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New B3 VST from IK


kwyn

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I didn't detect huge differences between the built-in Leslie and the standalone T-RackS Leslie plug-in

My understanding is that B-3X uses the same Leslie sim as IK's Leslie products, except with less flexibility (fewer options, inability to send other VSTs into it)

 

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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Based on the demos sounds good. A little different to Acousticsamples B5, my go to Hammond, and VB3. But while doesn't set a new high point for tone, it does set a high point in terms of being the most expensive Hammond emulation currently available. You could buy both VB3 2 and B5 and have change left over compared to the price of IK's B3X.

 

Interesting IK chose to follow the VASE III and B5 hybrid sampled plus modelled option rather than the VB3 modelled option. Wonder if they used the VASE 3 samples?

 

The price of getting the Hammond stamp of officiallity.

So HS get 100 per sale? Thats money for nothing. In software land all that matters is how it sounds. More like IK pricing across the board, high priced, resource hungry VI's with very ordinary support, in my experience when compared to their competitors.

A misguided plumber attempting to entertain | MainStage 3 | Axiom 61 2nd Gen | Pianoteq | B5 | XK3c | EV ZLX 12P

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I never got around to downloading Blue3; I tried either the first or second version. Is there a big difference in sound? It might be a good idea to demo it while my IK demo is still active. It's going to be a chaotic week as I still don't have keys to the new house, but everything is packed and ready to go, so any down time between now and the move (that isn't spent working my day job) can at least be devoted to music now.

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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I spent about an hour comparing Blue3 to IK's product to the XK-1c just now, and am finding that Blue3 has more character and sounds more analog than the IK product, while being a bit darker and grittier. The IK product sounds digital and clinical to me overall, while also being harsh and bright in the upper tone wheels. But it has a better Leslie emulation, even if not as full-featured as Blue3's (choice of dynamic vs. condenser mic, positioning, etc.).

 

The short of it is that I still feel the hardware clones are better, and the XK-1c isn't even the best one out there (even for Hammond these days). I would have expected the opposite, given that the software products are newer and don't have the constraints of a hardware engine (old chips and their processing and memory limitations). Maybe more work gets put into them overall due to higher price and profit margins (not sure this is true for hardware).

 

As all organs sound different anyway, none of my preferences are meant as criticism of the vendors; each has their own taste and is going for a different vibe. I just think it's surprising how much an electronic organ can vary in sound, regarding its basic character, when it is in many ways a somewhat limiting instrument due to no velocity-based dynamics. But then, there is also a wide variety ion basic harpsichord timbre.

 

I will continue to watch these products, and may still upgrade to Hammond's XK-5 at some point -- if mostly for the key touch.

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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Downloaded the demo and played around with it for a while. Sounds really good through my RME and Adient audio interfaces. But not so much better than VB3 II or B5 that it would justify a 200 bucks investment. IMHO it's way overpriced.

LIFE IS SHORT, GO GET THE GEAR YOU WANT ;-)

 

 

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Downloaded the demo and played around with it for a while. Sounds really good through my RME and Adient audio interfaces. But not so much better than VB3 II or B5 that it would justify a 200 bucks investment. IMHO it's way overpriced.

 

 

I'm quite sure that Guido will come sooner or later with something to make the VB3II even better, so I'll stay with my VB3II

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I spent about an hour comparing Blue3 to IK's product to the XK-1c just now, and am finding that Blue3 has more character and sounds more analog than the IK product, while being a bit darker and grittier. The IK product sounds digital and clinical to me overall, while also being harsh and bright in the upper tone wheels. But it has a better Leslie emulation, even if not as full-featured as Blue3's

You can always buy just IK's Leslie, and put Blue3 through that. It would be an interesting additional comparison to make... because even if you like IK's Leslie effect better, I wouldn't assume you'd like Blue3 through it as much as IK's organ through it, you can't really predict what will happen when you combine things different ways.

