Product Reviews by KVR Members
All reviews by dougsyo
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First, I own two vintage Hammonds.
NI's B-4 originally came out as a standalone software B-3, along with VSTI and DXI support. It's a bit old - I've had it since 2001 or so, but it's still one of the best B-3 emulations.
User interface: There are two views: The "keyboard" view, IMHO, is too large and tries too hard to "look like a Hammond" (do we need animated manuals and pedals?) The "control" view is well laid out, this view gives you access to many parameters to customize your sound. I usually use this view.
There are a few deviations from a standard B-3 (vibrato depth, percussion harmonic, number of pedal drawbars, percussion/ninth drawbar switching) that I consider enhancements/positives. On the other hand, the way the upper and lower presets are tied together (more below) is definitely un-Hammond-like.
Sound: This is close enough to the real thing that I'd give it a ten. You can customize your sound to match just about any B-3 you've heard - clean tonewheels, overdriven Leslie, lots of keyclick, etc.
Features: To a degree it's a one-trick pony, but a well-trained one. The (optional) extra tonewheels set gives you Vox, Farfisa, and harmonium sounds as well. It can be used as a VST effect. The standalone version has an internal MIDI player. Keyboard split is an alternative to using multiple inputs or MIDI channels.
The drawbars and settings can be controlled via MIDI, but the CC's are fixed. If you want to invert sliders so they move the same way as drawbars, you have to do that in your host or with other software (MIDIOX for example, use 127-value).
Documentation: B-4 comes with a perfect-bound book in multiple languages. The manual is clear and well-written. After the initial read, I only referred to it for the MIDI chart. While there's some background information, they assume you're familiar with how to shape sounds with the drawbars.
Presets: B-4 comes with 120 presets. You can select them from the NI logo that shows 40 at a time, or via the twelve inverse keys in conjunction with a range selector. The presets are diverse, most sound good, and they're helpful for an inexperienced Hammond player.
The gotcha: selecting a preset from the upper manual changes the lower manual and pedals as well. You either make your own presets or set upper first, then lower preset or drawbars, then tweak the pedal drawbars. I tend to stick with the same 4-6 settings I use on my A-105.
Customer support: This is NI. The copy-protected CD is checked about once a month or so. Rumored updates from "people with contacts" have never happened. NI offers a forum to registered users.
VFM: Although I think it's a little pricer than it merits given its age, I think it's worth it. If I had to give up my A-105 or gig, I'd be comfortable doing so with the B-4. It's still the best and I'd pay full price again.
Stability: rock solid. Never a crash in standalone or VSTI mode. CPU load is reasonable.
Read ReviewNI's B-4 originally came out as a standalone software B-3, along with VSTI and DXI support. It's a bit old - I've had it since 2001 or so, but it's still one of the best B-3 emulations.
User interface: There are two views: The "keyboard" view, IMHO, is too large and tries too hard to "look like a Hammond" (do we need animated manuals and pedals?) The "control" view is well laid out, this view gives you access to many parameters to customize your sound. I usually use this view.
There are a few deviations from a standard B-3 (vibrato depth, percussion harmonic, number of pedal drawbars, percussion/ninth drawbar switching) that I consider enhancements/positives. On the other hand, the way the upper and lower presets are tied together (more below) is definitely un-Hammond-like.
Sound: This is close enough to the real thing that I'd give it a ten. You can customize your sound to match just about any B-3 you've heard - clean tonewheels, overdriven Leslie, lots of keyclick, etc.
Features: To a degree it's a one-trick pony, but a well-trained one. The (optional) extra tonewheels set gives you Vox, Farfisa, and harmonium sounds as well. It can be used as a VST effect. The standalone version has an internal MIDI player. Keyboard split is an alternative to using multiple inputs or MIDI channels.
The drawbars and settings can be controlled via MIDI, but the CC's are fixed. If you want to invert sliders so they move the same way as drawbars, you have to do that in your host or with other software (MIDIOX for example, use 127-value).
Documentation: B-4 comes with a perfect-bound book in multiple languages. The manual is clear and well-written. After the initial read, I only referred to it for the MIDI chart. While there's some background information, they assume you're familiar with how to shape sounds with the drawbars.
Presets: B-4 comes with 120 presets. You can select them from the NI logo that shows 40 at a time, or via the twelve inverse keys in conjunction with a range selector. The presets are diverse, most sound good, and they're helpful for an inexperienced Hammond player.
The gotcha: selecting a preset from the upper manual changes the lower manual and pedals as well. You either make your own presets or set upper first, then lower preset or drawbars, then tweak the pedal drawbars. I tend to stick with the same 4-6 settings I use on my A-105.
Customer support: This is NI. The copy-protected CD is checked about once a month or so. Rumored updates from "people with contacts" have never happened. NI offers a forum to registered users.
VFM: Although I think it's a little pricer than it merits given its age, I think it's worth it. If I had to give up my A-105 or gig, I'd be comfortable doing so with the B-4. It's still the best and I'd pay full price again.
