B-5 Organ V3

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The B5 Organ V3

Based on real tonewheel samples and fully modeled: from the tonewheel pickups and the AO-28 amp to the resistive wires, to the drawbars and key contacts... Everything has been carefully measured on different models and adjusted to match real organs.

The true sound of an organ with the flexibility of synthesis.

A Hybrid Approach

Hammond organs are complex beasts, full of wires and mechanical parts. Until now, the best renditions (short of a real organ) were made using pure synthesis, mainly because the organ works using a set of 91 frequencies that are connected via contactors under each key and whose volume is controlled by the drawbars. Sample-based libraries consist of stacking drawbar samples at the same time - this works, but causes a major problem: sometimes you play the same frequency twice and because of phase cancellation, you never get the same sound twice when you press the same keys. We created a way using the 91 frequencies synthesis approach - but with real samples - offering the opportunity to enjoy the best of both worlds: a real recorded organ tone plus the real mechanical behavior, but with the added benefits of functioning drawbar controls and synthesis tweakability.

B-5 V3 vs real Organ and real Leslie 122 comparison

The B-5 Organ V3 interface

Drawbar, percussion and FX settings

Leslie settings

Voicing adjustments and model choice

Advanced Settings and Mods

MIDI settings and Mapping

FX panel

Sample based synthesis

There are elements of the Organ sound that can't easily be faked: tonewheels, keyclicks, vibrato scanner... so we simply sampled them.

We then meticulously reproduced the whole signal chain; tonewheel pickups, resistance wires, AO-28 frequency response, drawbars, swell pedal, percussion circuit, as well as all of the controls available on a real organ. Even the small wiring and electrical peculiarities have been reproduced, such as foldback, internal noise, leakage and even more complex features such as tone control, loudness robbing, voltage stealing etc.

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There are many features found in the main interface:

- The Drawbars

The upper and lower manuals each have a set of 9 drawbars and the bass has 2 drawbars (Version 1 had 3 drawbars, but we revised our model to more accurately mimic the real frequency combination of the pedalboards). The volume curve of each drawbar has also been carefully measured and reproduced. As our system is based on virtual tone generators, the drawbars can be moved in real time.

Set 1 and Set 2 function the same way as the A# and B keys on a real organ, Set 1 is the A# key, and Set 2 is the B (black key) - this is the only preset that contains the percussions.

- The Percussions

Just like on a real organ, the percussion system works for the upper manual only and will disable one drawbar from it. By default, this is set as the 9th drawbar, but a different drawbar (or even all drawbars) can be selected from the advanced preferences. Remember that to in order to hear the percussions, the second set of drawbars must be enabled (B preset key).

More information about the percussion system can be found in the percussion section further down this page.

- The Scanner Vibrato

The original scanner vibrato is not a simple vibrato, tremolo or flanger effect; it is modeled by using a delay line.

The vibrato created by Mr Hammond relies on a rotating delay to create the vibrato (V-1, V-2, V-3) to which the initial signal is added in order to create the chorus effect (C-1, C-2, C-3).

Instead of trying to recreate this, we sampled each of the 6 different settings and aligned them to make sure they always stay in phase.

Just like on the real instrument, you can activate the vibrato for the upper and lower manuals independently.

- Volume control

We measured and replicated the evolution of the swell pedal, the percussion volume and the "normal" and "soft" volumes.

We also added a general volume button in case the sound becomes too loud and over-saturates.

- Presets

A drawbar preset for each manual can be selected, and these are browsed through by clicking the prev or next button whilst playing. The list of presets can be edited in the preferences.

At the bottom of the interface are the general presets, one of these can be chosen from the list, and these can also be loaded, saved, and exported.

- Rotating speaker speed

Regular rotary speakers have a slow and a fast rotation speed (respectively called Chorale and Tremolo), it is common to add a brake position as well.

This function is accessible from the interface or by simply using the mod wheel.

- The FX

We added a tube distortion to imitate the behavior of the rotary speaker when you increase the input volume.

We also added a reverb knob based on a spring, plate or real room reverb. On the front panel, the only reverb setting that can be controlled is the amount used, but in the FX panel, the time, type, and pre/post can be controlled.

