Best Hammond B3 VI

[Dan Worley]

FWIW, I have never had any problems with VB3 ver 1.4 on my iMac. Smooth sailing through all updates of DP7, even with the upgrade to Lion.

Not sure what it could be. Did you contact Guido at GSI? He's pretty quick to respond.

My .02 Sorry about the issues.

Anthony,

Could you tell me please what version of the MAS AudioUnit Support you have installed right now? You can find it in HD/Library/Audio/Plugins/MAS.

It's interesting to me that you made it all the way through 7 without a problem with VB3 when I can't even have its component installed without it crashing DP at launch.

Thanks,

Dan Worley

[Armageddon]

Seems like, despite the lack of continued support, NI built B4 II (and, hopefully, Pro-53) to last! I just can't fathom why they'd trade such an amazing VI for samples. I'm still skipping Lion, though ...

[Gravity Jim]

VB3 is running perfectly fine on my system in demo mode right now.

It sounds good. Not sure I can say yet that it sounds "better" than B4II. There are some differences - I see what ya'll mean about the in-your-face percussion, and the big boingy reverb is pretty keen. Stil... if B4II will run, I'm not sure I'll pony up for VB3.

I'm going to spend some more time with it.

[SixStringGeek]

looks like VB3 is a really good option. Looks like it is known to crash DP7 but I'm MOSTLY going to be using it live in Jambalaya (SixString, you heard of any problems with it?)

Been running the demo, seems OK.

[Gravity Jim]

VB3 ran fine on my system, but....

I'm working on two projects right now that want a Hammond: a video game level/combat underscore in an overblown take on early British "heavy" rock (with a very Purple B3), the other a holiday TVC for a state lottery (a swing-y vocal duet with a whistling "Walk Between Randrops" kind of sound).

In both projects, I tried using VB3 and the samples provided in the Vintage Organs instrument that comes with Kontakt 5 (I didn't even take the time to get B4II running again... I just used what was currently avavilable in DP). While I initially thought VB3 had an edge when played solo, in both cases the Kontakt samples sat better in the mix. I ended up removing VB3 from the drive.

Every signal chain is different, so I'm sure that VB3 isjettedetter choice for many uses. But for me, Kontakt's organ provided more than enough control to dial in what I needed quickly. If I feel I have to have drawbars, I'll likely just get B4II going again.

[Prime Mover]

Yeah, I'm going to have to work with VB3 to get it right. It's basic emulation is raw and realistic, but sometimes a bit TOO much so. I'm not digging the gain stage though, that just doesn't sound like any tube distortion I'm familiar with, and overdriving it too much just kills the lows, which doesn't sound right. I commonly use a distorted organ reminiscent of Dream Theater "Erotomania", and VB3 isn't cutting it for the distortion. I wish there way a way of sending the signal somewhere else first, and then back, because I do like the leslie sim (much better than Guitar Rig's) But I may have to use GRs leslie if I want to get a good distortion out of it.

Percussion is out of this world, which isn't bad coming from Virtual Organ's non-existant percussion. But I should mostly leave it on "soft" which I would NEVER dream of doing in VO.

I gigged with it the other night, and I found it very different to play than VO. The timing of the percussion re-attack is different, I really have to consciously take my finger all the way off a key to make the percussion sound. (No, I don't leave VO in multitambrel mode), but VOs response is instantaneous, whereas VB3 takes a split second to set the percussion back to re-trigger... probably more similar to a real B3, but it'll take some getting used to. Very difficult to do fast solo lines.

In the end, I think I'm going to like VB3 a lot better than VO, but it'll take some time to get used to.

[Gravity Jim]

.... very different to play than VO. The timing of the percussion re-attack is different, I really have to consciously take my finger all the way off a key to make the percussion sound. (No, I don't leave VO in multitambrel mode), but VOs response is instantaneous, whereas VB3 takes a split second to set the percussion back to re-trigger... probably more similar to a real B3....

