NEO VENTILATOR II

[Craig MacDonald]

HD, you may not have had recallable presets on your 122, but you had a half a dozen different 122's to choose from!! ;-)

 

What's important about all these choices is understanding the differences so that we make the right choices! thats why these debates are important.

[Al Coda]

In any case, I doubt the Burn could be anything but a starved plate design, given its power supply. Has anyone ever seen a high voltage plate fed by 12V @ 350 MW?

 

NO !

 

Real Tube Overdrive is definitely NOT what we get in cheapo mic pres as also not in the BURN.

 

The Ventilator overdrive sounds great.

It´s realized using Sonic Core SCOPE SDK and running on SHARC DSP.

Have you ever heard Dynatube bass and guitar amp simulations running on the same platform ?

I really regret I cannot buy the Ventilator algorithm for my S|C XITE-1 box and run it in SCOPE.

 

NEO,- please release Ventilator for SCOPE !

I´d buy it in a heartbeat.

 

A.C.

[HammondDave]

HD, you may not have had recallable presets on your 122, but you had a half a dozen different 122's to choose from!! ;-)

 

What's important about all these choices is understanding the differences so that we make the right choices! thats why these debates are important.

 

And they all sounded dramatically different! Not even comparable to the minor differences between a Vent and Burn.

 

Sometimes we get pretty anal about the differences between board A and board B. The truth is that most modern synths, organs, DP's, etc sound pretty damn close.

 

To me, the real differences lie in the quality of the keyboard and the player interface. Everyone loves the sound of my VB3 triggered by my Motif XS, but if I had my wish I would be gigging with my old XK3c system. Only because of the interface.

[JeffLearman]

I'd like to know more about the expression pedal input. I assume its for getting the overdrive to swell with the volume better. Some boxes like the micro B don't really have expression inputs.

First, expression pedal input is a great feature, especially for folks using a board like PX5S that doesn't have expression pedal input. (However, I suspect most folks who want Leslie sim as good as the Vent also want a clonewheel that would be good enough to have an expression pedal input. Regardless, it's great to have this as a fallback.)

 

Second, yes, it does what "expression" does on any clone: it increases the volume before the tube amp, so that increasing volume gets more drive. Note that it should do about the same thing as a volume pedal on the keyboard feeding the Vent, or an analog volume pedal between the keyboard and the Vent.

 

In all cases, it controls the level between the tone generator and the tube amp, and overdriving the tube amp is what causes the lovely distortion.

 

I don't know anything about MicroB, but if you disabled any Leslie sim in the MicroB and fed it to the Vent, you could definitely use the Vent's expression pedal input, or you could use any volume control on the MicroB, and get pretty much the same result.

[Losendoskeys]

Craig

 

My only suggestion would be - count your posts in this thread vs everyone else's.

I think you need to be a bit less excited.

 

R

Alan

 

Alan, you really don't need to tell me to count my posts.. I know how many times I have posted (i wrote every one of them).

 

I am very passionate about Hammonds/clones etc.. as you may well know, and the day I stop being passionate about this stuff is the day they plant me in the ground.

 

Craig

 

edit: Alan I didn't mean this to sound as rude as it did, I realize that you were trying to be helpful. My apologies.

 

Craig

 

No apology required - just remember that "passion" is only a short distance away from "fanatacism".

You can make your point in a much more understated way and people will read it objectively.........

 

At present people see your name on the post and it becomes "oh Craig is off on his hobby horse again".....

 

R

Alan

 

 

[Craig MacDonald]

Craig

 

My only suggestion would be - count your posts in this thread vs everyone else's.

I think you need to be a bit less excited.

 

R

Alan

 

Alan, you really don't need to tell me to count my posts.. I know how many times I have posted (i wrote every one of them).

 

I am very passionate about Hammonds/clones etc.. as you may well know, and the day I stop being passionate about this stuff is the day they plant me in the ground.

 

Craig

 

edit: Alan I didn't mean this to sound as rude as it did, I realize that you were trying to be helpful. My apologies.

 

Craig

 

No apology required - just remember that "passion" is only a short distance away from "fanatacism".

You can make your point in a much more understated way and people will read it objectively.........

