Stage 3 88 vs Piano 5

[Snyper19]

Hello I’m a newbie here, I’m in the market of buying a Nord ( probably narrow it to 2 keyboards ) I’ve seen videos of stage 3 and Piano 5. And these two are the ones I’m more interested in… I’m still learning to play piano and eventually I want to learn how to jazz . I currently have a Yamaha P-515 which to me sounds great and like the action on it but after listening to the royal 3D and white grand piano sounds I was just amazed and can’t think of anything else but to upgrade my keyboard lol.

What are key factors of choosing one over the other? I was looking at product releases and the speculation of a new Stage 3 EX should be coming soon, should I wait for new stage?

I mainly play piano sounds on my Yamaha but it’s amazing what stage 3 can do and I think I just briefly know what it can do.
If i understood correctly piano 5 is using a new type of files, will eventually all the new keyboards will get the new files, is that a big deal?

What to do?
Sorry there must be lots of posts like this

Regards,

[MarkJames]

If you only want to play piano sounds, or piano layered with samples, the Piano 5 is great.

But if you want synth sounds, organ (with drawbar settings), and modulation options (pitch stick and mod wheel) then I’d go with the Stage.

Its rumored that the new format will come to the Electro 6, Stage 3 and Wave 2 but nothing has been announced.

[Snyper19]

Usually when does Nord announce new products?

[Snyper19]

You could very well like the action of the P515 better than that of the Stage 3 88. If I owned a Yamaha P515 I would consider buying a Stage 3 Compact, then connect the P515 to the Stage 3 via MIDI. You would have the excellent keyboard of the P515 and all of the sounds of the Stage 3. The Compact has a 73 key, organ-type waterfall keyboard and physical drawbars similar to those of a Hammond organ, is much lighter than the Stage 3 88, but has all of the other features of the 88 as well as all of the 88's sounds. Another far less expensive option is to just keep learning on the Yamaha and wait for the next upgrade of the Stage 3, probably an EX as you've been reading about here. I the past the EX upgrades have been relatively minor, focusing on increase memory. No one outside of Nord knows when such an upgrade will be released or what the upgrade will entail; Nord has no periodic upgrade schedule. Personally, I think it will be many months, perhaps much longer before we see the upgrade, but that's just a guess. If it takes that long you would have plenty of time to develop your jazz chops on the P515.

[Hlaalu]

I would add that if you know from the start that you'll be focusing on piano only, then the P5 is the better solution. On the other hand the S3 is good if you plan to experiment with music broadly, including but not limited to piano. As far as piano feel is concerned, the action of the S3 88 isn't the best around. It isn't really a "piano" action. Also, it's much easier to find a weighted MIDI controller than a waterfall organ-focused one. So if you get the S3, you may want to do as wtibbit suggests: go for the Compact and use the P515 as controller. If you don't fancy having two keyboards hooked up all the time, then again if piano is the focus go for the P5.

As an owner of the S3 88, I think it mainly makes sense as a single live keyboard that does pretty much everything when weight and space are a constraint. If not, S3 Compact + weighted controller is a better solution. The opposite, namely the S3 88 + waterfall controller isn't feasible because you won't find such a controller.

[Hlaalu]

Usually when does Nord announce new products?

Only when they are being released!

[Elias]

Key differnces very roughly:

Stage 3: More complex + has organ and synth
- Organ engine
- More versatile synth/sample engine
- More control options (Wheel-, Aftertouch- and Pedal Morph)
- More versatile MIDI configuration (Dual Keyboard, Extern)
- Waterfall keybed option (S3 Compact)

Piano 5: Less complexity, dedicated to pianos and complementary sample playback
- Improved keybed? (at least no aftertouch bounciness)
- Simpler user interface overall
- Newer sample format (not sure what exactly is affected)

If you want a piano, get a Piano. If you also want a B3 and a semi- Nord Lead A1, get a Stage 3.

And a very important side note: amplification. That White Grand will be more like white bland through a cheap set of speakers. Read the amplification FAQ for more info.

[Snyper19]

Regardless of what I get I was planning of getting the Yamaha HS8, probably will be enough for my house, I’m not planning on gigging anytime soon

[Snyper19]

Regardless of what I get I was planning of getting the Yamaha HS8, probably will be enough for my house, I’m not planning on gigging anytime soon

They look good and may sound similar to what I use at home. I‘d recommend that you take two for both the left and the right stereo channel, otherwise the piano sounds are likely to suffer and may sound thin.

Cheers from Germany

[M1tsos]

Usually when does Nord announce new products?

I check the dates of all products announced of nord and most of them was april and some others was january and some at july..

I expect a new stage 3 ex that will be the next nord instruments and i was pretty confident that it will be this month… but it seems i was wrong about it ..

I think now it will be next year namm show at january 2023 or june depending if they will move the dates again because of covid

As for what to choose

If you dont care for hammonds organs etc go for piano 5 its the latest instrument from nord and has better keybed action from stage 3.. but the all around machine is nord stage 3 which i wish it had better keybed