And yet ANOTHER virtual B3 in town

[mhschmieder]

I didn't see huge CPU spikes on my 2017 iMac with 64 GB of RAM. Just the slow loading of presets (even my own custom ones). IKM says they will address the slow preset loading in an update, from what I recall.

[David Polich]

I’m one of those people who just has to have
all the software B3’s, I guess. The more I
play with Hammond B3-X the more I like it.
The clue to Leslie authenticity is holding down
the “A” right below C5 (C5 being the highest note on a
Hammond 61-key manual) and kicking the Leslie
into fast..there’s a certain set of inharmonic “whistling”
overtones that occur with a real Leslie when you
do this, and B3-X delivers.

I set about to get Blue 3 to sound as close to
B3-X as I could and yes it is possible. You simply
have to turn down the level of the Blue3 keyclick and
also move the keyclick “Tone” control to the left to
darken it. Blue3’s Leslie doesn’t sound as dead on
as B3-X’s, but it is not a huge difference, and it is
still really good. And yes Blue 3 has more tone shaping
options.

Arturia’s B3-V2 is the only software B3 that allows
adjustment of the Hammond’s own preamp drive,
which is authentic. On a real Hammond, there is
a preamp, accessible from the back, with a set screw
that you can turn to adjust the preamp’s gain. I did
this myself with my Hammond organ back in the 70’s
when I had it because I wanted that overdriven sound
that Joe Walsh got on the James Gang song “Tend My
Garden” and also Tony Kaye’s overdrive sound for
Yes’s song “Yours Is No Disgrace”. I wish that the
other software Hammonds had an organ preamp drive
control. Sadly, Arturia’s B3-V falls a bit short in the Leslie,
although it is way better than the first version of their
B3-V.

Bottom line is that there is a lot to love about B3-X,
except for the crazy CPU hit, which means I won’t
use it to record the MIDI for an organ part, although
I might use it to play back the MIDI and track that
as audio.

[dewdman42]

So Blue3 has the tube overdrive knob... Is this pretty much the same as the gain you're talking about? Even if you set the plugin to direct out (Bypassing leslie), this knob seems to effect the gain leaving the organ, with various different drive settings.

VB3II also has both a volume and gain control in the center. VB3II has a way to disable the "rotary", its not clear to me right now whether that is disabling leslie amp sim entirely or just the rotary aspects, but the volume and drive knobs effect the sound even with "rotary" disabled in the Amp settings page.

With arturia's, what I notice is that there is a preamp knob at the top, but moving it around has little to no effect on the sound..especially if the leslie is disabled. I do not think that is doing what you think it is compared to a real hammond. I think Arturia's is the least authentic sound of the bunch, but it does have a certain warmth to it that can be very usable in certain situations...

B3X doesn't have any gain knob at all, other then what is in the leslie...as far as I can see, but I notice that many of their presets are using the FX pedals to add some gain when desired to get a little pre-leslie gain or drive. Its interesting that this is the officially recognized software clone from Hammond/Suzuki now, but it does not provide a way to adjust the gain per the screw on a real Hammond. But its somewhat meaningless, the tones can still be gotten by just using an FX pedal or cranking up the leslie drive a bit more..I think it sounds pretty darn good. I do think B3X is probably the best software clone now...but the price is ridiculous. Not bad with all the cross grade loyal customer discounts though.

Blue3 is my 2nd choice and for the money and pure value, probably #1 choice.

VB3II, sometimes i Like it and sometimes I don't. Right now its at least 3rd place in my mind.

Arturia's came with the big pack, so it was cheap for me...and personally I think its quite good and for a lot of people would be just fine...can't complain about price...and it has a warm sound.. but if I really want to get the "right" leslie distortion, chorus, etc.. Then one of the above 3 are the ones to get in my view today in 2019.. With B3X probably being the best one, but full price is triple the price of Blue3..which is also exceptional....and VB3II no slouch, but 3rd place.