 

At present people see your name on the post and it becomes "oh Craig is off on his hobby horse again".....

 

R

Alan

 

Alan, is there anything else that you want to get off your chest? I've taken your criticism, and even apologized, and you still keep posting additional comments (even editing your posts to add addition criticisms).

 

Let me tell you something, perhaps you and a few others feel this way, but I have an inbasket full of private messages from forum members thanking me for dozens of things.. whether it's my reviews, my insights into a particular product, my helpful answers to questions and even my persistence when it comes to support for a particular product. I've even got thank you's for standing up to a number of bullies and extremely biased individuals on the forum.

 

Yes, I may have added a lot of posts here in this thread but it's nothing more than discussing/debating a wide range of aspects of this new product, when compared to the marketplace and the competition, including pricing, features, target audience, marketing strategy etc. I think that's what this forum is all about isn't it?

 

Alan, I hope that you are done criticizing me, I have already stated that I apologize if you don't like my posts or my style of posting. I post a lot simply because I can, I have the time, I have lot's of experience with this stuff.

[Markay]

I don't get the point that a top end rotary sim like Vent or the Burn would sell vast numbers to guitarists. I play guitar as well as keys in cover band and I cannot think of one song we cover or have considered covering that required a guitar rotary effect. If a Leslie effect was called for my Boss rotary would be what I would turn to. It sits on a shelf waiting for day I need a rotary sim for guitar, it has never made it onto my gigging pedal board.

 

The sonic differences between the Burn, Vent and Boss or Digitec would be lost through a typical good quality guitar amp and cab. On the other hand I ran VB3 through the Boss and it sounded awfull.

 

There are quite a few keyboard/guitarists here, any who would spend $500 on a rotary pedal for guitar only?

[Craig MacDonald]

HD, you may not have had recallable presets on your 122, but you had a half a dozen different 122's to choose from!! ;-)

 

What's important about all these choices is understanding the differences so that we make the right choices! thats why these debates are important.

 

And they all sounded dramatically different! Not even comparable to the minor differences between a Vent and Burn.

 

Sometimes we get pretty anal about the differences between board A and board B. The truth is that most modern synths, organs, DP's, etc sound pretty damn close.

 

To me, the real differences lie in the quality of the keyboard and the player interface. Everyone loves the sound of my VB3 triggered by my Motif XS, but if I had my wish I would be gigging with my old XK3c system. Only because of the interface.

 

Hammonddave, I think this is an excellent point, specifically that there is far greater difference from one leslie to another than there is between the Burn and the Ventilator sims.. I think that's what you said.. ;-)

 

These days our clones, and our leslie sims, are all SO GOOD, and yet we debate the most minute of differences in sound, and yet the feature sets are hugely different! One set of drawbars is dramatically different from 4 sets.. reverse colour preset keys is a lot different than having an up down button to toggle through presets, and the great feeling waterfall keyboard on an XK3c is very different than diving board keys, like the VR-09 (I added this for your benefit Dave).

 

With that in mind, let's recognize that the difference in sound between a Burn and a Vent is really quite negligible (just using these two as an example because I own both), and yet we debate this and have very strong opinions about which is better! Well the reality of all this is that in a blind listening test of the two sims I bet that less than half of the people participating in this thread would actually know which was which! SO, what are the real differentiators, and by that what should we really be looking for to determine device is best for us...?

 

Form, features, application and last but not least, price. If you simply want a 122 sim with 2 preset than perhaps mini-vent is best for you, if want the same thing with 5 simple knobs for real time control maybe it's the Vent/VentII, and if you want a wider range of sounds and more programmability with midi so that your sim can work as a transparent extension of your clone, than perhaps the Burn is your best choice.

 

I'm not trying to tell anyone here what leslie sim to buy, but I am sharing my opinion on the new Ventilator II, in an effort to help people make an informed purchase, and as you point out, focus less on the minutae (like the barely perceptible difference in sound between one sim and another) and more on the function/form/features.

 

 

[Craig MacDonald]

I don't get the point that a top end rotary sim like Vent or the Burn would sell vast numbers to guitarists. I play guitar as well as keys in cover band and I cannot think of one song we cover or have considered covering that required a guitar rotary effect. If a Leslie effect was called for my Boss rotary would be what I would turn to. It sits on a shelf waiting for day I need a rotary sim for guitar, it has never made it onto my gigging pedal board.

