Electro 7 - let it happen!

[JeffLearman]

- 8 program buttons instead of 4.
- Velocity layers for user samples.

[DaveKeys]

I sold my Electro 5 HP73 because of the action.

To ween me back, I'd like to see for the Electro 7 HP73:

A decent Piano action like the Kawai on the Nord Piano for example.
USB over audio
user assignable split points.

[DanCasdorph1]

I'd like to see it be more organ centric with 2 sets of drawbars. Nord cant make it better than the Stage 4 in any way or it will eat stage 4 sales, so I'm just dreaming.

[vcfvca]

I posted a controversial idea a while back that Nord could just release an Electro Stage based on the Stage but with only half the power. That is 1 section of Piano, Organ and Synth. You would then be able to upgrade to the full version at a later date. Since that post I see Roland have released an RD-08 stage piano with option of upgrading it to an RD-88 for £300. Could Nord offer similar upgrades? So you could add (unlock) and extra Piano or Synth section?

That woukd akso mean the keybeds are standardised too. Could this be an idea that Nord would consider?

[harmonizer]

I posted a controversial idea a while back that Nord could just release an Electro Stage based on the Stage but with only half the power. That is 1 section of Piano, Organ and Synth. You would then be able to upgrade to the full version at a later date. Since that post I see Roland have released an RD-08 stage piano with option of upgrading it to an RD-88 for £300. Could Nord offer similar upgrades? So you could add (unlock) and extra Piano or Synth section? .....

It's a very interesting idea, but it would force putting a whole bunch of extra control hardware on the top surface of every "Electro Stage" board.

I also wonder if Nord would face any issues with piracy, either via non-licensed hack installs of a software upgrade, or by improper transplants of "Stage-entitled" hardware or chips into an "Electro Stage" board that did not actually have a properly licensed entitlement. Someone is almost sure to figure out how to hack such a system. And I don't think Nord could afford such a threat.

[cgrafx]

I posted a controversial idea a while back that Nord could just release an Electro Stage based on the Stage but with only half the power. That is 1 section of Piano, Organ and Synth. You would then be able to upgrade to the full version at a later date. Since that post I see Roland have released an RD-08 stage piano with option of upgrading it to an RD-88 for £300. Could Nord offer similar upgrades? So you could add (unlock) and extra Piano or Synth section?

That woukd akso mean the keybeds are standardised too. Could this be an idea that Nord would consider?

There is no practical way for Nord to do this. The stage literally has multiple redundant DSP chips to run the multiple sound engines, and each of those has its own memory. So you'd be paying for the physical hardware of a Stage which would significantly increase the cost of the Electro, so some subset of people could upgrade in the future.

[Gambold]

I think the Electro has run its course. Clavia has stopped development of organ engines and terminated their organ board line - and what is the Electro, other than the Piano with an added organ section?

In other words, the only reason to buy an Electro INSTEAD of a Piano is because you want the Hammond to go along with it. You are also not a regular Hammond player, or else you'd have a dedicated Hammond clone, like one made by Crumar or Hammond itself. You are a universal keyboard player who uses the Hammond sometimes, and probably a lot less than you think you do. Go ahead, count your presets, look at your setlists - my bet is your Hammond stuff is 20% or less.

Clavia knows this, which is why they aren't putting a lot of work into the Hammond side of the Electro. There just aren't enough Hammond-heads out there who don't already own a dedicated organ clone.

i would rather see a "Piano Lite" that has some of the features and memory scaled back but sports an entry-level (for Nord) price - in the low $2000s. Imagine that, a Nord for $2250...a perfect gateway for new and future users to eventually move up to a full Piano, a Grand, or a Stage. As for the Electro - sure, release another one with maybe more memory if you can, but feature-wise it has "evolved out." You aren't going to get a color display or a redesigned preset system or anything really different - that would have to appear on a Stage first and as we know, nothing really new showed up on the Stage 4.

[analogika]

I think the Electro has run its course. Clavia has stopped development of organ engines and terminated their organ board line - and what is the Electro, other than the Piano with an added organ section?

An organ with an added piano section and a very basic sample player?

If you're predominantly playing organ but want access to the piano library and the occasional synth, then the Nord Electro gives you that at half the price of the Stage.

Why do you think it's the only keyboard they offer with 61 keys in the console Hammonds' C-to-C range?

[vcfvca]

But if you are mainly playing organ you won't be using an Electro. Crumar and Hammond offer more "organcentric" boards with good additional sounds. But I do think the Electro has run its course but Nord may get one iteration out of it. They have got to improve the sample player and add some of the stuff from the Stage. It was first announced in 2018 so will they ever update it?

[Gambold]

>An organ with an added piano section and a very basic sample player?<

That's an interesting take but I don't think it is either how most Electro users/buyers see the board, or how the Electro is being marketed by Clavia.

Compounding the issue is that organs require a different keyboard than pianos to function at their best. So on the Electro you have to compromise - do you go with with hammer action and piano keys, or do you take "semi-weighted" with waterfall? I think most buyers get the waterfall by default - and while the low weight of the keyboard is pleasant, in time the lack of good action for regular piano playing becomes ever more irritating.

So come time to upgrade, you have a decision to make, if you only want to cart one keyboard around. How badly do you need the organ? Will samples replace the occasional need? Since I'm assuming (perhaps wrongly), that MOST Electro players are using the organ less than 20% of the time, I don't see much of a future for the Electro.