This is the right place if your topic concerns different Nord Keyboards, you are not sure which one is the right one for you, etc.

Nord sounds + Nord keys

Postby fantom » 04 Dec 2016, 22:20

Hi everyone,

I am interested in buying Nord keyboard, but can not decide between Nord Piano 3 and Nord Stage 2EX. I am kind of new here so I need your help in understanding everything before making final decision. Here are some comments and questions I would like to discuss, so I will appreciate everyones opinion:

    1. I really care about quality of keys and after I tried both keyboards - my general impression is that Nord Piano 3 has much better keys compared to Nord Stage 2EX. On the other hand, I am a little disappointed about Nord keys generally - for example, Roland RD800 has much better keys comparing to Nord Piano 3 and I don't understand why? I really like NORD design and sounds and the idea of transferring sounds with very user-friendly application to your keyboard, but somehow I really got an impression that the most important part when we are talking about stage pianos is somehow left out.

    2. Do you know how often NORD releases new keyboards? I heard some rumours that the next Stage model will have the same keys as Nord Piano 3 model, do you know anything about that? That could be really good solutions for those who need better keys comparing to the ones that current model has.

    3. What is the general difference between Nord Piano 3 and Nord Stage 2EX, since both keyboards can use the same library sounds?


    4. Is there possibility to use NORD library sounds with other keyboards? Can they be used as a virtual instrument, for example with Kontakt plugin?

Thank you in advance for your answers.
Last edited by fantom on 04 Dec 2016, 22:22, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Nord sounds + Nord keys

Postby AlexVA » 04 Dec 2016, 23:22

Hi there -- I feel like I can help you answer some of these questions. I recently bought a Piano 3, and a close friend bought a Stage 2 EX (we actually bought them together to get a nice discount!). You have to consider what your needs are, and how much you're willing to spend (the stage 2 EX is $1500 more than the piano at retail). Perhaps the most useful way to think of the two is like this:

Nord Piano 3: Only a piano instrument (acoustic pianos, electric pianos, with the ability to play other samples from the nord library)
Nord Stage 2 EX: Everything the Piano 3 does + an organ modeler + a synthesizer

As far as question #4 goes -- no, the Nord samples work on Nord instruments. It might be possible somehow, but it certainly is not by default unless I'm mistaken.

The Stage 2 EX is really three instruments in one - a piano, an organ, and a synthesizer. Each one of these features is called a "module." The piano 3 does not have the organ, or synth modules, but it does have the same piano module, meaning the piano sounds are the same on both keyboards, and they have the same flexibility and amount of memory when it comes to loading different piano samples.

The advantage to the Piano 3 is that it has a better keyboard action, and the keys have three sensors within them to pickup nuanced playing instead of the two per key of the Stage. There are other pianos that in my opinion have more authentic feelings keys/actions, like the Roland you mentioned. I'm very disappointed that Nord did not use the ivory keys like they announced at NAMM. The selling point of Nord keyboards is really the sound, not the action-- they aren't perfect, but I've played a lot of different keyboards and large sampled piano libraries and none of them seem as "alive" or as genuinely "acoustic feeling" as the Nords do.

As for when Nord will come out with new pianos, I'm not quite sure. The Piano line seems to be every 4 years or so, so I'm guessing we won't see a Piano 4 for at least 2-3 years. Since the upgrade from Stage 2 to Stage 2 EX wasn't that substantial, we'll more than likely see a Stage 3 before a Piano 4, but as to when that will be is anyone's guess. I doubt it's within the next year though.
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Re: Nord sounds + Nord keys

Postby Berretje » 05 Dec 2016, 21:13

Question 4: no.. otherwise they won't sell any Nord Keyboards anymore because the samples are for free on the website
Last edited by Berretje on 05 Dec 2016, 21:13, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Nord sounds + Nord keys

Postby fantom » 05 Dec 2016, 21:39

Thank you very much for your answers. I thought that you can somehow buy NORD sound library, but it makes sense that they don't want you to have that option.
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Re: Nord sounds + Nord keys

Postby Nymitch1 » 07 Dec 2016, 04:24

Winter NAMM is coming up. I wonder if we will see a new Nord Stage there?
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Re: Nord sounds + Nord keys

Postby themixtape » 20 Dec 2016, 19:17

fantom wrote:Thank you very much for your answers. I thought that you can somehow buy NORD sound library, but it makes sense that they don't want you to have that option.


You can, in a way. If you use Kontakt or whatever. I recently discovered that small company Sampletekk has provided nearly all of Nord's pianos (grand, upright, etc).

It is publicly known at least from Sampletekk, from other forums, that these libraries are identical:

Nord's Studio Grand 1 - Sampletekk's "TBO"
Nord's Concert Grand Close - Sampletekk's "Black Grand Close"
Nord's Concert Grand Ambient - Sampletekk's "Black Grand Ambient"
Nord's Rain Piano - Sampletekk's "Rain Piano"

I'm not sure about the uprights, so much (besides the Rain Piano, which is lovely)... but definitely, I think there are more uprights in Sampletekk's library that have been used inside the Nords.

However, Nord also licenses exclusive libraries from Sampletekk, that aren't available for Kontakt... and if there are other pianos, Sampletekk isn't open about them.

Also, the libraries for Kontakt have more samples, and are much bigger files than the Nord downloads. I don't know how Nord keeps them so lightweight/small... but, you get a little more realism with the Sampletekk stuff.

They have a sale (50% off) til after the New Year.... definitely check it out! http://www.sampletekk.com
Last edited by themixtape on 20 Dec 2016, 19:18, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Nord sounds + Nord keys

Postby Joepno » 22 Dec 2016, 00:19

Can sampletekk samples be used on the ios platform?

What kind of sample players do I need? Their homepage is not very enlightning, I must say...
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