Newbie questions for the Electro 6D

[mrsugmad]

Hi all;

Newbie here. This looks like a great site for all things Nord.

My background is I'm coming out of retirement and playing at a weekly jam. I played keyboards, synths and B3 leslie for many years.
90% of my playing is with Hammond sounds and 10% other keyboard sounds.

Currently have a Hammond SK1. Excellent B3 and leslie simulation; pianos and EP's not so much.

Reading about the Electro 6D and may get the 61 or 73 version.

Some questions:
1. The manual states: "When shipped, the nord electro 6 is configured to output all audio through the Left & Right outputs"
And "In Stereo mode, all sounds are sent to both audio outputs."
I plan on running a guitar cord to my bass amp. Can I plug into either LEFT or RIGHT output channel and be OK? If I use a split patch such as piano/organ, will both sounds be summed MONO to both the LEFT or RIGHT?
I just want a MONO out to an amp.

2. Rotor acceleration/deceleration times.The SK1 nails the leslie in this department.
Currently to go from FAST to SLOW or FAST to STOP, it's about 8-10 seconds, as I kind of remember with my 122 Leslie.
Conversely going from SLOW TO FAST or STOP to FAST is about 8-10 seconds too.

When listening to youtube videos, it sounds like the Electro 6D is much quicker; maybe 3-4 seconds? This is not how a leslie bottom rotor works. It's much slower.

The manual says: "ACC (ACCeLeRATIOn)This determines the acceleration and deceleration time of the rotary speaker woofer rotor.Range: Low, Normal (default), High"
Will moving the woofer speaker range to LOW bring it to around 8-10 seconds? This is very important to me...

I went to my local Sam Ash and Guitar Center but they have no Nords on display. I would be buying one without hearing it. I want to make sure the B3 sounds and Leslie
are Comparable to a real B3 or the SK1..

3. Opinions on 61 or 73 model; worth the extra $300 for the 73?

This post it long-winded but some important issues to me.
Thanks in advance,

Mike

[RealDeal]

The acceleration of the bass rotor (what the 6D refers to as the "rotor") and the acceleration of the top rotor (what the 6D refers to as the "horn") are programmable in the sound menu. They can be set to LOW, NORMAL, or HIGH. Note: the acceleration and deceleration can not be programmed separately. You likely heard the NORMAL setting. Over the last 25 years I've done around 1500 gigs with a Leslie 145 (which has the same rotors and motors as the 122 & 147 but is a few inches shorter) and I agree that the acceleration at NORMAL is faster than what I'm used to with my actual Leslie.

On my Leslie the top rotor (horn) acceleration phase is less than a second (maybe a half second?). Deceleration is about a second I think. Bass rotor acceleration to full speed is probably 6-8 seconds with deceleration a similar time. When setting the 6D bass rotor acceleration to LOW I'd estimate it''s 6-8 seconds to reach full speed. The deceleration on the LOW setting is about 4-5 seconds, oddly. To make the most realistic accel times for myself, I leave the horn at NORMAL and the bass rotor at LOW.

The acceleration begins the instant you hit the fast Leslie switch, which is how the Leslie 147/145 works, unlike the actual model 122 which has a short delay before acceleration begins. And as you know I'm sure, the acceleration of the bass rotor on a real Leslie is non-linear in that it begins accelerating pretty quickly but as it gets closer to top speed the acceleration slows a bit. The acceleration of the horn is pretty linear (and quick). I think the 6D does a pretty good simulation of that acceleration curve.

As an aside, I would say the 6D has the best Leslie simulation I've heard from a sound quality and fidelity-to-the-original perspective. And I have heard many of them over the years! The quality of this Leslie simulation is good enough for me to actually leave my Leslie home. This is the only simulation I can say that about. And my back (and bandmates) are thankful!

[cphollis]

I can handle a few of these ...

Via the NE6 system menu, you can configure for either normal operation, or split output. With the latter, you'll get mono organ on channel 2, everything else goes to channel 1. Useful if you're using a Leslie pedal or similar.