Stability: rock solid. Never a crash in standalone or VSTI mode. CPU load is reasonable.
Ethereal is advertised as an additive pad synth. While accurate, there's more to it than that - it can also do "general purpose synth" just fine. Some people compare it to Rhino ... that's not really accurate, but there are a few similarities. I find Ethereal easier to program because it's not as sophisticated.
Sound: I have been able to coax sweet flute sounds, Hammond-ish organs, hoovers, harsh jangly sounds, and nice evolving pads out of it. The presets, additive waveforms and filter choices give a lot of variety. It wouldn't be my first choice for dance/trance but it could be done.
Features: Several features make it stand out from the typical two- or three-oscillator synth: the additive waveform generator, the eight drawable envelopes, and the flexible routings. All controls can be tweaked in real time while you or your sequencer plays. Most knobs and sliders have MIDI CC's assigned, or use "MIDI learn" to fit your controller. There are chorus, phaser, reverb and delay effects.
The Patch evolver allows you to breed new patches from where you're currently at. It's more useful (to me) than a random patch generator.
Version 2.5 substantially reduced CPU usage in some cases and patches.
UI: The UI is large - bigger than Rhino, B-4, and the Linplug synths (this is a problem on low-res screens). Ethereal attempts to make all controls available all the time - unlike z3ta+ and Rhino(the envelopes, samples, and LFO's only show one at a time). Good chunks of the UI are dedicated to the envelopes, additive generator and effects. Version 2.4 added a patch browser, increasing the size of the UI by about 15% (it's to the right of what you see in the picture above). Other than the envelopes, it's pretty intuitive.
Presets: 160 presets cover a variety of sounds - pads (strings, bells, organs, rainfall), leads (piano, rez, brass sweep), bass, loops (using envelopes), and samples. This is a tweaker's synth, but there's a lot of variety/examples in the patches Jon provides. Some are very good, some are "good but not my type". You can use the evolver or a couple of mouse-swipes to create new sounds.
Manual: provided in HTML format. It is complete but not overwhelming or heavily detailed. You should RTFM and experiment to get the hang of the envelopes, it's not "four knobs to twiddle" (some examples might be nice). Some minor tweaks needed (ie dial default is now linear not circular).
Customer Support: 110% Jon has responded promptly to every inquiry, bug report or feature request - often within the hour. Jon's also visible in the instrument forum.
VFM: Excellent. I've gotten more use out of this $40 vsti than some I paid a lot more for. When I later bought Industry, he gave me Granite as if I'd bought the synth package, an unexpected kindness.
Stability: Ethereal's never crashed on me. I primarily use it in FLStudio, and also in Sonar with DirectIXer (use alternate screen sizing option).
Buy this synth!
Read ReviewSound: I have been able to coax sweet flute sounds, Hammond-ish organs, hoovers, harsh jangly sounds, and nice evolving pads out of it. The presets, additive waveforms and filter choices give a lot of variety. It wouldn't be my first choice for dance/trance but it could be done.
Features: Several features make it stand out from the typical two- or three-oscillator synth: the additive waveform generator, the eight drawable envelopes, and the flexible routings. All controls can be tweaked in real time while you or your sequencer plays. Most knobs and sliders have MIDI CC's assigned, or use "MIDI learn" to fit your controller. There are chorus, phaser, reverb and delay effects.
The Patch evolver allows you to breed new patches from where you're currently at. It's more useful (to me) than a random patch generator.
Version 2.5 substantially reduced CPU usage in some cases and patches.
UI: The UI is large - bigger than Rhino, B-4, and the Linplug synths (this is a problem on low-res screens). Ethereal attempts to make all controls available all the time - unlike z3ta+ and Rhino(the envelopes, samples, and LFO's only show one at a time). Good chunks of the UI are dedicated to the envelopes, additive generator and effects. Version 2.4 added a patch browser, increasing the size of the UI by about 15% (it's to the right of what you see in the picture above). Other than the envelopes, it's pretty intuitive.
Presets: 160 presets cover a variety of sounds - pads (strings, bells, organs, rainfall), leads (piano, rez, brass sweep), bass, loops (using envelopes), and samples. This is a tweaker's synth, but there's a lot of variety/examples in the patches Jon provides. Some are very good, some are "good but not my type". You can use the evolver or a couple of mouse-swipes to create new sounds.
Manual: provided in HTML format. It is complete but not overwhelming or heavily detailed. You should RTFM and experiment to get the hang of the envelopes, it's not "four knobs to twiddle" (some examples might be nice). Some minor tweaks needed (ie dial default is now linear not circular).
Customer Support: 110% Jon has responded promptly to every inquiry, bug report or feature request - often within the hour. Jon's also visible in the instrument forum.
VFM: Excellent. I've gotten more use out of this $40 vsti than some I paid a lot more for. When I later bought Industry, he gave me Granite as if I'd bought the synth package, an unexpected kindness.
Stability: Ethereal's never crashed on me. I primarily use it in FLStudio, and also in Sonar with DirectIXer (use alternate screen sizing option).
Buy this synth!