neo-instruments micro Vent 16

The micro Vent 16 is a rotary speaker simulator pedal from Neo Instruments, the German maker behind the Ventilator. Where the company's other pedals model a full Leslie 122 organ speaker, the micro Vent 16 offers a newly designed simulation of a Vibratone guitar Leslie: the classic guitar leslie with a 10 inch speaker feeding a single drum rotor¹. It sits on a page of speaker simulation pedals alongside rotary units like the Strymon Lex and the Boss RT-20 Rotary Ensemble.

What it does

The pedal runs its simulation on a 32 Bit SHARC DSP, the same processing platform Neo Instruments uses across the micro Vent range¹. The algorithm simulates capturing the Vibratone with one microphone, and the distance from the cabinet is variable, so the player can set how close the simulated mic sits to the spinning drum¹.

That single-mic, single-drum approach is what separates the 16 from its sibling, the micro Vent 122. The 122 simulates a Leslie 122, deriving its algorithm from the Ventilator II, and models the classic micing technique with one mic for the horn and one mic for the drum rotor, with a variable mic distance via its DISTANCE pot¹. The Vibratone has no horn, only the drum, so the 16's simulation is built around one mic instead.

How it compares to the micro Vent 122

Neo Instruments describes the difference in character directly: compared to the micro Vent 122, the micro Vent 16 sounds less complex and dominant. The maker positions it as perfect for rhythm work and for giving lead tones the final touch¹. In practice that makes the 16 the choice for players who want the swirl and motion of a rotating speaker behind their sound rather than a full organ-style Leslie presentation in front of it.

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