KEYBOARDPARTNER HX3 Drawbar Controller User manual

KEYBOARDPARTNER UG
HX3 MIDI Expander (Firmware version 5.4, Feb 2019)
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 two keyboards or bass pedal
LCD display and menu system
Swell (expression) pedal and footswitch jacks
Mini-USB for MIDI over USB, firmware updates, parameter editing
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.
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.
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.
HX3 provides unlimited polyphony,
presets, many parameters tweakable by
simple menus. In addition, General MIDI
sounds like piano and strings are
available.

Please read this manual carefully before using the HX3 Expander.
Only use appropriate power supply as advised. Input voltages
exceeding 15V may damage the device.
Designed for indoor use only. Do not use HX3 Expander in moist
places. Do not spill liquids or solvents into unit.
No user-serviceable parts inside. Refer to qualified technician or
service representative if problems occur.
Only clean with damp soft cloth. Using detergents or solvents may
deteriorate finish and lettering.
Keep packaging in case of service shipment.
EU conformity declaration
The producer/distributor
KEYBOARDPARTNER UG
Entwicklung elektronischer Musikinstrumente
Carsten Meyer
Ithweg 37, D-30851 Langenhagen
[e-mail]
hereby declares, that the product
HX3 MIDI Expander
has been designed, produced and examined in compliance with the DIN VDE 0580 standard and in
accordance with the EU Low Voltage Directive.
Following directives, standards and guidelines have been used:
EMV-Richtlinie 2004/108/EG
Niederspannungsrichtlinie 2006/95 EG
RoHS-Richtlinie 2011/65/EU
Langenhagen, August 2018
______________________________
Carsten Meyer / Geschäftsführer

Jack Connections
The HX3 expander module has two 1/4" mono audio output jacks, two standard MIDI jacks, a DC
input jack, a USB connector and two accessory jacks on the back panel.
SWELL ¼” stereo jack. Expression pedal input is compatible with Yamaha FC-7 and
similar expression pedals (direct connection preferred for speed/accuracy, but may also be
remote controlled by MIDI control change, controller 11). Plug connection: Sleeve = ground
/ potentiometer start, ring = potentiometer tap, tip = potentiometer end.
FOOTSW ¼” stereo jack. Single or double footswitch controls simulated rotary speed:
SLOW/FAST on plug tip, RUN/STOP on plug ring. Please use latching foot switches;
momentary (button type) switches are not supported. If single footswitch used, Rotary is
always on RUN (no plug ring, input grounded by plug sleeve).
USB: USB B-typ connector for MIDI over USB, updates, parameter editing. USB port and
MIDI IN/OUT cannot be used at the same time.
MIDI IN/OUT factory default secondary MIDI input for additional lower manual, bass pedal
or MIDI controller. Internally jumpered to supply +5V/200ma to our Drawbar Controller
(phantom voltage). May be changed to act as MIDI OUT by internal jumper swap. See our
HX3.5 Mainboard Installation Manual in our library for details.
MIDI IN primary input from MIDI keyboard.
DC IN: Use stabilized DC wall wart 9 to 12V with at least 500mA current output, inner/outer
plug diameter 2.1/5.5 mm on DC input jack. Polarity: positive voltage on inner tip.
AUDIO1/AUDIO2: Main audio stereo output. Output level is approx. 300 mV at full swell.
Volume Control
Output level of all output channels is controlled by Master volume setting in menu or MIDI CC #7
“Volume”, whichever occurs last.
Organ's swell pedal position is controlled by an expression pedal or MIDI CC #11 “Expression”,
whichever occurs last. The loudness curve is similar to the swell pedal of a classic tonewheel
organ, so expression volume will not reach zero. We recommend connecting an expression pedal
Yamaha FC-7 or similar (1/4" jack, 10k to 47k total resistance) directly to the HX3 module.
MIDI CC #11 and #7 may be altered via menu to any valid MIDI CC number.

