Neo Ventilator

EI VARASTOSSA

You know the deal: That enormous rig – a Hammond® with one or maybe even two Leslies® – taking up so much floor space in your crib delivers to-die-for tone. You’re riffing away, enraptured, when a depressing realization bursts your bubble: You’d give so much to be able to play with precisely this sound on stage. But the colossal weight of this antiquated musical furniture is an insurmountable obstacle for the gigging musician. And although your digital Hammond clone hits the sweet spot, the weak, anemic Leslie effect is a turn-off.

Guido Kirsch, the man and mind behind VENTILATOR, was similarly frustrated with this situation. So he took just about every analog, digital, and mechanical rotary effect on the market for a test drive, which only served to aggravate rather than alleviate his dissatisfaction.He even combined several devices, tweaked and fine-tuned parameters, and experimented with pre and post effect equalizers to finally conjure a sound that wasn’t half-bad. Still, though, there was that nagging wish for someone to find a way to pack all the sonic glory of a mammoth Leslie into a petit stompbox! At that moment, the idea to build VENTILATOR was born.

Aiming high to satisfy even the most discriminating standards, Guido programmed a novel rotary effect unprecedented in sophistication and complexity. There is as much computing power at work in VENTILATOR as other vendors devote to an entire organ including a Leslie® effect!
Seeking to transcend technical limitations and get as close to the original as possible, he poked, probed, sampled, and analyzed a sweet-sounding original model 122 Leslie®. Armed with this knowledge, he then worked out VENTILATOR’s algorithm, A/Bing it with the original, and refining it until the result was truly gratifying. Two years of painstaking development effort culminated in a rotary simulation that outshines all other Leslie clones with its unmatched authenticity. The result surprised even its maker!

An effect as fine as this would surely delight guitarists, especially if it came with a true bypass circuit, variable gain to the input, and a defeat switch for the speaker simulation. And so these features were added to its arsenal. Neo Instruments’ VENTILATOR is not just another run-of-the-mill Leslie effect. A high-end piece of audio gear that delivers the sonic goods, VENTILATOR is the definitive rotary simulation!

Features:

Faithful replication of the model 122 Leslie’s® rotary effect
• Independent emulations of bass and treble rotors
• Faithful replication of the original’s mechanical properties
• Speaker simulation emulating the 122’s frequency response
• Same 800Hz crossover as the original
• Adjustable rotary speed and acceleration
• Drive section that simulates tube saturation in the Leslie’s amp
• Variable placement of virtual microphones
• Relay-equipped true bypass circuit
• Speaker simulation may be switched off for guitar amps
• Port for a remote footswitch / half-moon switch
• Remotely switchable rotary stop
• Rugged die-cast aluminum chassis and recessed buttons
• Simple, straightforward analog handling

Details:

• Vintage Modeling: VENTILATOR simulates a 122 model rotary cabinet, mic’ed up with a stereo pair on top for the treble rotor and a single mono mic below for the drum holding the woofer. The Distance knob lets you move the virtual microphones closer in for lots of amplitude modulation with an intense stereo effect and further out to conjure more diffuse sounds with gentle modulation.
• Individually adjustable rotors: The Speed knob adjusts the two rotors’ velocities, and the Acceleration knob determines acceleration and deceleration time. As on the original, the bass and treble rotors run out of sync at slightly different speeds. Acceleration and deceleration times also differ, with the bass rotor taking much longer to speed up and slow down. The Balance knob adjusts the relative levels of the two rotary speakers.
• Tube simulation: The Drive section is another awesome sound-sculpting tool in VENTILATOR’s kit. Don’t expect the buzz-saw rasp of a transistor-powered fuzz because it delivers all the warmth of bona fide tube-flavored overdrive. The Drive knob dials in everything from a touch of grit to a real rock roar, all of which can be controlled extremely dynamically via an organ’s volume pedal.
• Versatile input & outputs: VENTILATOR comes with a mono input and a stereo output. The Lo / Hi switch matches input gain to the signal source. You can insert VENTILATOR between your instrument and an amp or mixing console as well as into an FX loop.
• Remote Control: VENTILATOR is a stompbox by design, but you can set it on an organ or keyboard for easier access to the knobs. Switching speeds is simple enough, either directly via the Slow / Fast stomp-switch on the device or remotely via a half-moon or external footswitch. If you are controlling the device remotely, you can also use a kill switch to stop the rotors. One LED each indicates the respective rotor’s current speed.
• Speaker simulation: An elaborate filter circuit emulates the frequency response of a tube-driven cabinet with exacting precision. When using a guitar amp, simply set the switch to GIT to defeat the speaker simulation and obtain practically linear frequency response.
• True bypass: VENTILATOR comes with a true bypass designed especially for use with guitars. This relay circuit patches the input signal through to the two outputs with no loss of tone or level.