Nord Keyboards - Is It Just Me Or .....?

[Infa]

Ok, let me first give you some background on me a touch. I own the real deals as far as a 1971 Fender Rhodes Mark I, a Hohner Clavinet D6, a 1967 Wurlitzer 140B, and several Vintage synths, too many to list, but ALL the favorites and popular ones from MiniMoogs, to P5's to OBXa's the list goes on.

As far as actual real grand piano and Hammond B3 Organ(s) I do not own one, BUT have used and recorded with MANY in the past and am around them daily. And FYI I cop'ed all my instruments in mint condition, and keep them that way scaled, calibrated, tuned, etc.. regularly.

So that is my "real deal" background and knowledge/usage, etc... Now I also own all of the above in the best plug in form that I could find through-out the years. From NI to Vienna Instruments to them all.

Basically what the above did is set the tone for you about me. I know what real is, and I know what so far the best "imitating the real" is in my experience SO FAR.

As far as my equipment and usual work, I am all about the studio and recording. I do not purchase for "gig'ing".. When I gig I am mainly vocals, not playing instruments, as I leave that for the "band" I hired to play and bring their own. So my studio purchases are not meant to be gig'ed with. And I am pointing this out because I care not about gear that is "good for gig'ing" but could sound better in reality.

Which brings me to my main point of question.... In my quest, I have been dying to get the absolute best thing (besides the real thing) for Piano, Rhodes Keys, Clavinet and Organ. All in one board to make it easy to fire up and play. I do not/did not expect it to be as good as the real thing, BUT since it is hardware I was/would be expecting it to be better than the absolute best Virtual Instrument Plug In I have come across (for now that is Vienna Instruments FYI). And thats it.

So across the board my colleagues and several threads on here and other music forums ALL suggest and say the Nord Keyboards are bar none THE BEST. I was excited ! I waited for that Stage 2 to come out and be updated, work the bugs out, etc.. I went down to play it, and well....... IS IT JUST ME (lol) or is it really not that great ? I admit the Rhodes Keys were cool, they were EQUAL to the best Rhodes plug in I heard, BUT not better, and even further off from the real thing. The Clavinet was horrible to me. NI Completes Clav sounds way more real. And don't even compare it to the real thing then. Next, the piano was a big let down too. My first thing to do to test any piano is to sit down and hit the highest key several times and the lowest key several times. A GOOD piano has that wood knock in the high registers and, hard to explain, but just sounds honest and real. A GOOD pianos lowest note won't wash out and sound like its under water, it just will be super low bassy like and NOT fall apart but have that overly low cycle separated sound without sounding fake.

Well, the Nords sounded like POOOO ! For real. Absolutely fake IMO. Not even close to the real deal and honestly, way worse than Vienna Instruments Pianos. There was a Roland Piano there that I tested next that was KILLING everything I heard ever except the real deal, and THATS what I expected the Nord to sound like from all the hype everyone gives it. And I played it through the same monitors as what I was playing the Nord through. So all this points to, Why is there all this hype about the Nords ? That don't sound that great.

Then it hit me.... I can see these being the best thing for live performances for sure. They sound the best for what you have instantly at your fingertips out of anything else yes. BUT for studio work, really, they are not all that.

Now, was I doing something wrong ? Am I missing something ? Or is it just the gig'ing musician thing and actually everyone that recommends them does know they are not the best you can do, BUT they are the best for live preforming on stage ?

Can anyone shed some light ? Cause I really still want to find what I am looking for - which is a good medium between the real deal (of those 4 instruments) and the Plug Ins. SO I would love it to be the Nord, and I wanted it to be, but damn, Plug Ins are a better bet than that thing. Oh, and the synth section was not really all that either. Very cheesy sounding IMO. But due to my synth collection, I was not really worried about the synth section, I just wanted the "keys" to live up to their hype.

