Is the Nord Stage EX still worth it?

[anotherscott]

I'd be worried that I might not be able to get the same expression and clarity

...
expression and clarity are not delivered, in organs, by how you press the keys, in any sense

I think he was talking about piano, there, not organ (in the context of "classically trained jazz pianist I'm used to fully weighted hammer action keys" and "moving from my upright at home").

If it cannot use the latest Acoustic Piano sounds from Nord, such as the White Grand, then I would recommend against it.

OTOH, for piano playing, what other keyboard could he find for £800 that is likely to be as good or better than the Nord Stage EX 88, even without Nord's newest piano enhancements? And also have good EPs and organ functionality?

I'm coming from classical piano playing. Wasn't too successful, though (Beethoven/Chopin was partially doable for me as a left hander). AFAIK, there's no keyboard on the market that fits perfectly for me for both EP and organ playing. So, I opted for what I thought was closest and went with a Stage 3 Compact. That way I got a great organ board and EP sounds that can be played OK from the built-in keyboard and perfectly from an external second keyboard which I use for acoustic piano, too. It wasn't evident for me at all to play organ on weighted keys.

A 2-board setup to get both actions is ideal, but not realistic if the goal is to stay near a £800 budget. For just a single board, with the #1 priority being piano, I think the Stage EX8 8 sounds like a strong choice, also because, as piano-oriented (hammer) actions go, the Stage EX 88 is more suitable for organ playing than most.

Apart from the newest piano samples that can't be played on a Stage EX, there is no option to play other samples (strings etc.) in the synth section: It's only a synth, no sample player AFAIK. That feature came with the Stage 2, I think.

Right. But he is taking that into account already (where he said "I could...connect the keyboard to Keyscape etc. to compensate for not being able to use newer Nord sounds with the older keyboard)

And you will need to use a converter cable for MIDI as there is no USB-MIDI on the Stage EX. Should work, though.

Yes, that works fine. Until keyboards started doing USB over MIDI, that kind of adapter has been the main way to connect a MIDI keyboard to a computer for the last 20+ years.

[Hlaalu]

I'd be worried that I might not be able to get the same expression and clarity

...
expression and clarity are not delivered, in organs, by how you press the keys, in any sense

I think he was talking about piano, there, not organ (in the context of "classically trained jazz pianist I'm used to fully weighted hammer action keys" and "moving from my upright at home").

Re-reading now it makes sense as you say. I somehow inferred he was referring to EP and organ playing. I think I will leave my post there as it could useful in other circumstances still.

[FZiegler]

OK, I didn't realise the term '(E) piano' probably meant both AP and EP. I was sure, he had another solution for the acoustic pianos. Just re-read it. So, the 88 should indeed be the best starting point.