Dexibell....does it get any love?

[Al Coda]

 

I spent an hour this afternoon with the product specialist from Dexibell on the Vivo S9

 

Thx for posting !

I HAD to watch the long VIVO S9 demo then ...

 

[video:youtube]

 

Great features, looks and sounds great overall.

Overdrive and Leslie sim on fast,- not so much,- but it isn´t released yet and perhaps, they´ll improve that (if they can).

Also for me it´s a very promising keyboard instrument.

 

Then,- after reading the "TOTO sit in for Paich" thread,- I came across the vid w/ D. "X" Taplin playing the NORD stage 3 and was surprised how good the Rhodes w/ amp model and tape delay sounds.

 

I´d wish the Rhodes and FX on the VIVO S9 could be tweaked in that direction.

 

A.C.

 

 

[Al Quinn]

Wow, lots of nice features and sounds! Ralf did a great job explaining and demonstrating the S9 -- very talented musician and presenter. I feel hopeful about the action based on Sven's comments. Looking forward to finding out what it weighs. If it's more than 45 lbs I may have to increase my visits to the gym

 

[jefsco]

 

dexibell s9 weighs 20kg/44lbs.

 

http://www.dexibell.com/index.php?route=information/s9

 

 

 

 

[AnotherScott]

Overdrive and Leslie sim on fast,- not so much

...I came across the vid w/ D. "X" Taplin playing the NORD stage 3 and was surprised how good the Rhodes w/ amp model and tape delay sounds.

I´d wish the Rhodes and FX on the VIVO S9 could be tweaked in that direction.

Those are why I haven't been able to get excited about Dexibell. The fast rotary has sounded embarrassingly bad on every video I've heard. And the EPs both in demos and in person just don't do it for me, I agree that Nord EP is noticeably better, and Nord's aren't even my favorite EPs.

 

Looking forward to finding out what it weighs. If it's more than 45 lbs I may have to increase my visits to the gym

44 lbs, you're good!

[Al Quinn]

Thanks guys!

[Sven Golly]

Great features, looks and sounds great overall.

 

Agreed; the looks really grew on me as I sat at the keys. Not so big a fan of the grey on the S7, but the predominantly white S9 is very nice.

 

Overdrive and Leslie sim on fast,- not so much,- but it isn´t released yet and perhaps, they´ll improve that (if they can).

 

Not sure when/if they'll change it... it's the same engine as the rest of the line (including the J7) so it's been that way for a while. They can definitely change it, but they may not have the same opinion of the organ/Leslie criticisms that we do...

 

(Frankly I'd be pairing this with my Mojo61 anyway, so I'm less concerned about the organ than others may be, as I pretty much refuse to play organ from a weighted action. )

 

 

[AnotherScott]

Frankly I'd be pairing this with my Mojo61 anyway, so I'm less concerned about the organ than others may be, as I pretty much refuse to play organ from a weighted action.

I wonder if it will have the facility to trigger its organ externally over MIDI while playing its pianos from its own keys.

[Sven Golly]

Frankly I'd be pairing this with my Mojo61 anyway, so I'm less concerned about the organ than others may be, as I pretty much refuse to play organ from a weighted action.

I wonder if it will have the facility to trigger its organ externally over MIDI while playing its pianos from its own keys.

 

Absolutely, and the currently available models* also do.

 

The S9, S7 and J7 all share the same engine; on the S series, plug a suitably weighted class-compliant USB MIDI controller (or use old-school MIDI) and presto, you're playing the organ. On the J7, do the same with an 88 weighted controller, and voila, the same pianos as in the S (some variations may exist in the editing, check the manual for details before jumping to any conclusions or otherwise quoting me on this).

 

* in these posts I am only referring to the S9, S7 and J7, not any other model, so please nobody make any silly statements that one of their other models sucks because it doesn't do this, or any other such stuff that often pops up around these parts lately.

[Adan]

Leslie tremolo sounds very closed mic'd. Some folks may like that, it's a little extreme for my tastes. They already provide adjustment of lots organ parameters, seems like adding a mic distance adjustment shouldn't be hard to do. Nord, Hammond, Crumar all provide that, to name 3 that come to mind.

[Dlrshort]

Would anyone have any idea what amplification or monitor the Dexibell was being played through during the promotional videos?

[jefsco]

Would anyone have any idea what amplification or monitor the Dexibell was being played through during the promotional videos?

dexibell is affiliated with proel spa.

last two vids were done in the proel theatre.

so i think we can at least narrow it down to a proel brand product.

 

 

 

[Sven Golly]

Would anyone have any idea what amplification or monitor the Dexibell was being played through during the promotional videos?

 

Not sure what difference that would make; the sound in the promo videos is direct, not miced...

