Nord User Forum

[anotherscott]

I'm concerned about the synthesiser that is quite different from the NS2 . From the specs, it seems to do much more, but are there any sounds from the 2 that cannot be reproduced on the 3?

I'm sure there must be. Probably any time you move from one synthesizer architecture to another, there will be sounds you can get on either one that you can't get on the other. (Heck, the basic Minimoog architecture has been implemented numerous times in both software and hardware, and even based on the same design, they don't all sound exactly the same!) But even apart from any difference in overall "character" I'm sure there are sounds on the 2 you cannot quite reproduce on the 3. Off-hand, I think the FM implementation is different, and there are some differences in the morph functions available... IIRC, the NS3 has more morphable parameters than the NS2, but the NS2 still has a couple that the NS3 does not.

Moving beyond the synth parameters, there are a number of features the NS2 had that are missing from the NS3, some of which have already been mentioned. Lost features include the dedicated Bank buttons, the ability to assign a different MIDI channel to each instrument (piano/organ/synth); the Pending Load feature; the latch/KB gate function; a differently implemented Dual KB mode; less flexible output routing. Though the NS3 adds a lot more than it takes away,

[anotherscott]

Speak of the devil... Someone just posted an example of how even the same parameter might sound different on the NS3 than it does on the NS2...
nord-stage-forum-f3/ns-3-synth-something-not-quite-right-about-the-lfo-t14936.html
Close, but not the same. So at least based on this post, you seemingly can't exactly get this NS2 sound out of the NS3, nor this NS3 sound out of the NS2, even though the sounds are created out of parameters that the two synths have in common.

[GeeDeWee]

Moving beyond the synth parameters, there are a number of features the NS2 had that are missing from the NS3, some of which have already been mentioned. Lost features include the dedicated Bank buttons, the ability to assign a different MIDI channel to each instrument (piano/organ/synth); the Pending Load feature; the latch/KB gate function; a differently implemented Dual KB mode; less flexible output routing. Though the NS3 adds a lot more than it takes away,

The ability to assign a different MIDI channel to each instrument (piano/organ/synth) is not important to some, but huge to some others (including me).
I for example have a Roland A-37 controller on top of my NS288. Organ A/Synth A are on one MIDI channel and Organ B/Synth B are on another.
That way I can separately play and layer/split organ and synth on my lightweight MIDI controller. Especially being able to play a layered synth (A+B) on my controller is very nice.

AFAICS this setup is not possible with a NS388.

[MartinJ2EX]

The ability to assign a different MIDI channel to each instrument (piano/organ/synth) is not important to some, but huge to some others (including me).
I for example have a Roland A-37 controller on top of my NS288. Organ A/Synth A are on one MIDI channel and Organ B/Synth B are on another.
That way I can separately play and layer/split organ and synth on my lightweight MIDI controller. Especially being able to play a layered synth (A+B) on my controller is very nice.

AFAICS this setup is not possible with a NS388.

I think of getting a NS3 Compact to replace my 61 key waterfall hammond style MIDI comtroller (= D3M with custom chassis) at the end of 2018...

Being able to use 4 samples/synths at the same time seems like a biiiig improvement for me.
But this would work when using NS3 only, because of the two external Slots routed to the 2 different synth channels on the 2EX... Wouldn’t work the other way round

Getting MIDI routed only to Slot B brings up the question, whether or not Percussion can only be activated on Slot B (like in Stage 2 / 2 EX) ?
This would make it very difficult to use my Stage 2 EX 88 (or any lower keyboard in one’s kb setup) as the lower manual for Organ playing...


Since MIDI is a pure SOFTWARE feature, I’m BEGGING Nord to bring back full MIDI capabilities

[anotherscott]

I for example have a Roland A-37 controller on top of my NS288. Organ A/Synth A are on one MIDI channel and Organ B/Synth B are on another.
That way I can separately play and layer/split organ and synth on my lightweight MIDI controller. Especially being able to play a layered synth (A+B) on my controller is very nice.

AFAICS this setup is not possible with a NS388.

I think the first part is easy, since you can assign panel A to one MIDI channel and panel B to another. The tricky part would be "Especially being able to play a layered synth (A+B) on my controller is very nice" -- which I think requires that you A-37 be able to transmit on two channels at once, and I'm not sure it can do that...? But that's not a Nord limitation.

[GeeDeWee]

I for example have a Roland A-37 controller on top of my NS288. Organ A/Synth A are on one MIDI channel and Organ B/Synth B are on another.
That way I can separately play and layer/split organ and synth on my lightweight MIDI controller. Especially being able to play a layered synth (A+B) on my controller is very nice.

AFAICS this setup is not possible with a NS388.

I think the first part is easy, since you can assign panel A to one MIDI channel and panel B to another. The tricky part would be "Especially being able to play a layered synth (A+B) on my controller is very nice" -- which I think requires that you A-37 be able to transmit on two channels at once, and I'm not sure it can do that...? But that's not a Nord limitation.

The Roland A-37 has a lower and upper panel, which can send on different MIDI channels. These can be selected separately and also can be layered and split. I bought one second hand (€ 100). Roland lightweight keys (feels super to my taste), 76 keys and aftertouch. Awesome to combine with my NS2 IMO. It seemed a better option for live use then a modern day controller designed to pair with a DAW.
https://www.roland.com/global/products/a-37/

Surely it's possible to play a layered NS3 synth (A+B) on a Roland A-37 by assigning different MIDI channels to the two panels, but it would not be possible to play just a single piano on the NS3 itself the same time, correct?
The great advantage of being able to assign different MIDI channels to the individual instrument, is that you can 'move' just a single instrument to the controller (or two with an A-37) and 'keep' another instrument on the Stage without triggering each other. Effectively you can divide the different instruments over the two keyboards within a patch. Awesome feature. I do not quite understand why that's gone on the NS3.

[anotherscott]

[Surely it's possible to play a layered NS3 synth (A+B) on a Roland A-37 by assigning different MIDI channels to the two panels, but it would not be possible to play just a single piano on the NS3 itself the same time, correct?

Hmmm. I believe you can only do the reverse... play two layered synth sounds A+B on the NS3's own keys, while playing just a single piano on the A-37 (by using the Dual KB function). Maybe there would be some way to flip which board is which with some MIDI trickery, using Local Off, and treating both boards as external controllers?

[GeeDeWee]

Maybe, but I really hope that the MIDI functionality will be added to the NS3 with an OS update. Until then I will keep my NS2 and won't upgrade.
I suppose the MIDI functionality is only software, not hardware?

[maxpiano]

Maybe, but I really hope that the MIDI functionality will be added to the NS3 with an OS update. Until then I will keep my NS2 and won't upgrade.
I suppose the MIDI functionality is only software, not hardware?

Correct, Midi Routing is only software (even if of course it requires to allocate some hw processing capacity, but usually is pretty negigible compared to the main tasks a digital synth has to do).

+1 on looking forward for Nord to improve the MIDI capabilities of NS3, at least bringing them on par with what was possible on NS2 at individual section level (teh possibility to assign an individual MIDI Channel to each section)

[mtier0067]

I just sent my ns373sw back. Sad to do it but I can’t justify a 3k+ purchase for a board that does more on paper but less in practice than my ns273sw. Midi, audio, and program functionality. Comin! It’s an easy fix (I hope) and I would just purchase another stage 3 tomorrow if it happened in a software update.