 

There is apparently a way to demo the Leslie alone, but I got hung up trying and lost patience (my incentive to immediately put more time into it disappeared when the intro pricing did likewise). If anyone can provide or point me toward a quick step-by-step on doing that, I'd appreciate it.

 

The short of it is that I still feel the hardware clones are better, and the XK-1c isn't even the best one out there

It would at least depend in part on the sound you're after. If you're looking for a good overdrive (in the Keith Emerson to Tony Kaye range), you won't find it in the XK-1c, VSTs will beat it if those are the sounds you're looking for.

 

Were you using your XK-1c as the controller for the B-3X and Blue3 when you compared?

 

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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My biggest beef with Guido is his open contempt for the Mac platform. He left us stuck on VB3.1 for ages after he came out with VB3.II , with no acknowledgement of our situation.

 

I guess that changed, isn't? AFAIK VB3II it's updated simultaneously in both platforms

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If anyone can provide or point me toward a quick step-by-step on doing that, I'd appreciate it.

Go to

Ihttps://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/index.php?R=INIT&FV=free-software-related-products&CV=Other%20Filter&PSEL=freesoftware

and download free Custom Shop (if you have Amplitube or T Racks,you already have Custom Shop).

 

Open Custom Shop, go to Amps and you will see a few Leslie options, choose one and Custom Shop will give you option to buy or demo.. Go to Cabinets and do the same.

 

That's it. I don't believe Leslie comes up in the "Collections" option... so you only get a few Leslie amps/cabinets to try, not the full collection.

 

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As it was late at night, I didn't have the energy to figure out how to shut off the Leslie in Blue3 in deference to using the T-RackS plug-in. But as the different settings did not change the basic timbre of either Hammond emulation, it didn't really matter to me anymore, and I deleted both Blue3 and the IK product right before going to bed.

 

As I mentioned earlier, I am not a very big fan of organ as a "block chord" instrument (or block chords in general), kicking the bass pedals and muddying up the low end. Not my thing, but I respect those who do it that way as we all have different tastes and in no way do my preferences indicate disdain for people who run on different engine oil. I absolutely despise the blues. Except for acoustic, rootsy stuff (which is sans organ). That's just me.

 

So my organ use is mostly for island genres like reggae, dub, ska, and calypso. I'll use it some in jazz fusion but not in straight ahead jazz; I've never liked it in that role. And I tend to use it only for occasional fills and solos or light comping, in rock, pop, and metal. Where I do tend to use it a bit more though, is in r&b/funk/soul. But I don't tend to use distortion in that context either.

 

Yeah, I love the old Jon Lord stuff, but it's not where I come from when doing my own music, except for an occasional deliberately cliche motif or reference. For me personally, it just doesn't speak to modern times. But I dig it in its original context and will occasionally write a song that references some of that era.

 

My impression regarding this forum is that the organists here are very broad in their coverage, and that's great. I think a few years ago, before some other forum shut down and people came over here, the organ voices on this forum were fairly uniform in their genre and sound preferences, with Jim being one of the few from the more jazzy side of things (with some blues thrown in).

 

I actually think it's great that all of these organ clones sound so different, because people really do have different needs. What would be more interesting, is whether there are many people who feel that one organ (whichever one floats their particular boat) isn't enough to cover their bases. Luckily for me, the XK-1c is turning out to satisfy me on everything I do, with the XK-5 as the logical next step.

 

It will be interesting to see if the new IK offering changes over time, in basic tonal character or otherwise, as did the one from NI that got canceled many years ago.

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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My guess is that IKM will heavily discount their new B3 on a regular basis, like they do with their other software. It has to start high to give a sense of saving money

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They just did an August-September buy one at regular price get 10 free. Obviously the brand new B3X wasn"t included in that. There will be a bunch of buyers just because it"s new for a month or two. As it tapers off they"ll make a discount offer. Probably Cyber Monday or just after the holidays.

