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Best 88 weighted controller for NS3C?

Postby pianoman101 » 03 Dec 2021, 03:53

Hey!

I own a Nord Stage 3 compact which I love, but desperately need a great 88 fully weighted controller to use for piano and string sounds. I actually come from a piano background and am looking for whatever the best weighted action there is out there.

Not sure if I should be looking solely at a midi controller, stage piano, or even a full workstation like a Roland Fantom 8, but any suggestions are greatly appreciated
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Best 88 weighted controller for NS3C?


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Re: Best 88 weighted controller for NS3C?

Postby ericL » 03 Dec 2021, 04:15

If you like the NS3 so much, have you thought about getting a NS3 88 in place of the Compact?

There are several users here that love the Nord Piano 4 and 5, in addition to the Nord Grand as a dedicated digital piano in addition to controlling something like a NS3 Compact.
Nords: NE2, NS2 88, NS3 Compact x 2
Live rig: NS3, Vent, Radial KL-8, Shure PSM-900 IEM Rig, UE18 & UE7 IEMs.
Studio: Hammond A-101 & Leslie 122, Yamaha CP-80, Yamaha S90, NS2, DSI Prophet-6, Vent II, Roland JX-8P.
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Re: Best 88 weighted controller for NS3C?

Postby cphollis » 03 Dec 2021, 05:28

The StudioLogic series comes to mind if you want a pure controller. For a bit more, you can get a used NP4 (what I use) and -- well -- it's great. The Yamaha CP series feels good under my hands as well.

A lot of people had problems earlier with midi response curves with different weighted keybeds (since fixed I believe), but using a Nord product means (a) everything just works, (b) you have a backup if the worst happens, and (c) the combo looks very slick on stage.
I think I have gear issues ....
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Re: Best 88 weighted controller for NS3C?

Postby FZiegler » 03 Dec 2021, 09:13

Will weight matter? Is it for studio use or moving around? Are there other needs (good brass sounds e.g.)?
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Re: Best 88 weighted controller for NS3C?

Postby anotherscott » 03 Dec 2021, 15:47

pianoman101 wrote:looking for whatever the best weighted action there is out there.

Not sure if I should be looking solely at a midi controller, stage piano, or even a full workstation like a Roland Fantom 8, but any suggestions are greatly appreciated

FZiegler wrote:Will weight matter? Is it for studio use or moving around? Are there other needs (good brass sounds e.g.)?

Since midi controller is an option, other sounds don't seem to be a concern, and since the 61 lbs Fantom 8 is an option, weight doesn't seem to be much of a concern, though I'm assuming we're not considering hybrids here (Kawai Novus, Yamaha AvantGrand, Casio Celviano).

Still, "best" is always going to be somewhat subjective. But I think we can create a short list of what most would consider currently the best actions from the key players in at least a somewhat portable box...

Yamaha P-515 and maybe CP88
Roland FP-90X or Roland RD-2000 (both have the same action as Fantom 8, but are lighter and cheaper)
Kawai MP11SE and maybe VPC1

Maybe use this forum's search function to see what people's experiences may have been pairing any of these with a Stage. Or maybe people will just chime in about them here.
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Re: Best 88 weighted controller for NS3C?

Postby Klondyke77 » 05 Dec 2021, 17:02

I have a NS3 88 but I found the action being too light to play classic pieces. For me it's quite hard to play pianissimo on the NS3 88. It might work if KB Touch would have a -1 or -2 selection.
So I found and bought a Roland RD-88. I use it at home as keyboard controller. As as second option I use it (rarely) for rehaearsals. It has sufficiant speakers for small an middle rooms and is compact and light to carry. For me this is the better option than to have more DAW controls like on the Roland A-88 which has the same keyboard action as the RD-88.
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Re: Best 88 weighted controller for NS3C?

Postby bartley99 » 07 Dec 2021, 05:51

My standard gigging rig is a Stage3-88 and a Stage3-Compact. Easy to setup and transport and not too heavy. But like what others have said, the HA88 keybed is not great when it comes to finesse piano playing. The HA88 keybed is a good compromise since you play organ,piano and synth styles on it. Like you, I wanted a true piano keybed. I tried them all and went with the Nord Grand. Why? The keybed...feels great to me and I have happy fingers. The weight...it looks heavy but it's manageable and roughly the same size (albeit taller) as the HA88. The sound...if you're going to get a piano might as well go with the one with the best piano sounds. When I put the Compact on top...hot damn...best of both worlds. My second choice was the Kawai stage pianos but they were all too heavy, didn't love the sound and most importantly, they don't come in red. My 2 cents.

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Re: Best 88 weighted controller for NS3C?

Postby davisjj » 07 Dec 2021, 16:05

My NS3C just arrived yesterday (my first Nord, yay)! I went with the Kawai MP11se, which I also purchased recently. I’m not sure if I’m keeping it or not though (the Kawai). It’s a great keybed, but the samples are just so-so. If I’m only going to use it as a controller, I might want to go with something else. For home studio use, it’s a good looking board though, so I don’t know. I might keep it.
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Re: Best 88 weighted controller for NS3C?

Postby fmkuz » 15 Dec 2021, 23:56

My setup that I like a lot is:
- NS3 Compact
- Dexibell S7pro M (with speakers)

The S7proM It has a good key response, specially with NS3 piano samples. The most practical thing of the S7proM is the speakers because I can connect the audio output of the NS3Compact and usb or 5pin Midi connector to the keyboard as a master controller and audio output. This makes it a perfect compact setup for play on home, rehearsals and event on Events. Also, the S7proM has balanced outputs that works great to go direct to the table mix.

The Dexibell works greats also for pianos, some strings (great mellotron ones) and orchestral sounds like woodwinds. It only weights 14kgs, ideal to transport for gigs. It has also onboard recording feature that capture the inline audio port (output audio from NS·), is very easy to record ideas or songs on-the-fly and it saved on usb drive.

All this things you cannot do it with a NS3-88 but, as someone mentioning above, is nice to have a backup of the NS3compact and this is not possible with the dexibell.

IMG_20210930_135829.jpg
My gig setup
IMG_20210930_135829.jpg (760.53 KiB) Viewed 2405 times


You can see in the attached photo that a have a mixer, but this is only for to add a condenser mic and then the output of the mixer goes to the inline audio port of the S7proM.

My two cents.

FMK
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Re: Best 88 weighted controller for NS3C?

Postby twagner21 » 17 Dec 2021, 19:32

I also have the NS3 Compact and wanted the weighted keys for playing piano parts so I went with the Studiologic SL73, which I love. This also comes in an 88 key version. The feel of the keybed is fantastic. Exactly what I was looking for. Good luck.

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