 

The sonic differences between the Burn, Vent and Boss or Digitec would be lost through a typical good quality guitar amp and cab. On the other hand I ran VB3 through the Boss and it sounded awfull.

 

There are quite a few keyboard/guitarists here, any who would spend $500 an rotary pedal for guitar only?

Markay, many guitarists are absolute fanatics about their equipment/sound.. (actually do you know any who aren't??)

 

My guitarist was probably the first in Canada to purchase an original Ventilator.. he loves it.. we bought them together from Ken Hall and I expect that they were among the first half dozen vents in Canada. Here in Toronto we had a number of bands in the 70's who's signature guitar sound was a guitar through a leslie (Foot In Cold Water for one) and it was a very common configuration. My guitar player used my speakeasy preamp and my 147 leslie on a number of tracks from our CD..

 

$500 for an effect is NOT out of the question for guitar players (especially when you consider the price of some collectible guitars!!). That said, musicians want good value, and they may or may not see the value of a $500 leslie sim over a $250 sim, ESPECIALLY when they put it through a guitar amp! We keyboard players are listening to our leslie sims through keyboard amps and monitors that cover the full frequency spectrum and guitar amps roll off a lot of frequencies that keyboard amps and monitors don't. So how much difference will a guitar player really hear, and will they see the value in a $500 effect over the same effect in a $250 package? I don't know, but don't underestimate guitar players desire for a particular sound.. they will often pay whatever they have to for it.

[Losendoskeys]

Craig

 

My only suggestion would be - count your posts in this thread vs everyone else's.

I think you need to be a bit less excited.

 

R

Alan

 

Alan, you really don't need to tell me to count my posts.. I know how many times I have posted (i wrote every one of them).

 

I am very passionate about Hammonds/clones etc.. as you may well know, and the day I stop being passionate about this stuff is the day they plant me in the ground.

 

Craig

 

edit: Alan I didn't mean this to sound as rude as it did, I realize that you were trying to be helpful. My apologies.

 

Craig

 

No apology required - just remember that "passion" is only a short distance away from "fanatacism".

You can make your point in a much more understated way and people will read it objectively.........

 

At present people see your name on the post and it becomes "oh Craig is off on his hobby horse again".....

 

R

Alan

 

Alan, is there anything else that you want to get off your chest? I've taken your criticism, and even apologized, and you still keep posting additional comments (even editing your posts to add addition criticisms).

 

Let me tell you something, perhaps you and a few others feel this way, but I have an inbasket full of private messages from forum members thanking me for dozens of things.. whether it's my reviews, my insights into a particular product, my helpful answers to questions and even my persistence when it comes to support for a particular product. I've even got thank you's for standing up to a number of bullies and extremely biased individuals on the forum.

 

Yes, I may have added a lot of posts here in this thread but it's nothing more than discussing/debating a wide range of aspects of this new product, when compared to the marketplace and the competition, including pricing, features, target audience, marketing strategy etc. I think that's what this forum is all about isn't it?

 

Alan, I hope that you are done criticizing me, I have already stated that I apologize if you don't like my posts or my style of posting. I post a lot simply because I can, I have the time, I have lot's of experience with this stuff.

 

 

Enough said - you're now too sensitive - I'm trying to be helpful not critical.

Viewing this thread from 50,000 feet it doesn't look like a balanced view but that's just my opinion.

 

Frankly I could care less - you do what you want.

 

R

Alan

[Markay]

My guitarist was probably the first in Canada to purchase an original Ventilator.. he loves it.. we bought them together from Ken Hall and I expect that they were among the first half dozen vents in Canada. Here in Toronto we had a number of bands in the 70's who's signature guitar sound was a guitar through a leslie (Foot In Cold Water for one) and it was a very common configuration. My guitar player used my speakeasy preamp and my 147 leslie on a number of tracks from our CD.

Toronto must be a creative hotspot.

In all the years I have been going to see Stadium acts down jam nights I could count the number of times I have seen a guitar going through a Leslie on butchers left hand.

[mate stubb]

When I opened for Frampton's Camel back in the day, he played live thru THREE leslies!

