Virtual Theatre Organ Hauptwerk Vs TTT Sounds

[sweet melody 79]

I am going around in circles. I have been posting a fair bit on the forum the last few days and I am always thankful for the time you guys take to answer my questions. It seems that everyone's needs regarding what they want from their organ is rather unique and I am no exception.

I just sold my Roland 900P simply because -

A) I didn't want to lose my investment and figured in a few years I will be lucky to get a fraction of what I paid back.

B) It had many features that I would never use and I couldn't justify the price of the organ for the actual features I did use!

My 900P has been picked up by a piano mover and is going to its new home. Yesterday I was very lucky to pick up a Roland AT90 SL for just $700 which I think was a great deal. (It will be delivered on Saturday)

I never use backing and mostly play theatre organ music in a Blackpool style-ish manner and sometimes place orchestral pieces. The 90SL fits the job very well!

I have been looking to expand my options regarding theatre organ playing. I am looking at a second organ later down the line which ideally would be a three-manual organ. My other options have been TTT-Sound (They are perfect for Blackpool Tower Wurlitzer Organ sounds) and I have also been looking at Hauptwerk.

I am based in Phoenix. Apparently, TTT-Sounds would have to send me equipment for my set-up if I purchased from them. Hauptwerk seems to be completely downloadable?

I went on to Hauptwerk's website and I am totally lost! I am either very stupid or not understanding something but nowhere on the site do they brake down exactly what Hauptwerk does and how you set it up and what you are actually buying for the different prices or indeed what it includes?

Are you just buying the license and then buying "add-ons" for the different types of virtual organs or is it a package deal?

Also, it seems that TTT-Sounds is more streamlined. I don't like the idea of having a computer, extra speakers, and two-dozen leads for a set-up especially when this is going to be set-up in our main living room which is mostly Art-Deco in style! =-O

TTT-Sounds look like a small box and that's about it? you don't need external speakers?

I just need help to understand all this :-)

Thank you all!

Chris

[abacus]

This question will be better posted in the Virtual Organ section, and if you do a search you will find many articles on what Hauptwerk is and how to use it.
It is also handy to have an understanding of Midi/audio to get things up and running at its best, so have a read here https://www.tweakheadz.com/how_to_ge...with_midi.html to understand what you are getting into.

Bill

[KRG]

Most of us know something about what we have but less about what we do not have. You need to decide exactly what it is that you want in terms of theatre organ sounds. I for example would love a proper theatre organ so that I can reach out and adjust the registration on the fly rather than simply changing a registration. TTT sounds come in the original Roland Fantom XR package and two later pieces of hardware, the V something or other and the triangle. The difference is that the sounds for the Fantom are on a CF card and have to be loaded into RAM each time you wish to use them. This takes about 20 mins. You will then have hundreds of sounds and about 60 ready made registrations. You can connect the Fantom to a computer and easily change the existing registrations or create new ones using the free editing software. You connect the Fantom to the 90SL and can create banks of registrations to select the preset registrations on the Fantom. The Fantom usually uses the sound input of the organ to produce that Blackpool sound. The two later modules have the sounds etc. pre installed in ROM so you can make no adjustments as far as I am aware. Roland Fantom XR machines are only available second hand and I believe that Reg Rawlings at TTT usually has some in stock. The latest "triangle" is readily avail;able.
As far as I am aware the Hauptwerk has a free basic package which includes a small theatre organ. The only person I know who uses it runs it to add more sounds to the Fantom because the Hauptwerk organ has no reverb. It is also worth noting that the TTT sounds have changed over the years and some years ago I bought the Rob Laurens edition of registrations which I find much nicer that the originals.

[Admin]

With the introduction of Hauptwerk V in the beginning of 2020, there is no longer a free version of Hauptwerk. That's been replaced with a subscription option beginning at $5/month.

This version also has built-in convolution reverb.

There are a number of free and donation-ware, as well a commercial, theatre organ sample sets available for Hauptwerk.

[sweet melody 79]

Thank you KRG, after doing some more research I am thinking that I should just wait till the perfect theatre organ comes along. The Roland Fantom doesn't look cheap and if I have to buy that plus spend over $1000 on the "triangle" then it starts to get a bit pricy. I have no problem spending that amount it just seems silly when I could be buying a theatre organ.

[sweet melody 79]

Thank you, Bill, for the link I will take a look!

[Karl Peacock]

I have a V3 connected to my Roland AT-80sl. It came with very clear instructions regarding setup and all the relevant cables. I previously had the Roland phantom xr. The V3 is much better. I turn it on & it's ready to go instantly without the need of any computes being attached. It's easy to edit on it too.
I did try hauptwerk with my Roland when it was free & unfortunately I couldn't get the pistons on the Roland to work with the pistons on hauptwerk. It had worked fine on a Yamaha previously so it may be that this isn't possible on my at80sl.
Here is a link to one of my videos using the v3:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kV6AcMlPk3w

[sweet melody 79]

I have a V3 connected to my Roland AT-80sl. It came with very clear instructions regarding setup and all the relevant cables. I previously had the Roland phantom xr. The V3 is much better. I turn it on & it's ready to go instantly without the need of any computes being attached. It's easy to edit on it too.
I did try hauptwerk with my Roland when it was free & unfortunately I couldn't get the pistons on the Roland to work with the pistons on hauptwerk. It had worked fine on a Yamaha previously so it may be that this isn't possible on my at80sl.
Here is a link to one of my videos using the v3:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kV6AcMlPk3w

Hey Karl, Thank you very much for the info, sounds wonderful! I contacted TTT-Sounds to ask if the 899 price was all-inclusive but they have not answered.

[Karl Peacock]

He normally replies within 24hrs. Anything I can help with feel free to ask. I don't work for them but I know the products very well & provide demos for them. The price you'll of been given should be for the equipment which has the sounds included, instructions & cables. Reg is very helpful.
I've recently upgraded mine to the V3 ultra & when I find the time, I'll be recording some more videos of the new sounds which I'll upload to YouTube & send a copy to Reg who'll also post to his ttt-sounds channel on YouTube.

[sweet melody 79]

Thank you Karl, I lived in Blackpool for many years and going to the tower as a kid got me interested in organs. I always thought that the sound came from external speakers and that put me off slightly. I was interested in buying the V3 ultra also. As you can see I now live in the USA so I was wondering about compatibility...

[nickp82]

The most important difference between TTT and Hauptwerk is that the TTT expander samples are pre-sampled mixtures of ranks with a limited selection of individual rank samples too, whereas a Hauptwerk theatre organ is a 'proper' organ in the sense that all ranks are selected individually and you create the registrations yourself.

I think both sound very good and have their purpose, but it is entirely dependent on what kind of control you want over registrations yourself. If you're happy with the mixtures that TTT provide (and there are a great selection) then go with that, but if you want to control the nitty gritty of the organ and be creative with your own registrations, then Hauptwerk will suit you better.

[sweet melody 79]

The most important difference between TTT and Hauptwerk is that the TTT expander samples are pre-sampled mixtures of ranks with a limited selection of individual rank samples too, whereas a Hauptwerk theatre organ is a 'proper' organ in the sense that all ranks are selected individually and you create the registrations yourself.

I think both sound very good and have their purpose, but it is entirely dependent on what kind of control you want over registrations yourself. If you're happy with the mixtures that TTT provide (and there are a great selection) then go with that, but if you want to control the nitty gritty of the organ and be creative with your own registrations, then Hauptwerk will suit you better.

Great advice, thank you very much! That will be the swaying factor I'm sure.