Best Hammond B3?
- Thread starter Reid Rosefelt
- Start date
KMA
pedestrian hack
That's fantastic news.
If that's true, I'll happily give Guido some more of my money.
I own three ones and I don't speak about others ... that I don't own !
I have B5 from acoustic sample, Blue3 from GG audio and vintage organs from Native I. Considering the sounds, I clearly prefer the B5 and the Blue 3... These two organs are very nice. Considering the playability, the three ones are good too but GUI of Vintage Organs is too small (Small area reserved in Kontakt !) not very easy to use. I suggest you to test B5 and Blue3 which normally will cover all your requirements and the two organs are very well featured with a big and relevant GUI... The Leslie simulation is not so bad... Midi implementation is very good for these two organs too (If you want to program midi tracks in a DAW ... it is very important). Two have midi learn feature to assign Midi controlers as you need. With Reaper, we may use a "midinotename" file to use it and with this exclusive and relevant feature, it becomes very easy to view lanes in the midi editor with their "name" (Their assignation)... I give you this remark because Virtual Organs require a lot of Midi CC for drawbars, knobs or switches and if you don't remind the assignation of all midi cc in your midi editor, it becomes impossible (excapt if you have an elephant memory !). At your disposal for tests...
I have B5 from acoustic sample, Blue3 from GG audio and vintage organs from Native I. Considering the sounds, I clearly prefer the B5 and the Blue 3... These two organs are very nice. Considering the playability, the three ones are good too but GUI of Vintage Organs is too small (Small area reserved in Kontakt !) not very easy to use. I suggest you to test B5 and Blue3 which normally will cover all your requirements and the two organs are very well featured with a big and relevant GUI... The Leslie simulation is not so bad... Midi implementation is very good for these two organs too (If you want to program midi tracks in a DAW ... it is very important). Two have midi learn feature to assign Midi controlers as you need. With Reaper, we may use a "midinotename" file to use it and with this exclusive and relevant feature, it becomes very easy to view lanes in the midi editor with their "name" (Their assignation)... I give you this remark because Virtual Organs require a lot of Midi CC for drawbars, knobs or switches and if you don't remind the assignation of all midi cc in your midi editor, it becomes impossible (excapt if you have an elephant memory !). At your disposal for tests...
dickiefunk
Member
I have Blue3, B3X, B5, Vintage Organs and have tried out VB3ii.
All are capable of good results but my favourite in terms of sound is B5. However, I find the workflow of B3X to be better and I it is my second favourite regarding sound so I use this over B5.
Acoustic Samples said they are planning to port all of the libraries to iOS at some point and as my Yamaha YC61 has a built in audio interface, it would be extremely easy to use this live.
All are capable of good results but my favourite in terms of sound is B5. However, I find the workflow of B3X to be better and I it is my second favourite regarding sound so I use this over B5.
Acoustic Samples said they are planning to port all of the libraries to iOS at some point and as my Yamaha YC61 has a built in audio interface, it would be extremely easy to use this live.
ag75
Senior Member
I love the UA Waterfall B3. It’s one of the best.
www.uaudio.com
Waterfall B3 Organ | UAD Audio Plugins | Universal Audio
Waterfall B3 Organ is the world's most thorough emulation of the classic Hammond B3 organ and its companion Leslie 147 rotary speaker cabinet,* giving your music the same rich tone and three-dimensional sound heard on decades of legendary albums.
davinwv
Active Member
I am a Hammond snob, and I have used VB3 1.4 and VB3-ii, B5 versions 1-3, Waterfall, and B-3X. As I stated earlier in this thread, B-3X and Waterfall are the current gold standards for me.
I liked B5 v2 okay, but I never really bonded with v3 of it, and I'm afraid GSi lost the plot with VB3 a while ago (especially its Leslie sim).
I liked B5 v2 okay, but I never really bonded with v3 of it, and I'm afraid GSi lost the plot with VB3 a while ago (especially its Leslie sim).
synthlove22
DJ Crystal Love
I love the UA Waterfall B3. It’s one of the best.
Waterfall B3 Organ | UAD Audio Plugins | Universal Audio
Waterfall B3 Organ is the world's most thorough emulation of the classic Hammond B3 organ and its companion Leslie 147 rotary speaker cabinet,* giving your music the same rich tone and three-dimensional sound heard on decades of legendary albums.
Have to agree, since I've gotten it.......it's been the only one I use now!!! Only other one I still use and comes close is Galileo 2 on IOS.
dickiefunk
Member
I am not sure how I ended up with the coupon. But I did just recently buy two plugins for $99 in their two for $99 package. And then the $25 coupon showed up, so I assume that this is given to people who at least buy some amount of the UAD plugins.
Thanks for the heads up. I was waiting for it to drop to $49.
Kevin63101
Member
My favorite authentic is IKMM B3. I use dual manuals and physical drawbars with it.
One that isn't as close to authentic but a blast to play is Air DB33 ... often a $10 deal. Just a very playable sound.
Close authentic contenders are the GSI VB3ii and Arturia VB3. I'd choose either if I didn't prefer IK, and often find a preset that excels in theirs.
Acoustic Samples B5 (v1), NI B3 were ok but rarely use.
One that isn't as close to authentic but a blast to play is Air DB33 ... often a $10 deal. Just a very playable sound.
Close authentic contenders are the GSI VB3ii and Arturia VB3. I'd choose either if I didn't prefer IK, and often find a preset that excels in theirs.
Acoustic Samples B5 (v1), NI B3 were ok but rarely use.
cfodeebiedaddy
Active Member
dyross
Senior Member
The new Toontrack EKX Hammond looks nice: https://www.toontrack.com/product/session-organ-ekx/
I'm not sure how good EzKeys2 as a platform is if you're not using all of the songwriting features, though.
I'm not sure how good EzKeys2 as a platform is if you're not using all of the songwriting features, though.
Lukas
Senior Member
To be honest, I think there is little reason for even more B3 plug-ins. The best ones (in terms of sound) were already mentioned by Simeon. IKM B-3X is very expensive, has a high CPU consumption and also sometimes behaved unpredictably in my tests. VB3 / VB3-II was my favorite before I discovered Blue3 but is less flexible.
So for jazz/pop/funk/gospel contexts (low to moderate distortion) Blue3 is my clear winner. As someone who has played a real B3 for years, I can't find a plug-in that sounds more realistic. Here are a few demos I recorded.
I used it on album productions and for live playing (with my Nord Stage 3 as a controller). If you're a B3 nerd and want more distortion, you can combine it with PSP L'otary2.
So for jazz/pop/funk/gospel contexts (low to moderate distortion) Blue3 is my clear winner. As someone who has played a real B3 for years, I can't find a plug-in that sounds more realistic. Here are a few demos I recorded.
I used it on album productions and for live playing (with my Nord Stage 3 as a controller). If you're a B3 nerd and want more distortion, you can combine it with PSP L'otary2.
easyrider
Embracing the Absurd
Have you tired UAD waterfall?
TimCox
Senior Member
It's worth mentioning CollaB3 which has full drawbar control, percussion settings, reverb, chorus, a decent leslie simulation, and even control for the amount of leakage. I'm not sure I would place it upfront as a solo but it's worked for me in 90% of the situations I need a leslie for.
Oh and it's free
Oh and it's free
