Best Hammond B3 Plugin

[Taj Barnett]

Whats out there these days? Pros and cons? I would prefer something modeled rather than sampled so I can push the envelope. I am particular about the quality of amplifier modeling and would prefer not to have to add an effect chain to supplement a weak Leslie or tube stage. Or is there a killer Leslie plugin, also?

I'm not sure others are all that much better than Logic's organ. I haven't felt compelled to substitute for it, unlike piano and electric piano and various synths.

I use b3x on ipad live and could probably hook it up to Logic if I desired, but simply put I'm happy enough with being all in the box I'm sure as hell not going to shell out for the desktop version of b3x for a modest improvement (and like you I don't use a ton of organ anyway on my own music, live I do.)

I've used VB3 (1.4 and 2.0), and B5 (v1-v3) over the years, but once B-3X came out, the others paled in comparison. I recently picked up UA Waterfall, and I find it surprisingly good. B-3X is still my default, but Waterfall tends to sit in a busy mix a bit better, albeit while not sounding quite as authentic as B-3X.

It's a valid point that not everything needs updates. But B-3X has enough shortcomings that it's irritating that nothing gets addressed. It would be one thing if the program were $10, it's different at $100+. Issues:

... Lower manual drawbar CCs must be sent on the same channels as upper manual drawbar CCs. Some dual manual setups are set up to send their lower manual CCs on the same channel as the lower manual notes themselves, so they're not directly supported.

... You can't disable the use of keys-below-lowest-C as preset selector keys, which can be problematic for people playing from boards with more than 61 keys. I know, it's authentic, but on the real thing, the additional resistance of the locking mechanism on those keys made it less likely you would trigger them accidentally when merely going down to the low notes, plus there was a clear visual distinction from the reverse colors. So this "half way to authenticity" approach is not always desirable, and should be defeatable.

You can get around these things by adding additional MIDI filtering/mapping software between the keyboard and the app, but for a high end program, that complication, additional troubleshooting variable, additional overhead, possible latency factor should not need to be a concern.

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Not to mention the GUI taking forever to load on Windows, the lack of centered modwheel triggered Leslie brake (you need a whole other MIDI CC for that), and not being able to map some parameters to MIDI CCs at all (like key click).

The sound or functionality of b3x might be good enuff but we're talking apps here. Mac OS and iOS get updated pretty often and older apps need to be updated when they don't work on the newer operating system.

I have a love-hate for this one. I don't have a handy set of drawbars (yeah I could use a variety of other controls but not a nice line of 9 faders) on my Modx7 so I do use the presets often.

Unfortunately I accidentally hit them ALL THE TIME. Easy enough on the Modx to simply limit the Part key lowest key to that lowest C (or B or whatever it would need to be as we transpose down and that can mess up splits.) As I say I do use the presets so I just try to be more careful!

Like some here I am getting a bit picky not just about instruments but the developers' business practices as well, especially as it relates to subscriptions and user licenses which expire. However I am not too concerned about developers who stop updating. Instruments are improving so quickly ... something new will come along.

I am a tiny bit disappointed to hear that the Logic Pro B3 is still in the running. I've gigged with it for many years and it's fine for live. In a recording it doesn't have the beef of the current crop of virtual analogs. Quite impressed with the B3-X video Al and your playing is so tasty! Thanks for sharing that.

Despite what I said about Logic's organ being fine, I would agree that it lacks "beef" (good word!). "Punch" is what I was thinking. A nice tone for background, which is frankly how I mostly use it so that's one reason I'm ok with it. B-3X can take your head off after a jab to the solar plexus if you want it to.

Al's video either makes me want to practice or quit, not sure which Fortunately we don't do jazz or blues where I'm expected to kill it like that!

Just added keys to a quick cover my band's guitarist did at my "studio" (ie home office!) tuesday evening. It's logic's organ, very rough track that needs redoing (as does piano), no drawbar changing. No beef needed for this part so I felt it does a decent job as a background thing. I had C2 on, no perc. Comes in 2nd verse.

Since Beta, I've asked IK to consider updating. In particular, I wished that B-3X had the ability to include the "live" sound that comes across the microphones. Acoustic Samples does a wonderful job of recreating the "wind" noise for example. It's a small thing, but it adds so much realism.

take a piece of thin wood like the wooden stirrer that comes with a can of home depot paint...cut it so it ends at organ low c, and lay it on the preset white keys. instant visual reference, you can still hit the preset keys, and you can remove it in a sec.

I am using Aturia and Native instruments- I do like how IK sounds but not in the mood to do an install. I think Acoustica Mixcraft came with a version of GSI? If so I will need to revisit as I liked that one

- doesn't appear to be any way to back up your entire setup (main config and presets). (See my related thread on this issue) So restoring on another iPad (for backup safety) is not possible. You can "share" a preset and then air drop it to the other iPad, but seems like a silly methodology compared to other ios music apps, e.g. on Pure Synth Platinum, you have dedicated backup/restore buttons that will save to iCloud folder...so hit backup button on primary iPad and then restore button (with drop down of file choices) on backup iPad. Easy peasy

I have to run mono at some gigs and I do so by simply taking the single "L(mono)" output of my Modx,which is getting B-3X's audio via usb and mixing with the internal sounds. I wish the Key Largo had a mono button but if you hook up both sides of a channel it will be stereo in the main outs, so I have to sum before that. I also tried just the right output (as some people do) but I got some weird sound from some of my synth patches, i'd have to mono-ize all of them and I haven't bothered. With B-3X I haven't noticed a major quality or volume difference, unlike say with a lot of pianos that drop in volume and get boxy-sounding.

As far as talking about the organs themselves...sure I'd love to own one but I don't really have a good space for it at home, am not going to gig with it, and the main issue would be that I know nothing about the maintenance required for organs/leslies (only that there is some). I haven't played one since 1990 or so and barely have seen one other than in youtube vids since that time. My home studio is all in the box and I do a lot of playing and mixing on headphones due to the lack of a nice-sounding space (though I have tentative plans to work on it.)

I recently picked up UA Waterfall, and I find it surprisingly good. B-3X is still my default, but Waterfall tends to sit in a busy mix a bit better, albeit while not sounding quite as authentic as B-3X.

I currently use the Arturia B3 V2 and checked a demo of the VB3-II. I also think about testing the Blue3. From my feeling and first impressions these are my 3 personal favourites. The IK B3-X is also interesting, but I think slightly too pricey

I think the right plugin depends on your needs, also because the leslie simulations in the plugins have different behavious in distortion, different main sound and other things. You should try the demos first and see which is the best for you.

The following plugins I have bought and tested in GP OSX and the results for me are:

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