really liked the Nord Electro 3 HP (in-store demo model)

[Jeff_D_in_MD]

I spent about 45 minutes with the Nord Electro 3 HP last week at Chuck Levin's Washington Music Center (Wheaton MD) and was very impressed. I play mostly piano and sometimes need Rhodes or B3 sounds, but grew up with piano and am more used to that action. I am seeking the mythical all-in-one board that can suffice for most situations, and believe the NE3HP fits the bill for me. For my test I used my personal headphones (Sony MDR-V6) rather than the store's speakers.

The piano action was quite satisfactory, and certainly expressive enough for my dynamic range and the type of music I play. Perhaps I can describe it as follows: at a given output volume setting there is no problem on this board with playing mp, mf, f, or ff, but perhaps pp, p and fff would be a problem. There were buttons for "String Resonance" and "Long Release," but I couldn't really tell the difference with them on or off. I think String Resonance only applies with the damper pedal in use, but no pedal was connected to the display model in the store.

There appeared to be 4 acoustic piano sounds loaded on the board (or maybe 3 plus 1 electric grand). I assume they were factory defaults. I liked the first Grand Piano the best. The sound was quite good, far better than my NE2, comparable to (maybe not quite as good as) my Yamaha P120, and obviously not as good as my acoustic Yamaha. The high end was a little shrill, but turning it down with the 3-band EQ fixed it. Definitely good enough to gig with for me.

The B3 emulation was quite good, but I am not qualified to comment in detail because my only other reference point is the NE2 organ. I set the trigger point to "high" on the NE3HP, which seemed better for glissandos and quick playing. There are Vox Continental and Farfisa options but I barely tried them.

There were several Electric Piano and Clav options that I tried but did not spend much time with. There was also a bank of additional samples of strings, brass, voice, pipe organ, etc. I don't generally need such sounds, but it can't hurt to have them.

Compared to the NE2, the user interface is more complex and less obvious. It took me a while to find the overdrive setting, for example. However, the learning curve doesn't seem too bad and I would certainly RTFM if I buy this board.

Verdict: I think I could easily use this as a single board in every rehearsal, every jam session, and nearly all gigs. Now I'm trying to convince myself to actually shell out the cash.

[Cute James]

Sounds like you really enjoyed it, and are just looking for a little extra prodding in the right direction.

[prod]

Buy it!

James
x

[bdodds]

Yes, and you have folks in your area to support you, too. (In case that matters at all)

[Jeff_D_in_MD]

The only kind of support that matters would be actual donations of cash!

I really want to buy this board, but am having a hard time forking over the cash when I already have a rig that works perfectly fine but is too cumbersome. If one of my boards died I could easily justify the purchase. Maybe I should sell the other gear used.

[stiiiiiiive]

To me the comfrot of a lighter set up is worth. My two grams... uh cents

[thom0720]

i got the NE73HP - just completed a 25 city tour in Europe with this board... ~For me the key factor was that it weighs 11 kilos - So with flightcase (Gator) and swell pedel and sustain pedal and cables it's just about 23 Kg - Great for airplanes.
i loved it - i did miss a bit extra velocity - I would like the hammer action to be more dynamic than it is, especially regarding pp and p...(very soft playing) - otherwise, perfect.