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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It's pretty cheap for loyal customers, at around $107 after cross-grade and JamPoints. Worth it for a lot of people. I'm sizing down vs. up at the moment though, as it's helping me stay more focused on project completion. Not sure if Black Friday prices will be as good as current $107 price for loyal customers. Sometimes JamPoints can't be used during sales, as I recall.

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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If it's possible, my guess is that it would be part of one of the controller mappings, but I'm pretty sure my XK-1c can't do that (I never want to do it anymore so haven't checked deeply). Not sure about the SK-1, which is going after more of a gigging performer one-keyboard-for-the-night market.

 

If one of those controller mappings does the split, you may be able to adapt it to whatever you're using as your keyboard controller.

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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It's pretty cheap for loyal customers, at around $107 after cross-grade and JamPoints. Worth it for a lot of people. I'm sizing down vs. up at the moment though, as it's helping me stay more focused on project completion. Not sure if Black Friday prices will be as good as current $107 price for loyal customers. Sometimes JamPoints can't be used during sales, as I recall.

 

199 USD is just the introductory rate. After that the price will be 299 USD. Plus VAT... oh my!

LIFE IS SHORT, GO GET THE GEAR YOU WANT ;-)

 

 

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I used the B3X on a gig last Saturday night. Overall sounded great live although the high end is a bit shrill. Needs some EQ / tweaking there. I was running it through a Motion Sound 610s

 

One thing that was surprising. I load this into mainstage 3 on a macbook pro. Mainstage shows the memory utilization for this plug-in at 2.5 GB. Wow........

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Thanks, LilyM, for the info on the Leslie demo, I'll try to give it a go some time soon.

 

Yeah, I love the old Jon Lord stuff, but it's not where I come from

The Jon Lord "Marshall" distortion is actually not what I'm after, but rather the Leslie overdrive that is more "gurgly" than "fuzzy." But I guess either way, the point remains, we're not all looking for the same things, which is why there will always be different opinions about what's best.

 

Can you split the organ on 1 keyboard?? I am not finding any way of doing this...just different midi channels for upper and lower manuals.

I'm pretty sure my XK-1c can't do that...Not sure about the SK-1

You can do it via different MIDI channels for upper and lower manuals if the keyboard you're using as a controller has the ability to split its keyboard and send on different MIDI channels above and below the split point... and yes, the XK-1C and SK1 can do that. But also, since you're using a VST anyway, that means you're using a computer, so you can also use a program like Camelot Pro, Gig Performer, or Cantabile to take a single zone keyboard and split its keys to various destinations, so those should work too.

 

 

 

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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ok was just hoping hoping for a "split" feature like vb3 and the vintage organ in MainStage has...I suppose I could set up 2 different instances of the plug in in MainStage with specific key ranges...but that's kind of cumbersome and takes up 2x the cpu...fwiw, I'm finding for me it's the Leslie sim in this plug-in that's really making it sound good, less than the actual organ. I tried the 3 day trial of the 122 for Amplitude on VB3 and it really makes a difference...leaning towards just buying that cause you can use it on anything, whereas I think the Leslie built into the hammond vst is just for that plug in.
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My biggest beef with Guido is his open contempt for the Mac platform. He left us stuck on VB3.1 for ages after he came out with VB3.II , with no acknowledgement of our situation.

Well I purchased 32 Lives to keep VB3 1.4 usable in MainStage. When B5 came out I switched and found it moved the bar up a notch in terms of tonewheel balance in the upper registers and overdrive without the distortion fizz I hear in VB3 1.4. VB3 2 has since been released and runs on Mac 64 bit. There is upgrade pricing of 75 for VB3 1.4 owners. The VB3 II rotary sim is available as a seperate free standalone effect to owners of VB3 II.

 

But I am happy with B5 and there is nothing available from IK or others that offers any substantive improvement so I am sticking with it. As for rotary sims I have Melda and PSP L'otary as further options. Nothing I hear in the IK rotary improves on L'otary.