- The Tone control

This is an addition of the V3, this is present on real organs and controls the response of the AO-28 amp. It's a sort of brightness control but isn't simply a filter; it increases the volume the higher tones generate or decreases it before it goes into the whole divide-down system of drawbars.

- the Tonewheels model

This is another addition of the V3 - the model of the tonewheel can be chosen from 4 different models that we sampled: a B3 from 1986, a C3 from 1960, another C3 from 1969 and an A100 from 1965. They all have varying tones and crosstalk amounts.

- The Voicing models

This is the most advanced feature of the default panel, and it gives a choice of hundreds of voicing models measured by Kon Zissis, a Hammond enthusiast who has serviced and measured a vast amount of Hammond organs over the years. This feature gives access to different B3, C3 and A100 in different conditions, both with wax capacitors and with brand new capacitors (and also after full voicing adjustment), and it also gives access to a number of other models, including A, A2, V, B, B2, C2, BA, BC CV, RT3 and a few others. The voicings can be edited further by clicking on the small arrow next to the menu.

Advanced preferences

In the Prefs panel, there are a few very advanced but extremely useful features that help increase the realism of the sound:

Hammonds are electric, and the amount of volume each tonewheel puts out is limited. When you play two notes that use the same tone, the volume is not simply doubled, the "loudness robbing" is an effect inherent to the Hammond circuit which reduces the volume of a specific tonewheel depending on the number of notes accessing that same tonewheel.
For similar reasons, the "voltage stealing" is another effect that also reduces the overall volume based on the number of notes played, but this time it applies to the whole organ, not just the tonewheels. The reduction amount varies depending on which notes are played, which drawbars are used, etc.
Every Hammond organ produces a background noise, most people try to remove it, but it's still a signature of the hammond organs, so naturally we made sure the amount of noise can be controlled to taste.
The crosstalk is essentially the frequencies of the nearby tonewheels that leak into the pickups, plus the quality and age of the small filter after the pickup. The amount of crosstalk can be controlled here; on the lowest levels it can be made to sound like a pure sine.
The keyclick is also a very recognizable feature that Mr Hammond did not want. Depending on the age of the organ and its restoration state, that click will be darker or brighter, and this can be controlled here.
Since standard organs only have 91 possible frequencies, there were not enough frequencies on the last drawbar to cover the whole range of the keyboard. Mr Hammond had decided against adding anything else, but this meant that the tone was abruptly changing at those points. So he introduced the foldback, which repeats the same frequencies of the octave below, giving a feeling of continuity. The B3s and similar use a standard foldback, the older A and BC models use a slightly different version and the spinets don't use any at all. Any of these three options can be chosen to match the voicing and tapering values set in the voicing panel.

Rotary Speaker Simulation

Version 3 is an entirely new Leslie simulation, much more detailed and true to the 122A recordings.

You can choose between a few different Leslie models for each rotor: a 122, a 147, a 3300 and a few other variations.

It is also completely adjustable: microphone positions, angles, distance, and volume, pan, speeds and acceleration times can be modified independantly for each rotor.

We added three new features: driver distortion, microphone bleed and room simulation and combined with our V3 model, they make for an ultra realistic Leslie sound.

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The rotary speaker has a strange story, Mr hammond did not like the "Leslie" speaker, and never accepted to sell an organ with it even though almost every organ today is paired to one. Instead the organs were sold with a "Hammond Tone cabinet". Mr Leslie never gave up and always made models that would be compatible with every new organ, while Mr Hammond made sure that every new organ would change its connectivity.

The rotary speaker consists of two different rotating systems, each of which receives a filtered signal from a 800Hz crossover circuit.

The Horn (at the top), receives every frequency above 800Hz and is made of a small speaker directed to a double rotating horn (one of which is actually here only for mass compensation to stabilise the system when rotating). That rotation creates three big effects, a volume change, a filter change and a doppler effect that will modulate the pitch.

The Drum (at the bottom) is similar as it also rotates, but at a slightly different speed and gets the frequencies below 800Hz. To still have an effect at lower frequencies, it is bigger.

