Neo Instruments have recently launched a digital simulation of the Leslie Model 122 rotary cabinet, which they’re calling the Ventilator. The name Neo Instruments is fairly new to this industry, but the man behind the company certainly isn’t: Guido Kirsch was one of the developers of the original Access Virus synth, one of the most popular analogue-modelling hardware synthesizers of all time, so there can be few doubts about his programming skills.
The Ventilator is a small pedal-style unit, adorned with five knobs and two footswitches. Adjustable parameters include Speed, Acceleration, Balance (relative high and low driver volumes), Drive and Distance (an emulation of different miking distances), while the right-hand footswitch selects between Slow and Fast rotary speeds, and the left switch bypasses the effect. As on the real thing, when switching between Fast and Slow speeds, the two drivers accelerate and decelerate at slightly different speeds (due to the increased weight of the bass driver), producing a more complex sound than constant-acceleration emulations. The Drive knob, meanwhile, simulates the Leslie’s valve amplification stage, and ranges from “a touch of grit to a real rock roar”.
All inputs and outputs can be found on the rear of the pedal, and these comprise a mono input (switchable between high and low impedance, for instrument- or line-level signals), a stereo pair of outputs, and a footswitch input, which can be used to ‘brake’ the speaker rotation.
Though Neo Instruments don’t currently have UK distribution, they do say that the Ventilator is available to UK customers via German dealers such as Thomann, at a price of 449 Euros.