 

 

A misguided plumber attempting to entertain | MainStage 3 | Axiom 61 2nd Gen | Pianoteq | B5 | XK3c | EV ZLX 12P

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Tried the demo. Great sound, but I use the Blue3 V2 with the Amplitube Leslie for a year or so. This pair is unbeatable.

 

Has Amplitube ever added acceleration controls to their Leslie Sim? When I tried it out it sounded good, but the accel/decel speed was EXCRUCIATINGLY slow, and I couldn't find any adjustment controls anywhere. I felt like I was fighting it the whole time, so gave up and went back to B4IIs internal sim, which I still find very playable. Now I mostly use the Mojo or B5 + MeldaVintageRotary.

Puck Funk! :)

 

Equipment: Laptop running lots of nerdy software, some keyboards, noise makersâ¦yada yada yadaâ¦maybe a cat?

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Tried the demo. Great sound, but I use the Blue3 V2 with the Amplitube Leslie for a year or so. This pair is unbeatable.

 

Has Amplitube ever added acceleration controls to their Leslie Sim? When I tried it out it sounded good, but the accel/decel speed was EXCRUCIATINGLY slow, and I couldn't find any adjustment controls anywhere. I felt like I was fighting it the whole time, so gave up and went back to B4IIs internal sim, which I still find very playable. Now I mostly use the Mojo or B5 + MeldaVintageRotary.

 

Of course. In the cab section, in the last section you can adjust acceleration, deceleration eq etc.

Gear: Nord Stage 3 76HP, Moog Little Phatty Stage II, Hammond XK5, Solina String Ensemble

My Bands: Aperco, Ummagumma, Amity Band

 

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It's pretty cheap for loyal customers, at around $107 after cross-grade and JamPoints. Worth it for a lot of people.

 

199 USD is just the introductory rate. After that the price will be 299 USD. Plus VAT... oh my!

 

I thoroughly compared the B3-X with my VB3 II. Have to say, the B3-X sounds so much better in every respect. Much better C/V, better Percussion, much more detail, more warmth..... oh gosh, my demo version expires in three days.... wanna keep it!

 

LIFE IS SHORT, GO GET THE GEAR YOU WANT ;-)

 

 

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I thoroughly compared the B3-X with my VB3 II. Have to say, the B3-X sounds so much better in every respect. Much better C/V, better Percussion, much more detail, more warmth..... oh gosh, my demo version expires in three days.... wanna keep it!

Before taking the plunge, you might also want to check out the demo of Blue3, just to be sure you pick the one that's best for you. (B-5 is another strong choice, but no demo, unfortunately.)

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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Of course. In the cab section, in the last section you can adjust acceleration, deceleration eq etc.

Wow! When did this happen? It's probably been 4 years or so since I last checked, but the 4 cabs I got had been out for years with absolutely no controls what-so-ever. I was always given the "this is the way the best leslie's are supposed to sound, deal with it" spiel when I talked to other users.

 

I may have to give it another look and check for an update. Tho, I'm quite happy with my Mojo, and MeldaVR if I need to go software.

Puck Funk! :)

 

Equipment: Laptop running lots of nerdy software, some keyboards, noise makersâ¦yada yada yadaâ¦maybe a cat?

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Yeah, I was going to post that, but it was during my move and I'm still not set up for audio or for accessing anything not on my main hard drive. Glad to see that my memory wasn't faulty; acceleration and deceleration controlo is critical for realism.

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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Very happy with this. Jim's great demo was appreciated and made me very interested.

 

Besides other gigs, I play a weekly contemporary church service with a wonderful1965 A100 and 147. Once a month they have us with Orchestra, and on those services I'm not able to use their Hammond due to space.

For those times I had been either using my Nord w/ a ventilator II, or Mainstage/Ipad rig with the Logic organ. This is a perfect replacement for either of those.

