ElmerJFudd Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 That review is recent, June 17th, 2016 - it appears. They got their hands on the: Electro-Harmonix Lester K GSi Burn Hammond Cream Digital Leslie Pedal Neo Instruments Ventilator II Pigtronix Rototron But not the yet to be released Hammond Leslie K. I am confused a bit by D. Dave's last post - does he mean Lester K in a sentence or two and not Leslie K which was not available at the time of the Keyboard Mag RoundUp Review? Or does he believe the Leslie K will sound like the most recent firmware update for the Digital Leslie or "Cream" pedal - which will likely also be the sim in the new XK-5? Regardless, it appears there has been a firmware update for the Digital Leslie or "Cream" pedal was released and the consensus of the KB Mag guys was that it's an improvement on the sim in the SK series keyboards. Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Tweed Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 If the Lester K had some way of connecting a remote switch I'd give it a closer look. Even so the price in Australia is not exactly cheap at $AUD478. The Strymon Lex is listing at $AUD494. The real surprise was the Vent II which lists at $AUD949. I'm glad I got my original Vent at around $AUD500 a few years back. If the Lester was truly better for me I could sell my Vent for what I paid for it and I'd come put even. The exchange rate has gone downhill here but I'm still surprised to see the Vent II almost twice the price of the original. When I bought my QSC K10 it was just over the $AUD900 mark, whereas now they are going for more like $AUD1250. I am tempted to sell that and pick up a Yamaha DXR10 which lists for about what I paid for the K10. Legend Soul 261, Leslie 251, Yamaha UX1, CP4, CK61, Hammond SK1, Ventilator, Privia PX3, Behringer 2600, Korg Triton LE, various guitars and woodwinds, drum kits … Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delaware Dave Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 "..I am confused a bit by D. Dave's last post - does he mean Lester K in a sentence or two and not Leslie K which was not available at the time of the Keyboard Mag RoundUp Review? Or does he believe the Leslie K will sound like the most recent firmware update for the Digital Leslie or "Cream" pedal - which will likely also be the sim in the new XK-5?.." You kind of have to read in between the lines of the review. The writer indicates that the Leslie K is a "compact offshoot" of the Cream. What does that mean? I interpret that to mean that the Leslie K is not completely new technology, but more of a derivative of the existing Cream pedal. My interpretation is also supported by the writer saying that Hammond's own website says the sim is derived from the SK keyboards. He then goes on to say that the latest firmware updates convinced them that it's more realistic. They all agree that it sounded better than the SK sim. So reading in between the lines my interpretation is that the Leslie K is an upgraded SK sim. Further, I find it hard to believe that nearly at the same time they would introduce the XK5 with an improved leslie sim and, separately, develop a Leslie K pedal that are of different technologies. It would make more sense to leverage the XK5 technology into a pedal or vice versa, leverage the new pedal into the XK5. Even though the pedal that they were reviewing was the Cream and not the Leslie K, logic might indicate that calling the Leslie K a "compact offshoot" of the Cream could lead one to believe that the Cream pedal will sound similarly to the new Leslie K; perhaps different features on one vs. the other. Kind of similar to the Vent II and the "mini-Vent for organ" scenario. Fortner indicated that the pedal had spot-on frequency responses and rotational speeds compared to the real thing. He also said the vibe of the pedal is more of an 'in the room" leslie as opposed to the mic'd leslie that the Vent typically gives you. The other note was that the overdrive is more subtle than the other pedals and not the in your face Jon Lord through a Marshall amp type. Bottom line, it sounds like it is close to a gold standard (like the Vent was held to when it first came out). That being the case, coupling that with the XK5 new engine and its keybed, I believe that Hammond really did hit the mark here. My gripe is the price. I can't see myself dropping nearly $4K on a keyboard especially when I have a B3/122 sitting in my living room. For a gig I'm looking for something that would sound nearly as good but at half the price. If I were a touring musician it would seem justifiable, but right now a Gemini table top makes the most sense to me at 1/3 the price. 57 Hammond B3; 69 Hammond L100P; 68 Leslie 122; Kurzweil Forte7 & PC3; M-Audio Code 61; Voce V5+; Neo Vent; EV ELX112P; GSI Gemini & Burn Delaware Dave Exit93band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElmerJFudd Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 Right, they should have discontinued the XK-3c and matched its price with the XK-5 to get it in the hands of giggers. They can make up the scratch on institution sales where they would go for the whole system. It would be great if they trickled down some of the new tech to the SK line. Of course they will, but not for a while. The market will speak. If day one price of XK-5 results in slow sales, they'll need to adapt their pricing scheme or update their affordable portables. Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markay Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 I doubt that if you tasked the all the consultants at Boston Consulting and Mckinsey's to prepare an analysis and recommendations for HS's product and pricing strategies you would end up with a report with as many words in it as have been written in this forum on the subject. A misguided plumber attempting to entertain | MainStage 3 | Axiom 61 2nd Gen | Pianoteq | B5 | XK3c | EV ZLX 12P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 I doubt that if you tasked the all the consultants at Boston Consulting and Mckinsey's to prepare an analysis and recommendations for HS's product and pricing strategies you would end up with a report with as many words in it as have been written in this forum on the subject. Everyone's an expert, doncha know? Keep it greazy! B3tles - Soul Jazz THEO - Prog Rock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElmerJFudd Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 Indeed indeed. We, shall see. The fact there's so much chatter on the 5's price being high is suggestive of something though. Is it that it's high - and out of reach of people who really are ready to replace their XK-3 or 3c? Maybe. The 3c was like what, $2869.99 at its highest at one point? It has been as low at $2399.99 at one point. It's $2695 today, so a 5 is really a grand more to get in on the ground floor of that instrument. Obviously they believe they can get it. So we'll have to wait and see if the bean counters are right. Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpgxk3 Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 The question I have, is the Lester pedal just a spinner? or does it have a modeled or colored sound like the Mojo sim or Vent pedal? I am curious to know if Lester is like the old Voce Spin? I have a 22H tube powered amp cabinet, essentially a motor less Leslie set up that is spot on with my Mojo with the internal sim disabled. Fantastic for that Brian Auger thing, but I like movement. So if anyone can tell me for certain about the Lester having just a clean spin effect I thank you. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outkaster Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 I doubt that if you tasked the all the consultants at Boston Consulting and Mckinsey's to prepare an analysis and recommendations for HS's product and pricing strategies you would end up with a report with as many words in it as have been written in this forum on the subject. Everyone's an expert, doncha know? Yes "Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello" noblevibes.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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