[Craig MacDonald]

Markay,

 

Absolutely.. Toronto was an absolute musical hotspot back in the day!! A lot of very creative artists paid their dues here!! It was very exciting back then.. today.. not so much.. (sadly).

 

 

[CEB]

I think Vent 2 is the way to go. I like the seperate button for brake. Now I just need to sell a guitar or my 860 cabinet.

[Jim Alfredson]

Yes, I am biased: by the fact that I currently own 9 Leslies, two of which are 122s. The first Leslie I owned was a 122 when I was 16.

 

All I said is that the Ventilator is the more authentic 122 emulation. And I stand by that.

 

I'll leave it at that for now since I don't like typing long replies on my iPhone.

[Losendoskeys]

Yes, I am biased: by the fact that I currently own 9 Leslies, two of which are 122s. The first Leslie I owned was a 122 when I was 16.

 

All I said is that the Ventilator is the more authentic 122 emulation. And I stand by that.

 

I'll leave it at that for now since I don't like typing long replies on my iPhone.

 

Good enough for me

[Craig MacDonald]

Yes, I am biased: by the fact that I currently own 9 Leslies, two of which are 122s. The first Leslie I owned was a 122 when I was 16.

 

All I said is that the Ventilator is the more authentic 122 emulation. And I stand by that.

 

I'll leave it at that for now since I don't like typing long replies on my iPhone.

 

Jim,

 

If this is going to become a pissing contest.. you win, because at his point I only have 3 leslies and I purchased my first B3/122 when I was 18. Now this was 40 years ago, and I don't know how 40 years of Hammond/leslie experience compares to your years of experience, and I don't really give a rats ass because I don't think that's what this is about. It's about our different opinions, I don't think that there is any question regarding our experience or how many leslies we own. What IS at issue here, at least from my perspective, is that you are a Neo Instruments sponsored artist, something that not everyone is aware of (perhaps you should put your affiliations in your epilogue so people can consider this when they listen to your opinions on things), whereas I actually own both of these products and I have no affiliation with either of these manufacturers. I have no horse in this race and I have no "possible" bias whatsoever! Just my completely unbiased opinion. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I was a Korg Kronos beta tester for the recent CX3 update (same one that Hammonddave was involved in), but like Hammonddave this was merely a result of my experience with real hammonds/clones and I have no other relationship or affiliation with them.

 

I'm not suggesting that you're biased Jim, I'm quite sure that you genuinely prefer the Ventilator I/II and that is why you're associating yourself with Neo Instruments. However, I take exception to you posting a definitive statement such as "The Ventilator sounds better than the Burn". I have absolutely no problem with you saying that you "prefer" the sound of the Ventilator, but perhaps you could refrain from pretending that your opinion is the correct one.

 

In every one of my rants on the topic of mini-vent or Vent II, I have always been quite up front that some people prefer the sound of the Ventilator, as well as the fact that I own and love my Ventilator too!! I actually prefer certain aspects of the Ventilator sim myself. However, there are many things that I prefer about the Burn, not the least of which is the fact that it has a 147 and other algorithms. It's not a "one trick pony" to quote a previous post from some other forum member.

 

I've said what I had to say and I'm going to try to duck out of this thread if I can.. people can make up there own mind about this new Ventilator II. They can decide for themselves whether it's an overpriced repackaging of nothing new, or the glowing new product that I'm sure you will describe it as (when you have time).

[WesG]

Ken Hall was selling Vents to the TO market? Man, he must have been pissed when L&M started carrying them. Ken is local to me, lives 3 miles from my office, really good guy and a great player! He is actually the first guy I ever saw playing a Leslie live, about 20 years ago, I was totally blown away.

[Craig MacDonald]

Wes, YES Ken is a great guy, a great PAL.. and he's been a great help and resource to me with all of my clone stuff..!

 

Originally it was Ken Hall here in Canada, then I got the Ventilator into Cosmo music (where I worked as a keyboard and recording consultant for 2 years), and I see that L&M has them now too.. I think that there was a bit of tension between Ken and I when we started selling them at Cosmo but we worked that out.. Not sure how he feels about L&M.

