New Nord Electro 6 vs used Electro 5 or Stage 2 questions

[cphollis]

Great post by @23skidoo. The only thing I'd add is that your needs and preferences change over time, or -- at least mine do. I always start with wanting the best AP sound I can possible get. Everything else is negotiable.

For a while, I was really into B3 sounds, Vent, pre-amp, etc. And then I was sort of done. Then there was a heavy synth programming binge with the NS3C. Big fun for a while, and then I was done. The recent release of new EP samples and DYNO filters has tipped me over into heavy EP fun.

The next thing? Exploring what the morph function can do on the NS3C. There's a cool sonic world in there, waiting to come out.

And that's the point. Their might be a better board for specific tasks (the Kronos comes to mind), but in terms of general-purpose joy and fun, I keep coming back to Nords. The more the better.

[CountFosco]

Lots of good points made. For me, the main decision really comes down to whether you want a synth, or not.

But one bonus point. Have a scroll through the Electro forum and the Stage forum, and mentally tot up the number of bugs and behaviour anomalies posted for S2, S3, E6 and E5. I'm tipping E5 will comfortably win, closely followed by the more complex S2. S3 just looks scary - but I'm sure both S3 and E6 will stabilise with time. After more than 2 years of almost daily use in studio, rehearsing and gigging (less often than I'd like (sad face)) with 2 bands, I can honestly say the only technical problem I ever had was one time when my E5 was booting, I accidentally pressed some keys (which I suppose I often do, but try to avoid) the sustain pedal was somehow working with reverse polarity. A reboot and it was back to normal, luckily before there were any fatalities.

[baekgaard]

The sustain reversed-polarity is not a bug; when you reboot your board, it assumes the pedal is not pressed down, and it will use the current state (open, closed) as the non-pressed state in auto mode. If you want to avoid that happening, just set the mode to whatever type of pedal you've attached.

On the issue of bugs and the NE6, I don't think there are many known/open bugs with that board (either). And when tallying bugs, remember that the more features you have, the more likely you are that there are bugs. If you count the number of reported (and by now often fixed) issues and divide by the amount of features, maybe the NS models aren't doing so bad after all

[CountFosco]

Fair enough. It was only my 2 cents, I have no agenda to convert the converted.

Perhaps I accidentally had the sustain pedal pressed down at the critical moment of the boot then. Makes sense.

PS Thanks for reinforcing my point about the proportionality of complexity and issues. Preeshyate it

[baekgaard]

Fair enough. It was only my 2 cents, I have no agenda to convert the converted.

Didn't mean to disagree with you on your points (e.g. if you need synth, then you gotta have a synth). Just wanted to add a little perspective and a possible explanation of the sustain issue (which could happen to any of us from time to time; been there and done that too -- and a quick remedy is then to unplug and plug it back again, and then it fixes itself)

[analogika]

While searching the forum i found this thread: nord-stage-forum-f3/nord-stage-2-vs-sta ... 01-10.html

A poster there claims the Stage 2 sound better than the stage 3 (which i assume sound similar to Electro 6):

"Honestly... THIS IS ONLY MY PERSONAL OPINION. BUT MIND THIS, I have both NS2 and NS3 compact SIDE BY SIDE and spent a lot of time comparing them !
If you like synth. Buy a Dave Smith or something. The "A1 synth" on NS3 sound very thin and digital, I much prefer the NS2 Synth SOUNDING (very limited indeed but sounds way better)
If you like pianos (rhodes, acoustic, etc...) don't buy NS3 keep the NS2 or 2ex. Pianos on NS2 sounds more Deep, Real, Dynamic, Expressive, Harmonic and 3D imaged.
If you like organ, keep NS2 too.. the "upgrade" don't worth it... And I personally prefer the NS2. Just me I guess.
If you like samples, don't go to NS3, they will sound hollow and mid and bodyless.
NS3 reverbs has no bright, it's dark.
EQ on NS3 just give you MID. Low mid, mid mid, high mid.
The morph on NS3 Compact is bad assembled FOREVER... At least until you open it and glue it (!!) (Yes with hot glue or something) it will won't work properly.
"

Is there any truth to any of these statements?

Did you read my reply (the very next post)?

[Rusty Mike]

I will only be using it at home and in the studio.
I mostly interested in the electric piano, b3 + transistor organs and the mellotron/chamberlin sounds.
I think would be nice with the stage 2 is the ability to for example layer two mellotron sounds and filtering them(and maybe adding a synth layer), also having the ability to vary the amount of the effects would be nice.
The stage 2 will also be a bit cheaper.

Looking at your criteria again, the Stage 2EX is your most fitting option.

Only the Stage will allow you to layer multiple samples in a single program. It will also give you the effect flexibility you are looking for. Not only can you independently set the effects for each panel, but you have the option to route the sounds out of 4 different audio output channels, so you can use use outboard effects on individual instruments.

The Stage will also give you the most flexibility with the Mellotron/Chamberlin sounds, as the samples are called up in the synth section. The Electro has relatively limited sample control - only a rudimentary envelope and no filter. On the Stage, you have a multimode filter, better envelopes and deep modulation capabilities.

The Stage also has a dedicated Extern section to drive other instruments via MIDI. This may be important as you stated you are interested in doing layers, possibly with other synths.

For the electric piano, the Electro 6 has the advantage at the moment because it will support the new EPs and the EP filters, while the E5 and Stage will only support the EPs in the near future. You need to decide if this is important to you. We've all miraculously managed to survive all these years happily playing our Nords without this feature. While it's a lovely enhancement, it does not in any way make the prior EP sounds obsolete.

As stated in earlier responses, the B3 emulation on the E5/6 is somewhat better than the Stage 2EX, but you should listen to the examples to determine if it's significant enough to you. Like I said in my first response, the B3 on the Stage works great for me. The transistor organs are a bit of a wash, as all these instruments have the same capabilities.

[NoDirection]

Go for the Electro 6. More and more users are on the new sample format so you don't have to convert when new samples coming up. Seamless transition and improved user interface are also important factors. Buy the 73 version - I have a NE5-61 but find it a little limiting on electric piano...

[rullgardin]

Thanks again for all the great advice! Never imagined getting this amount of response I'm still a bit unsure if i want the stage 2ex compact or the electro 6. The big plus with the stage 2ex for me is the ability to layer and process samples (filter, env etc) and the better effect section, plus also a lower price (about 300€ less than a new electro 6) and the synth will be a nice bonus, but maybe not so important since I have analog roland and moog. On the other hand, the better B3 organ, extended polyphony, newer sample format (even though it seems easy to convert from sample library 2 to 3) and the EP filters of the electro 6 is also tempting.

[anotherscott]

newer sample format (even though it seems easy to convert from sample library 2 to 3)

Yes, you can easily convert from 2 to 3... the limitation is the other direction, when there may be library-3 sounds/features that are unavailable to the library-2 machines.