Menu Panel
On power on, the presets/drawbar menu is present. Pressing the rotary knob twice briefly will let
you return to the presets/drawbar menu from any other menu position. The menu entry count
depends on licence, organ model, and menu configuration.
Turn the rotary know to select overall Overall Presets 0 …15. Overall presets consist of voice
numbers for upper manual, lower manual, and pedal, tab switch settings (percussion, vibrato etc.),
volume and 122 tube amp gain as well as all other effects, except rotary run/fast/slow. LEDs are
indicating current percussion and vibrato setting.
Press the up/down buttons to step through the menu (autorepeat if you keep the button pressed).
Turn the rotary knob to change a parameter value. A white arrow indicates the selected entry
that may be altered.
Alternatively you may use the rotary knob to scroll through the menu. Press the rotary knob once
briefly. Up/down arrows are white (active) and parameter arrow is outlined (inactive) in this mode.
Press rotary knob again briefly to change an entry.
Scroll one step upwards in the menu to the Master Volume setting. Master Volume sets final
volume of all outputs. For best noise performance, higher values are desirable.
Scroll another step upwards to the TubeAmp Gain setting. TubeAmp Gain sets volume of the
internal rotary tube amp simulation from 0 to full (overdriven tube amp). The simulated Amp will
get into decent saturation on increased swell amount and higher gain values as seen on ‘real’ tube
amps. Amount of distortion is controlled by swell pedal.
A star appears on the display, if a parameter value has been changed and now differs from the
stored preset. To store values as preset, keep the encoder knob pressed until the prompt “Saved
to Preset #XX” appears on the display. (“XX” representing the current preset number).
Parameter values tagged by the letter Care part of a single preset. Values tagged by Dapply to
all presets and are stored as defaults. Values tagged by U, L, or Pare part of the current voice.
40 voices 0 … 39 are available for each manual and pedal. Voices 0 … 15 contain the organ
drawbar settings. Voices 16 … 39 select a General MIDI (GM) instrument. GM voices may be
predefined by use of the HX3.5 Editor application.
The current voice settings are stored along with the overall preset. Drawbar settings are being
stored as voices carrying the same number, while GM instruments will retain their selected
numbers.
Independent of the current overall preset you may select any stored voice by choosing its number
in the voice menu, and then modify the voice as you like and play it live or store it again along with
an overall preset.
The HX3.5 menu is arranged as a loop. So you may reach any menu entry by either pressing the
up or the down button. But it is a good idea to memorize the menu positions, enabling you to reach
frequently used entries located around the preset/drawbar entry more quickly.
Scroll upwards to the rotary menu:
Rotary Motor On/Off control
Rotary Slow/Fast control
The current status of rotary, percussion, and vibrato is indicated by LEDs.