[wvandyck]

Does anyone have impressions of the AcousticSamples B5?

[mhschmieder]

I sold B5 a few months ago, so wasn't able to compare it to the new IKM offering. My recollection is that it benefitted from being paired with PSP's Leslie plug-in, and that it was less dark sounding than the IKM VI. I remember that they improved the percussion in an update, and that it seemed more responsive and less baked-in. Not sure I had the chance to combine it with T-RackS Leslie as that is still a fairly recent product.

I tend to use off-axis mic positions for the Leslie, when programming my custom patches on my hardware Hammond XK-1c clone. This option is not available in IKM's offerings; nor is separate control over upper and lower registers (for ramp-up speed etc.). This is the main reason I feel the digital hardware still emulation has it over the software options. That may change at some point though, with updates.

Even when turned way down, I still feel the distortion has too much smear in the software B3's. But this is an area where the clones differ the most, and where sometimes one B3 isn't enough for all tasks, as what one needs can be so genre-contextual or song-specific. I do think the new IKM offering may have the best distortion of any software B3 yet. It doesn't sound static.

[mhschmieder]

Dave, thanks for your hint on how to quickly and effectively test for Leslie authenticity!

[David Polich]

So Blue3 has the tube overdrive knob... Is this pretty much the same as the gain you're talking about? Even if you set the plugin to direct out (Bypassing leslie), this knob seems to effect the gain leaving the organ, with various different drive settings.


With arturia's, what I notice is that there is a preamp knob at the top, but moving it around has little to no effect on the sound..especially if the leslie is disabled. I do not think that is doing what you think it is compared to a real hammond. I think Arturia's is the least authentic sound.

Blue3 is my 2nd choice and for the money and pure value, probably #1 choice.

VB3II, sometimes i Like it and sometimes I don't. Right now its at least 3rd place in my mind.

Arturia's came with the big pack, so it was cheap for me...and personally I think its quite good and for a lot of people would be just fine...can't complain about price...and it has a warm sound.. but if I really want to get the "right" leslie distortion, chorus, etc.. Then one of the above 3 are the ones to get in my view today in 2019.. With B3X probably being the best one, but full price is triple the price of Blue3..which is also exceptional....and VB3II no slouch, but 3rd place.

To each their own. Authentic or no, the preamp
“knob” on Arturia’s B3V2 is indeed the organ
preamp drive. Whether it is supposed to work
with the Leslie off, I don’t know..I never tried
that.

Glad u like Blue3. I did a lot of the presets for it,
in the “Contributions” preset list. It’s a great VI.
I also did many of the presets for Arturia’s B3V2.

[wvandyck]

My recollection is that it benefitted from being paired with PSP's Leslie plug-in, and that it was less dark sounding than the IKM VI. I remember that they improved the percussion in an update, and that it seemed more responsive and less baked-in.

Thanks for sharing your impressions. Good to hear that the B5 pairs well with the PSP Lotary. B5 is high on my list among other mentioned here.

[mikehalloran]

I’m a sucker for B3 emulators. I’ve got all the above except for VB3II and I almost bought it but was held up by the order form not accepting my VB3 1.4 serial number for upgrade (I was told to pay full price then email for a rebate... maybe I will; maybe I won’t), even B5 and UVI Retro Organs Suite.

I was never much of a keyboard player — even worse now that I have only one working arm.

I won’t go into all the piano VIs and this is with a Bösendorfer 200 in the living room and a spouse with a Master’s in piano performance.

It’s just pathetic. Somebody give me one of those Magnus Chord Organs from The 1960s and put me out of my misery.

[terrybritton]

It’s just pathetic. Somebody give me one of those Magnus Chord Organs from The 1960s and put me out of my misery.

My mom buying one of those Magnus Chord Organs during my fifteenth Christmas is what started my misery. It caused me to become a musician instead of becoming a scientist.

Well, perhaps a superior misery!

Terry