Nord User Forum

A couple of days ago I bought the new Yamaha CK88, on sale for $1299. It's regularly $1,499, and the CK61 is $999. These are fantastic, lightweight keyboards, with very decent built-in speakers. They borrow from their big brothers in Yamaha's CP and YC series, but ultimately, I think they clearly have been influenced by Nord's user interface. They are obviously not as good as my Stage 4. BUT....they sound really good, at 1/4 of the price of my Stage 4. I can throw it in a bag, and bring it places, using only the built-in speakers, and not worry that I'm going to damage my nearly $6,000 Stage 4 investment. The speakers were what did it for me. They're good enough for enjoyable practice, and an acoustic jam. Not having to worry about amplification in such scenarios is huge for me. I highly recommend people checking these out if you like the Nord way of sound design and want something for truly easy travel, that is light on the wallet too.

I'm actually thinking of selling my Stage 4 HA73, which I bought over the 88, simply because of portability, and getting the 88 after all. I can take the CK anywhere, anytime, and just move the Stage 4 when I really need it.

I currently play stage 3 compact, and previously owed the stage 2 compact. I’m older and have adjusted enormously to the waterfalls, and 73 keys has worked perfect for various rock bands the past decade of gigging. I had to convert my programs and it was very time consuming. I aspire to the stage 4 and particularly interested in the HA73. Someday (did you sell it yet? I’m Hartford). I’m now considering the ck88 for practice on full sized keys. Will see if I can test drive locally. One thing I learned, don’t ditch the Nord as I do regret having to get ride of the 2, as I couldn’t afford to start stacking. Best wishes

I also have a Stage 4 73HA and a CK61, I love the portability and user interface of the Yamaha; I also prefer the CK61s keys for playing organ, and sounds are quite usable. Would I replace the Nord with the Yamaha? Definitely not

No, to be clear, I would never replace the Nord with the Yamaha. I’m just saying that I may sell the HA73 Stage 4, for an 88 note Stage 4, now that I have the easy portability of the CK88.

dansnord wrote:No, to be clear, I would never replace the Nord with the Yamaha. I’m just saying that I may sell the HA73 Stage 4, for an 88 note Stage 4, now that I have the easy portability of the CK88.

Ok, that really makes sense to me.

I’m thinking about buying a Yamaha CK61 to use as a back up keyboard for my Stage 2EX 76HP - it’s a shame there isn’t a 73 or 76 note version of the Yamaha available (at the moment) however. Ideally, I’d like to buy another second hand Stage 2EX, but I can’t justify paying the silly prices that people are asking for them at the moment. The CK61 ticks a lot of boxes for a very reasonable price and the built in speakers are a great idea for home practice and for acoustic jams.

I just got back from a couple days of travel. I’ve brought the CK88 with me. I never would’ve done that with the Nord. I’m still amazed at how much you get in the CK, for such a relatively small amount of money.

One nice feature I discovered is that it has built-in Bluetooth, so I can listen to music through the built-in speakers, and play along with it. No cables, monitors, nor headphones necessary! And it was relatively easy to plug into my MacBook, and get on the Yamaha soundMondo site. I was able to download a few user-created patches with a couple of clicks of the mouse.

But again, the sounds are really quite good, and the keybed very playable. And it hardly weighs anything compared to my stage 4! Highly recommended.

I agree with the desire for a 73 or 76 note CK. That would’ve been my preference. But if you can live with the 61 note, it’s insanely lightweight. As a piano player, in the end, I just can’t get by with that 61 note, unweighted keyboard action. If you can, you also save a few hundred dollars off the price of the 88. I do think it makes a solid travel partner, and back up to your Nord.

I lead worship at a small church. I was bringing in my Stage 3 88 every week. They recently purchased a CK88 to replace a broken SP88. I am now just playing the CK88. Much like everyone else, I wouldn't replace my Stage 3, but the CK88 has decent sounds for sure!

I've not played the CK, but I own an YC61, and am actually replacing my Nord Stage 4 with that and the Wave 2 as I prefer separate boards.
The YC has, in my opinion, better Rhodes than the Nord. The Stockholm was a big step forward in this regard but there are a couple of the ones on the Yamaha that outclass any of Nord's offerings in my opinion. The organ and Leslie (with the latest update) are excellent. The Leslie sounds more alive and 3D than Nord's does...but for a long time I had written this board off for organ due to the Leslie sim it came with on release, which is horrible! Yamaha fixed that issue big time. To be clear Nord's Leslie is still pro to my ears. I just like something about the new Yamaha one even more.
The acoustic pianos are surprisingly varied and some have a lot of character. Nord obviously has a wider variety in this area, plus better pedal-down resonance by far. But not every piano in this sounds "too perfect" as most Yamaha samples do to me. The felt, Nashville and Upright are all nice character pianos, and the C7 and Steinway are very nice for something more mainstream.

Effects are a lot more variable than Nord, as there are many more types on offer. There are 4 or 5 choruses alone, same number of phasers etc.

There are many things a Nord can do which the Yamaha cannot...but I have other boards for those things. For me the YC was a great investment.