Members lizard king Posted September 8, 2008 Members Share Posted September 8, 2008 I'm looking for a decent B-3 sound. I have a M-111 and a Leslie. I don't mind dragging the Leslie around but am tired of dragging the Hammond. I picked up a VX-3080 on ebay and didn't hear a single organ sound I liked. Roland wants another couple hundred bucks for an expansion board that may produce some decent organ sounds. I saw the E-Mu B-3. I thought maybe of selling the XV & picking up a 2000 with a B-3 board. Any suggestions on which way to go? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members akliner Posted September 8, 2008 Members Share Posted September 8, 2008 Nord Electro might be something you'd be interested in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChristianRock Posted September 8, 2008 Members Share Posted September 8, 2008 No love for the Korg CX3? It's regarded as being much better than anything Roland has to offer, and if you search Google, you'll see a used one for 799. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lizard king Posted September 8, 2008 Author Members Share Posted September 8, 2008 I saw the Nord....seems to be a lot more money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Outkaster Posted September 8, 2008 Members Share Posted September 8, 2008 Get any of the Voce gear if you want something portable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lizard king Posted September 8, 2008 Author Members Share Posted September 8, 2008 I saw that Korg as well as the Triton....twice as much as the E-Mu unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lizard king Posted September 8, 2008 Author Members Share Posted September 8, 2008 Had a Voce "back in the day"....wasn't too impressed......maybe they'v improved Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bones Posted September 8, 2008 Members Share Posted September 8, 2008 Can't speak to the E-mu. My Roland 2 cents... I have an M101 with Leslie 147, Korg BX-3 and Roland VK-8M. No matter how you tweak it, the Roland will not sound like your Hammond. The VK is not terrible - it's actually pretty good once you replace all those pre-sets. It's just not good enough to sound like what you're used to hearing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pink floyd cramer Posted September 8, 2008 Members Share Posted September 8, 2008 I've had both and it's the Emu- no comparison. I'm a happy Electro Rack II owner but that's more $$. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bdub Posted September 8, 2008 Members Share Posted September 8, 2008 I've owned a Voce, 2 VK-8Ms, 2 VK-8s, a VK-7 and a Korg CX3 (newer version). I will probably never sell the CX3 and would recommend it to anyone. However -- you specifically asked about something "in a box." I also keep a VK-8M around that I control from my Fantom G7. It keeps my live rig down to one keyboard plus that module. The VK-8M's Leslie simulation, while not in the same league as the Korg or Nord, is more convincing than the VK-8's. If you're used to the real thing, you'll *never* be happy with an XV-3080 or the Emu. Just my $.02. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lizard king Posted September 8, 2008 Author Members Share Posted September 8, 2008 I plan on dragging my Leslie around with me...so I'm not concerned about Leslie sim......ALL Leslie sims suck, IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ramkeys Posted September 8, 2008 Members Share Posted September 8, 2008 Played 17 years B-3 six nights,then M-3 9 years at about 2-3 nights,then Roland D-50 & U-20 til now.Got one of the first 200 Korg CX-3s from Music 123. After almost 7 years of playing 6-12 nights per month, I sadly report organ died, no output.Luckily, had my Kurz K2661 in the van. Parts were $410, and my man charged $65 labor. Now I have newest version. Get the CX-3 Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mate_stubb Posted September 8, 2008 Members Share Posted September 8, 2008 Hammond in a box, that's tough. I don't like the Roland modules, E-MU is a joke, VOCE hasn't updated their stuff in a long time and doesn't offer much other than good basic tone. Maybe a VST in a VST player box, but then of course you have no user interface, no drawbars, etc. Hammond XM-2 and matching drawbar module maybe. It's pricey though, as is the Electro rack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pink floyd cramer Posted September 8, 2008 Members Share Posted September 8, 2008 E-mu has no Hammond-like interface and like all samples, the attacks are kind of clunky- but it has a big, ballsy thick sound. For pure tone beats the Korg CX3 IMO (which beats everything else for playability and Leslie sim). I AB'd the high C of both and the E-mu's was thicker and stronger.The fast leslie samples are kind of rough soloed, but work pretty good in a mix. Steve Walsh used one for awhile when Kansas reformed, John Novello threatened not to endorse it if it sucked- but it didn't so he did. I have some E-mu demos and live clips I can put up if you give me a little time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Pro Posted September 8, 2008 Members Share Posted September 8, 2008 I've had a couple of Korg CX-3's and loved them. I currently have a Roland VK-8m module and it's got a really warm tube organ sound with a great leslie sim. The only thing missing on the VK-8m is a input plug for a footswitch for the leslie effect... you