Everything about the Nord Piano, Nord Piano 2, Nord Piano 3, Nord Piano 4, Nord Piano 5, and the Nord Grand.

Re: Piano 3 tale of woe

Postby SteveNordP3 » 17 May 2018, 03:51

Yes - businesses won't apologize because that's an admission of guilt which creates liability. And that of course gets exacerbated by customers who are zealously out to prove big business is always evil. So businesses can't admit guilt. So consumers think business is evil. And the cycle continues to spin out of control due to diametrically opposed interests and lack of trust.

I've explained to the dealer from whom I bought the unit new that the sounds are stellar, the interface and downloading capability is great, but the Fatar keybed is horrific. They offered no apology nor did they talk to Nord as I asked them to. In fact - they've stopped reaching out to check in on how I'm enjoying the purchase which they used to do monthly...

I've used Nord's comment tool on their website at least 3 times for the same reason. Nothing. Three grand is not a small chunk of change to me - my expectations are high - shelling out that kind of money. They got much of it right but honestly, the more I play it, the more that horrible Fatar keyboard steals my joy.

And so what at this point? I'm not skilled enough to pull the guts out and make it work with a better keybed, I'm not rich enough to trash it and buy something different, I'm not interested in hauling it AND a better 88-key controller, and worst - their piano sounds are to my ear the holy grail. I wouldn't be happy with any other piano sound. So I'm stuck with it - which isn't the world's worst problem to have (it is still an absolutely DELICIOUS collection of pianos). I just wish there were more of an acknowledgement that the Fatar is a bad idea - but then there's the liability thing again - and the circle continues...
SteveNordP3
 
Posts: 236
Joined: 10 Feb 2017, 02:34
Country: United States of America
Has thanked: 18 times
Been thanked: 54 times
Your Nord Gear #1: Nord Piano 3

Re: Piano 3 tale of woe


Sponsor
 

Re: Piano 3 tale of woe

Postby Alicja » 17 May 2018, 11:07

tel:+4684427360

That’s their number in Sweden give them a call and speak to somebody senior. Let them know that you are very unhappy and you would like this resolved properly. I think you should get a new keyboard and they should keep their faulty one.

Which serial numbers were affected and where did this information about serial numbers come from?
Alicja
 
Posts: 24
Joined: 28 May 2017, 12:28
Country: Australia
Has thanked: 17 times
Been thanked: 0 time
Your Nord Gear #1: Nord Piano 3

Re: Piano 3 tale of woe

Postby Alicja » 17 May 2018, 11:07

tel:+4684427360

That’s their number in Sweden give them a call and speak to somebody senior. Let them know that you are very unhappy and you would like this resolved properly. I think you should get a new keyboard and they should keep their faulty one.

Which serial numbers were affected and where did this information about serial numbers come from?
Alicja
 
Posts: 24
Joined: 28 May 2017, 12:28
Country: Australia
Has thanked: 17 times
Been thanked: 0 time
Your Nord Gear #1: Nord Piano 3

Re: Piano 3 tale of woe

Postby jefsco » 17 May 2018, 16:08

stevenordp3:

not familiar with your posting history, but in this thread you are not specifying what it is that makes the fatar keyboard so bad for you.
the knocking issue cannot be blamed entirely on fatar if nord did not design the proper space for the action used.

are you referring to the feel of the action?
Last edited by jefsco on 17 May 2018, 16:14, edited 1 time in total.
jeff
jefsco
 
Posts: 35
Joined: 24 Apr 2018, 00:01
Location: birmingham, al
Country: United States of America
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 5 times

Re: Piano 3 tale of woe

Postby SteveNordP3 » 17 May 2018, 19:23

jefsco wrote:stevenordp3:

not familiar with your posting history, but in this thread you are not specifying what it is that makes the fatar keyboard so bad for you.
the knocking issue cannot be blamed entirely on fatar if nord did not design the proper space for the action used.

are you referring to the feel of the action?


Sorry - I've posted a few times on this topic. I don't have the knocking noise others describe and my serial number is past the point where I believe they corrected that specific problem. It is loud, however, uneven, and not as substantial/"grandish" feeling as other actions I have used in Yamah and Roland controllers and keyboards. And it's just annoying - not fatal - because the sounds are (to my ears anyway) LIGHT YEARS ahead of all others. I guess the analogy would be for Porsche to sell a 911 with a Toro lawnmower engine. Why would you do that? :-)

Still the best piano sound library anywhere. As long as I don't suffer some random failure as others have described with keys suddenly not returning, dropping out, developing the knowckinf sound or otherwise being out of commission - I can live with it. I'd really love for them to do a Piano Rack and let me get whatever controller works best for me. I'll stop now :-)

The author SteveNordP3 was thanked by:
jefsco
SteveNordP3
 
Posts: 236
Joined: 10 Feb 2017, 02:34
Country: United States of America
Has thanked: 18 times
Been thanked: 54 times
Your Nord Gear #1: Nord Piano 3

Re: Piano 3 tale of woe

Postby greg-b » 20 May 2018, 10:26

I'm with you @SteveNordP3. The piano sounds are just spectacular, and just come alive under your fingers in a way which is just intuitively appealing to an acoustic pianist (especially if, as I have, one has played some high-end grand pianos). It's so hard to completely hate the instrument, even with a ridiculously uneven keybed! Ironically, when I first got the NP3, it played acceptably well, except I couldn't ignore the knocking. Probably should have just put headphones on and turned the volume up...

