AcousticSamples B5 Organ

[Prime Mover]

Okay, I know there's already been a few threads about this, but they're way down and I don't feel like Necroing old posts. I just thought I'd weight in on some concerns I had about RAM usage:

So, it is indeed very large and RAM intensive: about 550MB. HOWEVER, it seems UVI has a similar "sample saving" mechanism that Kontakt does, once you load one instance of a sample VI into a project, any further instances access those same files in RAM. This means that I can load as many instances of B5 without it bloating much above 550MB, which is very good news.

As for B5 itself, I love the sound, it's very organic and thick. Unfortunately, as others have commented, its really not tuned very well for bright piercing rock organ sounds. The amp sims are nice, but a bit dark. Sadly, the rotator, though "nice", is really subtle and lacks the whoosh and wind that you'd hope to have for a huge dramatic sound.

It's very clear from its design and the literature that the designers really have no idea or interest in rock. Almost every preset included and demo track on the site refers back to some big jazz legend, so it becomes instantly recognizable as to what their aim is. The manual talks about using the non-Leslie amp sims to achieve that "big rock sound", but that's pretty much wrong... MOST of the big rock organ out there is still Leslie, but brightly tuned cabinet models that AS failed to include. Ironically, the soul major exception being Jon Lord who used a MARSHALL, which they strangely failed to include in their list of amp sims. Not really a problem for me, though, as I've never liked the non-leslie sims included in any VI organs and use GuitarRig to build my ultimate Highway Star amp.

For fun, I tried using it live last night on Whipping Post, and it didn't really work out. It just didn't cut through the mix. That said, I hadn't dialed it in all the way, and it was a little low in volume, I'll give it a shot next gig... but it may be one of those VIs that sits better in carefully EQed studio mix than on stage. B4-II may not be as realistic, but it sure as hell doesn't have a problem being heard through a full 5-piece hard rock band.

Here's hoping that future versions include some more Leslie cabs better suited for hard rock, and some modeled wind/whoosh in the rotator. Aside from that, it shows a hell of a lot of promise, and is extremely well conceived. Probably the best interface design and philosophy of any B3 VI I've used.

[David Polich]

Okay, I know there's already been a few threads about this, but they're way down and I don't feel like Necroing old posts. I just thought I'd weight in on some concerns I had about RAM usage:

So, it is indeed very large and RAM intensive: about 550MB. HOWEVER, it seems UVI has a similar "sample saving" mechanism that Kontakt does, once you load one instance of a sample VI into a project, any further instances access those same files in RAM. This means that I can load as many instances of B5 without it bloating much above 550MB, which is very good news.

As for B5 itself, I love the sound, it's very organic and thick. Unfortunately, as others have commented, its really not tuned very well for bright piercing rock organ sounds. The amp sims are nice, but a bit dark. Sadly, the rotator, though "nice", is really subtle and lacks the whoosh and wind that you'd hope to have for a huge dramatic sound.

It's very clear from its design and the literature that the designers really have no idea or interest in rock. Almost every preset included and demo track on the site refers back to some big jazz legend, so it becomes instantly recognizable as to what their aim is. The manual talks about using the non-Leslie amp sims to achieve that "big rock sound", but that's pretty much wrong... MOST of the big rock organ out there is still Leslie, but brightly tuned cabinet models that AS failed to include. Ironically, the soul major exception being Jon Lord who used a MARSHALL, which they strangely failed to include in their list of amp sims. Not really a problem for me, though, as I've never liked the non-leslie sims included in any VI organs and use GuitarRig to build my ultimate Highway Star amp.

For fun, I tried using it live last night on Whipping Post, and it didn't really work out. It just didn't cut through the mix. That said, I hadn't dialed it in all the way, and it was a little low in volume, I'll give it a shot next gig... but it may be one of those VIs that sits better in carefully EQed studio mix than on stage. B4-II may not be as realistic, but it sure as hell doesn't have a problem being heard through a full 5-piece hard rock band.

Here's hoping that future versions include some more Leslie cabs better suited for hard rock, and some modeled wind/whoosh in the rotator. Aside from that, it shows a hell of a lot of promise, and is extremely well conceived. Probably the best interface design and philosophy of any B3 VI I've used.

I bought B5 this past summer and immediately upon using it, thought exactly what you did -
great GUI, well-sampled, and....horrible Leslie. And that's where the sound is - the Leslie.

I suggest you disable B5's Rotary emulation, run it "direct" and feed it into Melda Production's
Vintage Rotary plug-in or PSP's rotary speaker plugin. You'll have to put DP in Multi-Record so
you can enable MIDI tracks for both B5 and the rotary speaker plug, which is kind of a drag,
but its worth the effort.