have to push a button on the top panel or use the D-Beam control (or use a function on your controller). Really like the sound of the VK-8m though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cruster Posted September 9, 2008 Members Share Posted September 9, 2008 ...Luckily, had my Kurz K2661 in the van. Parts were $410, and my man charged $65 labor. Now I have newest version. Get the CX-3 Richard Interesting. I have a 2500XS and think the KB-3 mode is pretty slick. But, I don't have anywhere near the actual Hammond experience you do. Out of curiosity, what about the CX-3 makes it preferable to the Kurz? I'm assuming KB-3 on the 2661 sounds relatively the same as the 2500, if not better given the triple mode stuff...although that may not come into play in KB-3, but now I digress, so I'll stop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Outkaster Posted September 9, 2008 Members Share Posted September 9, 2008 Well it has waterfall keys, killer Leslie sim, the C3 Chorus is real good. The great thing about the CX-3 is the higher register screams. Check it out through a real Leslie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cruster Posted September 9, 2008 Members Share Posted September 9, 2008 Well it has waterfall keys, killer Leslie sim, the C3 Chorus is real good. The great thing about the CX-3 is the higher register screams. Check it out through a real Leslie. Will have to, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cram1960 Posted September 9, 2008 Members Share Posted September 9, 2008 maybe Sonic Core B4000 ASB? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chevybusa Posted September 9, 2008 Members Share Posted September 9, 2008 +1 for Kurzweil KB3!!! I don't have any experience with all of the items that have been listed so far so I can't make a comparison, and I am by no means an organ expert, but I can tell you that the Kurzweil PC2R's KB3 is absolutely amazing. There are a bunch of fantastic presets that cover many different B3 sounds, and you can also edit them or create your own, and the amount of parameters you can control is staggering... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dan88z Posted September 9, 2008 Members Share Posted September 9, 2008 If you plan on hauling the Leslie around, I think any of the little drawbar boxes would be fine. IMO it's more about the Leslie than the actual instrument going into it as long as the instrument is somewhat authentic. Things that stink about organ sounds built into a rompler is how the percussion triggers on every note and they all have that cheesy chorusy "leslie" effect. Things like the VK8M or the Voce stuff would sound good thru a leslie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JohnHKart Posted September 9, 2008 Members Share Posted September 9, 2008 Steve Walsh of Kansas uses the EMU B-3. I thought it sounded great when I saw them in 2004. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pink floyd cramer Posted September 9, 2008 Members Share Posted September 9, 2008 The EMU has banks of dry (direct) samples to use with a Leslie/Motion Sound. The C/V was sampled and not as good as CX-3 or Electro C/V but that's a high bar to clear. I hate percussion that triggers with every note but the EMU was set up for single triggering. The biggest beef I have with sampled Hammond is that you can't get the notes-melting-into-each-other effect on fast runs. Instead there is too much separation between the notes. (the VK-7 is not that good for that, either). Out of curiousity I midi-d the EMU to a CX-3 and the "hot" triggering compensated for that somewhat. (I also was to find later that with sloppy technique, runs on a real Hammond sound choppy- evidence is in the bridge of my SC tune "Malaco").) update: I listened to some live recordings of the band where I used the EMU and the sampled Leslie wasn't so hot by my current standards- but the patches with C/V sounded great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 13C Posted November 6, 2008 Members Share Posted November 6, 2008 Try an used Roland VK8-M. It's very close to the real thing and it has it's very own character. You can tweak the sound until you get something that you really like. Don't worry about some very fine differences, there will be always something to complain about. Find the sound that YOU like. The VK8-M has a great tube amp modeler, great sounding Leslie, that's all you need. Looks great too. Another option is the Creamware B4000 ASB (comes as a drawbar unit or a single rack unit called Klangbox). Both have the same sound engine, but the Klangbox is less expensive. The Klangbox works remarkably well with the CME keyboards. The B4000 ASB was introduced in 2006, it has state of the art hardware DSPs and the USB connector. My last pick is a table top module Plugiator (made by Use Audio). Sounds as good as the Creamware boxes and has three extra synths built in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pawnz Posted November 7, 2008 Members Share Posted November 7, 2008 I used a Voce V5 for years. Never understood why Voce doesn't seem to get much press. Very authentic, ballsy tone, and a nice set of drawbars. I had a percussion mod done on mine and I've been highly pleased with the results. Probably the smallest "B-3 in a box" on the market. You will need a Leslie/Leslie sim however...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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