ZR-3

RUMPELRAUSCH ZR3 confirms itself as the best virtual Hammond type organ beside NI B4.
In this new version it's more stable (absolutely no crashes in my Athlon either in Cubasis 3 or within Fruity Loops ) , and adds more charachter and fidelity to the Hammond sound emulation.
Although NI B4 is still far away,I like this little brother because it remembers me the sound of some not-B3 Hammond models ( like" H 100 " model ),wich had a sweeter sound than "Daddy" B3.
Great,Swell and Pedal are very good for complex Hammond tracks ; Percussion and Leslie effect are improved (although still not perfect,so I use MDA Leslie,which is free too,as a usefull,"cleaner" alternative).
Some more two or three polishings,i.e. only staccato percussion effect,as in the original Hammond models,a little more authenticity in lower(a bit more full bodied)
and higher(a bit sharper)drawbars'tone,better volume balance,and this jem ,believe me, will be soon a legend.

This is quite a nice little organ emulator. Although its sound is distinctly digital, it can simulate enough of the classic tone wheel grit to really cut through a mix. The percussive key sound leaves a bit to be desired, though. Playing in a percussive style causes some weird "envelope" behaviour and is distinctly less emulative than other sounds. That will take some getting used to.

One of the better features is the LFO/Leslie simulator. With certain settings, one can achieve the classic Leslie slowdown/speedup effect.

And since it's a drawbar emulator, it's a real easy instrument to program. Haven't tried programming in automated drawbar movements yet....

The GUI, although quite impressive and useful, causes me screen redraw problems when using it in Cubase... it's best to program the thing, then close out the GUI.

Good plug-in overall. Recommended.

Now I can go off and pretend I'm Jon Lord (and for all you young'uns out there, he was one of the first keyboard gods... the holy trinity of Keith Emerson, Jon Lord and Rick Wright).

Or even Dave "Baby" Cortez.

I love zr-3.

never tried B4, but I never will..

Im not an organist.. but I do *love* the sound of an organ.. and this synth does it for me, and its free

I like the fact that it can really sound so different.. it has triple drawbars but no tone wheels. however, it sounds pretty good from high to low.. all rich sounding.. though the high bars can sound a bit tiny if you try something really up in the registers.. but I didnt find it a problem in the least really..

The presets (22 included but scroll through AFTER 22 and read the preset names) really show what this synth is capable of doing.. i especially love the 'sine vibra' preset.. has a very austere and mysterious feel to it..

customer support gets a 5 because I never could get email to them as their mail server blocks yahoo accounts.. which is all I really have.

zr-3 makes some very rich, resonant organ sounds.. yum!

for added fun.. click on the 'void warranty' sticker in the top right corner.. hehe