[Delaware Dave]

Leslie tremolo sounds very closed mic'd. Some folks may like that, it's a little extreme for my taste.

Frankly, it's terrible.

[AnotherScott]

Frankly I'd be pairing this with my Mojo61 anyway, so I'm less concerned about the organ than others may be, as I pretty much refuse to play organ from a weighted action.

I wonder if it will have the facility to trigger its organ externally over MIDI while playing its pianos from its own keys.

 

Absolutely,

That would make it more desirable for it to have a better organ sound, even for people like you who want another action for organ playing anyway. It just kinda seems a shame to have motorized drawbars in your rig and not be able to take advantage of them. I wonder if you can configure the Mojo to respond to the Dexibell's drawbars (and to do so without having the Mojo respond to other MIDI input from the Dexibell like its own keys or program changes if you're using the Dexibell for your piano and other sounds), maybe via some MIDI Solutions filtering if need be. Other than that, they might at least be usable when using the Dexibell as a lower manual.

[Al Coda]

 

... but the predominantly white S9 is very nice.

 

When I´ve seen it, I immediatedly thought about how good it might look together w/ a white J.B. Solaris or Arturia Keylab mkII controller as the top tier keyboard.

I always liked black keyrigs most, but caused by age now, I read dark printouts on white surfaces much better than the other way around.

 

They can definitely change it, but they may not have the same opinion of the organ/Leslie criticisms that we do...

 

While a simple mic distance parameter might partially help, it´s sad it doesn´t offer additional outputs allowing usage of better OD and/or a Vent just only for the organ while using the main-outs for the other parts.

 

as I pretty much refuse to play organ from a weighted action. )

 

MIDI !

 

Anyway,- after reading the other posts now, I hope the motorized faders might be usable to control an organ-expander and the Rhodes (or EPs) will come w/ enough and efficient tweak tools.

 

 

A.C.

[Sven Golly]

That would make it more desirable for it to have a better organ sound, even for people like you who want another action for organ playing anyway.

 

Oh, I agree the organ needs work to be a contender against the big 3 (H, N, & C).

 

It just kinda seems a shame to have motorized drawbars in your rig and not be able to take advantage of them.

 

Frankly I have far less interest in those motorized faders as drawbars, and every interest in them as MIDI control sources.

 

I wonder if you can configure the Mojo to respond to the Dexibell's drawbars (and to do so without having the Mojo respond to other MIDI input from the Dexibell like its own keys or program changes if you're using the Dexibell for your piano and other sounds), maybe via some MIDI Solutions filtering if need be. Other than that, they might at least be usable when using the Dexibell as a lower manual.

 

Well, given that the Crumar responds on specific, discrete MIDI CC numbers for each drawbar (are you listening, Hammond-Suzuki? ), and the Dexibell can apparently map faders to any MIDI CC (I need to confirm this when the manual is released closer to release date, but it seemed to be the case on the prototype), then yes. Set the faders to whatever CC you need on an external MIDI zone that is set to a key range outside the range of the Mojo, and you should be all set.

 

[Sven Golly]

 

... but the predominantly white S9 is very nice.

 

When I´ve seen it, I immediatedly thought about how good it might look together w/ a white J.B. Solaris or Arturia Keylab mkII controller as the top tier keyboard.

 

We threw an Arturia Keylab Essential on it to play the organ... looked very sharp! Forgot to snap a pic of it at the time, was having too much fun playing the damn thing.

 

Anyway,- after reading the other posts now, I hope the motorized faders might be usable to control an organ-expander and the Rhodes (or EPs) will come w/ enough and efficient tweak tools.

 

There were actually a ton of "T2L" (True To Life) parameters for the EP's... you could tweak bark, bell, hammer, pedal and release noises, etc to your heart's content... so I think people that don't like the Rhodes that they're hearing are missing what could be their perfect Rhodes if they spent a bit of time dialing it in. Me, I dislike that L.A., Dyno'ed overhyped bell sound on the Rhodes, so I dialed it way down and was very happy with what I was hearing. YMMV, obviously.

[Rusty Mike]

There were actually a ton of "T2L" (True To Life) parameters for the EP's... you could tweak bark, bell, hammer, pedal and release noises, etc to your heart's content... so I think people that don't like the Rhodes that they're hearing are missing what could be their perfect Rhodes if they spent a bit of time dialing it in. Me, I dislike that L.A., Dyno'ed overhyped bell sound on the Rhodes, so I dialed it way down and was very happy with what I was hearing. YMMV, obviously.

 

So there is some hope, which is good to hear. I also prefer the darker, non-dyno Rhodes sound. The demos I've heard to date have been disappointing.

 

I should RTFM to see what T2L can do for the EPs.

