Tokai TX-5

This organ is very simple to use. It has 3 memory banks with 8 positions to save all the configurations, like a preset. Also it has 8 positions to save drawbars configurations. The access to the reverb, drive, leslie and percussion is simple an easy to use. You can configure all the parameters of the percussion and leslie. Also has some emulation modes (B3 classic, dirty, heavenly, metallic), but i just use the B3 classic.

The polyphony is 32 notes, more than you will need. The effects are Choris/vibrato (CV1, CV2 and CV3) and they are great. The drive also great, but not with the chorus. The reverb effect is good, but i almost dont need it. It has MIDI, sensitive keys, transpose, octave shift, split. No expansions, no sequencer, just an traditional organ.

Tokai TX5 sound great. The effects are very realistic and the organ sounds beautifully. For the price you dont find anithing like that and the most expensive organs like Korg's and Roland's aren't so much better than this pice. I like to play gospel music on it, but in my banding i play deep purple and stuff like that with a greal Hammond sound provides by my TX5. No aftertouch and synth stuffs, its just an organ.

This organ is a very simple instrument and i just have one in my gig. I thrust on my organ. You have the possibility to save your configuration on a SYSexe file, to reload your keyboard in case of panic.

The Tokai support is great for brazilians clients. I dont know anything about the support in other countries.

I love my nwe organ. It is really a great hammond copy, with a great sound. Just the output gain is a little low, but nothin much.

I'm using version 1.20, and at the moment it's the latest release.
I Found the presets weak, but it's a piece of cake to tweak this thing, even with all the leslie parameters, Tonewheel model, etc. You don't need anything else besides the dislpay and the drawbars set.
The manual is good (mine is in Brazilian Portuguese, because... i'm brazilian hehehe).
Overall, Very easy to use.

The polyphony, as it have been said, is only 32 notes and is the only flaw i can see in the features of this board.

It's an organ, and for organ playing, it's pretty configurable. The keys are Fatar, and they are very good. I heard they are developing a Waterfall version of this board, which certainly woudl be killer.

You have a master Reverb, Distortion and a great rotary speaker simulation, plenty of parameters to tweak (more about this later).
There is the tradicional Vibrato/Chorus (V1/C1, V2/C2, V3/C3) switch.
It transmits MIDI and can be used to control NI B4, for example.

You have two sets of drawbars to play, and you can split the keyboard if you want, and assign a different set for the upper and lower manual.
You can edit the percurssion, keyclick, Tonewheel model (82 or 91), and every parameter of the rotary speaker simulation, if you want. You can even enable or disable the ressonance effect of the rotors.

Plenty of features.

Well... this is the main point of any review: How does it sound?

This board really surprised me. The sounds are fat, and pretty "hammondish" if you want.
The Chorus are very good and the vibrato too. I use C2 a lot, and i'm pretty satisfied.

The Rotary speaker simulation is excelent. One of the best i've tried. As you have a lot of parameters to edit, you can get it pretty close to the real thing. You won't get a real Leslie sound, because this is simply impossible.

Besides the standard sound generator (Default), there are some interesting ones (Clean, Dirty, Filthy, etc) and you cand get some different sounds too.

Overall, very good sounding hammond/organ emulator.

P.S.: The output is a bit low, which bores me sometimes.

It's build like a tank.
Seems very reliable, and it never crashed.

Would gig without backup, no problem.

Dealt with TOKAI just one time and they where very Helpful.

This board is really the best cost/benefit relationship i've ever found in a board. Great sounds for a such small price.
And to be honest, i really don't think there are other products of this kind that are so much better sounding.

I compared the sounds with the Roland VK-8, Korg CX-3 and the Hammond Xk-1 and Xk-3. I think every keyboard of this list has it's own characteristic, good and bad points.

I use the Tokai a lot, and there are times it sounds better than anything to me. Sometimes i use my Roland VR-760 to play Deep Purple, but it's just because the COSM thing, which i think give the ideal sound of a 70's rock amplifier.

If they release a Waterfall version of this thing, i'd be waiting for that in front of the Factory door.
The output, as i said is a bit low.

If it were lost or stolen, i would buy it again, because is a great sounding bargain.

It is very easy to use this organ. All the controls are at my hands, like the real thing: pecussions, vibrato V1,V2, V3,C1,C2,C3, Rotary slow, fast and brake.

It has 32 notes of polyphony and the keyboard, made by Fatar, is very good. The built in effects are Rotary Speaker, reverb and overdrive. There are two sets of drawbars, 7 memories for registratios and 24 memories for patches.

The sound of this organ is very realistic, and it can be used in rock, blues, jazz and gospel music. The chorus-vibrato is amazing and the rotary speaker is the best I've heard. I think that only the XK-1 and XK-3 are as good as it.

Very good.

If it were lost or stolen, I will buy it again . The main problem I found is the low level of the outputs.