Nord User Forum

Hi all,
This is my first post. I’ll buy in the next days my first Nord (Electro 6 HP) and my idea it was to buy one QSC k8.2 for amplification, given the good reviews that I have read in the forum.
I have just discovered that it has 1000W and I wonder if this is not “too much” for home. I see that with the Nord speakers we speak of 80W.
I am a beginner with keyboards and for the time being I will play at home. I do some gigs with my band but then I play guitar and I use suitable amps for that.

Do you use regularly the QSC at home or this is a nonsense? In this case what is the best recommendation for home? (with similar sound to QSC)

Thanks a lot

What do you mean by "home"? If you have a space large enough that you can set them up a few feet from your ears -- and use the "studio monitor" preset, they should work quite well. Warning, they have a low WAF (wife approval factor).

If you won't be playing out for a while, you might be better off with a pair of studio monitors.

I agree with Chuck, I think a pair of active studio monitors is the way to go. Plenty of options available. I have a pair of JBL LSR 305, which I'm completely satisfied with for home studio (the latest version is JBL 305P MKII). Even with the 5" woofers, I find the low end quite satisfactory.

Hi,

I have pretty much that set-up at home at the moment - the Nord connected through a Focusrite IO to a single QSC K8.2, which i set up next to the piano.
Well stereo (including for instance the Nord Speakers) can be very enjoyable to play, but space might be an issue. Plus, I really like the bottom end of the 8 inch woofer. In my case, I use this setup also for listening to music and also home theater, for which it doubles quite well due to its very round sound. It works well also at low volumes, definitively doable, even though I admit that much lower powered speaker could do the job maybe more appropriately.
The downside is
- the fan comes on at times and can be a bit of a nuisance in a quiet home when no music is played
- on occasions there is also a hiss noticable, but this can be optimized. (Here you have some measurements of the different noise sources: accessories-and-amplification-f8/gear-alert-new-qsc-k8-2-t13372-80.html#p98237 )
- It is a tad large (but looking pro-level musician gear), so depending on your taste that's a plus or minus
- Altogether, WAF can indeed be an issue so should be checked indeed before pulling the trigger!
- Think whether you want eventually go stereo (in my current home, space wouldn't allow), but some years down the line maybe...

Taken together, it is certainly not originally designed for that use but given it's flexibility, I think it can work!

cheers
johannes

CountFosco wrote:I agree with Chuck, I think a pair of active studio monitors is the way to go. Plenty of options available. I have a pair of JBL LSR 305, which I'm completely satisfied with for home studio (the latest version is JBL 305P MKII). Even with the 5" woofers, I find the low end quite satisfactory.

I have the same monitors in my home studio. They put out plenty of bass and are very reasonably priced.

-dj

Thank you very much indeed for your answers.
I had never heard of the WAF before, but I have to recognize that is even more important that the RMS watts or the frequency response!
You're right. I definitively will go for a couple of monitors.
I’ve been investigating a little on Internet and I have found different options. JBL 305P mkII seems a good option and they have a very good price. I have seen as well the Dynaudio BM5 MKIII, more expensive but they a woofer 7”, or the Yamaha HS7, just in the middle between the previous 2.
I would say that with my current WAF I can manage until around 700 € and not much more, and to be honest, I don’t know if I would be able to note the difference between the 3 models, but I have had the feeling that the speakers are quite important in these configurations, and I have not found anybody commenting something about Dynaudio or Yamaha speakers with a Nord, or wit any other keyboard.
I guess that if they work well in classical home studios, they should work well with our Nords.

Thanks again,
Jose

The wattage ratings of powered speakers (such as the QSC K8.2) are not a good predictor of the volume they will produce when compared to traditional keyboard amps. I own an Electrovoice zx-a1, a powered speaker which is rated at 800W. It is not much louder than my Roland KC-150, a traditional keyboard amp whose output is rated at 65W. (either the QSC K8.2 or the Electrovoice zx-a1 will sound much better than the Roland KC-150, but that is a statement about sound quality, not volume).

I don't think the QSC K8.2 is necessarily too much for home, but I would encourage you to get a pair of speakers instead of just one. Most of the Nord Acoustic Piano sounds are optimized for stereo. Some of us (I'm one of them) find most of the Nord AP sounds to be not enjoyable with only a single speaker.

I don't have any useful opinion on what specific speaker brand to purchase, but I would encourage you to get the best *pair* of speakers you can afford, guided by others on this forum who know more about specific brands than I do.

I’ve used a pair of QSC K8.2s as nearfield monitors at home and stage monitors when playing out. Johannes is correct about the fan turning on and the hiss that needs to be managed. I also found out that if I needed something with the output of the QSCs for the stage, then stage volume was WAY too loud.

I replaced them with a pair of the JBL 305p MKII for home monitoring and Westone AM Pro 30s for playing out for less money and significantly better quality of sound. Also, the JBLs helped my dial in my sounds far more accurately.

Still, the QSCs would be a good choice if you wanted to buy a single pair of speakers to do both. If you don’t need to get really loud, consider a pair of Bose S1 Pros. Better WAF, smaller, lighter, and more flexibility for other uses because of the battery and built-in Bluetooth.

Thanks Ajstan,
I am seriously considering the JBLs. The reason is that I was considering to buy the Electro 6HP and reading and reading during the last days many comments and reviews perhaps I will skip to the Stage 3, especially due to very good feedbacks on it including the HA action in the keyboard and some negative comments about the HP keyboard.
So maybe an option to spend about 1000 € more in the keyboard and look for a pair of monitors more affordable and as several of you are happy with the JBL 305p MK2 I think this will be a good option.
My God! Not easy to decide! i know that we finally spend lot of hours in front of it and it’s important not to be wrong.
Thanks again

I am running 2 K8.2 in my home connected to a Behringer X32 rack mixer- sounds awesome!