We made the most detailed measurements of these effects and created the best simulation available today.

The combination of both these rotators and the wooden box they are into give the rotating speaker this very typical sound that will vary with the rotation speed.

You can customise almost everything on this model in the speaker panel.

- The overall volume of the Leslie, as well as the DI signal or a guitar cab simulation can be adjusted. If for example you want to use another Leslie simulation, you can completely bypass it by setting the Roraty Vol to 0 and use the DI sound instead, since version 3 you can also pan the DI and play it along the leslie signal. On top of the Leslie and DI, you can add a guitar amp and cabinet, you get a choice between a few amps (Twin, Bassman, Deluxe, etc...) and you can tweak its volume and pan as well as the input gain and a 3 band EQ. To access the latter, you just need to click on the small icon next to the amp choice).

- The main purpose of the Speaker panel is to adjust the Leslie parameters. First of all, all of the praeters are adjustable independantly for the horn and the drum.
So on each rotor, you can control the folowing:

The input volume: controls the volume input of each speaker (this does not exist on 12 Leslies, but it's there on the 3300).
The microphone bleed: controls the amount drum sound going into the horn microphones and vice versa.
The pan: controls the right left pan of each rotor.
The Driver Distortion: We realized while measuring the horn and drum without the Leslie amp that there was some inherent distortion to the speakers themselves, so you can control how much of this effect you want.
A 3 band EQ: controls the frequency response of each rotor.
Slow and fast speeds: controls the speeds of each rotor when in chorale or tremolo.
Accel and Decel times: controls how long it takes for each rotor to reach the fast speed when you switch the leslie to fast and the same thing when it slows down.
The Speed random: adds a little variation to the speeds, and if you set for example the horn and drum at the same exact speed, you will still get variations instead of something very static.
The Memphis: this is a feature that was asked by customers a lot, it allows to simply disconnect the corresponding motor which will stop it from spinning, the memphis mod is usually used on the bass rotor.
The Brake position: controls the position of the rotor when you hit the brake button on the main interface. By default and just anything that rotates and is stopped, it will stop to a random natural position that depends on when it was stopped and the time needed to do so. We added the posibility to use a fixed position to always have the same position when the rotator stops.
Deflector on/off: it's only available on the horn, we created two models, one with the deflector on and one with the deflector off and you can choose between the two options. When you remove the deflector, you will immediately hear that the amplitude modulation is very much accentuated, but it will also feel less "airy".
Drum Panel: it's only available for the drum and controls if you want the leslie with or without the wooden back panel between the drum and the microphones.
The mic position: There are 3 different choices corresponding to the most common ways of recording a leslie, so from the back of the leslie, the side or the front. We also added two variations that consist of being on axis, so with the microphones set symetrically relatively to the rotors, or off axis where the microphones are set symetrically relatively to the box (and since the rotors are not centered in the box, they end up being asymetrical relatively to the rotors).
The microphone angle: for each position, you have access to a list of microphone angles, from 0 to 180°, they basically set how wide the microphone pair is set. When set at 0, the signal is mono.
The microphone distance: You can set the microphones at 4 different distances from 5cm (2') to 90cm (36').
The enhance AM: controls an extra amount of amplitude modulation if you feel like you want more of it.

- There are many models on the market, and they mainly differ by their dimensions, horn size and position, but they can also use different driver or speaker models. We sampled 3 different ones, a Leslie 122, a 3300 and a 147, each one with the same set of microphone placements. The all sound slightly different. We also added some common speaker "voicings", for example the L122A V2 will sound close to the B5 Organ Version 2.

- Some users might prefer the version 2 of our model, so we gave the possibility to use it again using the small top right menus hat say V3/V2.

- You can adjust the leslie mechanical noise by changing the Acous Vol next to the Rotary volume.

- We recorded and measured the Leslie in a very dry environment, so to give it a little more life and ambience, you can enable the Room Simulation.

Hundreds of models

All of the tonewheel organs sound different, each of them has a particular voicing, and that's mostly due to the distance between the tonewhels and pickups but also to the aging of the capacitors.

