Nord User Forum

Before I bought the Vent II I did some extensive side by side testing of the following:- GSI Burn, Lex StryMon, Lester K and mini Vent. Of that lot it's clear you get what you pay for. The DSP horse power needed to make a convincing rotary simulation is far from trivial, it's in a different league to reverb or flange or tremolo or cabinet simulation. Totally. I found that The Lex Strymon and the Vent II were about first equal although I found the controls on the Vent II a little more usable. The GSI Burn didn't sound as good as my NE3 rotary. The valve distortion was mostly overkill (valves are just a bit of a retro gimmick on these pedals) and the actual rotary simulation sounded rather grainy. The mini Vent sounded good but the lack of direct controls frustrated me. The Lester was last because it sounded dull and muddy. Like no Leslie I've ever heard!! Lol

Thanks Fairstar, that's a good arguement to just go with an E5 or E6.

Thanks for your input and research with the rotary pedals Hector. Most times buying a cheaper product like the Lester K, gives cheap results. No surprise that there are so many for sale on reverb and ebay. I will probably try to sell mine.

I was on the fence about the price also. I ended up taking the plunge, for my NE3.
It takes a while to "dial it in", but the effort is worth it.

I also have a NE5, which has a fantastic rotary effect, but it is different then the NE3 fed into the Neo Vent.

I can say that the Neo Vent gives the NE3 some dimensional volume. (Great on EP's also)

I have a serious case of G.A.S., so I will freely admit to buying gear, that was ultimately not used.

However, the Neo Vent permanently resides on the top of my NE3.

IMHO, it's a must have for any serious keyboard player.

What do you mean by "dial it in"? What was wrong just our of the box and what did you do with the settings to be "worth it"?

My experience is the same as Fairstar. I used a Dynacord and then the original Vent with the Electro II. I kept using the Vent when I got an Electro III. I felt the Vent was much more realistic than the internal sim. But the Electro 5 at the "close" internal setting sounds better to me than the Electro 5 with the Vent - Vent is sold. Great not having to run the extra connections when setting up, and I have gotten nothing but rave reviews on my tone with the Electro 5 through a QSC 10.2.

Well, I guess the C2D and the Eelctro 5 have the same Engine and same Leslie Sim right? So, if you have the C2 (with the C2d Engine and Lelslie 122 close), the Vent II is useless so no need to buy it?

Quai34 wrote:Well, I guess the C2D and the Eelctro 5 have the same Engine and same Leslie Sim right? So, if you have the C2 (with the C2d Engine and Lelslie 122 close), the Vent II is useless so no need to buy it?

It's subjective. The fact that someone likes the current Nord sim as much or more than the Vent doesn't mean that everybody does, or that you will.

I wanted to ditch my vent too when I initally started playing my E5. Tried going without it (set up the E5 with the close 122 setting as well) for the first 2 or 3 gigs but wound up missing that extra dimension the Vent brings. It's a keeper for me.

If you are pondering investing in a E5 as opposed to tricking out your E3, consider beating the bushes for an Ocean Beach MIDI drawbars unit in addition to considering the Vent II. Not easy to find, but just a couple of hundred bucks when you do find them. I used it with my E2 Rack, and it greatly enhanced the organ experience. Later, I came into some dough and popped for the E5, but it was not a slam dunk decision. I was able to sell the OB Drawbars in a matter of hours, I think, so I know they are not easy to find. (None listed right now on Reverb, though I see something called a Ferrofish on eBay that may or may not be relevant.)

So if you get your Leslie sound sorted out for your E3, the drawbars could complete the picture, and you would have spent less than the cost of an E5. I am pretty happy with the Hammond sound on the E5, though there is one exception - I find out of the box that the percussion is piercingly painful. I am hoping when I get some time, I will be able to get into the guts of the parameters and make it better. In the meantime, the organ sound is great, even without employing percussion.

So this is close to being off topic, but I thought it deserves a mention as you think about financing your set up.