Leslie sim on XK5 - any good?

[MrVegas]

I currently own a Vent II that I'm using my CX-3 with and don't really like it, which I really is blasphemy to many users on here. (Maybe it's because I don't know how to dial it in correctly).

 

I have heard that the Leslie sim on the XK5 is pretty darn good. I know this topic gets beat to death, but would like to hear from you experts what your verdict is on realistic Leslie sounds coming out of an XK5 just plugged into a regular keyboard amp?

[dazzjazz]

For me, the XK5 Leslie sim is well below current standards. You will need the Vent!

[M_G]

Have you tewaked it Darren?

It can sound pretty nice but you are right: nothing beats the Vent !

[dazzjazz]

No I haven"t tweaked it. The Leslie sim on such an expensive board should be fine out of the box don"t you think?

[M_G]

Sure, I know what you mean...

 

but it's not forbidden to dive into a menu and use the parameters....

 

I just tested the YC61 and that LeslieSim is iimho

unusable and even the parameters don"t help....

[AnotherScott]

No I haven"t tweaked it. The Leslie sim on such an expensive board should be fine out of the box don"t you think?

Well it should at least sound "acceptable" if not ideal. I mean, even the Neo Vent has adjustments. Heck, even a real Leslie 122 let the user adjust the belt to different positions, and a real recording of one permitted the engineer to play with mic positions. So people do have different ideas of what it "should" sound like.

[MrVegas]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone heard of or tried Amplitude Leslie software plugin?

 

Seems kind of cool but don't know how it sounds. Not even sure how it would work? Would you have to use it with a software synth (such as B3-x) or could you route a signal from a clone (CX-3 or XK5) into it?

 

 

https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/atleslie/?pkey=amplitube-leslie

[Moonglow]

While almost always an improvement to an internal Leslie sim, I have noticed the Vent interacts better with some clones than others. I found it does not interact as well with the CX-3 as it does with Nord and Hammond clones. The best combination I've heard was my pal and forum member Tonysound's Hammond XK-1, which he was using with a mini-Vent. Then again, he can make any clone sound good...

 

I imagine the XK-5 with a Vent would sound fantastic. Of course, the amp/speaker through which you play it is an important variable, and only you can decide if your experience with the Vent is worth keeping it. So I wouldn't ditch the Vent until you can A/B it with the sim in the XK-5.

[Outkaster]

Tucktronix (Jon) here on the forum had a CX-3 and first generation vent. I saw him open for Tower of Power in July of 2010. It sounded really good actually.

[Delaware Dave]

IMHO, the biggest weakness of the XK5 is the leslie sim, i.e. it is not at the same level as the rest of the package. Is it good enough? Hard to say, you said that you dont like the way the Vent sounds, everyone here will tell you otherwise. So any comments you receive have to be treated with the same grain of salt. Buy the keyboard and try it, or listen to the internal sim on youtube videos and form your own opinion. I'm not sure why you are leaning toward an XK5, you havent stated what turns you on about it. There are other keyboards with similar layouts to the XK5 that are certainly less expensive and sound about as good. Viscount Solo, and UHL P1 come to mind. They dont have the key contacts that the XK5 has, is that the deal breaker? Would be interested to understand what you need from an organ, the sound, layout? Great C/V, Keybed? That might help us with recommendations.

[Jim Alfredson]

I go through the parameters of the XK5 Leslie in my deep dive video. I think it's very good. Keep in mind that direct it sounds a bit sterile but once you put it into a speaker cabinet and thus into a room, the room ambience helps a lot. You can also use the onboard reverb, which I'm not doing in the video for demonstration purposes.

 

[MrVegas]

I'm leaning towards the XK-5 mainly because (a) it's Hammonds latest and supposed to be better than previous versions, (b) love the appearance of it, © truest to the real thing from a layout perspective, (d) key contacts, (e) longevity factor - I had a few CX-3's for 20 some years and figure if I spring for the XK it will last a pretty long time. Also, there's a chance that I would want to expand to dual keyboards sometime down the road in a few years.

 

I'm going to try to find one in a store locally that I can play around with. Thanks all for your input! Jim, that in-depth video is awesome, thanks!

[CEB]

If you don"t like the Vent then you probably won"t like the XK-5 sim either because at the end of the day it isn"t a spinning horn but through front of house both work really well.

[Doerfler]

I'm going to try to find one in a store locally that I can play around with.

 

Closed until 10:00AM Monday morning, but I am fairly certain that Washington Music Center has one on display. It's probably 20 miles or so from Columbia, MD.

[Delaware Dave]

I'm going to try to find one in a store locally that I can play around with.

Bring your vent with you so that you can determine in the store which one sounds better to you and if either one solves the leslie sim quality issue.

[dazzjazz]

Jim is the master tweaker of all things clonewheel, so be sure to check his video.

The action on the XK5 is stellar, so hopefully you can get the whole package working for you.