Thanks for reading -

[mixmixmix]

I agree. Nords sound cold and thin. I think it's because they use physical modeling. Physmod can be very playable but sample based keyboards sound better. I don't think Nord designers have good ears for music. I hope they can make Nord sound warm at some point. peace

[Spectral Climax]

I think that you are exaggerating a bit with your production. I personally know some musicians who made a lot of records with these keyboards and they don't have a problem with Nords. Many of them use Kurzweil and Roland keyboards nowadays though..

[Infa]

Originally Posted by mixmixmix

I agree. Nords sound cold and thin. I think it's because they use physical modeling. Physmod can be very playable but sample based keyboards sound better. I don't think Nord designers have good ears for music. I hope they can make Nord sound warm at some point. peace

Thanks for the chime in and sharing of experience. Dang, I was hoping someone would come in and say something to the effect of "try this with the Nord or Try this model, etc.. and then thats the sound everyone is talking about" -- LOL, but from your feedback, I see the fact is, is, a Nord is at best how I heard it. Oh well..

Originally Posted by Spectral Climax

I think that you are exaggerating a bit with your production. I personally know some musicians who made a lot of records with these keyboards and they don't have a problem with Nords. Many of them use Kurzweil and Roland keyboards nowadays though..

I completely understand and agree with what you are saying. I never said I couldn't make a hit record with it. Music is about the magic and groove more than anything. BUT I do not feel I am exaggerating at all, I simply am saying that I can not believe that the Nord does not sound as good as some high end plug in virtual instruments. Thats all. I was going to buy one, went down there, played it for about 2 hours, and just kept saying, damn, my plug ins are better than this. (I wasn't expecting it to sound better or even equal to the real instruments, BUT at least I wanted it to be outdoing my plug ins)... Please don't get me wrong, cause YES I could make many records with it and sound great. But I've been doing that with my Plug Ins... so point is, is why buy something that takes up more room than my plug ins and costs more when I will not even get a better sound than the plug ins ?

Thats all the point was. And I was hoping to be replacing my plug ins with a real piece of hardware. Cause its not like I am some Plug In fan or something. Mixmixmix called it though, and I did not know this, but Nords use Physical Modeling for their sounds NOT painstaking, elaborate sample based sounds... THIS is why I do not hear that "wood knock" with the piano, and I do not get that weird "key lift" sound on their clavs. Usable ? Yes. Could we make songs with it that would chart ? Yes. BUT - Better than the best plug in you can find ? NO. And thats the issue for me. It aint about whether I can use it in a song and make it believable or not, its about my quest for the best gear I can find, and my only complaint here is the hype for these Nords was just suppose to be that, and they weren't, thats all. If I played live shows a lot, I'd get one for sure.

Looks like for now I will stick to my actual real instruments and plug ins. For the piano though I'm stuck with plug ins for now. But after hearing that Roland, I may go down and just get that just to fill my piano void. At least it is smaller than a real piano, but absolutely KILLS the best sounding plug in I heard.

Either way, I appreciate your guys' info and feedback on this subject.

[Magnus]

Originally Posted by Infa

Ok, let me first give you some background on me a touch. I own the real deals as far as a 1971 Fender Rhodes Mark I, a Hohner Clavinet D6, a 1967 Wurlitzer 140B, and several Vintage synths, too many to list, but ALL the favorites and popular ones from MiniMoogs, to P5's to OBXa's the list goes on.

As far as actual real grand piano and Hammond B3 Organ(s) I do not own one, BUT have used and recorded with MANY in the past and am around them daily. And FYI I cop'ed all my instruments in mint condition, and keep them that way scaled, calibrated, tuned, etc.. regularly.

So that is my "real deal" background and knowledge/usage, etc... Now I also own all of the above in the best plug in form that I could find through-out the years. From NI to Vienna Instruments to them all.

Basically what the above did is set the tone for you about me. I know what real is, and I know what so far the best "imitating the real" is in my experience SO FAR.

As far as my equipment and usual work, I am all about the studio and recording. I do not purchase for "gig'ing".. When I gig I am mainly vocals, not playing instruments, as I leave that for the "band" I hired to play and bring their own. So my studio purchases are not meant to be gig'ed with. And I am pointing this out because I care not about gear that is "good for gig'ing" but could sound better in reality.