With the help of Kon Zissis, who has been servicing and measuring organs for many years, we were able to incorporate 150 unique organ voicings from many different models (A, AV, B, B2, C2, BA, BC , CV, B3, C3, A100, RT3 and a few others).

We also sampled 4 iconic models (1968 B-3, 1960 C-3, 1969 C-3 and 1965 A-100) whose different tonewheel sounds you can switch between.

The combination of tweaking of the voicings with manual tapering options allows you to shape virtually any organ model and sound possible.

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On the main panel, you have access to a list of voicing models as well as tonewheel models.

The tonewheel models are actual recordings of real tonewheels. To make it as realistic as possible and avoid any loop, these samples are 10 seconds long and looped only after those 10 seconds have been played. It is then very unlikely that you hear that loop, but you still get the live character of real tonewheels. Depending on the model, you will get more or less crosstalk and the key click will be slightly different.

Here are the four different models that we sampled:

A B3 from 1968
A C3 from 1960
A C3 from 1969
An A100 from 1965

Three of these Organs (both C3s and the A-100) are the property of Mr Pietro Roncarolo from Italy, he made the recordings for it and also helped a great deal in recording different aspecs and effects of his organs to help us create our model.

The voicing models on the other hand are what make a Hammond sound like a hammond. This is what technicians spend hours doing when they adjust an organ. They change the capacitors that are too old and out of specs and adjust the pickups to make the organ sound as they want.

Kon Zissis, a very cool hammond enthusiast that serviced hammonds for years, has been measuring the tonewheel output volume of the many organs he had in his hands and helpd the Hammond community fix their own organs. He nicely agreed that we use his measurements and include them in the B5 Organ V3. For us, this meant reproducing the whole signal chain which we did not do in the V2, and after some help from him and many hours of work, we were able to carefully reproduce every aspect of the signal chain, from the AO-28 to the resistive wires and the drawbars and were finally able to use Kon's data.

This give you a list of 150 tonewheel measurements from many different models. If you click on the moicing model icon, you get acces to a panel that shows all 91 tonewheel volumes. As you go through the list, you will see that table change and you can also make changes manually.

As you go through the list, you will see models that say "wax capacitors". These models were measured before the capacitor replacement which take a lot of time to do. Usually there is also the same model "recapped", meaning that they were measured again after the capacitor changes. And finally the models that are "recapped and recalibrated" have new capacitors and have ben adjusted to what is considered the orginal hammond specs (for the corresponding models).

Once you're happy with a voicing, you can click on the three horizontal lines and save your voicing and then reload it later.

We also added the option to enable or disable the manual tapering. On the B3, C3 and A100 (RT3 as well) Mr Hammond added groups of wires called the resistive wires that allow for a volume reduction that depends on the range and on the drawbar. The manual tapering did not exist in older models like the A, B, BC, etc, so to be able to take advantage of these models, we give you a way to not use it, or even to use a Hybrid one.

The hybrid model is a mod that is often applied on older models like the A, B, A2, B2, etc and that consist of a different set of resistive wires that will not reduce the highs and lows as much, but still remove a little of the harshness.

FX Panel

On top of our Leslie tube saturation, we added a panel of 7 FX.

It includes chorus, phaser, delay, overdrive, fuzz, wah (which can also be an auto-wah) and reverb (spring, plate and real room variations).

These FX are pre-Leslie, except for the reverb, which can be pre or post.

Now you can truly recreate the sound of any organ or song, including progressive rock!

Tube saturation

The tube saturation on a Leslie 122 is very different from what you hear from other tube amps.

We completely redesigned it in version 3 to match real recordings even more accurately.

Advanced Percussion System

The percussion on an organ is not just an addition of samples, it is a general volume decay envelope triggered by the first note you play, which is not restarted until you release all the keys.

We recreated it so meticulously that you can hear a percussion sound when you turn it on or change from second to third! You can even customize the time, volume and frequency to make it sound like "paradise".

It is also completely tweakable: you can edit the volume for the normal and soft settings (as well as decay times), decide on which harmonic is played and even control the recharge time.

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The percussion system was introduced in the B-3 and C-3 organs to add the percussive instruments to the list of instruments that the organs were supposed to replace.