Yeah, I forgot to mention that! It drove me nuts. I don't know if that's more authentic... I have only nominal experience with a real Hammond, but it's hard to imagine that it worked like that. I think I would noticed. This was more like synth polyphonic synth behavior than analog, and it was a deal breaker for me.

[Prime Mover]

Yeah, I forgot to mention that! It drove me nuts. I don't know if that's more authentic... I have only nominal experience with a real Hammond, but it's hard to imagine that it worked like that. I think I would noticed. This was more like synth polyphonic synth behavior than analog, and it was a deal breaker for me.

I dunno, personally I'm more willing to chalk it up to the difference between organ waterfall keys and weighted boards. Waterfall keys stop the sound the instant the key is lifted above "down", where-as weighted keys take a split second longer trigger the velo 0. At least, that's my theory anyway.

Speaking of which, I know that multitambral percussion isn't authentic, but it is kinda nice sometimes. What I'd like even better than that is monophonic percussion, but triggered with every new note, even if others are held down. I'm sure some B3s have been modified to do that. Funny thing, is, B3 percussion isn't truly monophonic, so I'm told. If notes are played really close together, like in a chord, then multiple harmonics will sound. The envelope itself is monophonic since there's only one generator (the 1' tonewheel envelope), but many notes can be played at one time. This makes for fat, juicy chords. VB3 does this, VO does not (unless you set it to multitambral).

[Gravity Jim]

For my work, it's just not that critical. If I was having Joey DeFrancesco in, maybe. But for commercials and games, it's more like "make a Hammond noise here."

On guitar forums, they go on and on about "authentic vintage sound," "that true Fender tube sound," etc. For me, I don't care if it's vintage or true. I just need a good sound, real quick, like right now.

[cbergm7210]

looks like VB3 is a really good option. Looks like it is known to crash DP7 but I'm MOSTLY going to be using it live in Jambalaya (SixString, you heard of any problems with it?)

Been running the demo, seems OK.

Bought it. Runs fine here.

[Prime Mover]

Same, flawless in Jambalaya. Though I had never used the "Out" setting before in J, and SixString had to point me to it in order to get the routing to VB3 right. I do custom MIDI routing with Max/MSP into Jambalaya, which threw me off as to how to get VB3 to work. But yeah, works great.

And Gravity Jim, I know what you mean, but I'm currently doing a lot of live performance, and how it "feels" is the most important thing for me right now. Even with the percussion restrike issue I mentioned earlier, it just feels better than VO. VO was maddening, I was always tweaking, sometimes even mid-show, because it just didn't feel right. VB3 isn't perfect, but it feels a lot better. I'm just not digging it for high overdrive.

[fai31188]

As much as I love VB3, it kills DP almost everytime I use it. In some projects, it behaves until I close the project then I get a crash on quit and in others, the mere changing of outputs can crash DP!! It's too bad because it's a very good VI and I'm using more and more organ in my music!!

aL

[SixStringGeek]

As much as I love VB3, it kills DP almost everytime I use it. In some projects, it behaves until I close the project then I get a crash on quit and in others, the mere changing of outputs can crash DP!! It's too bad because it's a very good VI and I'm using more and more organ in my music!!

I have moved most VI hosting outside of DP using VE Pro. Simplifies a lot of things. Even solves that 32/64 bit conundrum. Its a nice program. I recommend it. Well done bit of code.

[fai31188]

Yeah, VE Pro is definitely an option. I'm just hoping that either a DP update or a GSI fix will take care of the problem. At any rate, according to Guido, VB3-2 is in the works and DP8 could be around the corner. For now I'm using my Numa organ for B3 duty. Other than this VB3 issue, my system is humming along.

aL

[toodamnhip]

Just compared VB 3 with Mach 5. Mach 5 almost sounds decent until I try VB3. VB3 sounds old and real and has much more vibe, mach 5 sounds a bit like a synth or an emulation. I guess I will have to run it in 32 bit mode in VE Pro for now. It’s worth it for the sound quality.