HX3 Expander Menü
Bold Standard licence Italic Extended Licence H H100 Mode E EG und Versatile Mode
Scanner Gears
E
EGenvDB 2
E
LowerADSR Hrm
Scanner Leak
E
EGenvDB 2 2/3
E
LowerADSR Ena
VibCh ModFac
E
EGenvDB 4
PedalDB 16
VibCh PreEmph
E
EGenvDB 8
PedalDB 16H
VibCh Reflect
E
EGenvDB 5 1/3
PedalDB 8
VibCh Respons
E
EGenvDB 16
PedalDB 8H
Ch LineboxLvl
HE
UpperDB Mix 3
Pedal Attack
Ch BypassLvl
HE
UpperDB Mix 2
Pedal Decay
PercNormLvl
HE
UpperDB Mix 1
Pedal Sustain
PercSoftLvl
UpperDB 1
Pedal Release
PercLongTm
UpperDB 1 1/3
Pedal Harmonc
PercShortTm
UpperDB 1 3/5
SeparatePedal
PercMutedDB
UpperDB 2
ToneTrimPot
PercPrecharge
UpperDB 2 2/3
TubeAmpBypass
HornSlowTm
UpperDB 4
SpkrSimBypass
RotorSlowTm
UpperDB 8
Phasing Upper
HornFastTm
UpperDB 5 1/3
Phasing Lower
RotorFastTm
UpperDB 16
Phasing Mode
HornRampUp
UPR LWR Vibr (V1..C3)
Reverb Prgm
RotorRampUp
UPR LWR Vibr (Upper ON)
Reverb 1 Lvl
HornRampDown
Percussion
Reverb 2 Lvl
RotorRampDown
Rotary Fast
Reverb 3 Lvl
Rotary Throb
Rotary Motor
Bass Equal
Rotary Spread
TubeAmp Gain
Mid Equal
Rotary Balnce
Master Volume
Mid Frequ
Setup File
HX3 Preset
Mid Peak
Generator
Voice Upper
Treble Equal
H100 Mode
Voice Lower
GenTranspose
H
H100 2ndVoice
Voice Pedal
TG WaveSet
H
H100 HarpSust
UPR LWR Vibr (Lower ON)
TG CapSet
Electr Gating
LowerDB 16
TG GearsTune
E
EG MaskToDry
LowerDB 5 1/3
TG Flutter
E
EG MaskToPerc
LowerDB 8
TG Leakage
H E
Perc/EG Mask
LowerDB 4
ContSpringFlx
H E
Perc/2ndV Vol
LowerDB 2 2/3
ContSpringDmp
E
UpperADSR Hrm
LowerDB 2
No DB1 @Perc
E
Upper Release
LowerDB 1 3/5
DB16 Foldback
E
Upper Sustain
LowerDB 1 1/3
Swell Type
E
Upper Decay
LowerDB 1
SwellTrimCap
E
Upper Attack
HE
LowerDB Mix 1
Minimal Swell
E
EGenvDB Mix 3
HE
LowerDB Mix 2
AO28 TubeAge
E
EGenvDB Mix 2
HE
LowerDB Mix 3
MIDI Channel
E
EGenvDB Mix 1
E
Lower Attack
MIDI Option
E
EGenvDB 1
E
Lower Decay
MIDI CC Set
E
EGenvDB 1 1/3
E
Lower Sustain
MIDI Swell CC
E
EGenvDB 1 3/5
E
Lower Release
MIDI VolumeCC

The HX3.5 menu system includes quite a number of entries for tuning the HX3 sound engine. The number
differs depending on the licence. For live performances you may prefer a scarcer, clearer menu. No
problem: Configure the menu to your desire by using the HX3.5 Editor app.
Menu Upper/Lower/Pedal
Starting from the preset/drawbar menu, scroll one step downwards to the voice settings for upper
manual, lower manual, and pedal. The white arrow is pointing to the selected manual.
DrbXXXXXXXXXXXX –the voice menu indicates upper/lower or pedal drawbar settings as
numbers 0 … 8 (here represented as "X") for 12 drawbars (9 harmonics plus 3 mixtures).
For the GM voices the instrument’s name is being displayed instead.
Turn the rotary knob to alter a voice setting
Generator models
Scroll upwards, starting from the preset/drawbar menu, to the organ model settings. Several menu
entries are available with Extended Licence only (marked by italic letters in the schematic). Also
you have a choice of more organ models with the Extended Licence. The number of menu entries
depends on the selected organ model as well (default: B3). Menu entries available in H100 mode
are marked by H. Menu entries available in Electronic Gating (EG) or Versatile modes are marked
by E.
Navigate to the Generator menu entry to select the sound generation type:
B3 default (91 tones sound generator)
B3 old (as above, but more leakage, stronger key click)
M3/M100 (no foldback for higher tones)
H100 (96 tones sound generator)
LSI Sine (phase stable frequency dividing generator like Wersi/Böhm)
LSI Square (as above, more harmonics)
Conn SNG (free running single sine tone generator, 91 tones, not phase stable)
CheesyCombo (84 tones generator, phase stable frequency divider, „cheesy sound“, rich
harmonics