Taking mine in to the shop again in a week or so (work and travel preclude doing it before then) to see what the verdict of the independent adjudicator is. Will keep all y'all posted.
greg-b
 
Posts: 5
Joined: 28 Feb 2018, 00:28
Country: New Zealand
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 0 time
Your Nord Gear #1: Nord Piano 3

Re: Piano 3 tale of woe

Postby derrellpiper » 21 May 2018, 19:14

I sold my Piano 3 for a Stage 3 88, hoping for a decent keybed, but ultimately gave up on that too. I’m considering a Kawai MP11SE or VPC1 next. While I can’t really play piano, I guess I can play well enough to tell the difference. Neither was an acceptable piano to me. I would continue trying to get in touch with Clavia.
Linnstrument, Pro 3 SE, Tempest, Prophet 10 & 12, Synclavier Regen, Cirklon 2, Torso T-1, Max/Ableton/Push 3, Kawai MP11SE, Pioneer Pro XDJ-XZ.
derrellpiper
 
Posts: 226
Joined: 11 Aug 2016, 19:12
Location: San Rafael, CA
Country: United States of America
Has thanked: 23 times
Been thanked: 42 times
Your Nord Gear #1: Nord Lead 3

Re: Piano 3 tale of woe

Postby SteveNordP3 » 21 May 2018, 23:34

greg-b wrote:I'm with you @SteveNordP3. The piano sounds are just spectacular, and just come alive under your fingers in a way which is just intuitively appealing to an acoustic pianist (especially if, as I have, one has played some high-end grand pianos). It's so hard to completely hate the instrument, even with a ridiculously uneven keybed! Ironically, when I first got the NP3, it played acceptably well, except I couldn't ignore the knocking. Probably should have just put headphones on and turned the volume up...

Taking mine in to the shop again in a week or so (work and travel preclude doing it before then) to see what the verdict of the independent adjudicator is. Will keep all y'all posted.


You know what else is amazing about the sounds - the pedal effects and string resonance. I tried my P3 with a single sustain pedal because I thought for traveling it would be easier than the triple pedal. I can hear the difference in sounds with the single sustain pedal. I'm willing to bet no one listening in a live setting would really notice - but as the player, I hear it and it affects my mood - not being overly dramatic here - that's just how amazing these samples are.

Good luck with your quest! :-)
SteveNordP3
 
Posts: 236
Joined: 10 Feb 2017, 02:34
Country: United States of America
Has thanked: 18 times
Been thanked: 54 times
Your Nord Gear #1: Nord Piano 3

Re: Piano 3 tale of woe

Postby greg-b » 26 May 2018, 05:45

Here endeth the saga.

Arranged to take the piano in this morning for the chap to have a look at. He played it side-by-side with his display model, agreed with me regarding the unevenness, and then demonstrated exactly the same keys were playing quietly on the display model. This is consistent across different piano samples, so can't even be blamed on a sampling error. Would that Nords had individual note volume control (they don't, do they?). So I have eaten humble pie and emailed the repairer with my apologies for implying the repair job wasn't up to scratch.

Long story short, this is a dealbreaker for me. I'm not keeping the Nord and have ordered a new Roland to replace it. I can at least now move the Nord on in good conscience.

Having spent a couple of hours playing various models and then getting home again with my Nord, I was struck with:
a) how dreadful the keybed really is in comparison to quite literally everything else I played; and
b) how much better the sounds are to anything I played this morning, and what a damn shame it all is.

A Roland PHA50 keybed in a Nord case. Now that would be quite something.

Thanks to all of you for your comments and advice. Great community here.
greg-b
 
Posts: 5
Joined: 28 Feb 2018, 00:28
Country: New Zealand
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 0 time
Your Nord Gear #1: Nord Piano 3

Re: Piano 3 tale of woe

Postby baekgaard » 26 May 2018, 11:37

Good luck with your quest finding the ultimate piano -- or at least one you like to play :-)

I've gone the other way (Yamaha -> Roland -> Nord), and don't really like the Roland actions nowadays any longer, having adjusted to the Nord actions. I find the Nords are quite nice also when playing for extended periods. Yes, it's a compromise, but so are many of the other actions too, one way or the other. And as I play a combination of acoustic and epiano on my Stage 3, and a bit of organ and synth in a pinch, then it works really well for me. Besides, my acoustic pianos (upright and grand) both have a relatively light touch, so the Nord sits nicely with them. And most acoustics are also really different between them anyway, unless you happen to be able to play very well adjusted grands in concert halls around the world (I don't) :-)

Apart from sharing my own journey, and as for the substance of your question, then the Nords DO have individual calibration of the individual keys; this is done via some electronics attached to the keybed, which is individually calibrated at the factory -- if that was your question. So the mechanical "touch" is whatever the keybed delivers, but the finger-to-sound action should be optimized for each keyboard.

One simple test to try out is to transpose one octave up or down; the finger-to-sound connection should stay the same, and you can then check if any unevenness is part of the sample(s), amplification or the keys.

But thanks for sharing your experiences in an open and honest way!
baekgaard
 
Posts: 1716
Joined: 14 Jul 2017, 11:32
Country: Denmark
Has thanked: 702 times
Been thanked: 742 times
Your Nord Gear #1: Nord Electro 6
Your Nord Gear #2: Nord Stage 3

Previous

Return to Nord Piano / Grand Forum



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 25 guests