Which brings me to my main point of question.... In my quest, I have been dying to get the absolute best thing (besides the real thing) for Piano, Rhodes Keys, Clavinet and Organ. All in one board to make it easy to fire up and play. I do not/did not expect it to be as good as the real thing, BUT since it is hardware I was/would be expecting it to be better than the absolute best Virtual Instrument Plug In I have come across (for now that is Vienna Instruments FYI). And thats it.

So across the board my colleagues and several threads on here and other music forums ALL suggest and say the Nord Keyboards are bar none THE BEST. I was excited ! I waited for that Stage 2 to come out and be updated, work the bugs out, etc.. I went down to play it, and well....... IS IT JUST ME (lol) or is it really not that great ? I admit the Rhodes Keys were cool, they were EQUAL to the best Rhodes plug in I heard, BUT not better, and even further off from the real thing. The Clavinet was horrible to me. NI Completes Clav sounds way more real. And don't even compare it to the real thing then. Next, the piano was a big let down too. My first thing to do to test any piano is to sit down and hit the highest key several times and the lowest key several times. A GOOD piano has that wood knock in the high registers and, hard to explain, but just sounds honest and real. A GOOD pianos lowest note won't wash out and sound like its under water, it just will be super low bassy like and NOT fall apart but have that overly low cycle separated sound without sounding fake.

Well, the Nords sounded like POOOO ! For real. Absolutely fake IMO. Not even close to the real deal and honestly, way worse than Vienna Instruments Pianos. There was a Roland Piano there that I tested next that was KILLING everything I heard ever except the real deal, and THATS what I expected the Nord to sound like from all the hype everyone gives it. And I played it through the same monitors as what I was playing the Nord through. So all this points to, Why is there all this hype about the Nords ? That don't sound that great.

Then it hit me.... I can see these being the best thing for live performances for sure. They sound the best for what you have instantly at your fingertips out of anything else yes. BUT for studio work, really, they are not all that.

Now, was I doing something wrong ? Am I missing something ? Or is it just the gig'ing musician thing and actually everyone that recommends them does know they are not the best you can do, BUT they are the best for live preforming on stage ?

Can anyone shed some light ? Cause I really still want to find what I am looking for - which is a good medium between the real deal (of those 4 instruments) and the Plug Ins. SO I would love it to be the Nord, and I wanted it to be, but damn, Plug Ins are a better bet than that thing. Oh, and the synth section was not really all that either. Very cheesy sounding IMO. But due to my synth collection, I was not really worried about the synth section, I just wanted the "keys" to live up to their hype.

Thanks for reading -

I always loved the way Nord keyboards looked, but hated the way they sound.

[RRCHON]

In the debate between analog instruments - those actually made of vibrating pieces strings and wood and electronic machinery trying to emulate them I do not think you will ever find anything that is going to be enough to make up for the limitations of emulations.

By your own critiques you've acknowledged that you prefer the sound of samplers to the sound of created by synthesis for the particular instruments you want to emulate (VSL) so I do not really know where this going.

The Nord is a tool and like or leave it Clavia is just putting something out there (though I can understand how one can be a little let down when one has certain expectations of something and those expectations are met as well as hoped for) don't be mad at an inanimate object that isn't what you were looking for. Just find what is, from reading your post, I think you probably would best served by a a workstation that has some good rompler patches and TBH there are some great keyboards out there at the price range that can deliver what you seem to be looking for.

[shadowfac]

Keep in mind that something like a Nord Electro 3 has 256 Mb of sample memory for all its sounds, while most of the latest plugins use multiple gigabytes for each instrument. Therefore, the Nord must rely more on modeling and effects to obtain the desired sound.

Clearly, your assumption that the Nord must sound better because it's hardware is ill founded. Also, I have to say that you're quite biased. Most people don't have as much experience with the real deal as you do, which is why the Nords do the job in most cases.