[Dwetmaster]

I suggest you disable B5's Rotary emulation, run it "direct" and feed it into Melda Production's
Vintage Rotary plug-in or PSP's rotary speaker plugin. You'll have to put DP in Multi-Record so
you can enable MIDI tracks for both B5 and the rotary speaker plug, which is kind of a drag,
but its worth the effort.

Don't forget amplitube's leslie. Although not as flexible. than the other guys, I personnally prefer its treble sound. Sharp and cutting through anything.

[Prime Mover]

Don't forget amplitube's leslie. Although not as flexible. than the other guys, I personnally prefer its treble sound. Sharp and cutting through anything.

I have amplitube's leslie, but the accel/decel is just SOOOO DAMNNN SLOOOOWWW. I'm the kind of player who loves to spin up and down the speaker constantly, I think of it as an integral part of B3 performance. Amplitube's sim is definitely made for those who "set it and forget it" for a whole song or long passage. Conversely, I found B5s timing to be extremely playable for me, even if it's not adjustable.

Not sure I would agree that B5s Leslie is "terrible", but just not suited for rock... at all... it just doesn't have the "grinding" tone I love for rock. Great for jazz though.

[Gravity Jim]

Did ya'll get the e-mail saying they were expanding the controls for a coming-soon update?

Let them know you want a Leslie EQ'd for rock.

[mhschmieder]

Yeah, hopefully will have time to read and understand, vs. surface skim, when I get home tonight, as they requested input. Not sure if that's in everyone's email or if they hand-picked a subset of customers to solicit input from.

[Prime Mover]

Unfortunately, it looks like their query is specifically regarding organ controllers, and I feel like it would be the wrong place to reply about something unrelated. Kind of surprising since I found their controller interface to be both extremely flexible and intuitive.

Anyone get the feeling that the rotor sim (not the amp sim or cab sim stages, but the rotor itself), is not theirs and they may have no control over? I get this suspicion from reading some of the literature that it might be a stock UVI thing. I intend to email them about it, but separately and not through this recent controller query.

[David Polich]

Unfortunately, it looks like their query is specifically regarding organ controllers, and I feel like it would be the wrong place to reply about something unrelated. Kind of surprising since I found their controller interface to be both extremely flexible and intuitive.

Anyone get the feeling that the rotor sim (not the amp sim or cab sim stages, but the rotor itself), is not theirs and they may have no control over? I get this suspicion from reading some of the literature that it might be a stock UVI thing. I intend to email them about it, but separately and not through this recent controller query.

I think I read in their initial press release that they asked UVI to deliver a better rotary speaker, so yes that would lead one to conclude that UVI designed the rotary emulation and not Acoustic Samples.

I played around with B5 some more yesterday, and the more I tried, the less I liked the Leslie. IMO it's just unacceptable, period. I doubt that whoever designed it ever spent anytime listening to real Leslies. If you've ever owned one (I have), you know how they are "supposed" to sound...that characteristic high frequency whistle from the horn, the knotty grind of the overdrive, the amount of low end a real Leslie exhibits.. and the B5 Leslie sounds nothing like the real deal. I'm a good programmer (make my living at it) and I could not get anything I liked no matter how many parameters I adjusted. My conclusion is that the B5 Leslie simply sounds out-of-phase which gives it that fake, hollow, thin sound.

In all honesty, I still believe that GSI's VB3 is the hands-down king of software B3's. It really does sound like a real Hammond through a real Leslie 122.

[Prime Mover]

I sent an email to Acoustic Samples, and they responded quite promptly... the message was very short, but said that the leslie is one of the things they are working on for this update !!!

Maybe they are making their own?

BTW: while I agree VB3 sounds good, I have some major problems with the way its settings are stored. Many options are global, and will effect all instances created, future or past, and that scares the hell out of me. Add to that that I'm not crazy about the way the saturation sounds, I've just made my peace with any advantages it has over B4-ii; after all, they are pretty similar.

Hopefully B5 will step up it's Leslie game, and we can stop worrying about what outdated VI is the best!

[Dwetmaster]

I have amplitube's leslie, but the accel/decel is just SOOOO DAMNNN SLOOOOWWW. I'm the kind of player who loves to spin up and down the speaker constantly, I think of it as an integral part of B3 performance. Amplitube's sim is definitely made for those who "set it and forget it" for a whole song or long passage.

I use it mainly for Gospel along a real Hammond A-100. It sure is not very flexible in terms of speeds and mic placement but it's pretty natural for Gospel's compulsive leslie speed switchers.

I've had several Organist in sessions and they all couldn't believe how close it was to the real thing. I've made a pretty complex setup using 2 instances of Amplitube and 1 instances of Altiverb, all running within Plogue Bidule. It gives me a typical Leslie Bottom/Leslie Top/Leslie Room 5 tracks setup like it was recorded in a studio.

PM me if you want more details.