I've been looking around at getting a tonewheel organ module to connect to my Roland D-50. It's been a challenge to figure out which ones have the best sound/features for one who plays as an organist at home, not a "keyboardist" who plays in a band. I'm finding many videos for various modules that feature "rock" sounds emphasizing distortion and "gritty" sounds. I'm not interested in that. I'm intersted in the sound of a well-maintained A100 or the like. I know everyone has their own favorites or features, so maybe your top 3 list that are worth looking at? The one's I've investigated just through internet/Youtube searches are Roland VK-8m, Voce V3, Ferrofish B4000+. That's just the start. There are so many others, it's hard to know what's worth considering. All opinions (and reasons for same) are welcome!
Essential features: Sounds like a Hammond!, ability to use a split keyboard on the D-50 to play separate upper and lower keyboard sounds on the module with upper and lower having independent drawbar settings, Reverb, decent Leslie sim, actual drawbars, as many individual controls as possible to mimic those of an A100.
So far what I've found:
Rolad VK-8M: seems to have all the features of an A100 plus the Leslie sim and D-beam for easy hand control of several effects. Most adjustable parameters on individual knobs. Has ability to play upper, lower, and pedal keyboard sounds on separate midi channels. Question: if I split the D-50 keyboard, will I be able play with separate drawbar settings on the module?
Ferrofish B4000+: seems to have all the A100 and Leslie effects, but no dedicated knobs. Looks like you select the effect or group of parameters you want to change, and the the LCD screen indicates what each generic knob (labeled A, B, C, etc.) changes. I have not investigated whether it has separate upper and lower drawbar settings.
Voce V3: only considered this because a local shop has one. Preset sounds were mostly terrible in my opinion. Leslie spins way too slow and takes too long to spin up, though I understand this can be edited. No Reverb, so that's probably a deal breaker in itself.
I've also tried Garage Band on both an iPad and Mac, CollaB3, Gallileo for iPad. None of those had satisfactory sounds (again, too gritty, too much "key click"), and not easy to use.
Essential features: Sounds like a Hammond!, ability to use a split keyboard on the D-50 to play separate upper and lower keyboard sounds on the module with upper and lower having independent drawbar settings, Reverb, decent Leslie sim, actual drawbars, as many individual controls as possible to mimic those of an A100.
So far what I've found:
Rolad VK-8M: seems to have all the features of an A100 plus the Leslie sim and D-beam for easy hand control of several effects. Most adjustable parameters on individual knobs. Has ability to play upper, lower, and pedal keyboard sounds on separate midi channels. Question: if I split the D-50 keyboard, will I be able play with separate drawbar settings on the module?
Ferrofish B4000+: seems to have all the A100 and Leslie effects, but no dedicated knobs. Looks like you select the effect or group of parameters you want to change, and the the LCD screen indicates what each generic knob (labeled A, B, C, etc.) changes. I have not investigated whether it has separate upper and lower drawbar settings.
Voce V3: only considered this because a local shop has one. Preset sounds were mostly terrible in my opinion. Leslie spins way too slow and takes too long to spin up, though I understand this can be edited. No Reverb, so that's probably a deal breaker in itself.
I've also tried Garage Band on both an iPad and Mac, CollaB3, Gallileo for iPad. None of those had satisfactory sounds (again, too gritty, too much "key click"), and not easy to use.
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