Nord User Forum

I own a 1959 Hammond B3 and 122A Leslie and have spent considerable time adjusting the NS3 sound settings to try to closely match the characteristics of my real Hammond and Leslie which has been fully retubed and recapped and can go from a nice bright clean sound, to a warm growl to a full scream. I have never been totally satisfied with the realism of the NS3 Rotary Speaker Simulator and finally broke down and bought a Neo Ventilator II and a TCE Hall of Fame Reverb. I am using the global output routing mode to route the organ to output 3 into the HOF (spring reverb setting) and then into the Vent II (in mono) with the stereo output of the Vent running back into the Aux In on the NS3 (with the combined stereo signal going out of output 1-2). I found this routing an easy way to switch between the NS3 sim and the Vent by simply turning off the Rotary Speaker.

Here are some A/B comparison recordings direct out of the NS3 into Logic Pro with the same riffs played first through the NS3 Rotary Speaker and second through the Vent II.

• NS3 VS VENTII Full Bars.mp3

• NS3 VS VENTII Jazz.mp3

• NS3 VS VENTII Squable.mp3

• NS3 VS VENTII Gospel.mp3

• NS3 VS VENTII Blues.mp3

• NS3 VS VENTII Hard Rock.mp3

Overall, after my first day, the Vent and HOF sound more realistic to my ears and I am able to more closely reproduce the sound and characteristics of my real B3 & 122 when close mic'd. Having said that, the NS3 Rotary Speaker simulator does sound pretty good and the Vent is not necessarily better in all ways, but is certainly is different. You can really hear how each sim colours the sound in the Full Bar recording. I have yet to play it in a live setting, but my feeling is that I will end up using both the NS3 rotary and Vent, depending on the setting. I will add a further review after I've played with it some more. Let me know what you think.

Thanks so much for the deep comparison (and for your detailed settings in your other post).
As expected, the Vent sounds a bit better, but I'm surprised how good the Nord actually is! The difference is not really night and day, and the Stage3's organ is surely perfectly usable as it is, especially in a band context.

Probably even more than the organ parameters, what makes the difference in your setup is the EQ, amp and compression settings. I find the drive surprisingly good, usually that's one of the main weak points of Hammond emulations, and one of the biggest advantages of the Vent. You probably found the perfect mix of Leslie rotary drive, Amp sim drive, EQ and compression. Great job, thanks for sharing!

Spider wrote:Thanks so much for the deep comparison (and for your detailed settings in your other post).
As expected, the Vent sounds a bit better, but I'm surprised how good the Nord actually is! The difference is not really night and day, and the Stage3's organ is surely perfectly usable as it is, especially in a band context.

Probably even more than the organ parameters, what makes the difference in your setup is the EQ, amp and compression settings. I find the drive surprisingly good, usually that's one of the main weak points of Hammond emulations, and one of the biggest advantages of the Vent. You probably found the perfect mix of Leslie rotary drive, Amp sim drive, EQ and compression. Great job, thanks for sharing!

+ 1, I also hear the Vent has "something more" in terms of "richness" of the overall sound (and I think the HOF plays a role too in that sense), but NS3 own rotary emulation is not that far and I also think that working a bit with EQ and AmpSim settings may improve it and get it even closer.

thanks for these files !

As requested in another post, my TCE Hall of Fame 2 and Neo Ventilator settings are:

TC Electronics Hall of Fame 2 Settings:
I am running it in Mono In and Mono Out Pre Neo Ventilator II

Reverb Type : Plate
Decay : 12:00
FX Level : 10:00
Tone :7:00
Pre Delay : Short

Neo Ventilator II Settings:

Main Functions
Fast Speed : 12:00
Balance : 2:00
Drive : 9:00 for all sounds and 3:00 for Hard Rock
Mix/Dist Lo : 1:00
Mix / Diet Hi : 3:00

Secondary Functions
Slow Speed: 10:00
Accelleration : 3:00
Mode : 5:00
Remote : 7:00 (Ventilator Remote II)
Level : 3:00

Hope this helps!

Thanks a lot!

Spider wrote:Thanks so much for the deep comparison (and for your detailed settings in your other post).
As expected, the Vent sounds a bit better, but I'm surprised how good the Nord actually is! The difference is not really night and day, and the Stage3's organ is surely perfectly usable as it is, especially in a band context.

Probably even more than the organ parameters, what makes the difference in your setup is the EQ, amp and compression settings. I find the drive surprisingly good, usually that's one of the main weak points of Hammond emulations, and one of the biggest advantages of the Vent. You probably found the perfect mix of Leslie rotary drive, Amp sim drive, EQ and compression. Great job, thanks for sharing!

Agree 100%. Been using LesterK with my other organ and I realised that live, in a stage, the difference are only perceptible for the 1% of audience... everyone will remember your playing skills, not the leslie.

These are great comparisons, so many thanks. I'm sure that more than a few of us debate between internal sim or Vent II. And you can hear the differences -- whether they are meaningful or not is an individual choice.

I think what drove me to get a Vent II was simple curiosity. My Stage 2 sounded "ok", as did a previous Electro. The Vent II had a great sound, but there were issues. I had to route my organ output separately. I had to set up many patches without internal leslie, and if I didn't bring my Vent II they were all no good. Gain staging can be tricky, otherwise you end up with a swooshing sound between songs. Setup and breakdown was longer. Yet another thing on stage with lots of cables and a wall wart.

You get the picture -- less is more for the gigs I play.

When I upgraded to the Stage 3 Compact, the gap closed substantially -- so now the Vent II stays at home. As do its carry case, cables, power supply, remote foot switch, etc. It's a much simpler rig as a result.

SuperStage, thanks for all this information. Your Hammond programs really sound great!

I had a JamKazam session last night with an 8 piece band and was very happy with how the Vent/HOF sounded in a "live" setting. It definitely sits in the mix better than the NS3 rotary sim and was able to cut through for solos without the harshness that I find that the NS3 has in the upper drawbars. I did use the NS3 Drive/EQ and Compression on a couple of occasions to provide additional boost which thankfully still works with the external output, even though the reverb does not. The sound improvement was noticeable to the other players and several of my bandmates commented how great the organ sounded and asked what I did.