Nord User Forum

Hi folks,

I thought I'd share my impressions about the Roland A800 Pro used as a MIDI controller for the NS3 Organ.

As a NS3 88HA owner I was faced with the problem of finding a non weighted 61-or-so key MIDI controller to be used to play the Stage 3 Organ. Surprisingly, though (or maybe not so surprisingly, given the relative marginality of the Organ as an instrument), it turns out there aren't many -- if ANY -- MIDI keyboards specifically designed to operate an organ. I thought I wasn't wanting too much if I wanted waterfall keys and 9 faders to be used as drawbards. That's it, this would have been enough, but I couldn't find any. So it became a question of the best compromise.

I first tried the M-AUDIO Code 61. It has 9 faders and, looking from the pictures, it seemed to have an "acceptable" keybed. Turned out not only the keybed was really really UNsuited to organ, but the build construction left much to be desired. Putting it on a X stand was enough to have it warped VERY noticeably. I can only imagine what happens if you try and triggering aftertouch... you literally see the space between white keys increase and decrease as the whole board is flexing... I'm sure it's a great MIDI controller to be used on your desk with a DAW, but for people like me who want to actually phisically *play* over it, it wouldn't last many gigs I'm afraid... Anyway I returned it without even switching in ON (thank you Thomann for your service).

I was then looking at the Novation Impulse 61. Seemed pretty solid, but the keybed didn't look convincing, plus the 9 faders it has don't look like something you could easily grab and move as if they were drawbars.

Since spending more than € 300 was literally pointless, for my purpose, I eventually went for the Roland A800 Pro, which I've been using for a month or so. While not being totally satisfied with it, I think it works well "enough" for me to keep it. The keybed isn't technically waterfall but it's solid and playing organ on it definitely feels good. Palm glissandos are also very much feasible. Build construction is OK, much better than the Code 61. The biggest limitation of it in my opinion is its on-board firmware programmability and its software counterpart. It feels like something old even for the 2010 when it was released. Not very convenient menu digging and even the manual is uselessly long and not always straightforward. I already found a couple of bug as well. I still managed to get what I wanted out of it, but this is only because what I wanted was easy to obtain: drawbars and a few buttons and knobs to adjust some organ parameters. Stop. I imagine though that for more refined set ups one would have a harder time.

Considering there aren't really hundreds of solutions, I think I'll be OK with the A800. It's still a pity because I'd love to see MIDI controllers specifically designed for organ anyway.

So, to wrap up: the MIDI controllers market seems to be structured in such a way that, at least in this moment, it's much easier to find a 88 key weighted keyboard and pair it with a keyboard like the NS3 Compact, than it is to find an organ-oriented MIDI controller and pair it with a 88 key weighted keyboard like the NS3 88. I think this is what I'd be telling to my former self, when I decided to get the 88.

Hope this helps anybody asking himself the same questions...

Thanks, that was a really helpful and detailed article