Nord User Forum

[alphadynamic]

I was told today the Wave may be discontinued in the near future. Make an interesting question of what will follow.

A) A new wave with a huge sample memory

or

B) A lead4 with the sample function

or even.

C) Non of the above, as there focus is on the stage and Electro line

Would be nice to engage in some un-informed speculation.

[jaasjaas]

You were told that the Wave may be discontinued? That sounds very reliable

[alphadynamic]

You were told that the Wave may be discontinued? That sounds very reliable

Yes, I'm not going to specifically mention who it was, but it was a major dealer in my country. And please also note the word "MAY", not "HAS".

Peace.

[Hanon_CTS]

You were told that the Wave may be discontinued? That sounds very reliable

Yes, I'm not going to specifically mention who it was, but it was a major dealer in my country. And please also note the word "MAY", not "HAS".

Peace.

There was a time when I might have chimed in on this one and said something like: "Clavia is usually very tight lipped about information like this, and rumors are unfounded.... blah, blah, blah".
However, there was a similar rumor about the Nord Piano many weeks in advance of the Nord Piano 2 release.
Given that experience, the rumor about the Wave doesn't seem so incredible.
Cheers, Hanon

[mjbrands]

Discontinued or not, the Wave is still a very cool board. If it is discontinued, which would not surprise me, would it really make a difference? Clavia keeps updating the sample library, the OS is stable and while we might want to see some new features, Clavia is unlikely to implement those in the existing Wave regardless of whether it is a current product or not.

I'm not holding out for a Wave 2, as in my opinion the Stage 2 coverts that area fairly well. Instead, I think it would be great to see a new synth (something to use alongside the Stage or Electro) based on the Nord Modular line of products. Something like a souped up Modular G2, with the ability to use samples and wavetables as an oscillator source (like the Wave); ideally it would also have some inputs so all that DSP power could be used with some great effects on both the inputs and internally generated sounds for even more possibilities. I think Clavia already has all the technology to create something like that. If they were to combine it with a more up-to-date interface to use in the studio (since I doubt you'd be tweaking it a lot in the field) and 37 or 49 keys, that'd be a sweet deal. I think a touchscreen might give them a lot of flexibility to tweak the interface on that thing and might even allow them to keep costs down, but I don't think a touchscreen would be ideal for live use, you'd at least want some decent knobs and buttons. A fairly large monochrome graphic display (320x240) with some soft buttons to the sides and bottom could make a nice alternative that would work better in the field.

Anyway... I doubt Clavia would sell a significant number (just like the Wave, probably), certainly not like the numbers of Stage and Electro boards they sell. It wouldn't surprise me if Clavia left the synth spot in their product line open for a while. While it is a bit sad the Nord Lead 2X survived both the Nord Lead 3 and the Wave, it still sounds excellent. As a VA it is much more capable than a Stage 2, so it makes a nice match with the Stage 2 for certain types of sounds (of course, you could just use samples on the Stage 2).

Hurray for speculation.

[sakari]

It has been awhile since the wave and lead were updated, so why not..

hopefully something with graintables as well...a new knobby synth...I have been looking at the virus, but a new clavia would certainly tempt me....

[mjbrands]

I have a love-hate relation ship with the Virus. I bought a Virus TI Polar two years ago, but grew tired of it after a few months and swapped it for a Nord Wave. A few months after that, I missed my Virus and got a 2nd hand Virus TI keyboard, which got sold again to help finance my new Stage 2.

The Total Integration (TI) stuff always worked fine for me (used to be really buggy) and you can create some very amazing sounds with it (especially really nice pads), but for some reason the sound doesn't really convince. Every time I hear my Poly Evolver I can hear why I still have it. The oscillators on the Virus sound a bit thin to me though; with layers of effects applied (which almost all presets have) they sound fine, but 'bare' oscillators fail to convince. For example, I think the oscillators on the Nord Lead 2X sound better. On the other hand, the build quality of the Access synths is excellent (as with most German engineering, except Behringer ) and you can definately do very cool things with it.

I'm sure I'll get another Virus at some point though. I'm missing my 2nd already. Maybe I'll get a module next time.

The Virus is excellent for electronic type sounds, especially if you want to do sound design. It is a rather complex synth with lots of menus to navigate, but if you use the TI software from a DAW it suddenly becomes very simple to use.

I wouldn't mind Clavia making a synth with a nice set of effects, lots of different oscillator types, etc. like the Virus.

Edit: lots of typos

[sakari]

interesting comments mj... The Poly evolver is on my alternatives list....I thought the virus had a minimum of menus...oh well..

[mjbrands]

interesting comments mj... The Poly evolver is on my alternatives list....I thought the virus had a minimum of menus...oh well..

It has lots of knobs and buttons but because you can do so much with it, several knobs and buttons have more than one function. For example, if you push the Reverb button, a menu will open with the settings for the reverb. By turning the knobs below the display (or by using the buttons to the right of it) you can change the type and several associated parameters. Some menus will have more than one page and you will need to press buttons to go to the page you want.

So while there are lots of 'menu screens', you can generally just open the one you want by pressing the associated button. The display will show you what you are doing and things such as the current value of whatever you're changing. A page has three values you can change with the knobs immediately below them. So in a menu with just one page you press a button and then turn a knob to change the setting.

With the wave you have some thing similar for some parameters; for example, you press a button to set osc2 to a sampled wave and then turn the rotory dial next to the screen to select the one you want.

There are also three user-assignable 'soft knobs' (the ones below the display); you can assign a function and name to them. It makes sense to assign a parameter to them that does something useful to the current sound but that does not have a dedicated knob. Something like a 'bit crusher' type effect is a good example.

For standard stuff like changing filter cutoff you have dedicated knobs. However, for oscillators, LFOs and modulation sources you first press a button to select the right one (3 oscillators, 4 LFOs and 6 modulation sources) after which you can change rates and stuff. If you want to change more in-depth parameters (uni- v.s. bi-polar LFOs for example) you may need to press the 'edit' button in that section to open up the associated menu.

So yes, there are lots of menus, but it is easy to get to the right one and during performance it is unlikely you will need to use them. For studio work the Total Integration software is more convenient as it groups related parameters on one screen, where they are easy to change with the mouse (mostly sliders and knobs) and where they often have some sort of visualization to show you what you are changing.

As far as I know the only thing you cannot change on the Virus TI itself is user defined arp patterns. You can select arp patterns and associated parameters. Instead, you draw (width and height of bars) your custom arp patterns in the TI software and then store them so you can select them on the Virus.