Nord Piano 4 clicking sounds

[Goronzo]

Hi about a week ago i bought Nord Piano 4 and some weird noise appeared when pressing key F. Key is responding ok, it only makes this irritating noise. Before Nord Piano 4 I had Nord Piano 3 which I had to return because of keybed problems. Is it the same with Nord Piano 4? Should I return it or are these noises normal? Thanks

Link to video:

[SteveNordP3]

Ugh..... the good news if you’re playing live in a combo somewhere, no one will hear that. The bad news is you will anytime you’re playing it. I have to imagine that’s a simple enough adjustment but man - the dough you shell out for these puppies leads to an expectation this kind of stuff won’t happen.....

See if your dealer can fix it - I wouldn’t open the case and void the warranty...

Good luck!

[23skidoo]

the dough you shell out for these puppies leads to an expectation this kind of stuff won’t happen.....

I have never understood why people feel this way.

Keyboards are physical objects, they break, they have defects. Considering the millions that are out there and the hundreds of millions of keys that exist, there have to be defects on occasion. Nord doesn't control the keyboard production, although they do a limited test in their built workshop to ensure that nothing is obviously wrong, this certainly doesn't involve playing the keyboard a lot under varying circumstances - that's an unrealistic QC expectation of any manufacturer.

Things break, no matter what they cost. That's the reality. Expect it, and, if you paid a lot for something, expect the manufacturer to stand by it when it happens. Having the expectation that an "expensive" (and let me assure you, by no means are Nord keyboards "expensive" in the grand scheme of pricey keyboards... they're quite a good value in fact) keyboard shouldn't ever have defects is rather nonsense, honestly.

Go look at the number of BMW and Mercedes that have to go back to the shop if you want an example of actually-overpriced gear that break more often than lower cost options per unit of usage. Nord keyboards use Fatar actions and have the same relative average rate of defects of any other higher-end keyboard manufacturer relying on the same vendor.

In short, I recommend you change your expectation that this kind of stuff won't happen - because I can assure you it will, it does, and it happens to all brands from time to time.

[SteveNordP3]

Let’s just say we’re both entitled to our opinion, 23skidoo.

Perhaps the new partnership with Kawai for the Nord Grand is a tacit acknowledgment that the Fatar product isn’t doing the Nord brand any justice? I don’t know. With all industry has learned about quality, lean manufacturing, six-sigma, etc., it’s just shocking and disappointing that at this price point, we hear frequent complaints about stuff like this. True, you can buy plenty of digital pianos for $500 and while the keys might not click, the sounds of the piano do nothing for you. I get that. But is it really asking all that much for a more predictably good experience from a premium brand who has such stunning samples?

[23skidoo]

But is it really asking all that much for a more predictably good experience from a premium brand who has such stunning samples?

Yes. There's a reason there aren't that many brands making keyboards out there. They're difficult to mass produce at the prices and margins the industry demands. Those pianos at $500 also have crap actions, cheap cases, are built with near-slave-labour, etc. Your money goes many places in a Nord product, the keyboard is only one of many.

My personal opinion on the Kawaii action is that Fatar just hasn't (can't/won't/fill in your preferred verb) make an action that feels and plays as good as Kawaii can - and Kawaii is pretty much at the top of the game when it comes to digital piano actions - they might be equalled, in some cases, but consistently they're among the most preferred actions of most serious pianists who are not playing a Bosie or equivalent acoustic grand. Nord realized (probably a long time ago) that Fatar just can't cut the mustard in that sense and now we're seeing the results of them making efforts to change.

I predict that approximately the same percentage of people who buy a Nord Grand with the Kawaii action will have key problems of various kinds as those who buy other Kawaii keyboards - which is to say, from reading other forums, about the same percentage as people complain about Fatar's higher end actions - occasionally, but not nearly as often as you'd think, since those with no problems are silent and you only hear from those yelling about some minor issue that's either trivially fixed or covered under warranty anyway.

Anyways, I doubt the Kawaii action will be a massive improvement in the defect rate, though I'd be delighted to find out that Kawaii has somehow found a way to make the Nord action superior to their own actions in their other boards and changed the game. Delightful, but unlikely.

[23skidoo]

To the OP: return it for a replacement board, is what I'd do, if they won't do that, get it repaired under warranty ASAP. That's not a normal keyboard behaviour and it's what warranties and purchase guarantees are for.

[Martinsk]

Goronzo: first thing, I'm glad to see the same flag
To the point: I had similar problem with Piano 3 and this is what I got from authorised service


Next step: my dealer got angry so he took it into his own hands and took care of it


Then, during first gig after the repair the repaired key broke. Quite a shock during the concert!
So again to the service center but now I received a whole new piece. I was so happy

But not for so long. Things went even worse. After some time the keybed sounded like this


So again to the service centre. The problem was fixed but they caused another one. I'm wondering how they couldn't see this!


In a while the keys broke again


So again to the service center. When it came back, the C² sounded kinda dully. I couldn't get high velocity on that key SO AGIAN...

After all this they kept the instrument a returned me its full price.
Want my advice? Stay away from Nord. As of me, never ever. I don't trust them anymore.

[23skidoo]

Want my advice? Stay away from Nord. As of me, never ever. I don't trust them anymore.

That's kind of rich to post on a Nord forum full of largely extremely happy users.

[Martinsk]

Want my advice? Stay away from Nord. As of me, never ever. I don't trust them anymore.

That's kind of rich to post on a Nord forum full of largely extremely happy users.

Along with them there is also bunch of extremely unhappy users. Or ex-users.

[cliffjpiano]

I have the same knocking key problem with my NP4, but with a lower F key. I also have a problem with a sudden spike in sound during continuously playing. According the Nord distributor in USA (American Music Supply), the problem is due to debris in the key sensor. I plan to take it to the shop to have these issues repaired under warranty.