As simple as it sounds like, it is not a simple sample addition, here is what it does and that we carefully reproduced:

The percussion is a general volume decay envelope applied to an harmonic that is triggered at the first key you press and that is restarted only when all notes are released.
The percussion circuit does not go through the scanner vibrato, its pitch stays unaltered (at least before going through the speaker.
It is only available on the upper manual.
It steals a drawbar from the upper manual, by default the 9th, but we made is so that you can choose which one it steals or even avoid it to steal anything.
It has two volume positions, "soft" and "normal", the normal is louder, but also dims the volume of the drawbars. This effect can be turned off in the advanced preferences and each volume can be defined as well.
You can choose wether you want to use the second or third harmonic for it, and you can also use any harmonic for each position in the advanced preferences.
You can also choose the decay of that envelope (slow or fast) and these values can be changed in the advanced preferences as well.

The percussion will not work if you don't use the second set of drawbars on the upper manual (or use the B preset key) just like on a real organ.

In the Prefs panel, you can control that percussion system, here is what you have access to:

You can control the "normal" and "soft" settings respective volumes. There aren't two organs with the same voume for these.
The decay for "slow" and "fast" can also be changed, in reality, this is controlled by a knob inside the organ called percussion cutoff.
The percussion system steals the harmonics from an existing tone, for the "second", it's the brawbar n°4 and for the "third", it's the 5th drawbar. You can change that if you want to to mimic what's possible on some spinets for example.
On real organs, selecting the normal position will increase the volume of the percussion but also decrease the volume of the tones. This is called the voluem drop and you can disable it if you want, this is a known mod on real organs.
The percussion system relies on capacitors and they need a certain time to recharge once all keys have been released, this for example makes very fast repeated passages sound different with the percussion volume reduced a bit as it did not have enough time to recharge between each note.
We added two other mods, the "paradise" button that will prevent the percussion from decaying, or the "always on" that will play a percussion sound everytime you press a note.

Real Key Contact Modeling

There are 9 electric contacts under each key, and each of them produces a small click, but they don't all happen at the same time. Also, the intensity and timbre of each click depends on the phase of the tonewheel signal when the circuit is closed.

Mr. Hammond hated them, but it wouldn't be a Tonewheel organ without them.

We completely recreated this for version 3. The progressive 9 contacts are now simulated with velocity, and the variation of timbre and volume is now based on the current phase of the tonegenerators.

You can also control their overall volume and timbre.

Organ Modifications

Every organ player likes to tweak their instrument, so all the modification that organists can do are available.

- Paradise button

- Percussion always on

- Percussion volume decrease

- String Bass

- Foldback removal

And many other mods... but without having to solder or unscrew the whole thing.

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There are many available organ modifications and they are not always done the same way, but we find out which were the most common ones and included them.

In the preference panel, you can also modify the Drawbar Volumes which would mean changing the resistance wires for every drawbar connector.
The String Bass is an organ add on that makes the pedal tones decay longer and steal the previous note to make it easy to play legato notes with your feet. Its decay can be changed.
Many organ players don't use the pedals and prefer to use the lower manual instead, the problem is that Mr Hammond used the "foldback" to limit the number of tones to 91 and also assign the very low and more complex tones only to the pedals. A common mod is to rewire these to the lower manual two lower octaves. We give the possibility to do this on both manuals.
When the percussion is on "normal", the whole volume of the organ decreases while the percussion gets louder. The "Percussion volume drop" mod avoids this volume loss.
As mentioned in the percussion section, you can control every aspect of the percussion system, the volume, decay and the harmonic used for each switch position.
A less known effect is the percussion recharge time, which represents how much time the percussion general ramp needs to go back to its maximum value, as an example, if you play very quickly the same note, the volume of the percussion will be lowered as you play faster, if the time between two repetitions is above the recharge time, it will play at full volume, otherwise it will play at a fraction of it.
The percussion system "steals" a drawbar, you can change which one gets stolen or even if it gets stolen at all.
Jimmy Smith used a broken organ on a few records, the percussion system did not work properly and the percussion never decayed, this mod is called "adding a Paradise button".

