Nord Stage 4: Comparison of internal Rotary Sim, Lester K and Ventilator 1

This is a non-scientific comparison of the internal Leslie simulation of the Nord Stage 4 with the Lester K and Ventilator 1.
The organ settings are totally flat (no EQ, no reverb, no compression, no V/C), only percussion on/soft/fast/3rd.
Later there is a bit drive involved (on the Stage Drive at 3.0).
In direct comparison, it's amazing how different the three "Leslies" sound:
- Nord internal: narrow, rather nasal and cold.
- Lester K: very wide stereo effect (almost floating), very warm and "wooden" sound with much body, a bit of a chorus effect, nice crunch. Rotating in "slow" position sounds incredibly fine, "fast" sounds a bit artificial. Unfortunately acceleration rates cannot be adjusted and there is no remote control.
- Ventilator: somewhere between Nord and Lester: wider and much warmer than Nord but somehow muffled sound. Fast rotation much better than Lester. Better to adjust to personal taste. It has a remote control.
Of course, in the end this is also a matter of taste and musical genre.
0:00 No drive enabled
3:50 Drive enabled

[@patsonmusic]

Thanks for the comparison! I have a Ventilator II coming soon, but I guess the Ventilator I is the older model, isn't it?

[@Spektralfarben-Music]

Yes, the Ventilator 1 is the older, first generation. According to many users both generations sound identical, but the possibilities to adjust the sound are better with the Vent 2.

[@marcoballa]

interesting comparison... is this the "close mic" simulation in the NS?

[@Spektralfarben-Music]

No, I’ve chosen the normal setting und order to have kind of a default basic sound. I found it impressive how "flat" and "unusable" the initial B3 sound of the Nord is (with no further tweaking), and how it gets instantly alive with the Lester. A quantum leap. In this comparison the Ventilator rather sounds muffled.

[@marcoballa]

@@Spektralfarben-Music yes, agree 👍 the "close" sim is more effective but, within a few seconds, it becomes boring to me...

[@niellseen]

It’s strange , i have tested a lot but lately found that the organ in NS4 is really good in a live context , i have tested with GSi Vb3 II and other plugins and I prefer now the NS4 , I pass it through effect rack in Logic Pro for iPad via Apogge desktop and use the croma glow plugin , it can create wonders in uplifting the sound to fit the band , in the beginning i was disappointed with the organ engine in NS4 but not anymore , its an engine that has proven its worth over a long time span and I am glad they not rush out new updates on it cause it works on pa and monitor systems 😊

[@Spektralfarben-Music]

@@niellseen You’re right, playing in a band context will be no problem. But I’m using the Stage only in the home studio for recording, and there the internal sim is really unrealistic regarding stereo width (reverb is mono!) and overall tone (cold, nasal, harsh, narrow). It’s possible to tweak it and together with an additional external reverb it is quite OK. But the experience that I had by just using the Lester K without any adjustments to the organ sound (right out of the box) , was mind blowing.

[@niellseen]

@@Spektralfarben-Music i Use the GSi rotary plugin when recording , it sounds fantastic , the iOS version unfortunately doesn’t have midi learn but on the os version in Logic/mainstage i can set the rotary fast slow to the sustain pedal as I prefer , the Logic vintage rotary also sounds super , i think the NS4 sounds fantastic when recording in as audio , i can drop a lot of my plugins 😊