[Sven Golly]

So there is some hope, which is good to hear. I also prefer the darker, non-dyno Rhodes sound. The demos I've heard to date have been disappointing.

 

I should RTFM to see what T2L can do for the EPs.

 

Well yes , but I'm feeling generous, so here you go... from the Dexibell J7 Rhodes patch:

 

Dexibell J7 Rhodes T2L Parameters - Pg. 1 of 3

 

Dexibell J7 Rhodes T2L Parameters - Pg. 2 of 3

 

Dexibell J7 Rhodes T2L Parameters - Pg. 3 of 3

 

[Rusty Mike]

Thanks for the screen shots Sven!

 

Unfortunately, it only creates more questions. I'll need to venture out to find one to demo.

 

And I did RTFM, but could not seem to find a specific parameter list that matches the screen shots. For example, your first screen shot shows the "Sound" parameter, which I assume are different models. I could not find this parameter in the manual through a first or second pass.

 

I'll dig deeper into the manual to see if this is an instrument I can put to use. There's a lot of good stuff under the covers.

[Al Coda]

Me, I dislike that L.A., Dyno'ed overhyped bell sound on the Rhodes, so I dialed it way down and was very happy with what I was hearing. YMMV, obviously.

 

Obviously ... really ?

I dislike the same.

But when Ralf Schlick changed that in the vid, my impression was he more or less cut some highs only,- which isn´t enough for the transformation from DynoMy into kind of Herbie´s Mandwishi/ Headhunters era Rhodes tone which is what I´d prefer.

 

But now I´ve seen the screenshots you posted and there´s hope those tweakable parameters help.

 

A.C.

[Al Coda]

 

I should RTFM to see what T2L can do for the EPs.

 

Well yes , but I'm feeling generous, so here you go... from the Dexibell J7 Rhodes patch:

 

I too tried to find a Vivo S9 manual but it seems it was too early.

I understand S9 is the "engines" of S3, J7 and L3 but OTOH, in the vid Schlick mentioned there´s a new OS for the S9 ...

That´s why I wondered if the S9 might introduce more T2L parameters than previous models.

You tweaked the Dyno Rhodes patch,- so,- was that identical w/ J7 (S3) T2L parameters ?

 

A.C.

[VanDerGraaf]

Although this thread is focusing a lot on the S9....count me in on this Dexibell trip. I just picked up a S3, barely used with the Dexibell wheeled soft case, for just over 50% of retail price.

 

450 mile round trip today to pick it up, way too late to start playing it tonight, but I think this little board has serious potential.

 

Also very impressed with the strides Dexibell has been making with the new Aqua Viva OS, cool stuff like the usb/audio connection Sven mentioned earlier. A big change is that now users can choose what is loaded at start up, and you want to load (I think) a full 1.5GB of your own stuff (eschewing the factory sounds), then you can, previously you could only load 100mb of user-chosen stuff.

 

These boards could end up making a transition like the Forte did, from stage piano to something with altogether more weight behind the punches. Not on the same level obviously, yet the improvements since the earlier versions are impressive!

 

 

I think there's enough horsepower beneath the hood to make this an interesting ride!

 

Hopefully an improved Leslie and overdrive are but a short update away...

 

[Sven Golly]

I too tried to find a Vivo S9 manual but it seems it was too early.

 

. . .

 

You tweaked the Dyno Rhodes patch,- so,- was that identical w/ J7 (S3) T2L parameters ?

 

Yeah, its still very much a prototype, so the manual may still need changes before it hits the streets.

 

As for the parameters, I dont recall the S9s list, and its no longer available to me (its gone back with Ralf ), so I cant say for certain. Sorry.

[ElmerJFudd]

Although this thread is focusing a lot on the S9....count me in on this Dexibell trip. I just picked up a S3, barely used with the Dexibell wheeled soft case, for just over 50% of retail price.

 

450 mile round trip today to pick it up, way too late to start playing it tonight, but I think this little board has serious potential.

 

Also very impressed with the strides Dexibell has been making with the new Aqua Viva OS, cool stuff like the usb/audio connection Sven mentioned earlier. A big change is that now users can choose what is loaded at start up, and you want to load (I think) a full 1.5GB of your own stuff (eschewing the factory sounds), then you can, previously you could only load 100mb of user-chosen stuff.

 

These boards could end up making a transition like the Forte did, from stage piano to something with altogether more weight behind the punches. Not on the same level obviously, yet the improvements since the earlier versions are impressive!

 

 

I think there's enough horsepower beneath the hood to make this an interesting ride!

 

Hopefully an improved Leslie and overdrive are but a short update away...