All Three Keyboards

On a real organ there are 3 keyboards, two of which are almost identical except for the Percussion system, plus the Bass pedals.

You can choose to use 3 different MIDI channels, one for each keyboar,d or you can use Split to have all three on one keyboard.

In version 3, we decided to extend the capabilities of the Bass pedal manual.

On a real organ, the Bass pedals drawbars are a fixed combination of 8 frequencies, but in the V3, we give you access to that mix and the first 12 tonewheels that produce complex tones can also be filtered out to be closer to a sine wave.

We also extended the range of the Bass manual to 32 notes to match the RT3 model.

If you don't have pedals on your controller, you can also remove the bass foldback for the Upper and Lower manuals to access deep bass without them.

You can also enable the stringbass mod with control over the sustain.

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Presets

In the version 3, we completely reworked the preset system.

They are now global and will save everthing, but you still have access to around 200 drawbar presets that you can load, save, delete or assign to the preset keys (upper and lower), and these include the most used Jazz, Gospel and classical presets.

The preset keys (Bleck Keys to the left of the range) can also be customised and will allow you to easily change drawbar settings while playing.

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MIDI assignment and controllers

Every element of the interface can be assigned to any MIDI CC and Channel easily using our assignment panel or our MIDI Learn function.

To make things even easier, we included a few mapping presets for the most common organ clone controllers, this includes, the XK and SK series, all Nord keyboards, the Crumar, the HX3, the B4D and some others.

We even included most tweaks required by some controllers like the inversion of the drawbar movement or the toggle for the leslie speed.

The volume pedal is a crucial element when playing the organ and you have the possibility to adjust the curve and range of the volume and filter affected by the pedal.

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In the MIDI panel, you have access to a few things, the first one being a list of all the elements of the interface and their respective MIDI CCs. For each element, you can choose the MIDI CC number, the MIDI Channel as well as invert it or toggle it if it is a switch and you want a button to toggle between the two states.

Here is for example how to set the MIDI CC 32 to the drawbar 5 of the upper manual:

In the MIDI panel, you locate the element you want to control, in our case, the "Upper manual drawbar 5" then you simply click on the "learn" button next to it and then move the physical controller of your choice, it will automatically map the CC and the channel. You can also set this manually if you want.

There is also a default feature in UVI that allows to right click on an element on the interface and learn a MIDI CC, but just remember that you can't use both features at the same time, by default, the drawbars are tied to a CC, so if you want to use your own CCs, you need to set the CC value in the assignment panel to -1 to avoid conflict.

In this panel you can also control if you want to use different MIDI Channels to play each manual (upper, lower and pedals) or if you want to split your keyboard. To do that, just select the mode you want to use and change the split points and the transpose value for each manual accordingly.

In the MISC section, there are a few other MIDI related things that you can control.

The global tuning of the organ in cents, you can turn it down or up a semitone.
The swell pedal minimum volume can be adjusted, this controls the overall volume of the organ when the swell pedal is at its minimum.
You can also adjust the "swell pedal volume curve" to control how quickly it goes to the maximum volume.
Some people requested to be able to sustain the tones using the sustain pedal, this does not exist in a hammond, bt you can enable it here.
The "velocity to contact speed" controls how quickly all contacts under each key are closed. This is not exactly how an organ works, but basically the harder you play, the faster the contacts are closed.
Some keyboards only have a pitch bend wheel and controling teh Leslie speed for example can be useful, so we added the option to use the pitch bend as the CC 127. You can then simply set any elment to CC 127 in the list and use it.

Sample player

B-5 Organ V3 comes with its own sample player, the UVI Workstation 3 (requires v3.1.6 or later).
We provide it for free with every library that you buy, you don't need to buy an expensive sampler to use our products. It works on Mac (10.14 or later intel or arm processor) and PC (windows 10 or later), in standalone or as a plugin (VST / VST3 / AU / AAX ) and in 64 bits only. You can find more info about it here.

Technical description

UVI Workstation v3.0.15 (delivered with every purchase) or Falcon 2.1.1 is required for the library to function properly.

900Mb compressed in lossless flac format, around 1800 samples for each tonewheel model.

