Viscount Cantorum Duo Plus

Hello there, my name is Dimitri.

I take organ lessons in my spare time and I have modest experience with church organs.
For some time now, I have been looking for a sturdy and adjustable study organ.
My preference was for as small a 2-manual instrument as possible,
with the option of adding a pedal.

After an evening at the organ shop, playing my exercises
on full-size Johannes, Content, and Domus S4 cabinet organs,
I fell in love with the Viscount with Physis Plus playing an easy piece written by S. Scheidt.

Unlike Johannes/Content, Cantorum Duo Plus doesn't have any samples at all, but uses physical modeling.
But you won't notice that much: Cantorum Duo Plus really does sound like an organ,
and gives you endless possibilities to experiment with voices and sound parameters.

The sound of Cantorum Duo Plus is pretty much what you would expect from a modern church organ of the 1970s.
You use the principal voices, the flutes and the mutation stops, sometimes you use mixtures, maybe a violin or a trumpet to compose the sound,
and occasionally the cornet as a solo voice.
The Cantorum Duo Plus organ is very capable of helping with this task!

I found the action of both keyboards hard and I liked it. The action is noticeably harder than one would expect from a
of a modern church organ, but rather comparable to a historical 3-manual organ.
I can describe the interface, especially the tuning and voicing, as very effective and intuitive.
I also tried 9 pistons pre-programmed with presets and found the presets quite playable.

Last but not least, a startup sequence doesn't take minutes, but 30-45 seconds.
No complaints about the rear panel inputs and outputs, they are as robust as expected,
No negative remarks about the build quality. Everything feels sturdy and solid.

I would just like to point out that Content Duo Plus does not have any funny voices such as Vox Humana,
Perhaps these voices can be uploaded later.
On the other hand, the organ contains many other important voices, such as Quintadeen 16 and 8.

Conclusion.
If you have a taste for early baroque and need a compact instrument, this is the one for you.
Downside: No funny reeds like Schalmey, Vox Humana and Regal.

Installé à la maison avec les accessoires indispensables (stand, pédalier et banc). L'ensemble est très harmonieux, à la fois moderne et esthétique, et donne une impression de grande qualité.
J'avais déjà le Cantorum VI Plus, bien conçu et avec de belles sonorités, mais évidemment Cantorum Duo Plus le surpasse nettement en possibilités et en réalisme.
Cependant même dans une petite pièce, il est préférable de le relier à des enceintes externes car malgré l'amplification interne de 2x40W avec 4 HP, le son reste quand même assez "boite de conserve" surtout au niveau des basses. Mais un fois l'instrument relié à l'enceinte Viscount V3.12A (idéale pour amplifier les orgues classiques, dommage qu'on ne la trouve plus que difficilement), et après avoir trouvé les bons réglages, on se croirait dans une cathédrale. Notamment, le tutti est impressionnant de puissance et de clarté. Dommage peut-être qu'on ait perdu le style "Baroque nord européen" des anciennes versions, mais on doit pouvoir le recréer avec les infinis réglages d'harmonisation que permet la technologie Physis+.
Le Cantorum Duo Plus est certes portable, mais je trouve que son poids de 20 kg et ses dimensions ne le destinent pas à des déplacements fréquents (pour ceux-ci je garde mon Cantorum VI+).
C'est en tout cas un très bon et très bel instrument, plus abordable et plus modulable qu'un orgue "meuble" et qui, correctement amplifié, offre des sensations approchant vraiment celles qu'on peut ressentir aux claviers d'un véritable orgue à tuyaux.