Lee Batchelor wrote:Many thanks, anotherscott! The B3 sounds are least important to me behind true to life pianos and EPs. I shall check it out.
I love the 5D, however, I find switching between Programs with that empty sound in between to be an issue. The Transpose function is still way too buried. The B3 organs have that default touch of dirt on them all the time compared to the Electro 4.
Other boards that you could consider that have at least 73 keys, strong pianos and EPs, above average organ, and generally smooth transitions when switching sounds would be:
* Kurzweil Artis7 if you want to stay with a semi-weighted action. I ended up preferring this to the Roland FA-07. The Roland has some advantages... sequencer, rhythms, arpeggiator, d-beam, trigger pads, sub out, lower travel weight. But action, controls, patch navigation, smooth sound transition functionality, LH bass flexibility, all favored the Kurz. (Both generally have smooth sound transitions, but there are always certain circumstances where it doesn't work or not so smoothly... overall, it's better on the Kurz.)
* Kawai MP7 if you want a weighted action which is better for pianos and EPs... and as weighted actions go, the MP7's is pretty good for organ, too (even including a high trigger point). It's not obvious at first glance, but there is a clonewheel engine built into the MP7 as well, and it mostly has good seamless sound switching, except when switching to or from organ. But it's only available as an 88, and it's 46 lbs.
* Korg GrandStage for another weighted action option, and probably the most perfect seamless sound switching. More limited drawbar adjustments than any of the others (I haven't played one, but I don't think there's any way to adjust all 9 drawbars on a given patch, even though its based on the Kronos CX3 organ engine). The 73 is 37.5 lbs.
I *think* transpose is readily available on all of them, but you'd have to double-check.