 

Ken just retired and now he's the official Mojo/Burn repair guy for north America (not sure if you know that)..

 

I was down to Kingston to see him last week.. !

 

Edit: I should probably clarify that it was SVEN and I who got the Ventilator into Cosmo Music I shouldn't suggest that it was all my idea. Not sure if they're carried there anymore..

[WesG]

Hey, I didn't know Ken was the Mojo/Burn repair guy. That's really good to know. I am thinking about buying a Leslie sim at some point in the future (three more speakers and some lights first)....knowing that Ken is the repair guy really tips the scales towards the Burn. I want a sim to help with crowded stages.

 

FWIW, I don't care what kind of Leslie I'm playing, as long as it sounds like a Leslie and switches fast not like a 122! My 760 is the ugliest thing you've ever seen, but I've put a LOT of hours on it.

 

If you're ever in town and looking for somebody to buy you a coffee or a beer...drop me a line.

 

Wes

[Craig MacDonald]

Hey Wes.. yes Ken took on those responsibilities just a few months ago, and he's been a great help to me.. I grew up with a B3/122 combination but the last few years, I've been using a 147, and I've come to prefer that for my classic rock band.. 147 just sits better with classic rock I think (totally subjective of course).. I have a road 147 that's a mess to look at.. painted black, with a cabinet that's been broken and repaired, but it has a high performance driver, rebuilt preamp with all the work done by Sal Azz, and it sounds really sweet!! Looks aren't everything.

 

Are you in Kingston too..? IF so PM me with your contact info! Likewise if you get down TO way.. we'll grab a beer or a coffee..

 

Thanks

Craig

[Jim Alfredson]

Yes, I am biased: by the fact that I currently own 9 Leslies, two of which are 122s. The first Leslie I owned was a 122 when I was 16.

 

All I said is that the Ventilator is the more authentic 122 emulation. And I stand by that.

 

I'll leave it at that for now since I don't like typing long replies on my iPhone.

 

Jim,

 

If this is going to become a pissing contest.. you win, because at his point I only have 3 leslies and I purchased my first B3/122 when I was 18. Now this was 40 years ago, and I don't know how 40 years of Hammond/leslie experience compares to your years of experience, and I don't really give a rats ass because I don't think that's what this is about. It's about our different opinions, I don't think that there is any question regarding our experience or how many leslies we own. What IS at issue here, at least from my perspective, is that you are a Neo Instruments sponsored artist, something that not everyone is aware of (perhaps you should put your affiliations in your epilogue so people can consider this when they listen to your opinions on things), whereas I actually own both of these products and I have no affiliation with either of these manufacturers. I have no horse in this race and I have no "possible" bias whatsoever! Just my completely unbiased opinion. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I was a Korg Kronos beta tester for the recent CX3 update (same one that Hammonddave was involved in), but like Hammonddave this was merely a result of my experience with real hammonds/clones and I have no other relationship or affiliation with them.

 

I'm not suggesting that you're biased Jim, I'm quite sure that you genuinely prefer the Ventilator I/II and that is why you're associating yourself with Neo Instruments. However, I take exception to you posting a definitive statement such as "The Ventilator sounds better than the Burn". I have absolutely no problem with you saying that you "prefer" the sound of the Ventilator, but perhaps you could refrain from pretending that your opinion is the correct one.

 

In every one of my rants on the topic of mini-vent or Vent II, I have always been quite up front that some people prefer the sound of the Ventilator, as well as the fact that I own and love my Ventilator too!! I actually prefer certain aspects of the Ventilator sim myself. However, there are many things that I prefer about the Burn, not the least of which is the fact that it has a 147 and other algorithms. It's not a "one trick pony" to quote a previous post from some other forum member.

 

I've said what I had to say and I'm going to try to duck out of this thread if I can.. people can make up there own mind about this new Ventilator II. They can decide for themselves whether it's an overpriced repackaging of nothing new, or the glowing new product that I'm sure you will describe it as (when you have time).

 

Wow. There's some real passive aggressiveness in that post, man.

 

I state my opinions definitively. I don't really care if you or anyone else agrees with them. The Ventilator is a more authentic emulation of the 122 than the Burn. You can disagree all you want. That's fine. But that's my opinion, which is based on 20 years of experience with the 122 including playing live four to five nights a week with one for 10+ years, 26 years experience with recording techniques, and direct comparisons between a mic'd 122 and the Vent in my studio.

