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Nord Piano vs. Nord Electro 3 HP

Postby stian » 19 Jul 2011, 13:01

I'd appreciate some input regarding important differences between the Nord Piano and the new Nord Electro 3 73 HP. I'm not sure which one of these to choose, and the reason why I post to this forum is because I'd like to know what I will actually miss if going for the Nord Electro 3 HP from a Nord Piano player's perspective. I'm most of the time a piano player but I like playing electric piano as well. Haven't got much experience playing the organs though.

I already have a Roland RD-700 and one of the reasons I want a new instrument is because of portability issues. On that matter the electro is great, but am afraid it will cost too much compromise on the keys, amount of memory etc.
Is there a big difference between the keys (action, dynamics etc.) between these two instruments?
Suppose you are playing one of the upright piano samples on these two instruments, what are the important differences you are noticing while playing?
Why would a piano player choose the Nord Electro 3 HP or the Nord Piano?

Clavia's webpages has a comparison chart between the Nord Electro 3 and the Nord Electro 3 HP. I'd like a comparison chart between the Nord Piano and the Nord Electro 3 HP.

Thankyou.


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Nord Piano vs. Nord Electro 3 HP


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Re: Nord Piano vs. Nord Electro 3 HP

Postby Cbas » 19 Jul 2011, 13:20

Hello Stian and welcome to the forum :)

I haven't actually played neither the Nord Piano or the Nord Electro 3 HP, so I can't comment much on the action/feel. Hopefully someone els will do that.

The most important differences should be:

Nord Piano
500 mb memory for Piano samples from the Nord Piano Library
NO Organ section
Can NOT use samples from the Nord Sample Library
Has String resonance gen.2 and pedal noise, but no long release feature.
Is monotibral (can only play one sound at a time)
No delay effect
Has better keybed suited for pianos
88 keys
Weighs 18 kg

Nord Electro 3 HP
185 mb memory for Piano samples from the Nord Piano Library
Has Organ section from Nord C1(gen.2)
68 mb for samples from the Nord Sample Library
Has String resonance gen.1 and long release feature, but no pedal noise
Is monotibral (can only play one sound at a time)
Has Delay effect
Has lighter keybed (maybe better suited for E.piano not sure)
Has 73 keys E-E
Weighs 11 kg

So basicly I would say it comes down to this:
Do you want a 88-key board that is more suited for piano and has alot more memory for better and more piano/E.piano sounds?
Or do you want a lighter 73-key board with less memory for piano/E.piano sounds, but has an organ section and can play samples from the Nord Sample Library?

Still, if possible, I would recommend you try both out to test the feel before you buy one.

Hope this helps a bit.
As I said I haven't tried neither of them, so another person will have to comment on the feel of the keys.

Please say if you have more questions.
Best regards Cbas
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Re: Nord Piano vs. Nord Electro 3 HP

Postby stian » 19 Jul 2011, 20:53

Thankyou Cbas for your comments.

Offcourse I should try both of the keybeds myself and compare when possible.
It seems for me like the NP has a more favourable set of features for a piano player even though the electro's keybed supposedly is quite satisfying.
I wonder if I'm the only one considering the electro even though I don't usually play the organs :-)

Will the 185 mb limit on memory on the electro be a real problem when choosing pianos from the library or is just about reducing the selection a bit?
Will any of the samples from the piano collection be impossible to use due to lack of memory?

For me the big benefit with the electro is the features in combination with its size and weight - the package is after all quite impressive.

Thankyou.
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Re: Nord Piano vs. Nord Electro 3 HP

Postby maurus » 19 Jul 2011, 21:26

Hi stian,

I'm a bit in a similar situation, with a focus on pianos, and decided for the NE 3 HP - despite some shortcomings for piano playing. The touch is quite light, and a the keys are a little noisy (and they developed more noise after playing for some weeks). I'm still in the wait and see mode concerning this, but depending on your uses this may not be a problem (e.g. in not so silent settings...). The RAM is limited, and actually you can't download any of the 180MB+ XL piano samples into the 180MB piano RAM of the NE 3 HP. But this does not really bother me as the 'large' samples are quite good (I usually use one large and one medium sized grand piano, the rest goes to EP's and perhaps a harpsichord). If you work a lot with pedals in silent settings where the pedaling noises count, that's another thing the NE misses.

