IK Multimedia Hammond B-3X

...then I wouldn't know, because I've never played a real one! In all seriousness though, even though I've never had the privilege of playing a real B-3 or C-3, I have listened to hours upon hours of music made by this wonderful instrument and I have to say this plugin is just absolutely stunning. It sounds the way you'd expect it to, rich, musical and infinitely tweakable.

My favourite part is that it has so many settings it's almost overwhelming, yet at the same time it has a long, long list of presets conveniently named after genres or legendary songs for that quick fix. A lot of VSTs give one or the other, either you get a million settings and you're on your own, or you get a few good presets and little to fiddle with - this does both.

My only complaint is that it's a bit lacking in the control department, for example, like someone has already mentioned, I couldn't figure out how to use different CC messages for different drawbars, they seem to be linked somehow. It might just be user error, and since I'm not an advanced user who would need on-the-fly drawbar adjustments for the music I play and record with this plug-in, I don't mind it much, but I still it's right people should know.

You also need to jump through a few DRM hoops, but it's not a terrible headache and I got my key and IK app working in a few minutes with no issues. I also like the fact that despite the activation limit, you can activate and deactivate licenses if you change PCs or upgrade your PC and so on.

All in all, minor control issues aside, it's a crazy good plug-in. I was fortunate enough to get it at a deep discount, but even at full price, I'd say if you want the best sounding Hammond organ simulation, look no further. It's the last Hammond B-3 plug-in you'll ever need.