 

The BURN is a fine product with a lot more options than the Vent and I greatly respect Guido and what he is doing. I'm a big fan of VB3. But if someone is looking for the ultimate 122 emulation, the Ventilator is the best there is.

 

In terms of worth, that's a personal decision. Let's keep in mind that the original Ventilator is not longer available. This is the replacement.

 

For the record, I never said two presets were enough on the Mini-Vent. I believe what I said is that the five levels that can be programmed for the overdrive are adequate for most purposes. There's a reason I have not replaced my original Vent on the road with the Mini-Vent. Actually two reasons: Lack of REMOTE input and the lack of a dedicated DRIVE knob. I see the Mini-Vent as a less expensive alternative to the big Vent for those that don't need all the real-time control.

[Pa Gherkin]

 

 

Something I don't recall seeing mentioned in this thread is that the Mini Vent supposedly uses a new algorithm that eliminates or minimizes the beating/pulsing that was driving Hammondave nuts when combining the original Vent with the XK3C's C/V. I would assume this improvement has been implemented in the VentII. This might make the a switch to the VentII a good move for some,yes?

 

BTW,I own a Burn and really like it. Nice MIDI control,tweakability,and fine versatile sound. Very good sim. Planning on getting a Vent II as well.

 

[Six-string-man]

 

Something I don't recall seeing mentioned in this thread is that the Mini Vent supposedly uses a new algorithm that eliminates or minimizes the beating/pulsing that was driving Hammondave nuts when combining the original Vent with the XK3C's C/V. I would assume this improvement has been implemented in the VentII.

 

 

 

Actually, I did mention the algorithm in an earlier post.

 

I too would like to know if this has been incorporated into the new model. If yes, and there is also an adjustable output level, it may just make the difference on whether to pull the trigger on this or not.

 

Anyone got a shipping date yet?

 

 

SSM

[Losendoskeys]

Yes, I am biased: by the fact that I currently own 9 Leslies, two of which are 122s. The first Leslie I owned was a 122 when I was 16.

 

All I said is that the Ventilator is the more authentic 122 emulation. And I stand by that.

 

I'll leave it at that for now since I don't like typing long replies on my iPhone.

 

Jim,

 

If this is going to become a pissing contest.. you win, because at his point I only have 3 leslies and I purchased my first B3/122 when I was 18. Now this was 40 years ago, and I don't know how 40 years of Hammond/leslie experience compares to your years of experience, and I don't really give a rats ass because I don't think that's what this is about. It's about our different opinions, I don't think that there is any question regarding our experience or how many leslies we own. What IS at issue here, at least from my perspective, is that you are a Neo Instruments sponsored artist, something that not everyone is aware of (perhaps you should put your affiliations in your epilogue so people can consider this when they listen to your opinions on things), whereas I actually own both of these products and I have no affiliation with either of these manufacturers. I have no horse in this race and I have no "possible" bias whatsoever! Just my completely unbiased opinion. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I was a Korg Kronos beta tester for the recent CX3 update (same one that Hammonddave was involved in), but like Hammonddave this was merely a result of my experience with real hammonds/clones and I have no other relationship or affiliation with them.

 

I'm not suggesting that you're biased Jim, I'm quite sure that you genuinely prefer the Ventilator I/II and that is why you're associating yourself with Neo Instruments. However, I take exception to you posting a definitive statement such as "The Ventilator sounds better than the Burn". I have absolutely no problem with you saying that you "prefer" the sound of the Ventilator, but perhaps you could refrain from pretending that your opinion is the correct one.

 

In every one of my rants on the topic of mini-vent or Vent II, I have always been quite up front that some people prefer the sound of the Ventilator, as well as the fact that I own and love my Ventilator too!! I actually prefer certain aspects of the Ventilator sim myself. However, there are many things that I prefer about the Burn, not the least of which is the fact that it has a 147 and other algorithms. It's not a "one trick pony" to quote a previous post from some other forum member.

