AFIII Axe-FX III Rotary vs Ventilator vs Boss RT-20

[hippietim]

I've got a real Leslie in my dining room. Other than sitting in with other folks, pretty much the only time I play through a real amp these days is when I play through that Leslie. It's way, way cool.

A number of years ago I did a mini-shootout of a bunch of boutique Leslie pedals and a real Fender Vibratone (made by Leslie) but ended up buying the Boss RT-20 since it sounded the closest to the Vibratone. I recently let curiosity get the better of me and picked up a Ventilator.

Here's a quick comparison of the rotary simulation in the Axe-FX III, Ventilator, and Boss RT-20. I tried to dial them in pretty close. The Ventilator is mono in and stereo out. The RT-20 has stereo ins and outs but doesn't maintain the stereo image - it must sum to mono. The Axe-FX III Rotary is the only one that maintains the stereo image.



The patch I used is attached and this is what it looks like (thanks to Axe Edit III!).

 

[NeoSound]

I like the Axe III versions best with the biggest difference being it's a touch brighter to my ears.

 

[Daveis]

I thought I liked the Ventilator very slightly more than Axe3 maybe 1/3rd of the time. Never preferred the RT20 over the other two. Would have liked a blind test.

 

[pima1234]

I'd say the Axe III is excellent. Very convincing effect. I've been hoping to hear more demos of the modulation effects on the III.