I have read the info on the Inspire Series and listened to the three videos
that are available.
Some observations:
1. I have visited the Johannus web site. I understand that the Inspire series
is built on the technological platform that Global Organ Group has developed,
not on the Roland super chip.
2. There are five choices for each stop name on some Johannus organs. So it
is easy to see how the Inspire Series has five choices.
3. In general I like the variant choices.
4. The 233 is not the 227 with five added stops. There are several variations
on the stop lists, especially in the pedals.
5. I noticed that the acoustics have a different name than the Rodgers RSS. I
am assuming that the Inspire series uses Johannus reverb technology which may
be as good or better than Rodgers RSS.
6. I really like having all the American Eclectic stops being engraved and the
three period organs also being clearly identified on the stop list. The
variant library stop doesn't always relate to the four organ choices which is
good. That increases the registration possibilities.
7. I'm glad that Rodgers is staying with the palette system where each stop
can be set individually instead of a piston that makes all stops English or
German, etc. that some organ manufacturers use.
7.. What I saw I liked. It is what I didn't see and couldn't hear that give
me questions.
Questions for those who have played both the Artist two manual 29 stop and the
Inspire 233 enough to feel competent in judging the models:
1. I know that the samples were selected by Rodgers. However, does the
Inspire Series use the C C# system than the Johannus organs use or does the
Inspire Series use the Rodgers patented stereo technology used on previous
Rodgers models?
2. In the overall scheme if things when comparing the two manual Artist and
the two manual Inspire is one A. superior to the other or B they are about the
same quality wise in sound and in construction.
As in when playing single stops of the same character such as Diapason 8 on the
Artist and on the Inspire series under identical circumstances as in same room,
same speakers and same organist, what is the difference in the quality of
sound? And when playing multiple stops is there a difference in the quality of
sound?
3. In general where does the Inspire series fall in price (with the same
external speakers.) More than the Artist, About the same as the Artist, same as
the Classic or less than the Classic.
4. Same question but considering quality of sound both stops played
individually as well as in ensemble.
5. The Inspire Series does have in through and out midi. Does the Inspire
Series do all that the other Rodgers models midi systems will do?
6.. About the Infinity and Artist series. Has the Global Organ Group secured
the use of a newer Roland super chip for those models for the next ten or so
years, or will the Roland technology be abandoned when the current models are
taken out of production? The present Roland chip was developed six or more
years ago. I suspect that Roland has an improved super chip by now.
Has Rodgers announced when the present Roland super chip organs will cease
production?
7. Finally, for those who have heard and or played both, Suppose you are
getting either the Artist or the Inspire 233 for your home with no additional
speakers, which model would you choose if the price were the same and why? The
233 Inspire or the two manual Artist.
The Inspire has 33 stops and the Artist only has 29.
The Artist has four choices the Inspire has five.
The Artist can be configured to have 35 pipe organ stops, The Inspire is
limited to 33 pipe organ stops.
The Artist library has many more pipe organ choices than the variant library of
the Inspire series.
The Artist has many more non pipe organ instruments than the Inspire 233.
The Inspire has an additional 160 watt bass speaker that the Artist does not
have. How important is that when playing the organ in a home environment that
usually is a small room compared to church sanctuaries.
Assuming that the Inspire Series is all that Rodgers says that it is, I hope
that Rodgers will come out with a 238 draw knob console with an option of
internal or external speakers that can be expanded to at least 12 channels or
more. some Johannus organs have 36 full range speakers plus bass speakers
according to their web site.
The 233 Inspire with 24. 2 system would pull a real punch. Twenty four 50 watt
speakers in stereo would provide 12 sets of individual sound using 1200 watts.
Two 160 bass speakers would add 320 watts.
A 1520 watt sound system should really rock in a 300 to 500 seat sanctuary if
the Inspire series is equal to the Masterpiece series. My church has an 808
Masterpiece with 33 stops and 800 watts of power. Our organ with the MX200
plus Hector stops is awesome in our sanctuary which has acoustics favorable to
the organ. (All wood with cathedral ceiling with apex about 40 feet high and
seats 300 people. If only I could rip out the carpeting in our church. We
wouldn't need to use any RSS acoustics!)
Perhaps a home, stop tab church model and a draw knob console three manual
models could be added to this series soon. Perhaps, a 332, 340 and 348 model
specs would work. The default ranks for 48 stops would be around 60 or more
ranks. If this were an authentic pipe organ, this would be considered a very
large pipe organ as many pipe organs have less than 25 ranks, some less than
12! The organist would have 240 different organ samples available to make
choices if there were 48 stop names available.
With a second to none sound system, the Inspire series could be a recital
organist dream if the Inspire Series t is as good as the web site says that it
is.
Johannus has added a model with LED lighting that allows for the name of each
stop to change to the palette stop chosen. That would be something to add to
the draw knob console models.
I'm hoping that the Inspire Series is not a Johannus organ with Rodgers name
put on it. Time will tell!
Robert McMenis