 

The loading of your own samples in a common format like sf2 is welcome. I mean, what a simple solution to convert to or create what you need that the developer may have missed or not done to your satisfaction. Im impressed that this is offered on the Dexibel desktop SX7 module. Id jump on one if priced a little better and if I liked more of whats in their library beyond the acoustic pianos.

[VanDerGraaf]

Although this thread is focusing a lot on the S9....count me in on this Dexibell trip. I just picked up a S3, barely used with the Dexibell wheeled soft case, for just over 50% of retail price.

 

450 mile round trip today to pick it up, way too late to start playing it tonight, but I think this little board has serious potential.

 

Also very impressed with the strides Dexibell has been making with the new Aqua Viva OS, cool stuff like the usb/audio connection Sven mentioned earlier. A big change is that now users can choose what is loaded at start up, and you want to load (I think) a full 1.5GB of your own stuff (eschewing the factory sounds), then you can, previously you could only load 100mb of user-chosen stuff.

 

These boards could end up making a transition like the Forte did, from stage piano to something with altogether more weight behind the punches. Not on the same level obviously, yet the improvements since the earlier versions are impressive!

 

 

I think there's enough horsepower beneath the hood to make this an interesting ride!

 

Hopefully an improved Leslie and overdrive are but a short update away...

 

The loading of your own samples in a common format like sf2 is welcome. I mean, what a simple solution to convert to or create what you need that the developer may have missed or not done to your satisfaction. Im impressed that this is offered on the Dexibel desktop SX7 module. Id jump on one if priced a little better and if I liked more of whats in their library beyond the acoustic pianos.

 

 

This seems to be the rub for most- the other sounds. I decided to take a chance because I think there's a good possibility that these things will be improved by Dexibell.

 

 

I'm interested to see what's in their downloadable sample library. Particularly the so-called Platinum quality piano sounds (for reference, they refer to the onboard Vivo Grand as a Gold quality sound).

 

 

 

[Radagast]

Although this thread is focusing a lot on the S9....count me in on this Dexibell trip. I just picked up a S3, barely used with the Dexibell wheeled soft case, for just over 50% of retail price.

 

450 mile round trip today to pick it up, way too late to start playing it tonight, but I think this little board has serious potential.

 

Also very impressed with the strides Dexibell has been making with the new Aqua Viva OS, cool stuff like the usb/audio connection Sven mentioned earlier. A big change is that now users can choose what is loaded at start up, and you want to load (I think) a full 1.5GB of your own stuff (eschewing the factory sounds), then you can, previously you could only load 100mb of user-chosen stuff.

 

These boards could end up making a transition like the Forte did, from stage piano to something with altogether more weight behind the punches. Not on the same level obviously, yet the improvements since the earlier versions are impressive!

 

 

I think there's enough horsepower beneath the hood to make this an interesting ride!

 

Hopefully an improved Leslie and overdrive are but a short update away...

 

The loading of your own samples in a common format like sf2 is welcome. I mean, what a simple solution to convert to or create what you need that the developer may have missed or not done to your satisfaction. Im impressed that this is offered on the Dexibel desktop SX7 module. Id jump on one if priced a little better and if I liked more of whats in their library beyond the acoustic pianos.

 

 

This seems to be the rub for most- the other sounds. I decided to take a chance because I think there's a good possibility that these things will be improved by Dexibell.

 

 

I'm interested to see what's in their downloadable sample library. Particularly the so-called Platinum quality piano sounds (for reference, they refer to the onboard Vivo Grand as a Gold quality sound).

 

 

 

I have a P7. I had to delete some sounds in order to download the other APs. The good news is that the sounds you delete are still onboard. They just aren't loaded into the performance memory. I have the Japanese Grand and the German Grand. Both very nice. The Organ Pad sound is silky smooth. The Orchestral Strings are very full sounding. There's supposed to be an Italian Grand sometime. I can't wait to try that.

 

On another note, it appears Sweetwater is going to be a Dexibell dealer very soon.

[VanDerGraaf]

Thanks for that feedback Radagast.

 

Italian Grand- Fazioli? Hope so!

[Sven Golly]

I'm interested to see what's in their downloadable sample library. Particularly the so-called Platinum quality piano sounds (for reference, they refer to the onboard Vivo Grand as a Gold quality sound).

 

I played (and listened to Ralf play) the Platinum Steinway D, and compared it A/B to Ivory II. The Dexibell won, hands down, in every facet. Most impressive was the dynamics at the most gentle of ppp.

 

Italian Grand- Fazioli? Hope so!

 

Given that Fazioli is just up the road from Dexibell...

[VanDerGraaf]

 

I played (and listened to Ralf play) the Platinum Steinway D, and compared it A/B to Ivory II. The Dexibell won, hands down, in every facet. Most impressive was the dynamics at the most gentle of ppp.

 

 

:o