 

Never tried the Blue before, so downloaded the demo before I bought the IK, to compare along with the Logic Organ.

 

I think the Logic organ is very viable and cost effective, but the leslie fast speed is not inspiring. I thought the Blue was ok, it just didn't have the vibe the IK did-nor did I bond with the feel of the app. It could very well be the IK strength is in the leslie sim, but I didn't want to bother running the Blue or Logic organ along another plug in. With my loyalty discount and jam points, it was about $35 more for the IK over the $99.00 Blue. I wouldn't of done it at the full $199.00. Have always found IK to be a great and fair company to deal with.

 

For lack of a better word the IK for me has the elusive Mojo-fairy dust and 3D that is inspiring to play. Which is my bottom line.

 

I normally stay away from 1.0 releases- but made an exception. The IK has the right amount of "tweakablity" for personal taste, but doesn't need to be endlessly fussed with to make it work out of the box. Ironically, I found the actual B3 models to be a bit dull, (at least for live use) but both A100's were great. I can see using the B3 models in a recording environment though. As a M3 owner, guess I'd like to have that model option too. :)

 

The leslie options are killer, and worth the price of admission. Loved being able to do a 147 amp with 122 cabinet. I will also say that with the Leslie in brake, the organ sounded plenty authentic for that Brian Auger/Groove Holmes vibe.

 

My cons:

 

Surprisingly, the plug in actually ran better within Mainstage, then it did stand alone.. My systems are not current cutting edge, so take that into consideration.

 

1. It needs to be quicker loading presets, and better with memory usage overall. I tried this on my studio's 2012 16gb mac mini standalone and within Logic.

My laptop is a 2017 Mac 12" air w 8gb and for the most part ran smooth unless I tried to use the "outboard" 1176 compressor or Convo reverb which chocked it. I didn't need them anyway. The spring reverb is really nice and what'd I'd want, but buried in the stompboxes. Wish they would have a little knob available on the controls for quick access to Fx send.

 

 

2. They should have a direct volume control to the Leslie preamp available in the main page controls to tweak overdrive on the fly. Better yet some user defined knobs. In the meantime, will have to assign them in Mainstage.

 

3. They need to allow saving controller preset configurations besides Hammond. For the controllers I typically use, I'll be making Nord, Novation, NanoKontrol, and Voce V5 (yup still use it ..) Would love to be able to easily save/select those. Better yet, I wish they had done those already. That's what user forums are for, which I guess I'll be contributing.

 

4. Mainstage or most controllers can easily do splits for lower/upper manual- but I wish IK would do like the Logic Organ and make that option available as part of a preset for ease of use. For those running stand-alone this is essential.

 

Of course, this is all subjective. This served a specific need for me. For the average club/corporate/wedding gig, I'll probably stick with my Nord. But planning on using this in my concert/artist/pit-band rig and for session work. I'll let you know if the honeymoon is over.

 

Cheers.

 

 

Chris Corso

www.chriscorso.org

Lots of stuff.

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  • 1 month later...
If anyone can provide or point me toward a quick step-by-step on doing that, I'd appreciate it.

Go to

Ihttps://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/index.php?R=INIT&FV=free-software-related-products&CV=Other%20Filter&PSEL=freesoftware

and download free Custom Shop (if you have Amplitube or T Racks,you already have Custom Shop).

 

Open Custom Shop, go to Amps and you will see a few Leslie options, choose one and Custom Shop will give you option to buy or demo.. Go to Cabinets and do the same.

 

That's it. I don't believe Leslie comes up in the "Collections" option... so you only get a few Leslie amps/cabinets to try, not the full collection.

Thanks, I finally got around to trying this. Even after I followed all the steps and got the demo Leslie amps/cabs, it seemed to be a coin toss as to whether or not Amplitube would see them and let me select them, but I did get it working. They don't make it easy!

 

But now what will probably be a very silly question... how do you toggle between fast and slow speeds? I can't see a control for that!

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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