AcousticSampleS B-5 V2 Review

What is B-5 V2?

Acousticsamples’ B-5 V2 is one of the best virtual tonewheel organ plugins to ever hit your DAW! It aptly recreates the sound of the classic Hammond B-3 organ, along with other Hammond variants such as the C3, and A-100. It was exquisitely developed by AcousticsampleS; coming out as the highly anticipated second generation of their B-5 Organ instrument. In this concise AcousticSamples B5-V2 review, we’ll take a look at this sample library’s must have features like:

• Unparalleled Sound engine: Combines real sampled tonewheels with full modeling of the Hammond B-3 architecture, including the AO-28 preamp, drawbars, and tonewheels themselves.
• Bespoke Leslie cabinet emulation: It includes a detailed rotary speaker simulation with independent controls for horn and drum levels, fast/slow rotation speeds, pitch modulation depth, air, and distance parameters — all highly adjustable.
• Small Footprint: Despite packing a huge library of presets and content, it comes in a relatively compact ~1.25 GB package.

Introduction:

AcousticSamples lit up the wires with a flood of hum and buzz when they first released their hybrid virtual Hammond organ library, “B-5.” First, they built it entirely on digital samples and then layered in modeling technology. I must admit, they did a pretty good job. Even so, the library still left some room for improvement. Next, it delivered a big, fat, warm low end. However, it never quite nailed the searing upper presence that tonewheel organs can really throw into a room. Lastly, the Leslie emulation also started from a strong place. Still, it fell short of true realism. It came with a few quirks as well, and the developers never fully ironed those out.

Version 2 leaves those old failings completely in the dust. This redux sounds, plays, and operates brilliantly—arguably near perfection. The Leslie cabinet emulation will genuinely turn your head. Microphone positioning and room size virtualization shine brilliantly here. Tonal balance and authentic tonewheel character work together to hit every single right note.

Free for existing B5 customers!

In the video linked below, I walk you through the features and operation of the B-5 V2 — and yes, I save the audio samples for the grand finale. Tune in to the end!

Here are a few things I’d like to bring to your attention first:

UVI has modeled both the instrument and its stellar Leslie emulation in remarkable detail. As a result, you’ll need some decent processing power to experience the wealth of Hammond goodness packed into B-5’s UVI format.

The good news: Arnaud Sicard, AcousticSampleS founder and lead developer, has been working tirelessly to lower resource demands. Meanwhile, he’s kept the sound and performance quality pristine. Throughout my bench-testing of this fan-tab-u-lous virtual instrument, we’ve stayed in close contact. Consequently, he generously shared progressive, unpublished betas with me.

Where Once There was One, There Now Are Four:

The original iteration of B-5 offered a single organ model and a basic Leslie emulation. With version 2, AcousticSampleS raises the drawbar to spectacular heights.

They still include the original B-5 organ, presumably for backwards compatibility. On top of that, they put four distinct tonewheel powerhouses at your fingertips. These include a 1968 B3, a ’69 C3, a ’65 A-100, and a 1960 C3. That is not exactly a shy lineup.

AcousticSamples refuses to settle for anything bland or generic. Instead, they go the extra mile and skin each model individually with a lovely, photo-realistic interface. It looks as good as it sounds.

The varying organ models faithfully channel their hardware ancestors. To any discerning Hammond aficionado, they sing out with indefectibly distinct voices.

The Competition:

For the better part of a decade, GSI’s VB3 held the tonewheel emulation crown as a modeled, virtual Hammond organ. And frankly, few argued. VB3 stood as a masterclass in programming — a genuine tour de force. It outpaced its digital peers in authenticity, Leslie emulation, and overall functionality. Not bad for a piece of software, right?

Native Instruments’ “B4 II” also captured a significant share of the market. However, NI eventually superseded it with “Vintage Organs,” a sampled-organ suite. The collection covered transistor organs as well as tonewheel instruments.

I’ve always liked “Vintage Organs.” Nevertheless, a few niggles kept it from becoming a top-tier choice. Minor tuning issues and phase misalignment affected some notes. Its rotary-speaker emulation also sounded lackluster—passable at best. Unfortunately, “passable” doesn’t quite cut it when the rotary speaker is half the fun.

For those using the ever-affable Logic Pro X on Mac, a very respectable virtual Hammond is readily available.

AIR released its DB-33 from Pro Tools exclusivity back in 2014/15. However, the plugin falls somewhat short as a standalone solution—honestly, it lands on the “meh” side of things. The DB-33 shines when you pair it with a third-party rotary cabinet plugin. Melda’s mVintageRotary and PSP’s L’otary 2 elevate the sound considerably. For heavily distorted Hammond-ish tones, the DB-33 holds its own reasonably well.

Of course, these observations reflect only my own wandering reviewer’s mind. Even so, I suspect most Hammond players who want a convincing in‑the‑box alternative would agree with me.

Licensing and Authorization:

I prefer to use an iLok dongle for a practical reason: hard drives can crash and require replacement. If your machine goes “kapoots” before you return an activation to the Pace/iLok cloud, you lose one of your three possible activations. That’s a real risk.

Machine-based activation certainly offers convenience, but it does gamble with your licensing. Nevertheless, those who dislike iLok dongles tend to favor this method—despite the potential headache.

Installation:

This one’s about as easy as it gets. Create an account on the AcousticSampleS web site. Don’t worry, it’s a basic setup that doesn’t require the whereabouts of your firstborn and your Social Insurance Number. 😉

After you complete your online payment, your user account immediately lists your purchased products with matching download links. Whenever a newer product revision becomes available, the system automatically updates those links. You do not have to chase anything down.

Next, you download and install UVI’s free “Workstation” sample player from UVI.net or from the AcousticSamples website. Once you finish installing it, you simply extract the .ufs file from the zip file you downloaded from AcousticSamples. Then you place that file into the ** appropriate location on your system. That is it. No wizardry required.

** There are configuration options within UVI Workstation for setting up library locations and etcetera.

4.5 out of 5 Stars

:: Pros

• At the time of this publication, I estimate B-5 V2 to be the finest virtual Hammond available in plug-in form.
• Intuitive, well laid-out GUI mirroring all Hammond organ appointments.
• Convincing, High quality tube-like distortion.
• Good quality reverb
• 200 built-in presets covering multiple musical genres and/or song styles.
• Two sets of configuration per patch, for each manual. (Assignable by ‘Set’ buttons)
• Super simple to configure.
• Works as expected, NO finicky surprises.

::Cons

• A little bit heavy on CPU, but now much less so than earlier revisions. Any moderately powered machine will handle this VSTi easily, but such high quality does come at a certain amount of CPU expense.

Visit the AcousticSamples website. AcousticSamples.net

Intellectual Copyright – 2017 – All rights Reserved. This review may not be copied or reproduced in whole, nor in part, without express written permission from the author.