.. (no real leslie, no external leslie pedal, just the raw sound of each engine, including it's internal leslie sim):

1. Crumar VB3CE2 is, to my ears, the best sounding clone, the most accurate reproduction (overall tone, C/V, Percussion), and the warmest, richest, sounding clone available. With the best internal leslie sim of all the clone engines.
2. HOAX based organs are a close 2nd.. they have excellent detailed sound, with excellent grit and overdrive, but from my perspective they lack a bit of the nice round bottom end and warmth that the Mojo has. Excellent Leslie sim.
3. Key B sits in 3rd place, but as the new Legend is released, it may challenge both the VB3CE2 and HOAX engines. Excellent Leslie Sim.
4/5. Nord C2D and Hammond Suzuki's VASE III engines seem to comparable to me. Soundwise I tend to prefer the NORD (the C2D OS seemed to open up the sound which fixed the problem of the Nord organs sounding compressed, which was a common complaint). On the other hand the VASE III engine sounds synthetic to me, BUT it cuts better in the mix and as such, some people prefer the sound (and obviously some like the big HAMMOND on the back of it!). Both have good internal leslie sims (although it has taken numerous OS updates for me to say that about the Hammond Suzuki VASE III engine).
6. Roland VK engine - This is the least realistic sounding of all the clones (to my ears), and perhaps shouldn't even be considered, however it is a current product with a drawbar organ so I didn't want to overlook it. The newest VR-09 product has a poor quality leslie sim (compared to the better available sims), the overall tone is not on par with these other dedicated clones, and it's the least editable of all the above products. At the same time, the VR-09 is excellent value and a good entry into the world of Hammond clones.

Now all that said, the above order might change if the OP was to ask which was the best value, which was the most editable, which had the most realistic interface, or which had the best feel, which would sound best with a real leslie, which is the most reliable, etc. My above assessment is purely based on the sound at the 1/4 inch audio outputs!

Through a real Leslie, ALL of the above products (1-5) would sound awesome and deciding which sounded the best would be very much more difficult. Everything sounds good through a real leslie, it is "the great equalizer" (if I can steal that expression).

One last point.. IF the new Hammond Suzuki XK5 was performing well, I might put it in the top 3, IF it turns out to be all it is advertised to be.. However, based on an hour of playing an early production model (using the internal sim), I'm not sure that it cracks the top 3... yet.. this could easily change with an OS update. To me it sounded a lot like the HOAX engine.. and it lacked some warmth (using the internal sim).

These are just my opinions, as of 11:00 am EST, January 29th, 2017.. and they are based on MY ideal Hammond sound.. However, any new product or OS update has the potential to dramatically change how I might rank these products!!.

Hope this helps... sorry for the long post.

Other opinions are very welcome!!!

Craig

Sent from my iPad