Nord User Forum

Hey everyone, I'm new to this forum and brand new owner of a NS3 88. Just changed my Roland RD-2000 to this red baby, which seems to be much better in all sense and most matters.
However as a longtime guitar player I get use to have a great guitar sound out of my Tube Amps (Fender Vibro King and Mesa Lonestar) but when I connect my NS3 to my PA,
Electro Voice S200 with an additional 2 x 12" Fender speaker cabinet it does not sound that great. Especially the piano sounds are not natural sounding at all. In headphones
the sound it overall fantastic and can not at all be compared to the PA sound. When hearing NS3 in live performing eg. in tv the sound is most often great !
So my question is - Do I have a wrong setup? Does my EV PA not match the NS3, or is my expectations just over the head ? Any suggestions?
THX to all you fine musicians out there.

Are you running in mono?
If so, see this post that's doing the rounds at the moment.

IEMs is the real answer. If not feasible, then use a pair of powered monitors such as QSC K10 or K12.

ericL wrote:IEMs is the real answer. If not feasible, then use a pair of powered monitors such as QSC K10 or K12.

Good suggestion. I have both and IEMs are more accurate sounding.

Schwaner wrote:...So my question is - Do I have a wrong setup? Does my EV PA not match the NS3, or is my expectations just over the head ? Any suggestions?
THX to all you fine musicians out there.

Hello and welcome to the Forum! IEMs seem to be a favorite for personal monitoring. As noted above, clean high-quality PA speakers like the QSCs will bring out the full range of your Nord, however the key is running a pair for stereo. If you are running a mono mix even into a single QSC, you won't get that great sound you are looking for. If you have a pair of the EV200s, you could try that set up as well. Adding any guitar cabinets won't do your Nord justice as the frequency range is more narrow. Good luck to you!

Another hello, and welcome to the forum. I looked up your EV S200. I bet your Nord doesn't sound good at all. And your Peavey speakers won't help either.

Think about it this way -- you just spent all this money on a Nord, so maybe think about your amplification and/or monitors the same way? I think many people here have found that cheap speakers make your keyboard sound -- cheap.

All the advice above is good. A mid-range set of IEMs are great for monitoring, and less than a single decent PA speaker. If you need to make sound on stage for the audience or band members, consider a modern PA unit. QSC CP and K.2 series are popular, EV and Yamaha have similar offerings. Having two for stereo is nice.

To be fair, other keyboard brands can do better with mediocre amplification. Nords will reward you greatly if you get the amplification right -- with something approximating that headphone sound.

Thanks for your suggestions.
Surely IEM is probably similar to what I get out of my B&o headphones: a fantastic sound.
I am looking for a nice PA setup that make my new Nord really come to live. (Mainly in my studio and rehearsal room)
My current setup is as said a stereo pair of Electro Voice Stage system 200 which should be a pretty
good passive speakers Powered by an RAD SRA 200E Roland power amp
Additional I have hooked up a speaker cabinet from Fender with 2 x 12" speakers to provide a more
defined low Fz. amplification, also powered by the RAD.
I have also tried a pair of the red Nord Monitors, which looks really nice but sounded thin and cheap.
Anyway I will consider the QSC however they are really big and heavy so perhaps they are overkill in my
studio after all.
Thanks to you guys.

For studio/rehearsal, I use a pair of RCF TT08a units, positioned behind my shoulders. QSC K8.2s sound almost as good, for less money, and then to the CP series. Or go with something similar from one of the other vendors.

If you can handle the size/weight of these in your situation, you'll also find they make great stage monitors and can serve as a modest FOH PA for a smaller gig. If you go the studio monitor route, they won't translate to a live performance situation.

My usual advice:
- use small, self-powered PA units, 8s are fine for most people
- stereo (two speakers) is very nice indeed
- consider a small mixer to get proper gain
- a pair of short poles (from Yorkville, I believe) are great for most gigging situations.

Electro Voice Stage system 200 was great for its time (maybe 25+ years ago?). It was pretty lightweight and affordable stage amplification, and to get more neutral sound out of it, you could hook up an external box that provided a factory-defined fixed EQ to give it its best sound (there's a switch on the back to set for whether or not you have the EQ). So first, if you don't have their dedicated EQ box, forget coming anywhere close to the neutral sound you'd need for a quality piano reproduction. (Even with the box, I'm not sure how it compares to what's around today.)

Your Fender cabs are also not designed for accuracy. Really, nothing designed for guitar or bass is likely to work well. Guitarists and bassist usually pick the amps/speakers they do because they like the way they color the sound. For piano, you want something that doesn't color the sound at all. People sometimes do add bass cabinets to their main speakers for more low end, but it's not just a matter of adding a speaker, it needs to be smoothly integrated into the rest of the system, typically with an electronic crossover, which doesn't merely add a speaker for more bass, but also filter that bass out of the main speakers (rather than duplicating it) and providing a smooth sonic transition between the two.

I've never heard the Nord speakers. Though for solo playing at home, the idea of looking for that general kind of monitor may be more desirable than sticking with speakers designed for PA use as has mostly been mentioned so far. If you're playing in a group situation for your rehearsal room scenario, and you find the QSCs too big/heavy, check out the Electro Voice ZXa1, they still sound really good, and they're only 19 lbs each.

Schwaner wrote:Thanks for your suggestions.
Surely IEM is probably similar to what I get out of my B&o headphones: a fantastic sound.
I am looking for a nice PA setup that make my new Nord really come to live. (Mainly in my studio and rehearsal room)
My current setup is as said a stereo pair of Electro Voice Stage system 200 which should be a pretty
good passive speakers Powered by an RAD SRA 200E Roland power amp
Additional I have hooked up a speaker cabinet from Fender with 2 x 12" speakers to provide a more
defined low Fz. amplification, also powered by the RAD.
I have also tried a pair of the red Nord Monitors, which looks really nice but sounded thin and cheap.
Anyway I will consider the QSC however they are really big and heavy so perhaps they are overkill in my
studio after all.
Thanks to you guys.

I have 2 QSC CP12s and they aren’t big or heavy at all. They’re not as accurate as good IEMs but work well. Others use the CP8 with good success (I only got the 12s as I got them for the same price as the 8s). Weight and size are very manageable for me.