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Nord C2D Pipe Organ - a review for fussy pipe organists

Postby Ohnepiston » 18 Nov 2017, 17:24

My primary interest in the C2D was its seamless integration of a pipe organ with a tonewheel emulator. There are many great Hammond emulators but the pipe organ side of thing is often understandably overlooked due to the comparatively small size of the market. (The Vox and Farfissa emulations seem to suffer the same fate but nobody seems to care that much :lol: ). So what follows is a fussy and fastidious review about the C2D's Pipe Organ, written by a pipe organist for other pipe organists:

While the Nord C2D as a pipe organ will not compete with a custom built console with tracker action keys, expensive multi-channel amps, and an expensive computer running Hauptwerk, the sounds of the stops alone put it on comparable footing to the entry level offerings of studio/practice organs by companies like Allen, Rodgers, Johannes, etc. You'd probably find that you prefer the keyboard action in instruments by these companies. That's fair. Remember that the C2D weighs less than 35 pounds and can be carried under one arm. Even the most sparing Hauptwerk setup will be more difficult to move.

The disposition is thoughtful and sensible. The swell division has a nice principle chorus of a more delicate nature built on the Fugara 8, Principal 4. The swell's Rohrflote 8 is pleasantly bright and together with a Spitz 4 and Flote 2, the flute chorus is delightful. The Vox celeste 8 blends richly with either. The mutations in the Nasat and Scharff provide ample opportunities for adding brilliance. Personally, I would have preferred a Swell division comprised entirely of flutes up to and including a 1-3/5 for more options for constructing cornets but... whatever. The Great has as strong principle chorus, a thin and bright Gamba 8, and a woody Gedackt that has an almost overwhelming low register but a bright and airy upper. The Quinta and Mixtur are nice and strong. The Pedal division is limited to a boomy Subbas 16 which becomes a Fagot 16 when the drawbar is fully extended, and a Gedackt 8. The Reeds, an Oboe 8 on swell or Trumpet 8 on Great, like many produced from speakers, sound silly when played solo. In combination with other stops however they open up nicely. The Gamba 8 and Trumpet go together very nicely for example, the Gamba adding just the right amount of body to an otherwise silly, nasal, trumpet sound.

The couplers enable loads of possibilities, from adding pipes at 16' pitch on the swell or coupling the swell at 16' pitch to the Great (great for French classical music!) to coupling the manuals in various configurations. There's also a handy 4' coupler on the Swell which works as a useful stand-in for various mutation registrations.

Couple of caveats. Depending on the number of stops you have pulled, and the number of keys you depress on the keyboard, you may find that your polyphony is limited. The compounding processing power required to play one note per stop pulled per key depressed eats up CPU like crazy. It's common in many electric organs to begin limiting the individual notes played as the organ gets fuller. That said, unless you're playing massive full organ chords with all ten fingers, toes, and your nose I don't think you'll notice. I haven't noticed. Nord is clear about this on their website without getting into details.

So there it is. It's a great little practice organ! I has precise, unforgiving action (perfect for practice!!). It has a very sensible set of registration possibilities for a variety of styles of pipe organ music, and most importantly, it does all of this with an AMAZINGLY SMALL, easily transportable footprint!! You pull drawbars instead of stop levers. You push buttons instead of pistons. There's no fussing with 3 power switches and the occasional MIDI mishap. As my British friends might say, "I'm absolutely chuffed!"

So, if you've read this all the way to the end, I'm sorry you're such an organ geek :geek:
And many thanks to the other Pipe Organists on here who have made small comments about the C2D's pipe organ from time to time. You were all crucial in helping me find a practice organ.

EDIT: RE: NORD PK27 Pedal Keys 27 Midi Bass Pedals --- (had a few requests and I'm sorry I neglected it originally):

The pedals are obviously front hinged which gives them a different playing "feel" than a traditional rear-hinged pedalboard. Then again, it only weighs 35ish pounds so...? Pedal spacing is approx. 2.5' on center, approx 17.5 for an octave which is par for the course for AGO spec. Obviously it's not a convex or radiating board but as a flat pedal board it's wonderful for practice. My feel are USA size 11 and I find the pedals are long enough to make heel/toe and legato playing on the natural keys possible. If you have massive feet, or if you're accustomed to playing further back from the sharp keys on a traditional pedalboard your experience may differ. If you were only interested in learning to play pipe organ the Nord would be an adequate solution up until a point, after which you'd probably start to feel limited by it. That said, as someone who is predominantly a pipe organist, I find the Nord Pedals to be a VERY convenient solution.