Personally, I'm a Nord synth fan. I own a G2 (previously a micromodular) and a Lead 3, and also have a Nord Rack 2X at work. I've always wanted a Nord Electro because I love EP's and the demos sound good to me, and I might just buy it for xmas, but I'm not looking for perfect emulations.

[seen-da-sizer]

Originally Posted by shadowfac

Personally, I'm a Nord synth fan. I own a G2 (previously a micromodular) and a Lead 3, and also have a Nord Rack 2X at work. I've always wanted a Nord Electro because I love EP's and the demos sound good to me, and I might just buy it for xmas, but I'm not looking for perfect emulations.

Me too. I love my G2 and used to own an original Nord Lead and Modular. They never sounded cold, or thin to my ears. But I also never tried to emulate other instruments either...

[gen6k]

Well since you are going for "real" instrument sounds definetly don't go for something like that, of course sampler plug-ins will sound better if they are coming from either a more high end synth or the real instrument.

[ray_subsonic]

Originally Posted by mixmixmix

Nords sound cold and thin .. physical modeling ..

No .. It's NOT you .. It's True .. Most of the Nords, the KorgMS2000, Yamaha An6, etc .. All have a certain, similar Sonic quality coming out of the converters .. It's actually a HUGE Difference in My World .. But still, Great Keyboard for Gigging ..

A good DI (Radial or Countryman) and running the signal into an amp and micing it definitely yields an improvement .. But granted, an original D6 Clav or a good Rhodes beats it every time .. Thanks for taking the time to outline your position properly .. vary rare around here, where most people just blast into a premise and expect you to read their mind or understand what they're hearing ..

[teamsterjim]

OP needs to see some Solaris demos from this year.
It has many great digital flavors, Sample Oscillators, and it's analog emulations are incredibly accurate.
Here's just a few little quickies I threw together, but I am now getting the Sample Library together for it, and already it's getting quite thick.
But Solaris strengths are live performance, so if you;re an indoor guy it's still a great sounding synth, but the 6 x LCD's, Joystick, AT, knobs buttons and Dual Ribbons amke it a pleasure live.

SOLARIS LEAD BASS COMP by JimmyVee on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

[bloodsample]

Originally Posted by Infa

Or is it just the gig'ing musician thing and actually everyone that recommends them does know they are not the best you can do, BUT they are the best for live preforming on stage ?

I think this is it. IMO these keyboards are made to give you the best sound in a portable keyboard. When playing in a band on stage the audience won't notice that the lowest piano note doesn't ring like a real grand.

I never liked the nord pianos, but their rhodes/wurly/b3 sound pretty good to me. I should note that I've only played the electros, not the stages, so maybe the pianos have improved. Clavia also has a bunch of downloadable pianos from their website so maybe give those a try?

Also, like others have mentioned, it's hard to compare a modeled rhodes to a sampled one. Again I think this comes down to it being a gigging board primarily. Nobody wants to wait 10 minutes for a 40GB sample library to load on stage.

I think for studio your best bet is software (if what you're looking for is realism). ROMplers and other keyboards use very little memory (compared to PCs) and therefore much smaller samples so that they remain less expensive and quicker to load (at least this is my guess). Normally I find these actually sound better than most multi-gigabyte software libraries, probably because the samples in the keyboard are engineered to give you the best perceived sound as opposed to wasting valuable memory on subtle things you won't notice live (like pedal release noise, neighbouring string vibrations, high key resonance, 20 velocity levels, etc).

Any reason you're looking for a keyboard in your studio? If it's just for a quick power up to get ideas down then check out the Kronos. I've never played one myself but I heard really good things about their pianos and rhodes. Less expensive than the nord stages too I believe.

[ray_subsonic]

Originally Posted by bloodsample

When playing in a band on stage the audience won't notice that the lowest piano note doesn't ring like a real grand.

Yes they Will ..

[bloodsample]

Originally Posted by ray_subsonic

Yes they Will ..

Maybe if you're playing solo piano yes. But in a band context I'd be surprised.

