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My video review of the Nord Drum 2

Postby konaboy » 04 Feb 2017, 22:39

Hi!

Picked up a ND2 the other week, realize it's not the latest model but thought it was worthy of a mini-review. I'll also cover the laborious process of upgrading firmware and factory reset.

Hope to get a ND3 soon, let's see it Nord have addressed some of the issues that I discovered.

thx for watching, cheers

Watch on youtube.com
Last edited by konaboy on 04 Feb 2017, 22:40, edited 1 time in total.
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My video review of the Nord Drum 2


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Re: My video review of the Nord Drum 2

Postby Happy » 08 Feb 2017, 06:21

Cool video.Now that you passed the setup nightmares many will have experienced, try to love the D2 and make sounds.:-)

Just got a D2 and a pad too (Even I have the D1 as well) though not the latest hardware revisions (there are about 5 of them)
My local retail shop and local distributor/agent tried but failed to get hold of Nord to get the overlay for me. It's not a disaster but it shows some of Nord's short sighting.

Where did you get the all red sticks or what model/brand ? I see them in many demo's but they did not come with my Pad. Guess Nylon heads would actually be better.

Thanks.
Last edited by Happy on 08 Feb 2017, 06:35, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: My video review of the Nord Drum 2

Postby wartaler » 09 Feb 2017, 20:40

Hi Konaboy!

Thanks for your review, a lot of topics were discussed here on the forum, very recognizable.
I agree with you on some points, disagree on others,
I do agree that a USB port would be a nice addition for OS updates and MIDI over USB. OS updates seem to pose a challenge for some USB - MIDI interfaces, I think you are not the only one. But I hope they will keep the DIN MIDI ports in future models..

I don't think the volume of the headphones output of the ND2 is too low perse. I think it very much depends on the headphones you're using. With my headphones (250 ohms, closed type), maximum volume will damage my ears. But others on this forum had a similar experience as you, discussed here nord-drum-forum-f27/headphone-impendance-once-and-for-all-t10393.html. I suspect the impedance of the ND2 headphones output is a tad higher than usual, so that you get a weaker output with low impedance (eg 30 or 40 ohms) headphones. Just a theory. Don't forget to check the channel level settings b.t.w. The ND3p has an improved headphones output level according to the website.

With a low volume on your headphones you might tend to hit the pads harder to compensate.
The acoustic noise of sticks and pads annoy me too, but are not unique to the Nord Pad. Especially if you want to record acoustic drums combined with electronic drums you should take care of mic positioning. Try to hit acoustic drums a bit harder, and play the pads more gently. Adjusting the response of the pads with the sensitivity settings might help here. Also check the channel level settings. Programming drum sounds that blend in with the acoustic noise from the pads also helps if there is a lot of the pad sounds bleeding into your drum mics.

I also prefer one function per knob, but you'll get used to the ND2 quickly is my experience. This layout keeps the unit small. Perhaps an intermediate design would be nice, where you pick the main parameter with buttons, and tweak the parameters for each channel with 2 rows of 6 endless encoders..

The MIDI options are equally complex as those of the Nord Stage I think. The difference perhaps is that the menu on the Stage is easier to understand, the bigger display on the Stage certainly helps. If you want to want to program beats with the app or a sequencer, simply ignore the individual MIDI channels, the default settings will do. If you want to control sound parameters with MIDI, use the individual MIDI channels. In combination with a keyboard the individual MIDI channels can be interesting too, you can play melodies with a single drum sound, but check the manual, or read some threads here to find out how that works..

Cheers,
Albert
Last edited by wartaler on 11 Feb 2017, 01:23, edited 8 times in total.
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Re: My video review of the Nord Drum 2

Postby konaboy » 17 Feb 2017, 23:35

Hi, and thanks for watching and giving feedback on the video review.

First, regarding the red drum sticks, I dunno1 They came with the instrument which I bought used. But they are nothing fancy, I can't find them right now, but they are all wood, painted glossy red and the paint flakes off anyway :)

Thanks Albert for the thoughtful comments. I agree with you on all counts. It didn't occur me about playing drums like a pitched instrument on a midi channel. Have now recorded a bunch of new videos where I have a lot of fun playing with sticks, keyboard and hands.

There is no doubt it sounds fabulous and quite unique. My intended purpose though was to generate interesting drum sounds for my compositions. And after the convenience of vst plugins I'm finding the ND to be a bit tedious to use. Gotta hook up 2 midi cables, 2 audio cables, wall wart, then playback/record one track for each drum channel, and be stuck with the result, without possibility to tweak the sounds after you've recorded the take. Yeah, this is not the fault of Nord or their drum, it's just I've gotten spoiled with the easy plugin workflow.

With this in mind I'm selling it on and looking for software alternatives. Sonic Charge Microtonic looks viable with a similar sound engine to the ND.

I'll let you know if I try it out.
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