General Discussion of the Nord Stage (EX), Nord Stage 2 (EX), Nord Stage 3, and Nord Stage 4 Synths, FAQ, Troubleshooting etc.

Re: Worst Thing About Nord Stage 3...

Postby stopmakingsense » 02 Nov 2019, 15:25

Worst thing is I didn't get a Nord Stage 3 sooner.

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Re: Worst Thing About Nord Stage 3...


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Re: Worst Thing About Nord Stage 3...

Postby mangepange » 13 Nov 2019, 09:30

elsongs wrote:Four complaints about the NS3:

1. Weak clavinet sounds
2. Not enough onboard RAM to load *any* soundsets in the Nord library
3. Lack of Auto-Wah filter effect found in Electro 2
4. No one makes a case for the NS3HA88 that can fit in the backseat of my car.

5. No audio over usb
6. Not possible to make velocity-layered patches with different samples per key
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Re: Worst Thing About Nord Stage 3...

Postby Tooomasz » 13 Nov 2019, 10:56

Don't have the Nord, but I guess the one-knob dialing of the piano sounds must be a bummer
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Re: Worst Thing About Nord Stage 3...

Postby hector space » 13 Nov 2019, 14:07

LewTheKeysGuy wrote:...

1: Clavinet sounds do need some calibration to get them to sound "ideal" but in their basic settings I would agree that they need a bit more charm.
2: I agree with regards both Piano Sample RAM and Instrument Sample RAM, this does need to be improved upon. 2GB for the piano module is rather poor, as an example, if you wanted to load XXL editions of certain pianos, others would have to go or be substituted with lower spec samples, that's not exactly a good thing. I'd say at least 3GB would cover a fair bit, 4GB would be the absolute ideal but that's expensive stuff. Instrument sample RAM should be at least 1GB as I too use a lot of instrument sample data.
3: Yes, I'd agree here but we can't always have what we want.
4: The only viable way of transporting your stage 3 in a case is to get an aluminium custom case with dimensions just a touch over inside with hard foam lining and wheels profiled under the case with foot stops if wheeling the case around.

I'd also like to add a couple of matters here...

5: No USB Audio / MIDI, this would help a lot in certain scenarios where taking an audio interface on a session can be annoying, to have Audio / MIDI over USB would help a fair bit.
6: The synthesis engine though useful in many ways, could benefit from merging both the Nord Lead 4 and Lead A1 together to offer full functionality of both.

I've owned various Nord rigs over the years, my previous studio was full of virtually every Nord synth and stage piano because I trusted their equipment, still do. I'm getting back on my feet after a very difficult time and on Monday of next week, will be taking on a replacement Stage 3-88 and Nord Grand, along with the Piano Monitors, thanks to an amazing supporter through a charity grant.

Some things we do need to consider here...

Sampling via Nord Sound Editor, alongside the handling of the actual sampler engine supporting one velocity map, this does need to be addressed as there are a number of circumstances where a particular sampled instrument would benefit a multi-sampled velocity specification. We could also do with Nord Sound Editor giving us the ability to create our own piano libraries including digital piano / hybrid instruments. After all, let's get this to brass tacks, this is basically a mellotron on steroids with a synth and organ setup added.

Agreed
Politely put!
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Re: Worst Thing About Nord Stage 3...

Postby dmamfmgm » 28 Dec 2019, 15:18

LewTheKeysGuy wrote:5: No USB Audio / MIDI, this would help a lot in certain scenarios where taking an audio interface on a session can be annoying, to have Audio / MIDI over USB would help a fair bit.


I'm just getting my DAW set up, been taking it slow and learning a lot. Could someone please confirm, the Nord Stage 3 MIDI is only through the actual MIDI ports?

It's not also available via the USB?

I just haven't gotten to the point where I could plug it in. Somehow I got the impression that there were both actual MIDI ports and it did USB-MIDI.
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Re: Worst Thing About Nord Stage 3...

Postby analogika » 28 Dec 2019, 15:24

Nords have all supported MIDI over USB for many years now.
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Re: Worst Thing About Nord Stage 3...

Postby FZiegler » 29 Dec 2019, 21:59

Hi, I'm new to the board. Preparing to get my Stage 3, probably. So, back to the original topic:

The worst thing with my Stage is: You rethink it twice before buying, so I even don't have one yet - which means lack of pleasure and familiarity, obviously.

