Native Instruments B4 DirectX

I'm using B4 with Sonar2 XL under Windows XP. I play keyboards and guitars.

Absolutely beautiful interface. Easy to set up to work with midi controllers such as knobs or faders. The versatility including things such as placement of microphones and stereo spread is truly impressive. Installed easily and worked immediately.

The presets are great sounding! I have owned two Leslie speakers cabinets in the past. The leslie sounds in the B4 sound more real to me than the real leslies. Interfacing it with midi controllers really adds another dimension of fun and expression. It seems not to create much of a load on the processor, which is nice.

This is my favorite plug-in. The manual is extremely good and the program as a whole feels and sounds like quality all the way. B4 is a total bargain!

Been making music since I was 10 (am 40 now. I play guitar, bass, keys and some flute. I see no version # on the package. I'm using the program as a stand alone alongside of Retro AS1 on a laptop running Windows 98 and I think the Processor is PIII at 750Mhz. I play in a 70's/Southern Rock band and have been unhappy with the organ tones on my modules since I can't manipulate drawbars. I have a L111 that we used to haul out and eventually moved to the tones in my Alesis QSr which are fabulous but... I run my full rig through a Peavey TNT 130.

The interface on this is a blast! I had some problems with my USB MIDI port upon startup. For those who wish to use a USB hub with a USB audio interface and a MIDI interface, make sure both units are self powered. USB hubs apparently don't do well with parasitic devices. I don't screw around with copy protection since I sell the stuff and I don't want you to steal it either! It took some tweaking but I got it to trigger with practically no latency after a couple of trys. Once set up, this thing ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I am an avid, hardcore fan of the B3 (I can usually tell a real one from halfway down the block). Has 99 programs that emulate tons of B3 tones. Unfortunately, there is no way to grab 3-5 bars at once and pull them. Might be a great thing to add in a future version by simply being able to draw a box around the ones you want to pull with a mouse.

Amazing sound. I swear I even hear tonewheels running in the background as the program sits. So much like my L111 it's frightening. The presets are killer!! I would tend to tweak anyway but that's simply done with a mouse and playing a regular QS6, the board responds pretty well. There are some wierd echos I get every once in a while where it will play back what I just hammered out again. I believe it is stereo (there is a mic spread option in the console view that basically alters it's realization of mic placement on the Leslie) It is multi-timbral with up 92 notes at a time but who has 92 fingers?

Definitely worth my price and possibly the full retail price. Beats the hell out of hauling around a 500 lb bureau full of metal. There really isn't anything out there that compares to this. Quite an ambitious undertaking even for Native Instruments. I love the way it looks, I love the way it sounds, the latancy factor still leaves a bit to be desired but otherwise, It's just what was expecting and possibly more. My favorite feature? IT DOESN'T WEIGH 500 LBS! I'll be using it as a stand-alone, live so CPU power is not an obstacle. It has not crashed on me yet, but I just got it... EVERYTHING crashes once in a while. Hopefully it will not be during a show. I wish they had a physical controller with drawbars to manipulate the program. It's a feel thing... kind of like having real faders under your fingers.