The Nord Piano has a better keybed (but still not the best available, I also own a Yamaha p155 and wish the Nord had keys at least as good as Yamaha's GH action...) and of course a substantially larger RAM, and it supports full pedaling features. So as a piano, it sure is better. On the other hand, the NE is immensely versatile, with sounds from the Nord sample library (which you can't use on the Nord Piano, you could on the Nord Stage though), and of course an excellent organ section. And on top of it, 11kg and 73 keys means PORTABILITY pure. For me, the latter was decisive, and the versatility is a very welcome bonus. I don't regret the decision a moment (but see the beginning above, if the key noises continue to increase I may test Clavia's guarantee service).
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Re: Nord Piano vs. Nord Electro 3 HP

Postby Cbas » 20 Jul 2011, 07:45

stian wrote:Will the 185 mb limit on memory on the electro be a real problem when choosing pianos from the library or is just about reducing the selection a bit?
Will any of the samples from the piano collection be impossible to use due to lack of memory?

It's hard to say. You will not be able to load the XL piano samples. They are around 195 mb. And Clavia might make even bigger samples in the future, so it could be a problem down the road if you want to play some of the newer samples. But that's speculation.
Right now I feel that the XL samples are great, but the large samples are close enough that the XL samples are not a huge deal to miss out on.

It's hard to advice you. It really all comes down to what you prefer yourself. The Nord Piano will have better keybed and alow you to load more piano sounds and be able to load the Xl samples. The NE3HP will be more portable and have an organ section and samples from the Nord Sample Library.
So both keyboards are great in their own way. It depends on what you prefer.
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Re: Nord Piano vs. Nord Electro 3 HP

Postby Kaorin » 20 Jul 2011, 08:47

I'd recommend trying both of them out. I don't know whether your music shop allows home auditions or whether you're stuck playing them in the shop. I have a Nord Piano so I'm probably biased towards that. I really love it and I really love the Bosendorfer XL sample. For me I'd only need 200MB for that one sample. Only problem is that it doesn't fit on the Electro.

If your shop says it's okay, try going there with your laptop loaded up with the piano library. You can listen for yourself and compare the Medium / large / XL samples and see whether you could live with the tradeoff in quality. I'll warn you now that wiping and reinstalling the samples on a Nord Piano takes ages... :)

In your intial post you said you were a piano player, that part really stuck out when I read it. I'd be concerned that whilst the Electro is more 'versatile' it could also be 'jack of all trades...' How important is the additional portability to you?

Good luck with your auditioning and please post back with which one you decide and how you got on with it

Kaorin
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Re: Nord Piano vs. Nord Electro 3 HP

Postby Dave Ferris » 30 Jul 2011, 06:11

I just played the E3 HP and was very pleasantly surprised how good the pianos sounded. The action was not as substantial as the NP imo but certainly playable from a pianist's standpoint.

My main issue with the E3 HP is that it's not 88 keys. I really don't like compromising trying to play piano from a 76 or 73 keyboard , it can throw me off at times.
The E3 HP is certainly the best ultra-portable acoustic piano substitute I've ever played .

I really wish the NP had the HP's "long release" feature.
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Re: Nord Piano vs. Nord Electro 3 HP

Postby stian » 12 Sep 2011, 20:20

I'd like to thank all of you for your contribution!

I ended up with a Nord Piano, and I do not regret :-)
Now I realize what you guys mean by "character" of the Nord sound!

The increased portability of the HP was not that much of importance to me, and the Nord Piano is actually portable compared to my previous Roland RD-700.
I also like the fact that I can install and play the largest samples available.


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Re: Nord Piano vs. Nord Electro 3 HP

Postby Dave Ferris » 12 Sep 2011, 22:56

Dave Ferris wrote: I really wish the NP had the HP's "long release" feature.


Congrats stian. FWIW-Nord announced the *long release* for the NP last week. You can update from the website.

Your Roland 700 is the same size and weight as my CP5, so having used the NP for about 3 months, I know the portability factor is greatly improved going down from 55 lbs to 39, not to mention the decreased overall bulk of the NP over the CP5 and Roland.

I still haven't pulled the trigger myself as I'm considering other options but the NP is certainly one of them... 8-)
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