But why I hesitated: It has very fine and playable sounds, invites to get morphed wounderfully and makes playing a delight - but I miss some extra fine features like different tunings/temperaments (mainly for church organs and harpsichords, i.e. the piano and organ section) and round robin + multiple layers (for the sample/synth section). A single sustain pedal with pedal noise would be a more theoretical wish (for band gigs with full solo parts).

Indeed, I'm looking forward to having it - just awaiting NAMM and Musikmesse Frankfort for more information about new Nords.
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Re: Worst Thing About Nord Stage 3...

Postby Claucar » 26 Sep 2021, 23:13

- Samples in sampling section, except some strings and some winds maybe....are really very poor. NS 3 worst point. No doubt for me.
Just one layer you can hear on most of them, so there's no dynamics, no expression. Guitars and basses for example are very dissaponting. Korg M1 guitars and basses (from 80s...) sounds much better.
- Very poor RAM space on piano and sampling sections, and even worse you CANNOT expand it!
- CP80 deserved better sampling, it's not XL, it's in SMALL format...
- I don't like how ALL piano programs sounds/reacts in the higher section (maybe highest octave, or octave and 1/2..). There's no really FForte samplings when you press very hard. It happens on all acoustic and electric pianos.
- You don't have some relevant programable parameters on effects sections. Like reverb time, reverb pre delay, or phaser stages, or auto pan waveforms, etc..Anyway the effects quality is very nice and there are lots of variety.
- There's no way to invert the keyboard pitch, or play another scales than the equal temperated
- Broadly, I think NS 3 should have more expressive tools. Like an interesting matrix modulation, a ribbon controller, etc...
All this is just my humble opinion
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Re: Worst Thing About Nord Stage 3...

Postby Will_Gould » 30 Sep 2021, 00:14

Claucar wrote:- Samples in sampling section, except some strings and some winds maybe....are really very poor. NS 3 worst point. No doubt for me.
Just one layer you can hear on most of them, so there's no dynamics, no expression. Guitars and basses for example are very dissaponting. Korg M1 guitars and basses (from 80s...) sounds much better.
- Very poor RAM space on piano and sampling sections, and even worse you CANNOT expand it!
- CP80 deserved better sampling, it's not XL, it's in SMALL format...
- I don't like how ALL piano programs sounds/reacts in the higher section (maybe highest octave, or octave and 1/2..). There's no really FForte samplings when you press very hard. It happens on all acoustic and electric pianos.
- You don't have some relevant programable parameters on effects sections. Like reverb time, reverb pre delay, or phaser stages, or auto pan waveforms, etc..Anyway the effects quality is very nice and there are lots of variety.
- There's no way to invert the keyboard pitch, or play another scales than the equal temperated
- Broadly, I think NS 3 should have more expressive tools. Like an interesting matrix modulation, a ribbon controller, etc...
All this is just my humble opinion
regards


The orchestral samples are, in many cases, reasonably usable... but I definitely agree that there is something strange going on in the upper register of the piano samples, and for me it is particularly pronounced on the XL grand pianos. The Imperial and 3D seem to have disproportionately short decay/sustain even with the sustain pedal pressed - they just don't ring out properly. So far, I have got around that by using the Silver or Bright Grand if I have to do a piano solo using the top octave and a half. But this is quite a serious problem for a keyboard that I spent more than 3 times more than my last, which has a more resonant piano sound across the entire keyboard.
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Re: Worst Thing About Nord Stage 3...

Postby Kaffimusic » 30 Sep 2021, 13:08

This is a Nord forum. People love their instrument and use them for their reasons. But it´s also no mistake to think about what you expect for your money, see what you get elsewhere, compare and decide what you want and whether that´s worth it.
The things you complain about are partly subjective taste, partly absolutely right and also worth saying. Most people here are happy with what they have, believe it´s the greatest thing they could use and will not change their view. I even think a number does not even know what you are talking about, because they do not feel or even recognize any limits or flaws. The NS series is limited compared to other keyboards/synthesizers/stagepianos and maybe exactly what some musicians want and need. When they are also content to spend the money, okay, everyone is happy.
As we say in Germany: Other mothers got pretty daughters, too.
It has no use telling the obvious, get another keyboard. Try it, understand it, take conclusions, decide and act. Nowadays there is Youtube with TONS of demovideos about keyboards. Just because one brand is omnipresent and looks fancy on stage does not mean it´s what you want.
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