Version 3 changelog:

- Interface redesign, upon user request, the switches are now arranged like on a real B3.

- New preset system. Saving a preset is now global and will save everything, including the voicing and the tonewheel model.

- Separation of the “brake” and Leslie speed features, they can now be controlled separately.

- To add variety, the voicing is now separate from the tonewheel models.

- In collaboration with Kon Zissis, we incorporated a new electrical chain model and were able to add about 150 Voicing models (A, BC, A100, B3, C3, RT3) that he measured over the years from various models and using different capacitors, old and new and different voicings, following the different Hammond technicians regulation.

- These voicings can be changed manually using a large table.

- To go with these voicings, we offer the choice to add/remove manual tapering or even to use a hybrid manual tapering that will get older models like the A to have both bass and treble (will explain that in detail).

- New “TONE CONTROL” knob that simulates the tone control potentiometer present inside the real Hammonds that allow to control the overall brightness of the organ, it’s not a simple filter, it’s a voicing element that acts on the 91 tonewheels before the whole drawbar system.

- New FX panel with Chorus, Phaser, Delay, Wah (and auto Wah), overdrive and fuzz that come between the tone generation and the Leslie Amp. You can also choose between a spring reverb, a plate or a real room and you can put it pre or post Leslie.

- The tube distortion has been completely changed to match the AO-28 amp distortion.

- Entirely new Leslie simulation, much more detailed and true to the 122A recordings. You can now mix (volume and pan) the Leslie signal with the DI and also an additional guitar cab. You also have control over the crossover filter to simulate the aging of the capacitors.

- Addition of the "room simulation" that allows you to put the Leslie in a less Dry environment.

This update also includes the following new features that are available independently for each speaker (ie, Horn and Drum):

- Speaker distortion

- Pan

- The acceleration and deceleration curves have been reworked and you can also add some speed variations to replicate the imperfections of the Leslie motor.

- Microphone position around the Leslie

- Microphone angle (from mono to very wide stereo)

- Microphone distance, from 2’ to 36’ (5cm to 90cm)

- Microphone bleed

- Memphis option (one of the speaker’s rotation is just stopped while the other one is still functional)

- Fixed or natural brake position.

- An amplitude modulation enhancer for a stronger wobbling effect.

- The deflector can be removed from the Horn and the Back panel can be removed from the Drum.

- New MIDI panel with control over the inversion, the toggle, MIDI C and MIDI Channel for each element.

- MIDI learn function for each element, all you have to do is click next to the control name and move a MIDI controller.

- You can now save and reload your MIDI Mapping.

- You can now use the Pitch Ben as a MIDI CC (CC127) to control whatever you want.

- Improved vibrato and chorus thanks to a new phase lock model.

- Pedal drawbars CPU efficiency improved.

- Pedal keyclick fixed to match the real ones.

- Pedal range extended to 32 notes to match the RT3 model range.

- CPU load reduced on the swell pedal.

- Control over the pedal harmonic mix

- Added mod for sine sound on the 11 first complex tonewheels

- Added MOD to have the percussion playing all the time with no volume drop.

- Added control over the crosstalk (leakage)

- Added control over the Keyclick Brightness.

- The click volume is now smooth and can be changed in real time.

- The acoustic sound of the pedals is now from real pedals and not manual keys anymore.

- Added the ability to disable the foldback.

- Click sound improved with much accurate volume and tone variation.

- Better control over the drawbar preset list which can now be organized, modified, saved, loaded and reset.

- Addition of a panic button that will stop all running Tone generators.

- Better control over the black keys presets, they can now be deactivated for users that accidentally triggered them while playing.

- Extended the pedal range to 32 notes to account for the RT3 pedal range

iLok or computer based

We use the iLok system to protect our products and you can choose to register your license to your computer or to an iLok dongle.
If you decide to use an iLok dongle, both V1 and V2 are compatible with our products.
You can activate your license on up to 3 computers or iLok dongles at the same time and you can deactivate one and activate another as many times as you want.

Registration

Once your order is complete, you will be provided with a serial number.

You will then be able to register it to your iLok account from our website on this page (you need to be logged in to access this page). The whole process is described in the FAQ (instructions + screencast).