 

I've said what I had to say and I'm going to try to duck out of this thread if I can.. people can make up there own mind about this new Ventilator II. They can decide for themselves whether it's an overpriced repackaging of nothing new, or the glowing new product that I'm sure you will describe it as (when you have time).

 

Wow. There's some real passive aggressiveness in that post, man.

 

I state my opinions definitively. I don't really care if you or anyone else agrees with them. The Ventilator is a more authentic emulation of the 122 than the Burn. You can disagree all you want. That's fine. But that's my opinion, which is based on 20 years of experience with the 122 including playing live four to five nights a week with one for 10+ years, 26 years experience with recording techniques, and direct comparisons between a mic'd 122 and the Vent in my studio.

 

The BURN is a fine product with a lot more options than the Vent and I greatly respect Guido and what he is doing. I'm a big fan of VB3. But if someone is looking for the ultimate 122 emulation, the Ventilator is the best there is.

 

In terms of worth, that's a personal decision. Let's keep in mind that the original Ventilator is not longer available. This is the replacement.

 

For the record, I never said two presets were enough on the Mini-Vent. I believe what I said is that the five levels that can be programmed for the overdrive are adequate for most purposes. There's a reason I have not replaced my original Vent on the road with the Mini-Vent. Actually two reasons: Lack of REMOTE input and the lack of a dedicated DRIVE knob. I see the Mini-Vent as a less expensive alternative to the big Vent for those that don't need all the real-time control.

Jim

 

I agree totally with your stance.

And all in one post....

 

R

Alan

[Six-string-man]

 

I agree totally with your stance.

And all in one post....

 

R

Alan

 

 

 

OK Alan, how about you and Jim and Craig kiss and make up now?

 

I respect all your opinions - no matter how strongly expressed - but surely it's time to get back to discussing the gear?

 

Just saying.

 

 

SSM

[Losendoskeys]

SSM

 

Made my point on both counts and I respect (though disagree) with Craigs opinion.

Just need people to take the emotion out and cool it a bit!

 

R

Alan

[Craig MacDonald]

OK, I think we've all expressed our views.. and I don't think that there's any question that we all respect each other's opinion..

 

ALAN.. I'm not surprised that you agree with Jim's position on this. That's all good.. You think I post too much.. Fine that's your opinion.

 

JIM, I didn't think that there was very much "passive" in my post, but if you say so... ;-) I tell it like I see it, and when I see a sponsored artist making a definitive statement that their product is better than the competition, the hairs stand up on the back of my neck (and by the way, based on the PM's I get, there are a number of others on this forum who feel the same way). You can take that for whatever its' worth, you can ignore it, you can modify your approach (eg: "I prefer xyz because" rather than "my product is better than the competition), or you can simply update your epilogue to clearly identify that you have an affiliation with the product you're discussing so new members can put your comments into a proper context.

 

SSM, thanks, I agree it's time to get back to discussing gear.

 

 

 

[Craig MacDonald]

Something I don't recall seeing mentioned in this thread is that the Mini Vent supposedly uses a new algorithm that eliminates or minimizes the beating/pulsing that was driving Hammondave nuts when combining the original Vent with the XK3C's C/V. I would assume this improvement has been implemented in the VentII.

Actually, I did mention the algorithm in an earlier post.

 

I too would like to know if this has been incorporated into the new model. If yes, and there is also an adjustable output level, it may just make the difference on whether to pull the trigger on this or not.

 

Anyone got a shipping date yet?

SSM

It would be great to get an answer to this question because the debate here seems to be, cost vs features and is there anything new (of consequence)..

 

If the algorithm has been updated and Hammonddaves harmonic beating has been fixed, that would definitely be of consequence to a number of original vent owners who are bothered by the same problem (although I think this bothered Hammonddave a lot more than the rest of us).

[CEB]

If it is what I think it is I get that same beating using C3 into the XK3c internal sim.

 

I'm still on the fence as usual on whether to get a remote Mini or a Vent II. The cost is about the same. On a real leslie the only thing I ever change is mic distance. I use a D112 on the bottom rotor and 2 EV Co4 on the Horn. I like the idea racking it because it reduces setup time.

 

I will really miss not having the kick switch on the expression pedal changing speeds.

 

All I need to do is sound like Gregg Rolie. LOL.