Stage+VPC1, or Grand+non-nord synth?

[Jason K]

Hello:

For the past several months I've been working on my home setup (I do woodworking as a hobby). I've been building a stand to accommodate a dual keyboard setup. I was originally envisioning a Nord Stage 3 compact and VPC1 setup. It's hot in the summer here in Texas, so construction of the stand is currently on hold. While waiting, I've been pondering.

What about a Nord Grand, and then the second keyboard is a non-nord synth of some kind (something with a sequencer mostl likely)? I don't much care about the organ sounds, but I am looking for something that doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out. This will be for home use, so portability isn't a worry.

So, if it were your house for a home setup, which would you choose? Stage+VPC1 or Grand+other synth?

[cphollis]

Tough call, really. Either way you get the Nord APs and a great keybed action. Since the Nord Grand is relatively new, I'm not sure you'll find a lot of opinions straight-up comparing the two actions.

One advantage of the Stage+controller setup for live gigging is that you get a single control surface for everything, which I have come to appreciate in the fog of war. But you're not gigging, are you?

As far as "doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out", that's your Stage right there, although it sounds like you want to have a fully-featured sequencer. I've been looking at the mid-range Yamahas and Rolands along the same lines.

[anotherscott]

I'd be sure you don't care about any other advantages the Stage 3 has over the Grand (it's not just the organ, and the synth you would replace with a second board). But as long as that's the case, I'd lean toward the Grand+Synth, because as nice as the NS3 synth is, there are plenty of standalone synths that are better (though Nord's does have the uncommon feature of letting you process your own custom samples through its synth section). As for the obvious other variable of how the VPC1 action compares to the Grand, that's going to be hard for anyone else to decide for you.

[derrellpiper]

I concur with cphollis' comments, keyboard action and feel is very much in the eye of the beholder. I came from real acoustic pianos, so grand key wooden graded is what my fingers expect, and my feet want a real triple pedal, to the extent that I can play anything, I'm not very good but I can play the first movement of Moonlight on the Kawai MP11SE and it sounds and feels like a real grand, including the pedal action. The same could not be said of the Stage 3, but I couldn't play it when I had my Stage or Piano. In retrospect, the PIano 3 was good but I felt it was starved for memory, and its MIDI was weird, I think that about all Nord things, they have odd MIDI, maybe it's me. You should be able to load all the XL samples in any "piano", and the problem seems to be that Nord is stuck on a 32-bit CPU architecture.

[derrellpiper]

[this space intentionally left blank]

[anotherscott]

You should be able to load all the XL samples in any "piano", and the problem seems to be that Nord is stuck on a 32-bit CPU architecture.

No, the problem is that the kind of memory Nord uses (functions as RAM but doesn't lose its contents on power down) is very expensive. The easy solution for nord would be to stop coming out with more XL samples, that would minimize the number we can't load, but let's face it, that's a pretty bad solution.

[Jason K]

Thank you all. I'm glad to see that it really is a tough call, and dependent on a lot of variables.

At this time in my life, it's going to be a while before I can play live with a band (full time job, 3 kids ages 3,4, and 12). Once the stand is built, I think the following will be my load out (which should just barely fit...)

1. Nord Grand (for the APs, EPs, and sample synth)
2. Behringer Deepmind 12 (fun analog synth land)
3. Squarp Pyramid (amazing sequencer)
4. Arturia drumbrute (for the beats)
5. (and just since its fun to noodle around on) arturia microfreak

Is it a the perfect gigging keyboardists layout? probably not. But since I'll be a one man band at home for the foreseeable future, I should be able to make my own backing tracks on the fly and enjoy the process.

If anyone thinks I'm missing something, just say the word. I appreciate all your help.

[Jason K]

Good morning! (at least, it's morning here in Austin Texas):

So as not to leave this thread hanging, I wanted to follow up and let you know that I made my decision and ordered my keyboard setup yesterday.

Despite the fantastic advice above, I went with the Nord Stage 3 88 key. I realized I was over complicating this. I'm not a classical concert pianist, and after playing an 88 key nord stage 3 I had no complaints whatsoever with the action.

Once it all arrives, I'll post my setup in the "Your music and keyboard rig" forum. Tuesday can't come soon enough!

Thanks again to each of you for all your help.