As far as using a single mono 1/4" cable to connect to your bass amp (presuming normal stereo configuration), yeah you'll be fine. You won't get full stereo from the effects, and -- depending on which piano samples you use -- the L/R balance will change across the octaves, and so on. But it will sound fine, although not perfect.

If you're thinking of mixing L/R down to mono, lots of ways to do that. Maybe your amp has two separate inputs, for example. Or a minimalist mixer. Still mono, though. And this is the part where I make a plea to consider stereo ....

There are two 73 models for the NE6, one semi-weighted and one weighted. Given you're mostly an organ player, the semi one is what you want, of course.

Yes, the current Nord leslie sims are pretty good. My Vent II is gathering dust. If you get a chance, try it through a CPS SSv3 for a really wild leslie stereo effect.

[mrsugmad]

Thank you Real Deal and Cphollis for your detailed answers; good info.

I would just run one cable into the bass amp; sounds like you're saying it will sound fine (mono of course).
Yes the 6D would be my choice with the waterfall keys.
Thanks again.

Mike

[Hlaalu]

Hi Mike,

2. Rotor acceleration/deceleration times.The SK1 nails the leslie in this department.
Currently to go from FAST to SLOW or FAST to STOP, it's about 8-10 seconds, as I kind of remember with my 122 Leslie.
Conversely going from SLOW TO FAST or STOP to FAST is about 8-10 seconds too.

I think in general the SK1 has a more tweakable Leslie simulation, but the E6 has a better sounding Leslie simulation overall, if that makes sense. On the Nord you can't for example set a rotor speed other than the three available, with no in-between speeds, while in the SK1 and other clones by Hammond you can fine-tune the speeds. (But this is true in Nords for things other than the Leslie sim, for example the key click.) This might throw some people off, but I think the real strength of the Nord Leslie is the core sound, which (in my opinion) is better than the SK1's. (Then the Vent II is even better than the Nords (again in my opinion), but marginally so.)

As far as the core tonewheel sound goes, it's going to vary slightly from clone to clone, of course, but high end clones released in recent years all sound pretty good I think, to the point that it comes down to taste...

If you go for the E6 please keep us posted as to what your impressions are!

[alex78]

Since you play mostly organ and decent lesslie simulation is top priority for you, you should have in mind that if you go mono the rotary speaker effect will sound crap. It is a stereo effect that needs L and R speaker to sound properly. Going either with an external pedal (like the neo ventilator) or using just the on board lesslie simulator, you will still need a stereo amplification system. Going through a mono bass amplifier will destroy the realism of the effect.
If I'm wrong feel free to correct me.

[cphollis]

Alex78, a mono leslie effect sounds better than you might think. I do agree that stereo is preferred.

Imagine you are in the audience facing a larger stage, and there's an organ player with a leslie off to the side. You, in the audience, would experience that as a mostly mono point sound source. Much of the leslie color you would hear results from the doppler effect created by the spinning speaker, and the rotors accelerating/deaccelerating.

I've played heavy organ/leslie through mono for gigs and it's just fine. Using stereo adds a bit of dimensionality to the sound (nice) but not what I'd consider essential.

[RealDeal]

While the Nord 6 most definitely sounds better in headphones and full stereo, but I don't feel a stereo Leslie effect is at all needed in live performance. The Leslie simulation sounds very good through a mono amplifier with a live band. Of course, the higher fidelity the amp is, the better it will sound...

[alex78]

In a live gig I'm pretty sure that only a 2 or 3% of the audience will pay attention on those details we discuss here, the other 97% will only notice if you play the song right, and some times not even that....
At least we all agree that stereo connections is the way to go inorder to take full advantage of our keyboard potentials.

[mrsugmad]

Yes, I agree the leslie with stereo might be the way to go, but in my situation and others have stated, mono sounds pretty darn good.
We have other players sitting in, and in the back of the pub the organ/leslie sound is spot on. (for example, pulling out just the first drawbar on a ballad and hearing the lower rotor spool up and down from the stop position is killer)

In my opinion Booker T. is the MASTER of the use of leslie speed control for effect. Listen to the intro of "Hang Em High":