cookie wrote:Stage are meant to be customised !
Therefore a computer IS needed to transfer and organize your sounds.
You can also create and transfer your own samples, but the computer is also required here.
OTOH, even if you never connect it to a computer, just out of the box, the Nord Stage 3 is arguably already among the best and easiest to use boards you can get, especially if you're looking for something specifically to do piano, organ, and VA synth. Connecting it to a computer adds nothing to its organ functions. The computer hookup does provide for alternate pianos, but even as shipped. it's already a better sounding piano than most boards, and any changes you'd make would merely be a matter of personal taste. For VA synth (using VA waveforms, as opposed to samples), connecting to a computer adds nothing, except maybe some user patches you can find on this forum. Patch organization is enhanced via the computer, but you can also do a lot of patch management perfectly well right from the board. I think the biggest thing you lose by not connecting to a computer is the ability to load alternate samples, e.g. if you want more of one type of sampled sound and less of another. But most of the "bread and butter" needs are well represented in the default set as shipped.
Though again, the Fantom-0 doesn't need a computer for much either. I wish there actually were more that you could do with the Fantom from a computer. But as it is, it is only used for adding new sounds. And similar to the Nord, the set of sounds that comes with it are likely to be plenty satisfactory for many users anyway.