[ray_subsonic]

Originally Posted by teamsterjim

OP needs to see some Solaris demos from this

Agreed .. +1

[ray_subsonic]

Originally Posted by bloodsample

Maybe if you're playing solo piano yes. But in a band context I'd be surprised.

A Good Call .. But it's Still Hard TO MIX .. It doesn't sit as well in A MIX .. I'm coming from the perspective of being at FOH ..

[Mad Man Micron]

I owned a Nord Stage for a while and even though I have plenty of experience playing the original vintage instruments, I wasn't bothered whether the Nord sounded like them or not ...but I did expect it to sound "good" in it's own way and to me it just didn't.

I have to agree with comments about Nord sounding hard and thin. I thought the Wurlitzer, Cp-80 and clav were particularly bad and also rather dull. The basic Rhodes MK1 sound did actually sound very close to my real Rhodes, but when I record a real Rhodes I will often eq the sound boosing the treble to bring out the detail and that wonderful sparkle. When I put the Nord through the same eq it sounded horrible, the detail wasn't there so it was very difficult to work with ...and that's not why I bought it.

I thought the Yamaha C7 acoustic piano sounds were useable for my purposes and the organ section was overall better than the pianos. The leslie was good. The synth section was terrible, and confusing to use despite being offering very few features. You could get a few decent pad sounds using the unison detune, but no chance of any bass or lead sounds i'd want to use.

Mixed views on the effects: the ringmod, tape delay, reverb and compression were quite good, but I would not want to use the chorus, phaser and amp sim which I thought were pretty awful.

I know its a matter of personal preference but I also couldn't get used to the action on the Nord and so would play via MIDI from a Yamaha synth. I had a brief play on a Nord Stage 2 and the action seemed much better (shame the sounds weren't).

I was never expecting the Nord to compete with multi-gigabyte plugins but theres no reason why the sound quality shouldn't be good. My Kurzweil K1200 from 1989 doesn't have the most realistic sounds by todays standards but it does have phenomial sound quality and I'd still rather use that in my recordings than many of todays keyboards.

Recent Roland gear also doesn't seem to sound as good as say the JD-800/990 era which was 20 years ago! Why is that? Is it due to data compression or cheap convertors? Is sound quality no longer a priority with so much music being listed to as MP3?

I'm going to check out the Hammond SK-1 to replace my Nord. Some people are complaing about the piano sounds but I haven't seen any demos to put me off yet, so will test one out. Compares closer to the Electro than the Nord Stage but is bi-timbral so could fill my needs for piano and organ type sounds just fine.

[bloodsample]

Originally Posted by ray_subsonic

A Good Call .. But it's Still Hard TO MIX .. It doesn't sit as well in A MIX .. I'm coming from the perspective of being at FOH ..

Good point, I was speaking mainly as a musician. I find the less realistic, bright, mono, compressed pianos cut through a band much better than the dirty warm "realistic" ones. Of course it all depends on the band, the genre of music and the arrangement of a particular song, but in general I find what doesn't work for solo pianos sometimes works in a band (and vice versa).

Going back to the OT, I wouldn't use the nord pianos as a benchmark. I was always unimpressed and uninspired when playing them. Clavia still needs to up their game in this department IMO. This is the main reason I haven't gotten an electro or stage yet.

[goldphinga]

Nord pianos and Rhodes are sampled not physical modelled. to me they are the closest to the real thing in the studio and live. Couldn't be happier with my stage 2

[Yoozer]

Originally Posted by Infa

BUT since it is hardware I was/would be expecting it to be better than the absolute best Virtual Instrument Plug In I have come across

There's no reason for that to be true. Often the interface alone - the fact that you can't be fooled that you're playing something physical - can warp your perceptions.

Why is there all this hype about the Nords?

Because unlike workstations that try to cram several megabytes of jack-of-all-trades samples in memory you get room dedicated to a few instruments only. That means that the samples have more room for nuance than anything else.

