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KEYBOARDPARTNER HX3 Quick Start Manual

Midi expander
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KEYBOARDPARTNER UG
HX3 MIDI Expander Version 5
As an option (extended licence required), the new HX3 RealOrgan engine is capable
of emulating all electromagnetic organs including the famous H100, combo organs,
concert organs of the 70s and 80s like Böhm Orchester and Wersi Helios. This
implies up to 15 harmonics, up to 12 drawbars per manual with individual mixtures,
including phasing rotor (WersiVoice), mechanical and electronic keying available
simultaneously. ADSR envelope available on all drawbars, also H100 percussion and
"Harp Sustain". Various tone generator waveforms selectable, for "cheesy" combo
organs as well as fully fledged concert organs.
Features
 Compact organ emulator in aluminum box, 222 x 150 x 42 mm
 Authentic reproduction of generator, tapering, key contacts, percussion and
vibrato by FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) and physical modelling
 Tunable in range of A = 433 through 447 Hz
 Extremely low internal latency of 50 microseconds Key-to-Audio. However,
MIDI transmission delay is about 1 ms per note played.
 Natural key click by "rattling" contacts
 Accurate rotary and 122 amp simulation
 Dual MIDI IN for 2 separate keyboards or bass pedal
 LEDs show vibrato and percussion setting
 LCD display and menu system
 Swell (expression) pedal and footswitch jacks
 Mini-USB for MIDI use
 Effects DSP with 3 reverb levels
 24 voices GM Synth
 Hand-crafted in Germany
Default MIDI setting is channels 1/2/3 for upper/lower/bass, MIDI CC NI B4 with
Sustain on CC #64.
DC input 9 to 12V, 500 mA min., 5.5/2.1 mm plug, plus on center.
HX3 MIDI Expander is a tonewheel
organ emulation with all B3 features
in a small box, creating the legendary
unmatched HX3 sound. Controlled
via MIDI, it offers selectable CC-sets
for various keyboards. Unlimited
polyphony, presets, parameters
tweakable by simple menus - like key
click response, percussion punch
and more. In addition, General MIDI
sounds like piano and strings are
available.

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Summary of Contents for KEYBOARDPARTNER HX3

  • Page 1 As an option (extended licence required), the new HX3 RealOrgan engine is capable of emulating all electromagnetic organs including the famous H100, combo organs, concert organs of the 70s and 80s like Böhm Orchester and Wersi Helios. This...
  • Page 2: Eu Conformity Declaration

    Trademarks Hammond®, B3® and Leslie® belong to Hammond Suzuki Corporation (Japan). Trademark NI B4 belongs to Native Instruments GmbH, Germany. Product and company names used in this document apply for illustration and example purposes only. Keyboardpartner is not related to these trade marks in any way.
  • Page 3 1.0 Jack Connections The HX3 expander module has two 1/4" mono audio output jacks, one DC input jack, one USB mini connector and two accessory jacks on back panel.  AUDIO1/AUDIO2: Main audio stereo output. Output level is approx. 300 mV at full swell.
  • Page 4: Panel Buttons

    Organ's swell pedal position is controlled by an expression pedal or MIDI CC #11 “Expression”, whichever occurs last. HX3 resembles a loudness curve similar to the swell pedal of a classic tonewheel organ, so expression volume will not reach zero.
  • Page 5 40 voices (0..39) are available for each manual and pedal. Voices 0 to 15 consist of organ drawbar settings. Voices 16 to 39 select a GM Synth preset. GM presets may be predefined by use of the HX3.5 Editor application. The menu system consists of up to 120 entries, depending on licence.
  • Page 6 Please note: As opposed to the original H100, HX3.5 provides three mixtures instead of two.  H100 HarpSust - activates Harp Sustain effect, 4’ harmonic decays after key has been released  H100 2ndVoice – selected percussion harmonics will not decay. As on H100, all percussion voices are bypassing the vibrato circuit.
  • Page 7 3.2 Defaults Group Step downwards to reach various defaults settings; change to desired value by turning incremental encoder knob. Save changes to current overall preset by pressing knob for more than 2 seconds.  ToneTrimPot – mimics TONE pot on simulated AO28 amp; well, a little bit more on high values.
  • Page 8  Pedal to Lower: Press and hold desired lower manual key while switching SPLIT on to obtain a custom split point (useful for playing pedal bass lines on dual manual keyboards without bass pedals).  Lower to Upper: Press a single key on upper manual while switching SPLIT on to map lower to upper manual up to this key (useful for playing 16’...
  • Page 9 o foldback with muted level (original B3 behaviour), o no foldback ("all way down") with full level (like H-100®) or o no foldback ("all way down") with muted level. 3.2.7 Preamp Group and Misc. Along with ToneTrimPot (see above), adjusts behaviour and response of the emulated AO28 preamp chassis and transformer/tube saturation.
  • Page 10 should know what you’re doing.  Scanner Gears – adjusts scanner drive gear and thereby vibrato frequency.  Scanner Leak – adjusts leakage of higher notes in scanner compartment due to parasitic capacitances.  VibCh ModFac – adjusts amplitude modulation caused by delay line on all vibrato/chorus knob settings.
  • Page 11 HX3 is protected against forgery by licence numbers. If not set appropriately after firmware update, HX3 will refuse to work after 2 minutes. Licences may be re- installed at any time. Please contact KeyboardPartner to obtain a valid licence key.
  • Page 12: Midi Control

    As default, all HX3 controllers are OFF. Do not use any controller button or drawbar unless HX3 is ready to accept its data (drawbar preset displayed). It is a good idea to power up HX3 before your MIDI master keyboard or master controller.
  • Page 13 The “Brightness” knob controls AO28 “tone” parameter in HX3. There is no key click emulation in HX3 (it is just there!), so you may not adjust key click (a real Hammond does not have key click adjustment, either). The “Key Click” knob controls the bass sustain instead.
  • Page 14 In case it does not, you may use a separate wall wart for the HX3 Drawbar Controller or need to open the device and set two jumpers to enable phantom supply on the HX3 MIDI Expander.
  • Page 15 5. HX3 Apps HX3.5 Editor for Windows application is a convenient way to update or maintain your HX3 drawbar expander. It allows for firmware and sound engine updates, parameter tweaking and preset setup for experienced users. Programs and complete documentation are available through our wiki pages on http://wiki.keyboardpartner.de...