Nord User Forum

I play the uprights more than the grands! Something really nostalgic, and possibly school-like about an old upright piano sound. They should supply some sachets or scratch 'n' sniff stickers of 'old piano smell' with the Nords.

Gonna revive this 4-year old thread. Interesting how Studio Grand 2 doesn't receive a lot of love. For soft playing, no other grand is more dynamic. You really, REALLY get soft notes with the Studio Grand 2. You don't so much, with Lady D or Imperial.

Since more pianos have been released since this poll, I'll give my opinion of the ones in this list, plus the new ones:

GRANDS
Studio Grand 2 - phenomenal for softer playing. It's probably the most "suitable" piano for most applications, I think.
Imperial - my favorite, as it has a lot of clarity, and Tori Amos songs sound spot-on with it, without a doubt (makes sense, as she used one through most of her main albums)
Lady D - something about a Steinway. I don't know... it's really nice, and fits a lot of styles.
Bright - best, for rock/upbeat piano songs... it might sound the most natural/realistic, through a PA... jury's still out
Italian, Silver, Velvet -- none of them struck me too much... maybe the Velvet the most. The Silver sounds kind of fake in places... hard to explain. It's really nice, but has some weirdness to it. Have to try it again to get a better impression. The Italian's really nice, but doesn't work for me.

UPRIGHTS
Rain is still my favorite... it just oozes character, and sounds the most like an old upright.
Blue Swede... very similar to Queen, but better. It cuts more, has a better tone, though very similar to Queen
Black Upright - sounds phenomenal, recorded. As good as the Rain and Blue Swede. Something REALLY special about this piano. Love it.
Queen - I initially liked the Queen the most... but nope. The first three kill it
Grand Upright - the best of both worlds... oh Yamaha, can you do no wrong?
Romantic - it's good but I don't use it much... should mess around with it, more...
Mellow - too warm/bassy (I love it though, REALLY LOVE IT... it's just hard to make it work with a lot of recordings and pieces)... though works great with SLOW, sparse passages... like movie score stuff. SLOW stuff. And post-rock/ambient music.
Honky Tonk - "Killer Queen"... flawless. But it only works for that Abbey Road pop sound.
Bambino - sounds mildly out of tune, but it's nice finally having a spinet to play, with the uprights. I like this a lot...

best recorded (to my ears):
Studio Grand 2
Grand Imperial
Grand Lady D
Italian Grand

best, live through a good PA (to my ears):
Bright Grand
Grand Lady D
Studio Grand 2
Blue Swede
Grand Upright

If I had to choose a top 5 of them all:
Imperial
Studio Grand 2
Black Upright
Rain
Blue Swede

For me, Royal Grand has become my favorite. It seems to have solved the mono problem.

Where are the rest of them?

Why not go one step longer in your experience of the best piano sound? Yesterday I have to try a combination of two piano sound in my Stage 2 EX and get a huge surprise. Try to put the Royal Grand XL in slot A and the BlueSwede Upright in slot B. Set the output volume of the BlueSwede to about 30-40% of the Royal´s. Flat EQ on both, maybe a little + in high level on the Royal depending on your speaker setup. Dont´ forget a nice Hall reverb and you are ready. The Royal and BlueSwede fits so nice together, and give a pianosound with more body and a wider stereo field. It maybe don´t work in a live band situation, but for a singel piano player or for home practice it´s real good. There are disappointed people on this forum, that have problem with thin, nasal, less stereo field ac piano experience, and so on. Try a combine of two, maybe my setup if you like. This post are maybe in the wrong thread, if so, I'm sorry for that.
Best regards Stefan.

Stefan1874 wrote:Why not go one step longer in your experience of the best piano sound? Yesterday I have to try a combination of two piano sound in my Stage 2 EX and get a huge surprise. Try to put the Royal Grand XL in slot A and the BlueSwede Upright in slot B. Set the output volume of the BlueSwede to about 30-40% of the Royal´s. Flat EQ on both, maybe a little + in high level on the Royal depending on your speaker setup. Dont´ forget a nice Hall reverb and you are ready. The Royal and BlueSwede fits so nice together, and give a pianosound with more body and a wider stereo field. It maybe don´t work in a live band situation, but for a singel piano player or for home practice it´s real good. There are disappointed people on this forum, that have problem with thin, nasal, less stereo field ac piano experience, and so on. Try a combine of two, maybe my setup if you like. This post are maybe in the wrong thread, if so, I'm sorry for that.
Best regards Stefan.

Fantastic idea. Having a grand and an upright in both slots (especially with a Nord Stage) really does expand the options tenfold. Especially for solo piano playing and recording.

Amber Upright, best all around for me.

Royal Grand 3D. Musical Theatre and solo singer/ballad stuff. Fantastic with high end PA. Never really use the Uprights.
Do like that idea of splitting/layering 2 different piano sounds over the 2 panels though. Going to try that over the weekend with a few different combinations of mixes.

damasp wrote:Amber Upright, best all around for me.

+1 for Amber Upright

+2 for the Amber!!