At the very least, the light weight and easy action make them FABULOUS for stomping out bass lines.
Last edited by Ohnepiston on 14 Jan 2018, 16:48, edited 1 time in total.

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Nord C2D Pipe Organ - a review for fussy pipe organists


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Re: Nord C2D Pipe Organ - a review for fussy pipe organists

Postby vanderhill22 » 23 Nov 2017, 19:09

Awesome review! I still feel that the C2 pipe instrument is a diamond in the rough. While imperfect, it does much of what a more expensive instrument can do in a very compact design. I have yet to find anything that has coupling features that the Nord c2 has. And the hammond sk model pipe organs IMHO are much harder to set up to do pipe organ pieces beyond simple registrations, the sounds are good on those as well.

I was really hoping that the new Nord stage3 pipe organs would be a nice compliment to the C2 to expand the stop list but so far I continue to only use the c2 by itself. That being said, using the new stage 3 by itself, between the samples and the new pipe sounds you can get some massive sounding “full” registration organ sounds.

Any other pipe organ players with insight?

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Re: Nord C2D Pipe Organ - a review for fussy pipe organists

Postby Johnpersson » 24 Nov 2017, 15:42

I'm on my way now to buy a C2d second hand for 2400 $. I mainly play classical music but I'm also interested in playing rock and jazz. Do you think it's worth it guys? I'll get the organ + the soft case. I'm about to drive for 8 hours :lol:

And can I use it with my homemade 30 note midi-pedal? Thanks!
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Re: Nord C2D Pipe Organ - a review for fussy pipe organists

Postby vanderhill22 » 24 Nov 2017, 15:51

Absolutely! My C2 (upgraded to C2d sounds) is my favorite board. I also use it with my 32 note pedal board that has midi that I made. I’ve also gigged plenty with the B3 sounds and it always gets compliments for how amazing it sounds.
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Re: Nord C2D Pipe Organ - a review for fussy pipe organists

Postby Johnpersson » 25 Nov 2017, 01:34

:yourock:

Awesome! Thanks :D Do you think 2400 $ is a fair price for the organ + case bought januari 2016? And the seller says it's in perfect condition. I postponed the 8 hour car ride to next week so I could get some time to think :wtf:
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Re: Nord C2D Pipe Organ - a review for fussy pipe organists

Postby Quai34 » 25 Nov 2017, 02:07

I think it's a good price for a C2D. To be fair, when I bought my C2, I was on the verge to buy a C2D but found a C2 like new, in a store, with the Nord gig bag for 1700 CAN$....So, this was an awesome deal but 2400$ is a fair price I think.
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Re: Nord C2D Pipe Organ - a review for fussy pipe organists

Postby vanderhill22 » 25 Nov 2017, 02:23

I also paid 1,700 US for the C2 but it was on eBay and was scratch and dent...2,400 seems fair for a good condition C2D.
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Re: Nord C2D Pipe Organ - a review for fussy pipe organists

Postby Johnpersson » 03 Dec 2017, 15:22

I have now bought me a C2D!! However, the pipe organ i very distorted, both through my headphones and the temporary speakers I'm using. Both the speakers and my headphones aren't the highest quality stuff on the market, but they work VERY well playing music via Spotify and the B3 organ in the Nord. How come only the pipe organ is distorted? Does anyone know?
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Re: Nord C2D Pipe Organ - a review for fussy pipe organists

Postby Mr_-G- » 03 Dec 2017, 17:32

How are you amplifying it?
Speaker model simulation? Does the C2D have a distortion setting? (I am asking because I never used one)
Can you make a short mp3 so others can give an opinion?
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Re: Nord C2D Pipe Organ - a review for fussy pipe organists

Postby Quai34 » 04 Dec 2017, 01:05

vanderhill22 wrote:I also paid 1,700 US for the C2 but it was on eBay and was scratch and dent...2,400 seems fair for a good condition C2D.


Well, I just realized that it was 1700 CAN$ which is around 1300$ USD, Holly S...Plus the Nord Gig bag was with it, included...I was told that they had been having for a very long time...Good for me...
Last edited by Quai34 on 04 Dec 2017, 01:06, edited 2 times in total.
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