[2] The Korg CX-3 gave a convincing enough emulation of a tonewheel Hammond's sound to be used in professional live performances, particularly when played through a real Leslie speaker.

The instrument struggled to compete with digital synthesizers in the 1980s, particularly with the popular Yamaha DX7, and CX-3 sales fell.

[1] By the end of the 1990s, instruments were being sold second-hand for a similar amount as spinet Hammond organs such as the L100 or M100.

[2] A digital remake of the Korg CX-3 was launched in 2001,[2] has two sets of drawbars, a waterfall keyboard, expression and overdrive controls, and a built-in reverb unit and Leslie simulator.

The upper and the lower parts of the split keyboard each have an individual RX and two TX channels.

A feature not found on the 1979 CX-3 or on the vintage Hammond B-3 is the 2001 CX-3's EX mode, which enables the user to produce new and even unusual synthesized sounds using the tonewheel synthesis engine.

The CX-3 does not have an 11-pin Leslie speaker jack, a feature found on vintage Hammond B-3's and on earlier clonewheel organs.

It has two keyboards stacked on top of each other in a staircase fashion, each with its own set of drawbars, enabling performers to have different sounds for the upper and lower manual.

Sound on Sound reviewer Gordon Reid called the Korg BX-3 the "best Hammond C3/B3/A100 emulation I've heard" and he praised its "excellent editing system with a large, friendly screen", "first-class on-board treatments and effects", the 'EX' mode, which adds four drawbars to the vintage Hammond approach, its "excellent MIDI CC capabilities" and its playability and "gorgeous" appearance; at the same time, Reid criticized its bi-timbral set-up, which does not allow performers to "play two manuals plus [ pedal keyboard ] pedals", there is no vintage-style 11 pin Leslie output and it is expensive.