Nord User Forum

[Rusty Mike]

One thing to be aware of on the SW action is that the keys spring back very quickly. Makes for a rather unnatural feel when playing piano.

I also own both HP and SW actions (Electro 3HP, Stage 2EX 76HP and Electro 4D).

With regard to the thump noise, it is most evident when you are playing alone at low volumes in a quiet space. I have never noticed the sound when playing with other musicians.

One more point - Nord/Fatar has seemingly made some unannounced improvements in the TP100/HP action. I played a demo Electro 5HP, and found the action to be considerably smoother and quieter than what my 3HP originally sounded/felt like. I also find that my new Stage HP action is smoother and less noisy. The Electro 3HP plays great now because I completely disassembled and relubricated the action last year.

[C3 Michael]

Even though I am more of a organist,most songs I play are piano pieces.I like the action on the 61D,especially the velocity touch.A true pianist,which I am not,would probably want the HP.The 61D will do it all.Listen to the YouTube video of Martiano playing it,that's what sold me.

[toddague]

It's always a tradeoff. I had the Nord Electro 2, then upgraded to the Nord Electro 3HP, and now have the Nord Electro 5HP. I agree with what the other posters have said -- a few additional points:

1) The Nord Electro 5HP action is noticeably better than the Electro 3HP action. It's more precise, more solid, more responsive. So - first off -- save up for the 5HP for this and many other reasons (layer/split capability, dual MIDI channel capability, much more sample memory, much improved organ/leslie sim) vs. buying a 3 or 4HP used.
2) When I first upgraded from the Electro2 to the 3HP, I decided I was just going to have to learn how to play that hammered action when calling up organ patches. At that time, there was a trigger point setting in the keyboard that you could set for organ sounds (higher vs. lower). I chose the higher setting and was able to trigger more accurately, but with some false/double triggering every now and then that I trained myself to prevent from happening by modifying my organ technique (especially palm glisses and stacatto hits). I don't think the 5HP has a trigger point setting -- and I haven't seemed to need it. Nord has apparently figured out how to improve the action for both piano and organ without needing additional settings options.
3) Overall, I like the ability to have a weighted action board that I can fit in an SKB ATA 61 key case (that's right - 61 key ATA SKB is the perfect size for the Nord Electro 5HP 73 key board) -- to throw on an airplane and avoid any oversize/overweight baggage fees (here in the U.S., anyway). I believe it's worth it to go the HP route unless you are using the keyboard 65% or more for organ sounds -- in which case you'll probably want the drawbars and the waterfall/semi-weighted action. Again - training yourself to just get better playing organ technique with the HP board will solve a lot of the issues.

[michael_C1]

I agree with the general consensus. Additionally, I found that the number of keys is very important if you're going with the SW action and especially if you play a fair amount of piano. The 73 offers a lot more space (the final frontier) than the 61. Also, splitting a 73 note keyboard is a different animal than trying to do it on a 61.

[midilar]

I've had the NE 1, 3HP and now 5HP. I have a love hate relationship with the HPs. I love the sounds but on both, I've found that fast repeats often don't retrigger. This seems especially noticeable on the keys I play hard (left hand) up through the middle registers. On a hunch, I slomo videod the keys being played and sure enough, the keys that don't play repeats well have several bounces after they are released. The keys that repeat well recover quickly when released, i.e. just one bounce. I hope this makes sense. I really bothers me but I haven't seen anyone else make this type of comment on the HP action.

Larry

[nordfizi]

For me the 5HP feels a little less noisy, smoother and more dampened than the 4HP but the 5HP just feels extremely slow, just a little like those Rhodes-Actions with the felt on the hammers instead of the key pedestals (if anybody here is well versed in Rhodes-Actions)
But on the other side the difference between the HP-actions concerning noise is so big even at the same model (for example 4HP), that this probably is just a comparison between specific models and not really meant in general. I've played many 3HP's and 4HP's, but I haven't played that much 5HP's yet…

[gakkeroni]

I've had the NE 1, 3HP and now 5HP. I have a love hate relationship with the HPs. I love the sounds but on both, I've found that fast repeats often don't retrigger. This seems especially noticeable on the keys I play hard (left hand) up through the middle registers. On a hunch, I slomo videod the keys being played and sure enough, the keys that don't play repeats well have several bounces after they are released. The keys that repeat well recover quickly when released, i.e. just one bounce. I hope this makes sense. I really bothers me but I haven't seen anyone else make this type of comment on the HP action.

Larry

Larry, I also find that keys repeat terribly on the electro 5 hp. Have you found any solution to this? I thought I might have a defective nord because I didnt see many posts about the repeated note problem. Again, Let me know if you have any insight to this problem.

thx, David

[alexmarinojR]

I've had the NE 1, 3HP and now 5HP. I have a love hate relationship with the HPs. I love the sounds but on both, I've found that fast repeats often don't retrigger. This seems especially noticeable on the keys I play hard (left hand) up through the middle registers. On a hunch, I slomo videod the keys being played and sure enough, the keys that don't play repeats well have several bounces after they are released. The keys that repeat well recover quickly when released, i.e. just one bounce. I hope this makes sense. I really bothers me but I haven't seen anyone else make this type of comment on the HP action.

Larry

Larry, I also find that keys repeat terribly on the electro 5 hp. Have you found any solution to this? I thought I might have a defective nord because I didnt see many posts about the repeated note problem. Again, Let me know if you have any insight to this problem.

thx, David

Hi, guys! I also have the problem with my HP 5 electro keybed.. WIth me the problem is not only do I struggle to play a simple solo like come together which uses fast repeated notes , but I also hear a second note activated so it sounds like a double note actually.. It's awful and should be addressed, I'm going to post about in the forum to see how many people have this problem.

[Tasten-Bert]

Same question as in other post.