If you want to fire preconstructed sounds, a Kronos probably will have much more capabilities to get close to the original. The arp section of the Stage is not very powerful, for example. No sequencer. Little capability for EDM (only 1 LFO). That's what you might need in a cover band - as far as I've understood.
If you say: I want to make my own sounding and want to be able to hook up a new sound in a few seconds or change my settings softly or dramatically while playing, a Nord is great.
I'm the keyboarder in a big band playing jazz, latin and pop standards - mostly with a different sounding than the original (special arrangements, no covers). So the capabilities of a Stage are far more than I need for that as nobody is asking me to sound exactly like XY.
What I intended to say is: A Stage 3 cannot be the best instrument on the market for everything - as some people seem to think. But I have experienced that it has pushed my creativity. Of course, it's primarily made for live use - with a distinct idea behind what live playing could mean.
Tristanmac wrote:I assumed as it was super easy to build a patch, piano/organ/pads, easily turn on/off or blend, and sounded great that it would be ideal for the meat and potatoes of any keys player?
I fully agree on that. Even if I don't know what you exactly mean by a meat and potato sound (I'm not a native English speaker). To me, it's acoustic piano (great uprights!), Rhodes, Wurly, Clavinet, electric organs and a little synth playing. A Nord Stage will even provide some vegetable and sauce. And indeed: for the rest (whatever that is), you still have the Nord Sample Editor and the Extern section.