They were first to offer something light-weight with a good interface. Doesn't matter if a workstation is not that more expensive; it's bigger and won't have the drawbars, just 4 generi-knobs. A dedicated clonewheel will not have the EPs and pianos. Interface matters and you can coast quite some time on being the first to do something right.

That don't sound that great.

I've personally thought that Nord gets it right with dry sounds.

All other Rhodes sounds on various stage pianos and workstations sound like "album" Rhodes sounds - already processed, smoothed, and wet with FX from phaser to chorus. It's like the reference for the sound designers was not an actual MK1 but the particular sound of Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder - after it went through a bunch of stompboxes.

Originally Posted by mixmixmix

I agree. Nords sound cold and thin. I think it's because they use physical modeling.

As said, samples for the piano sounds, physical modeling for the B3. On the other hand, virtually every other clonewheel out there uses physical modeling because it's the only sensible way to get the parts to interact.

Physmod can be very playable but sample based keyboards sound better.

Go play a Roland V-Piano.

Originally Posted by Infa

But after hearing that Roland, I may go down and just get that just to fill my piano void. At least it is smaller than a real piano, but absolutely KILLS the best sounding plug in I heard.

If you're not happy with the EPs, give the Yamaha CP-1 or CP-5 a whirl. It combines sampling with physical modeling. Also, try the EPs on the Korg Kronos.

With the D6 the difference was immediately noticeable - the vibration of the strings. Completely changes the way you listen to a clav - they're not that common so more people should perhaps give that a try.

[golden beers]

dare i say it? try the roland jupiter80

[famousbass]

Nords.
Nord is the new Novation.
Hypefest.
Crap on a stick.
The guys who own them apologise to me because I'm the bassist with a Rhodes, Wurly and Moog in his studio and they call themselves "Pro" because they own a Nord, and usually some other cheap crap with it.
So many Nord owners end up owning a Kurtzweil, makes me laugh.
I've looked at the Nord a few times, too many models, not enough depth. You need all their buttons to make the thin sound fatter and distorted and filtered. But put anything through those effects and you're right back to where cheap synths sell because of reverb and chorus.
Now, if Nord just sold their effects board we might have something we can use on our other cheap assed synths no one will buy 2nd hand from us...

[sftd]

Originally Posted by famousbass

Nords.
Nord is the new Novation.
Hypefest.
Crap on a stick.
The guys who own them apologise to me because I'm the bassist with a Rhodes, Wurly and Moog in his studio and they call themselves "Pro" because they own a Nord, and usually some other cheap crap with it.
So many Nord owners end up owning a Kurtzweil, makes me laugh.
I've looked at the Nord a few times, too many models, not enough depth. You need all their buttons to make the thin sound fatter and distorted and filtered. But put anything through those effects and you're right back to where cheap synths sell because of reverb and chorus.
Now, if Nord just sold their effects board we might have something we can use on our other cheap assed synths no one will buy 2nd hand from us...

Which Nord comes on a stick?

Did you mean like a pitch stick? Cause I would think in that case it would be a stick on a keyboard and not a keyboard on a stick.

Sent from my PC36100 using Gearslutz.com App

[famousbass]

Originally Posted by sftd

Which Nord comes on a stick?

Did you mean like a pitch stick? Cause I would think in that case it would be a stick on a keyboard and not a keyboard on a stick.

Sent from my PC36100 using Gearslutz.com App

Ya got me there...!
No, I mean the stick you use to mix the mud to make the fence so the sheep won't go wondering next door.
Cheers

[bloodsample]

The nords were designed for the gigging/traveling musician. Sure a real rhodes, real wurly, real B3, real D7, real grand, real mellotron, etc, sound better than the individual patches on the nords, but you'd need a couple of trucks and a team of roadies to lug that around, not to mention maintenance and tuning. Not everyone has that luxury.

