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Re: Difference in sound through headphones vs speakers

Postby renix » 02 Aug 2017, 09:38

Hi to all,
I am delighted with this discussion. On my NE4 I use the "Royal Grand 3D XL" ... and I chose the XL version to get the best sound quality.
But I too, like iandave, I noticed (with great sorrow) that what I hear in headphones output is VERY different from what I can be hear on live on stage.
I recently played with a salsa orchestra and my piano really sounded like a "toy piano" !! I could not get a decent sound ... they would have been stage monitors (yamaha) or sound engineer, but such a "toy" plan I've never heard of with other keyboards in the past.
Do you think that using the "mono" button I can improve quality?
I also thought about bypass the stage monitor using in-ear monitors .... but in this case I can't ear to the others in the orchestra but only my piano ...
According to you, what is a "piano" in Nord library with which you manage to Have LIVE sound "acceptable"?
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Re: Difference in sound through headphones vs speakers

Postby maxpiano » 02 Aug 2017, 10:18

Assuming what you experienced was not due to a phase cancellation between L/R channels, in general I think Royal Grand 3D is not suited for live, having been sampled as binaural so actually optimized for headphones; I would suggest to go for Bright Grand or Bosendorfer or Italian Grand for live and (yes) the mono output could help but not necessarily.

Try first one or more of those pianos and in stereo, maybe asking the mixer guy to not Pan the L/R channels of the NS too much (to properly position the piano in the overall stereo image of FOH).
Last edited by maxpiano on 02 Aug 2017, 10:21, edited 3 times in total.

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Re: Difference in sound through headphones vs speakers

Postby wolferl » 02 Aug 2017, 17:00

My solution is the studio grand II with little EQ (+3dB highs, -2...-3dB mid 1k, -2dB Bass). In the live mixer push the highs 12khz a few dBs. choose a good reverb.
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Re: Difference in sound through headphones vs speakers

Postby wolferl » 02 Aug 2017, 17:01

and dont check sounds at home with the headphones - always with a e.g. a active monitor.
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Re: Difference in sound through headphones vs speakers

Postby renix » 02 Aug 2017, 20:11

Thanks a lot... I'll try
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Re: Difference in sound through headphones vs speakers

Postby iamdave » 03 Aug 2017, 00:55

"Do you think that using the "mono" button I can improve quality?"

For me it did dramatically.
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Re: Difference in sound through headphones vs speakers

Postby kirsty » 05 Aug 2017, 21:16

cphollis i have been reading your posts about your quest to chase the sound with interest for some time now.
(Like you I also have a CP4 and love the action, the keys are amazing to play but I still prefer the Nord for Piano samples. I usually end using MIDI, CP4 playing the Nord and this has been a good solution for me.)


When i first bought my Piano2 i was running it through a Stagepas600i with DXR12 Sub. It sounded OK but always seemed to be plenty missing. I played through a couple of huge House PA systems at a couple of gigs and the difference was incredible.

I have never been a fan of the Nord Piano samples in Mono, they just dont seem to sound right.. The new Amber is about the only one where I dont mind it too much.

I see a lot of people talking about the QSC K series but when I borrowed my singers K12's + K subs I thought the sound was very shrill without knocking lots off the top end on the EQ. Not having the money to spend on the RCF speakers you referred to often I ended up turning to EV and have the ELX 112P and ELX118P sub x2 and these give a really pleasant and warm sound from the Nord. Better to my ears than the QSC speakers considering they are a bit cheaper too.


Interesting to read peoples comments regarding the headphones too.. i use a pair of Beyerdynamic DT770 and the pianos sound very raw clean and crisp, but lack the bass from the big speaker setup IMO so I still prefer to hear it through the PA in my home setup.

My 2p, hope i havent sent everyone to sleep ;)

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Re: Difference in sound through headphones vs speakers

Postby anotherscott » 05 Aug 2017, 22:16

kirsty wrote:I see a lot of people talking about the QSC K series but when I borrowed my singers K12's + K subs I thought the sound was very shrill without knocking lots off the top end on the EQ. Not having the money to spend on the RCF speakers you referred to often I ended up turning to EV...Better to my ears than the QSC speakers considering they are a bit cheaper too.

For piano, I thought the EV ZXa1 sounded much better than the QSC K8. However, the new K8.2 is a significant improvement.

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Re: Difference in sound through headphones vs speakers

Postby kirsty » 06 Aug 2017, 12:57

Ive never heard a K8 in any version, only the K12. I think my EV's sound much warmer and prefer them to the QSC.

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Re: Difference in sound through headphones vs speakers

Postby iamdave » 07 Aug 2017, 16:33

One thing you want to remember about the QSC K speakers version 1 is that they all have a switch on the back. 1 option is normal wide open. Another option cuts the bass from about 100k down when you're using a sub woofer. The other adds more bass to it.

I often use the sub woofer mode to cut the bass, as most of the versions are surprisingly bassy. I never, ever use the added bass option. That's way to much bass for me.

The normal option seems to work ok to the audience, but I always use the sub woofer option when monitoring as the bass is just to much for me.

It makes a big difference. I think the K2 series has some preset eq options. Band/dj etc.

The MONO button makes an incredible difference. I played live this weekend and loved the piano sound. I used the bright piano. We were using QSC 18's and the KW153 3 ways out front. Monitors were peavey sp15m. I had a blast with my Nord. Lots of nice compliments on it's tone.
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