Nord Keyboards

[LiveFromKyoto]

Aside from the Nord Lead, I believe any of them can load samples from the Nord library. So you'll get piano sounds with any of them if you want. The difference is that the Nord Piano and Nord Stage 2 can load their larger samples, which will sound more detailed.

Their focuses:

Lead: Synth
Wave: Sample manipulation & synth
Piano: Piano
Electro: Electromechanical keyboards - electric piano, organ.
C2: Organ, with physical combo organ controls
Stage: Like the piano but with the Electro controls and a downsized version of the Wave built in.

You'll also get different keybeds, depending on what the board's focus is. The Piano, Stage & Electro HP have gorgeous weighted keys. The other electros & C2 have waterfall action. The Wave & Lead have synth action. So make sure to check that carefully before deciding.

The Stage is the best all-rounder, but it's expensive. The Electro is the next best in covering a lot of territory. Doesn't do synthesis (well okay, additive organ sounds) but you've already got that covered with the Virus.

[Vintageidiot]

I remember long ago having my friend at my place with his Nord, the most expensive one. The library sounded the same as the Xpand in protools library, virtually the same sounds. Flame me if you like, but I spent hours going through the sounds of both. I would get a Kurzweil which has a sampler to boot.

[uncle duncan]

The Electro 3 has great organ sounds, great piano and electric piano sounds, and a memory bank for samples. There are some cool mellotron samples in the sample library, which resides online. You download the categories you want, audition the samples, and then load the ones you want into the Electro via a usb connection on your PC or Mac. The Electro sample memory is not very big. I got about half way through loading up sounds I wanted for playing live gigs (strings, horns, accordian, a couple of synth patches) and then ran out of memory space. Plus, I couldn't find a solo sax patch, or a disco strings patch (note plus the note an octave above. There is one in the mellotron section, but the attack is too slow.) That said, the organ patches are excellent, as is the onboard leslie simulation.

A drawback for studio use would be absence of a mod wheel or pitch wheel on the Electro 3. There is a button for leslie on/off, and also an optional footswitch for the leslie, but if you want to bend a synth note, or add modulation with the mod wheel, you're SOL.

[lamcheezy]

wow thank you guys so much! definitely helped a lot. I am leaning towards the electro at this point. Even though it doesn't have a bend wheel can I still use the logic bend note feature in the "piano roll" to bend notes? Or is it totally impossible to bend with the electros? I also saw that there is a nord electro 4d which is the same price as the electro 3, just a little smaller. Does anyone know if the features are better to compensate for the smaller keyboard but same price?

Thanks again really appreciate all the help!

Eric

[lamcheezy]

Also if you can download patches on their website, shouldn't the piano sounds etc. all be the same? Just the weighting of the keys is different?

[uncle duncan]

Originally Posted by lamcheezy

Also if you can download patches on their website, shouldn't the piano sounds etc. all be the same? Just the weighting of the keys is different?

Yep. I don't know about the bend feature. You might want to check their user forum.

[tvent]

Originally Posted by lamcheezy

I also saw that there is a nord electro 4d ... Does anyone know if the features are better to compensate for the smaller keyboard but same price?

I actually got to see the 4d in person at Sweetwater's GearFest earlier this year. At that time, according to the rep in the booth, it was the only one in the country. One thing that drew me to it, and that no other Electro has had, was the REAL drawbars.

Looks like there are some other improvements as well:
(USB-Midi, C2D Tonewheel engine, stereo delay, etc)
Nord Keyboards

[lamcheezy]

great!!! thanks guys. I am most likely going to get the 4d then.

[synthoid]

Originally Posted by lamcheezy

Also if you can download patches on their website, shouldn't the piano sounds etc. all be the same? Just the weighting of the keys is different?

I think (but am not sure) that not all models support features like the pedal noise, 3-pedal accessory, sympathetic resonance etc. So while the basic piano samples might sound the same, some details of playback might be different. (I'm not sure, but it's something you might check before buying.)

-synthoid

[zephonic]

Happy NordPiano88 (1st gen) here, and former happy owner of the Nordlead1 and 2.

They are pricy for what they can do, but they are really fun to play.

Far as I know, the full-size piano libs are Stage and NP only.

