Lead 2x vs 4

[Steamtronic]

Hi, totally new to the land of Nord here!

Im keen on acquiring a second hand Lead (dont have the $ for new) and am tossing up between a 2x and a 4. I'm looking at using it live as backing for a rock band.

Ive seen some demos with a 2x producing some awesome Organ presets - B3 and Cathedral stuff. On reading the 2x manual theres a ton of stuff on tonewheel organ presents, but nothing in the Lead 4 manual.

My question is, can you load those 2x organ presets into a user bank for a 4 using the Nord Sound Manager? Or does the 4 have them already? If the answer is yes to either then Ill go the 4, if not then the 2x. (Organs arent my sole reason for buying - there a load of other reasons I need Nord - but they are necessary)

Thanks!

[Spider]

Hi Steamtronic, welcome to the forum!
No the 4 doesn't have the "organ" preset section of the 2X, and the two intruments are not compatible, you cannot load the 2X presets on the 4.
Anyway those are relatively simple sounds and I bet you can easily program them with the 4 as well (or better) than in the 2X.

That said, those sounds are "similar" to an organ, but are nowhere close to a "real" organ sound. If you focus on organ so much, maybe a used Electro would be a better option?

[Nordlicht]

As addition: the Lead 4 is definitely the more modern synth and it offers much more possibilities than the "old" 2X:
- on-board effects of very good quality
- larger variety of filter types, modulation possibilities, impulse morph

And yes, forget the "organ capabilities" of the 2X, it's rather a demonstration what's possible with subtractive synthetis and by far not a suitable substitute for a pipe or Hammond organ sound.

[alex78]

Hello and welcome! I would recommend spider's proposal, to go for an electro. They have dedicated engine that simulates tonewheel organs in a very realistic way, with the Lead you will have to program it using LFO's for vibrato and lesslie speaker simulation, that will be a bit tricky and not so accurate IMO. Electros also have great clavinets and electric pianos ideal for rock music. For some strings and pads there are lots of samples you can use. The leads are better for electronic music. Go for an electro, 5 or 6 so that you can also split sounds.

[Steamtronic]

Thanks everyone!

Sounds like I might need to reconsider here. All the second hand Electros are still outside my budget (still 3x the price of a used 2x) ...and the authenticity isnt so vital as this will primarily be for live perf with a loud rock band in smaller venues, so the 2x might be the go here.

Cheers!

[alex78]

I can understand the budget restriction, because I had the same when I decided to buy my first red. I also play rock music so I decided to save some money and go for second hand electro 4 after a lot of research. Later found a wave in a really stealing price that I couldn't let go, so that came to fit perfectly in my rig for the synth parts. However, if sound detail isn't of such an importance to you and you can not wait for the good deal, why not consider another brand? Roland vr-09 e.g?

[alex78]

lead 4 isn't much cheaper than an older electro by the way, there are some elctro 3 in reverb almost the same price as a lead 4. Of course you are in Singapore and there might be extra shipping fees...so you should look what is available locally and older electros may be hard to find there. In any case, make a good research first, nords are expensive and you make an investment by buying one, so think a lot before deciding.

[alex78]

Have also in mind that now the wave 2 came out, there is a possibility to find an original wave in a good price. It has organ wavetables and can also load samples, so you can have good organ sounds out of it plus the synth capabilities. The keybed is not ideal for organ and piano play though, neither the lead's keybed is.