Nord User Forum

[Frantz]

Hello,

First I'd like to thank the persons (admins, modos, users) who make this forum possible & interesting.

I think about changing my actual setup (RD 300 and VSTs), I have a few questions about the NS2 :

1- The NS2 allows to overlay a ".npno" sound + a ".nsmp" sound + a "wav/analog" (same synth but on slot B). Is it possible to have the ".nsmp" sound trigered only at a certain velocity ?

2- Is it possible to edit velocity layers for a ".nsmp" with the actual or a future Nord Sample editor ?

3- Is it possible to have a ".npno" editor ? (This one would allow velocity layers)

4- Upload / Download speed : how much time does it take to upload a sound from Nord Sound Manager to a NS2 ? how much time for a 60Mo ".npno" file for instance ?


I was expecting much more memory onboard the NS2 ... maybe a SSD drive and a system that loads 4 Gb into RAM from it to play. Or simply more flash.

I hope someone can help me with thoses question here :)

Have a nice day,
frantzkb.

[Johannes]

Hi frantzkb and welcome to this forum!
Regarding your questions
1) overlay yes, velocity triggered NPNO sounds NO
2) not sure about this one, but IIRC it IS possible with the editor not sure though.
3) Nope until now at least
4) 60MB I would say 2-4 Minutes. Not really fast, but then how often do you plan of exchanging the pianos==

In general I agree, on paper, e.g., the Kronos blows most other boards away in term of specs.
The Nord Stage is more for people interested in an intuitively tweakable and playable instrument focussing on Vintage Pianos, Organs, and Samples with a Nord VA included.
Necessarily this implies less flexible and deeply editable patches as on a Standard Workstation and the Kronos/Oasys in particular.

Now when you come from a RD-300+VST Combo, you probably had better sounding patches than EITHER the Kronos or Nord (given you had some decent VSTis, with GB libraries and a good Audio Interface). So if you want realistic natural instruments, extremely versatile Synths etc., you probably have already an excellent rig. If you want to have it without PC, a Kronos will probably give you a rig similar to yours now in one board. The Nord solution will imply somewhat less flexibility (e.g., in the velocity based switches between sounds you were mentioning, Brass/Strings, ...) while on the other hand giving you great sounding EPs/Organs plus some extras. Plus you won't have a screen or touch screen, just knobs. Two completely different approaches IMHO.
So in order to get your best solution, playing both options in a store will be the way to go.

[Frantz]

not sure about this one, but IIRC it IS possible with the editor not sure though.

No, it is not possible to edit velocity layers for a ".nsmp" -- because a .nsmp only has one velocity layer. AFAIK, that is the primary (only?) difference between the .nsmp format and the .npno format -- Piano Library sounds have multiple velocity layers, Sample Library sounds only have one.

As for NS2 vs. Kronos, in general, the Kronos will be far more capable, but I'd say the primary advantages of the Nord are lighter weight, a wider range of piano sounds with completely different characters, some of the unique sounds of its Sample LIbrary (extensive mellotron/chamberlin sounds, etc.), and greater simplicity/ immediacy for numerous functions. Other things are a matter of personal preference, like whether you prefer the Nord C2 Hammond emulation over the Korg CX3 implementation.

[Frantz]

Hi,

Time has passed, I tried a Kronos at home, then bought a Jupiter80, then returned it to get a NS2

I could compare and make the best choice for me, and you were totally right Johannes and anotherscott.

The VST setup sounds great.
I am using - Applied Acoustics String Studio, - Lounge Lizard, - Novation V-Station, - Moddart Pianoteq, - Korg Legacy suite (Monopoly , ms20) and others, all layered and controlled via Ableton Live + Korg nano Kontrol. I tried Kontakt and Omnisphere. I do this under Windows 7 and the computer cant be dedicated to music. Also, using a computer is not like playing / tweaking an instrument.

I'll make it short :
Kronos has a very poor user interface imho and I did not like how it sounds very much except for pianos, e-pianos and strings.
Jupiter has too few "SuperNatural" Sounds which are not really editable (only one or two parameters per tone), and the VA has poor samples (only 382, not replaceable).
NS2 is so easy and powerfull very happy with the hammer action as well.

[Klangwerk]

Hi frantzkb,

I can change the velocity via midi.
With my midi-merge-box (miditemp), I do a lot of velocity swiches.

The other points, I agree with johannes.

Helmuth

[Frantz]

Hi Helmuth,

Thank you for this idea.

Do you mean you are setting velocity ranges on channels, each channel addressing a different sound ?
I do that with Ableton Live ... I wont go with it on stage ... for now ...

Today, with "only" the NS2, I explore those two solutions to get more velocity sensitive variations on a sound :
1- this one here
2- with the synth section (the "freq mod2->vel" knob, the "amp vel" and "mod vel" buttons).

Cheers