[Draytone]

"Kingtone" here on the forum has is a Nord nerd. He'd be able to answer most questions, and point out the Nord sounds that he has used on songs that you probably listen to.

[jdsowa]

If you're just using this for home production and not for playing out live, I would just recommend getting Native Instruments Komplete. It's $1500 cheaper and has all the same sounds as the Electro. Plus a lot more.

[LiveFromKyoto]

Originally Posted by lamcheezy

Also if you can download patches on their website, shouldn't the piano sounds etc. all be the same? Just the weighting of the keys is different?

As I mentioned above, there is a category of high end samples, and those can only be loaded on the Nord Piano or Stage. I personally have no problem with the regular ones, though. I highly recommend checking out the Electro 3 HP 73. It has the same god tier keybed the Stage does but at half the cost.

[Bullseye]

Anyone seeking to purchase a Nord keyboard other than the Wave or Lead versions will be doing so for, in large part, the piano section which includes acoustic, electric, clavinet and harpsichord.

The EX has 256 MB of space for the piano section which includes acoustic and electric pianos and clavinets and harpsichords.The newer models such as the Stage 2 have 500 MB of storage in this section so that Extra Large files can be accommodated without losing all the other files which are significantly smaller.

The size of the piano files varies greatly ranging from Extra Large to Small. The differences are the way the string resonances are mapped.

Extra Large have string resonances mapped across the entire keyboard with variable velocity layers.

Large has string resonances mapped across the entire keyboard without the variability in the resonances of the EL file.

Medium size files have string resonances only in the middle register, and

Small files have no string resonances.

All of the files have the same velocity layers.
computer and down loaded as needed. The newer models have a greater capacity

The available samples are of the Yamaha S4, Bosendorfer Imperial, Steinway D and Yamaha C7.

The Bosendorfer Imperial and Yamaha S4 are the only two that can be down loaded in the Extra Large Format as well as the small, medium and large format that all the pianos offer.

In the EX downloading the Extra Large will require dumping a good deal of the other keyboards. I cannot say if it is worth it as I have not tried that set up yet. However I have tried the large and medium sized sampled and this is what I thought.

Personally I find that the digital pianos still sound digital and electronic though mostly in the middle registers which, after all, are the most important. The lower and higher registers are and have always been easier to emulate and have always sounded more "real". The difficulty has always been in the middle registers.


I found all of the Nord pianos to be responsive dynamically and I do find that the string resonances make a huge difference particularly in softer passages and complex voicing. The main drawback is that to me there seems to be some audible compression on the loudest samples that tend to make the samples sound increasingly artificial the louder or "harder" one plays.

I compared this effect with a Yamaha CP33 that I also have. The CP 33 does not change its character so much when played harder however, it also does not have the resonances when played softer that make the Nord sound so much more like a real piano and allows for better blending of the harmonies which facilitates greater voicing creativity.

As for the Nord keyboard I can't say as I have the semi-weighted 76 key version. I can say that playing the Nord sounds with the 88 note "graded hammer" action of the CP33 produces yet another sound from the Nord which emphasizes the compressed type sound. This is probably an effect of midi and so says very little about either keyboard.

Overall, the Nord is one of the best Piano emulations I have played though it is not perfect. Considering the quality of the electric pianos, the organs and the synth which, I have found to be a very capable performance synth makes the Nord Stage, and particularly the Nord Stage 2 with syncable LFO and the ability to load synth samples a great instrument though a bit expensive. By the way, Nords are built like tanks. They seem like they will last a long, long time.

Although the Nord's have some weaknesses as do all samples instruments, as far as pianos, organs, clavinets, electric pianos and basic poly synth performance you can't do much better than a Nord Stage or, if you don't need the synth, then the Electro.

I think the Nords are great. And by the way, the synth section in the stage is very much like the Nord lead in character. I checked them out side by side and the have very similar sound which I find to be very versatile, full and completely usable synth sounds.

[Kingtone]

I would recommend just ponying up and getting the Stage 2 - 88 weighted.
You will NOT regret it.
But if you dont want to spend that money, get the new weighted hammer action Electro3 HP.
You will have all the electro and sample options (minus the larger library as Bullseye has explained) ... and you seem to have some good synth sounds already covered in your Virus.
If you dont want or need the weighted feel... the 4D is amazing.