[CfNorENa]

Originally Posted by golden beers

dare i say it? try the roland jupiter80

[verve92]

I was futzing around with some Nords as my local store just became a dealer one of very few in the area.
I wanted to hear the hype also.
I am of the opinion that no digital board has EVER (not never) emulated a real high end acoustic piano, just like no VA has EVER (not never) emulated a real analog synth. There is just an X factor in both. A different relationship. Difficult to verbalize. Sublime.
Having said that the synth sounds were impressive. Not enough to justify the price as they are way overpriced. Most people will not be able to tell the difference in some studio productions, but live, I'm with subsonic. The is a tangible difference in both examples.
Owning a Nord for me is wet dream besides.

[Yoozer]

Well, synths have the advantage that they don't have a resonant body. There's a voltage coming out of 'm. They don't make sounds by themselves.

With a piano, you're dealing with the fact that a set of speakers has a fundamentally different response to a sounding board - it moves the air in a different way. By the time you're done faking every little detail you might as well build a standard acoustic; it's going to be cheaper.

[Infa]

Wow, thanks for all the feedback guys -- very helpful. I can see my assumptions were spot on. Unfortunately. As there seems to be about 2-3 people that Like the Nord sounds, the majority seems to hear what I hear. Again, this was not a pissing on Nord thing for me, as I can see and hear them sounding good enough on stage live. Nor was I expecting them to sound as good as the real things either. I was not biased towards that at all. I was just expecting it to sound better than plug ins (other emulators of the same instruments, and IMO a fair comparison). Now it does sound better than some crappy plug ins, but not as good as some dedicated high end plugs. And that was the heart breaking part. Thats all. I was not expecting the impossible, just what I know is possible. Add that to the fact that Plug Ins take up no space and cost less than the Nord.... come on, to expect more of something that takes up real-estate in a room is not asking too much.

There also seems to be some debate of whether of not Nord is Physical Modeled or samples... But either way, the bottom line is I have found/heard OTHER real instrument emulators sound a lot better than Nord, and thats the issue. If Nord is sample based, then my god, they are doing a bad job - lol.

There was so much said from you guys that deserves response, that I will quote and respond to them in my following posts as to keep the subject matter streamlined.

Again, thanks to all for sharing your thoughts on Nord keyboards.

[Infa]

Originally Posted by RRCHON

In the debate between analog instruments - those actually made of vibrating pieces strings and wood and electronic machinery trying to emulate them I do not think you will ever find anything that is going to be enough to make up for the limitations of emulations.

But I was not expecting or asking it to equal to or sound like the "real things". I was expecting it to hopefully out-do, if not just at least be equal to the best Plug In emulation of "said" instrument. Thats all. For all the hype it had, thats what I was expecting.

Originally Posted by RRCHON

By your own critiques you've acknowledged that you prefer the sound of samplers to the sound of created by synthesis for the particular instruments you want to emulate (VSL) so I do not really know where this going.

Well, honestly I was unaware that these two had such large sounding differences between them until this thread was started. I knew about and understood the two, but figured a genius team on either platform/protocol could equal similar results. Then once mixmixmix brought that up, I thought, yea, maybe that is the issue. Frankly I care not about what or how a machine is doing what it does, but I care about the final sound. Thats all. So I do not take sides between Physmod vs Sample Based.

Originally Posted by RRCHON

The Nord is a tool and like or leave it Clavia is just putting something out there (though I can understand how one can be a little let down when one has certain expectations of something and those expectations are met as well as hoped for) don't be mad at an inanimate object that isn't what you were looking for. Just find what is, from reading your post, I think you probably would best served by a a workstation that has some good rompler patches and TBH there are some great keyboards out there at the price range that can deliver what you seem to be looking for.

Yea, thats the basis of it. I was just let down from the expectations I had. And they were not made up out of thin air or unrealistic. They were not even made or based on anything until I got and read sooooo many great reviews on them. Ha ha ! I am not "mad" at the Nord, or Nord themselves. Honestly I don't get "mad" at anything too often. Its wasted energy. I'm just let down, and now in search again.

Upon your suggestion, do you have any advice on which keyboard would be best for me ? Basically looking for these instruments - Piano, Rhodes, Wurli, Clav.