Organ models
The HX3.5 default setting (B3 mode) implies mechanical key contacts, 2 2/3’ or 4’ percussion, and
9 drawbars per manual.
Select H100 mode for the H100 organ model of the H100 including 3 additional mixtures. This
activates the respective drawbars. B3 percussion is de-activated in this mode, instead the
Perc/EG Mask settings are effective. By means of the Perc/EG mask you may assign percussion
individually to each available harmonic. Percussions always sounds without vibrato and phasing
rotor. This mode may be combined with all generator models. In addition to the H100 model the
following options are available:
HH100 2nd Voice –harmonics selected by Perc/EG Mask sound continuously at full level.
Percussion bypasses vibrato like on the H100. Combined with drawbar voices on vibrato
and 2nd Voice activated this results in a neat chorus effect.
HH100 Harp Sustain –activates the Harp Sustain Effect, 4‘ harmonics fading, polyphonic,
no vibrato. Independent of 4‘ drawbar und 4‘ percussion
Perc/2ndV Vol –percussion volume and 2nd Voice volume.
HE Perc/EG Mask –select harmonics for the percussion/2nd
Voice circuit. Each “o”-symbol represents a harmonic from 16’
up to Mixture 3. The selected harmonic that may be activated
by turning the encoder is underlined. If activated the respective “o”-symbol is filled white.
HE UpperDB Mix1 … UpperDB Mix3 –Upper manual mixture drawbar settings. Mixtures
are made up of up to 3 higher harmonics with their individual levels. Please note: Differing
from the original H100 the HX3.5 provides three mixtures rather than two.
Select Electr Gating (H100 mode OFF) to substitute “mechanical” keying, which generates a key
click, by “soft” electronic keying. This is the way to model the entirely electronic organs of the 80s.
In this mode three additional mixtures are available; the respective drawbars are active. A ADSR
envelope is applied to the harmonics selected by means of the Perc/EG Mask. Set up the ADSR
envelope by using the following parameters:
E Upper Attack –attack time of the upper manual envelope.
E Upper Decay –decay time of the upper manual envelope.
E Upper Sustain –sustain level of the upper manual envelope.
E Upper Release –release time of the upper manual envelope.
E Upper ADSR Hrm –sets harmonic breakup of individual harmonics over time.

In addition, the following options are available for Electr Gating:
E EG Mask to Dry –harmonics selected by Perc/EG Mask are bypassing vibrato and
phasing rotor “dry”.
E EG Mask to Percussion –harmonics selected by Perc/EG Mask are being switched to
ADSR, the EG Envelope Drawbars are enabled as polyphone percussion drawbars.
HE UpperDB Mix1 …UpperDB Mix3 –Mixture drawbars for the upper manual. Mixtures
are made up of up to 3 higher harmonics with their individual
levels.
HE Perc/EG Mask –select harmonics for full ADSR
envelope instead of simple on/off. Each “o”-symbol
represents a harmonic from 16’ up to Mixture 3. The selected harmonic that may be
activated by turning the encoder is underlined. If activated the respective “o”-symbol is filled
white.
The fourth keying mode is called Versatile Mode and it is obtained by activating both H100 Mode
and Electr Gating at the same time. In this mode you determine by setting the Perc/EG Mask, if
the respective harmonic is triggered by mechanical keying (OFF) or electronic keying (ON). The
options EG Mask to Dry and EG Mask to Percussion are available as well. The ADSR settings
apply to the harmonics that are set to ON in the mask.
Upper Manual
Scroll upwards, starting from the preset/drawbar menu, to navigate to percussion, vibrato und
drawbar settings for the upper manual. Drawbars settings will be stored as voice for the upper
manual.
Percussion –Percussion –will step through available percussion combinations of
NORM/SOFT, FAST/SLOW, 2nd/3rd (8 options) plus OFF.
UPR< LWR Vibr –Vibrato/chorus ON/OFF for upper manual
UPR LWR Vibr< –Vibrato knob setting V1 to C3
UpperDB 16 to UpperDB 1 –drawbar settings for upper manual

