Stage 4 Owners - Any impression?

[maxpiano]

On the NS4, how do the knobs under the display work? Are they endless?

Yes, as you can see they have no position indicator on the knob, they are dials/encoders.

[superbender]

Morph is something you have to set up in advance. And in every patch. Plus if the wheel is set for one thing, it can't be set for another. To me, the real beauty of morph is for manipulating multiple items at once. But to just be able to grab any synth knob, at any time, and have it work smoothly without a jump if you want to tweak it from its current value, would be, well, valuable! It's what endless encoders with LEDs do, while also immediately showing their current values, which is great. But the last Stage that had them for anything more than volume was the NS2EX. And the last Nord that had them for lots of things was the Lead 3.

On the NS4, how do the knobs under the display work? Are they endless?

You mean the morphs under the Synth-Screen? They are endless, but can´t be used for morphing.

[uhura]

On the NS4, how do the knobs under the display work? Are they endless?

Yes, and I already suggested in another thread to use them at least to change the filter parameters.

But the last Stage that had them for anything more than volume was the NS2EX.

You are right and therefore i keep my N2EX.

[superbender]

So I have one additional positive thing after the first rehearsals which I want to share with you.
In a lot of songs I have to switch between two Sound setups. Lucky enough the 7 Layer are sufficient for me. For that reason I can use Layer Scene II in these songs.

The good thing is, that I use the Foot Switch to switch to Layer II Scene and back. So if I hold the pedal I am instantly in the Layer II Scene and don´t have to use my hand for the switching.
In combination with the sustain pedal it is possible to hold a sound (e.g. Piano with Pad) and switch to another sound (e.g and play an Organ).

[anotherscott]

On the NS4, how do the knobs under the display work? Are they endless?

Yes, as you can see they have no position indicator on the knob, they are dials/encoders.

That's what I thought, but I wasn't sure I"d seen it confirmed, thanks!

You mean the morphs under the Synth-Screen? They are endless, but can´t be used for morphing.

Yes, those knobs, but I never expected them to be assignable as morph sources, just simple single-parameter knobs is fine... but it would be useful to be able to assign them to many things. Which brings me to...

Yes, and I already suggested in another thread to use them at least to change the filter parameters.

Exactly. Even though there are hard knobs, it would be good to be able to control filter cutoff/resonance from the endless knobs as well. Like, maybe hitting the 2 buttons in the Filter section simultaneously could be interpreted as a command to switch the display/encoders to filter controls.

[uhura]

Like, maybe hitting the 2 buttons in the Filter section simultaneously could be interpreted as a command to switch the display/encoders to filter controls.

Yes, or just Shift + Filter On
It would be more in line with the operating concept and I think it is not used yet?

[anotherscott]

Like, maybe hitting the 2 buttons in the Filter section simultaneously could be interpreted as a command to switch the display/encoders to filter controls.

Yes, or just Shift + Filter On
It would be more in line with the operating concept and I think it is not used yet?

Well, whatever button/combination invokes it, I think it should be something you can easily do with one hand, because this is a change you could want to make while playing.

[spradders]

A couple of questions:
- On my Stage2ex you could press shift and adjust a knob to see the value without changing it. For example, I'd go to a new program and want to know what the treble eq level is, so shift+treble shows me the value. This doesn't work on Stage 4; is there another way to see values in a program without changing them?
- Also on Stage 2ex a split point was a hard cut off, but on the 4 you can do a cross-fade in / out across the next 6 or 12 semitones. This is a REALLY nice feature. Did it also exist on the 3?

(I still can't get used to the volume sliders working the normal way, which is opposite to the drawbars!)

[maxpiano]

A couple of questions:
- On my Stage2ex you could press shift and adjust a knob to see the value without changing it. For example, I'd go to a new program and want to know what the treble eq level is, so shift+treble shows me the value. This doesn't work on Stage 4; is there another way to see values in a program without changing them?
- Also on Stage 2ex a split point was a hard cut off, but on the 4 you can do a cross-fade in / out across the next 6 or 12 semitones. This is a REALLY nice feature. Did it also exist on the 3?

Since NS3 you do that using the Monitor button (see NS4 manual "Monitor/Copy/Paste" at page 42)

Split crossfade was also implemented since NS3, so not a new feature of NS4

[piano1]

I have used the Stage 4 for a week now.
First of all it is a very professional keyboard, and one of the most complete keyboard I have every tried. I feel that the new layer adjustment is a very powerful tool, especially in combination with the separate effects. It makes designing sounds way more easier than earlier. I know one could combining sounds earlier as well, but with the new layout it is easier to control level and designing the sounds. You could also adjust the sound level very fast compared to earlier, which can be very handy in some live situations.

The new arpeggio setting where one can design the arpeggio more detailed is very nice. I also like a lot that there is drawbars!!

The sounds them self aren't revolutionary different from NS3, and one can with some tweaks mange to reproduce most of the sounds.

My biggest cons is the price and lack of song mode.