Great playing by Paul Harrisson

Add review

February 13, 2023

By Michael Beling

Great product (B-5 V3)! Lots of grit and soul. Took some tweaking to get it to feel right. Ended up using V2 for upper rotor (like the sim better) and V3 for lower (like the frequency response better). Adjusted fast speed on rotors, increasing lower motor AM, combining C3 1960 tonewheel set with another voicing set. Overall, incredible sound and ability to edit. Much lower on system resources than B-3X, which allows me to play with very low buffer rate/ latency. I own the real thing, and while all digital recreations have limitations, this is very satisfying, and light years ahead of what was previously available.

June 18, 2018

By Daryl

Here is my review of B5 from the perspective of a Gospel musician!

VGSG Reviews AcousticSamples B5 Organ

April 09, 2018

By Daryl

Amazing work from AS on B5! I'm not a Rock or Jazz musician but I'm straight Gospel. And when you dial in the right Leslie setting and overdrive, you get that classic COGIC organ instantly! Ready to growl, rumble and scream at will! The video linked is me playing this during a live church service.

Churchin' with B5 Organ from AcousticSamples

April 06, 2018

By Scott

Well done! Honestly, this latest update is outstanding. The biggest thing I've noticed is that chords sound so much more natural and not "synthy" sounding like some chords did in the earlier versions. Love'n this app!

December 26, 2017

By Pasquale

Very impressive Hammond organ simulation! I am very satisfied with the purchase. Unlike other VST, this is the best for me !!!

August 08, 2017

By Reviewer's Revival

You can read the review here: http://reviewrevival.weebly.com/reviews/acousticsamples-b-5-v2-review-virtual-tonewheel-organ-done-right

AcousticSampleS B-5 V2 Review

July 24, 2017

By ask.audio

Matt Vanacoro is notorious for his exacting standards when it comes to Hammond sounds and instruments. So he was pleasantly surprised to find that the Acousticsamples B-5 V2 had it all... Read more here: https://ask.audio/articles/review-acousticsamples-b5-v2

May 24, 2017

By John Mike

Here is a thorough review of the B-5 V2 by John Mike

Acoustic Samples B-5 V2 Update! Overview and New Features!

May 24, 2017

By Phil Curry

Here is a quick video introduction by phil curry of the B-5 Version 2

Acousticsamples B5 V2 First impressions, Quick overview

May 13, 2017

By Alan

Sorry but I couldn't agree with any of the previous reviews at all and wondered what the fuss was about because version 1 was a let down for me , mainly because of the Leslie simulation. I downloaded the upgrade to version 2 and boy, this is the best and most comprehensive Hammond plug in to date. The "Leslie" has been completely redeveloped and really sounds wonderful. Congratulations! My go to was always NI B4 ver2 but it'll be this one from now on!

August 19, 2016

By Peter

Warm, tridimensional realistic ...and the sampled vib/chorus has all the nunces of the real thing inside, simply because IT IS the real thing recorded, so beats any V/C virtual effect

August 04, 2016

By Jack

I have fallen in love with this software organ. The sound has that “swoosyness” and “woodiness” of a real Hammond B3/C3/A100. Especially the lowest ans highest octave sound like Hammond Heaven. This will be an everlasting love! Thank you…thank you…

July 11, 2016

By Johan

Been playing many many organ plugins, but this one take its price!! sorry for the language but this thing is damn fucking amazing!. Compared to others this one really has a special respond with the keys and the sound that i never experience with other organ clones. 10/10 - And Badass Seal of Approval.

July 04, 2016

By Audiofanzine

You can read the review in french here: http://fr.audiofanzine.com/orgue-virtuel/acousticsamples/b-5-organ/editorial/tests/b-cinquieme-du-nom.html

June 06, 2016

By Simon Gregg

This is just amazing. Thatnks for such a fantastic model. Feels as good as it sounds. By far the best B3 emulation!!!

May 26, 2016

By Pro Tools Expert

Nice video review of the B-5 Organ by Pro Tools Expert https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH8HWWJs1mk

May 13, 2016

By P-A Nilsson

I'm blown away, love it! Thank you very mutch for this!

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