Nord User Forum

[Gustavo]

For what I see you need, I'd also look at the Hammond SK-1. Here is a review, and here is a video comparing it to the Nord and the Crumar. g it to the Nord and the Crumar. Another option as always is the excellent Korg Kronos or the cheaper M50, but those are very different boards.

Thinking only NE3 vs NS2, I'd definitely go for NS2 if you have a need for synthesis. It is extremely versatile and good sounding. Sometimes it may be a little hard to get the exact desired synth sound due to limitations, but you will always be able to get great sounding aproximations of what you desire. Also do note that the NS2 is multitimbral, which means you may play 2 piano sections, 2 organ sections and 2 synth (samples here) sections at the same time accross 3 zones, where 1 section may be in zone lower, mid, high, low+mid, mid+high. That gives you a lot lof flexibility, but it is not at the level of the Korgs, where you can assign which notes can be played by which programs in a combi (of up to 16 programs, I think).

Still for my style of playing, if I'd had to choose only one keyboard (which I kind of have to for gigs) I'd choose a Nord Stage 2 SW. It is lightweight to carry on your back , has great organs and EPs (my main need) and a more than decent synth section that allows instant tweakability. Also, be sure to get the softcase, it looks cool and is quite useful, may have some limited space for cables and pedals, so you might need an extra backpack for that one.