Lower Manual
Scroll downwards, starting from the preset/drawbar menu, to the vibrato und drawbar settings for
the lower manual. Drawbars settings will be stored as voice for the lower manual.
The keying mode setting (mechanical or electronic keying) also applies to the lower manual. In
H100 mode you have three additional mixture drawbars, in EG mode the ADSR settings are
available for the lower manual.
UPR LWR< Vibr –Vibrato/chorus ON/OFF for lower manual
LowerDB 16 … LowerDB 1 –drawbar settings for lower manual
HE LowerDB Mix1 … LowerDB Mix3 –Lower manual mixture drawbar settings. Mixtures
are made up of up to 3 higher harmonics with their individual levels. Please note: Differing
from the original H100 the HX3.5 provides three mixtures rather than two.
E Lower Attack –attack time of the lower manual envelope.
E Lower Decay –decay time of the lower manual envelope.
E Lower Sustain –sustain level of the lower manual envelope.
E Lower Release –release time of the lower manual envelope.
E Lower Harmonc –sets harmonic breakup of individual harmonics over time.
E LowerADSR Ena –select harmonics for full ADSR envelope instead of simple on/off.
Each “o”-symbol represents a harmonic from 16’ up to Mixture 3. The selected harmonic
that may be activated by turning the encoder is underlined. If activated the respective “o”-
symbol is filled white.
Pedal
Pedal drawbars including ADSR envelope settings are saved as pedal voice.
PedalDB 16, PedalDB 8 –drawbar settings for pedals
PedalDB 16H, PedalDB 8H –drawbar settings for pedals, brighter tone
Pedal Attack –pedal ADSR envelope attack time.
Pedal Decay –pedal ADSR envelope decay time
Pedal Sustain –pedal ADSR envelope sustain level
Pedal Release –pedal ADSR envelope release time (often called string bass “sustain” on
other organs)
Pedal Harmonc –harmonic breakup of individual harmonics over time. Set to lower values
to obtain a „picked bass“ effect.
AddPedalToAmp –inserts the pedal signal before the tube amp simulation. If switched to
OFF, the pedal signal will not be routed through the tube amp.

Defaults Group
Scroll downwards to various default settings; change to desired value by turning incremental
encoder knob. Save changes to 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.
TubeAmp Insrt –activates 122 amp simulation, otherwise amp is bypassed. TubeAmp
Gain has no effect if off.
SpkrSim Insrt –activates rotary cabinet simulation, otherwise horn/rotor simulation is
bypassed (recommended for use of external rotary cabinet).
Phasing Upper –activates Phasing Rotor (PHR) for the upper manual (insert effect)
Phasing Lower –activates Phasing Rotor (PHR) for the lower manual (insert effect)
Phasing Mode –selects Phasing Rotor options:
oWe/Boe –toggles between Wersivoice (ON) and Böhm Phasing (OFF)
oEnsemble –Strings effect using multiple modulation
oCeleste –deep modulation with feedback
oFading –slow phasing effect
oWeak –soft modulation, may be combined
oDeep –deeper modulation, may be combined
oRotFast –Rotary effect, fast
oPHR Ramp up –Ramp up effect for rotary slow/fast, may be combined
A slow rotary effect is in place if no option is selected. Weak, Deep, RotFast und RampUp
may be combined with this effect. You obtain two more vibrato effects by selecting We/Boe
and Ensemble or Ensemble and Fading at the same time. These effects may serve as
additional vibrato channel for the H100 emulation, for example.
Reverb Prgm –selects one of 3 different reverb programs. For each program, amount of
reverb may be adjusted.
oReverb Lvl 1 reverb amount of reverb program 1
oReverb Lvl 2 reverb amount of reverb program 2
oReverb Lvl 3 reverb amount of reverb program 3
Bass Equal –Boost/reduce lower frequencies below 500 Hz
Mid Equal –Boost/reduce middle frequencies, parametric:
Mid Frequ –Filter frequency adjustable from 200 Hz to 4 kHz
Mid Peak –Filter quality factor Q, adjustable from 0,5 (wide band) to 2 (narrow)
Treble Equal –Boost/reduce lower frequencies above 2 kHz
GenTranspose –allows transposition by up to +24 or -24 half note steps. Notes beyond 5
octave limits of console organ will not produce any sound due to accuracy of physical
model.