Nord Wave 2 or Nord Stage 3?

[horstenhorst]

Hi,

thanks for registering me in the forum.

I am currently deciding on the right Nord Keyboard to buy. I am a piano player, am not on stage and record music from time to time. My home studio is well equiped, and I mainly use the sounds from Native Instruments and have their SK88 keyboard. I am not an expert on synthesizers and electronic sounds, but very much enjoy spending time with these things as an amateur.

The Nord Keyboards come into play because I find it sometimes too complex and time consuming to start electronic sounds via computer, and I also miss the possibility of direct input to change sounds. The NI SK88 Mk2 Keyboard is nice, but I would like to have a "real" synth.

So now, I was always intrigued by the Nord Stage 3, its directness and flexibility. Or shall I go with the new Nord Wave 2 for having the "direct" synthesizer I wish for? I am impressed by the variety and complexity the Nord Wave 2 offers, but, on the other hand, will I really use it? Again, I am an "old" piano player and probably won't be able to appreciate a super-flexible synth. Isn't the Nord Stage 3 better for me, since it already has more than sufficient synthesizer capacities for me and also has this magnificient keyboard?

I hope I described my situation understandable enough. Any leads from the experts here is greatly appreciated!

Greetings from horstenhorst.

P.S. I should add that I have room left for only one more keyboard. So it should be as close to the perfect fit as possible.

[baekgaard]

The primary segment the stage targets is, well, a stage It's a wonderful do it all board, and if you don't already have access to the Nord piano libraries and the organ emulator, you're missing out on something.

The synth in the stage is more than adequate for this purpose. I use mine for synth leads, fill in, pads and strings, bass, etc. It will give you most types of sound quickly.

The Wave 2 does not have the piano nor organ parts the stage has. It's a pure synth - and an excellent one at that. It has many more synth possibilities, with better arp and gate, full ADSR envelope, 4 parts instead of 2, and much more. It is very fast also to create a wide range of sounds (both warm analog and more clean digital) and is very handy for live playing too.

If you want the Nord piano or organs, get the stage and use the synth in the stage to quickly get and tweak sounds you need.

If you focus only on the synth option, get the Wave 2. Also if you do eg electronic music, it may be more fun to play and be inspired by - but it is useful for also many other genres too, of course.

Or just get both... Or get a Grand, an Electro and the Wave 2 and you're all set

[horstenhorst]

Hello! If you buy the wave you will have a decent synthesizer with many capabilities, however you will miss the awesome pianos and organs a stage has to offer. The stage has the synth engine of the A1, it is more limited than the wave but for an amateur is more than enough, it's easy to program and you don't have to have extreme skills in synthesis inorder to make good sounds. You mentioned you are a piano player, so I would suggest to go for the stage.

[CountFosco]

I'd agree with both of the above replies, the Stage sounds like the better bet for your requirements. But I'd add that you could also consider an Electro. If you already have a decent controller and some VSTs, you probably have access to all the synth you need. The Electro covers the piano and organ side of things as well as a Stage, and could also function as a decent controller for all things that don't require pitch bend or mod wheels.

P.S. I should add that I have room left for only one more keyboard.

LOL, new at this?

[horstenhorst]

I'd agree with both of the above replies, the Stage sounds like the better bet for your requirements. But I'd add that you could also consider an Electro. If you already have a decent controller and some VSTs, you probably have access to all the synth you need. The Electro covers the piano and organ side of things as well as a Stage, and could also function as a decent controller for all things that don't require pitch bend or mod wheels.

P.S. I should add that I have room left for only one more keyboard.

LOL, new at this?

Obviously, yes.

[horstenhorst]

Thanks for your very helpful replies. I just ordered a Nord Stage 3 and currently I am quite happy with my choice.

[soundxplorer]

Strictly talking about samples, is there anything the Wave 2 can do with samples that the Stage 3 cannot?

I love my Wave 2, but I'm thinking about upgrading to the Stage 3 in order to have access to the Piano Library. But I have a lot of programs on my Wave 2 that I've made using my own custom samples loaded in. I'm wondering if my programs would translate to the Stage 3 properly, or if there are missing parameters? For example, I see the Stage 3 has a "Fast Attack" button that seems to do the same thing as the "Skip Attack" button on the Wave 2 (moving the sample start point to a pre-determined spot later in the sample). So that part seems OK. It's hard to go through all the parameters in the manual to check though, so I'm wondering if someone has experience with both.

I do know the Wave 2 has 4 layers and more sample storage. I'm more concerned with relative parameters between the two.

[DJKeys]

Strictly talking about samples, is there anything the Wave 2 can do with samples that the Stage 3 cannot?

I love my Wave 2, but I'm thinking about upgrading to the Stage 3 in order to have access to the Piano Library. But I have a lot of programs on my Wave 2 that I've made using my own custom samples loaded in. I'm wondering if my programs would translate to the Stage 3 properly, or if there are missing parameters? For example, I see the Stage 3 has a "Fast Attack" button that seems to do the same thing as the "Skip Attack" button on the Wave 2 (moving the sample start point to a pre-determined spot later in the sample). So that part seems OK. It's hard to go through all the parameters in the manual to check though, so I'm wondering if someone has experience with both.

I do know the Wave 2 has 4 layers and more sample storage. I'm more concerned with relative parameters between the two.

Hi-

You cannot load programs from one model of Nord Keyboard to another, plus the Wave 2 synth is a completely different architecture than the synth in the Stage 3 which is based on the A1. The Wave 2 has some decent piano samples that are useable with velocity routed to Amp/filter, but that cannot compete with the excellent samples of the Piano Library on the Stage 3. You would essentially need to re-create all of your programs from scratch on the more limited synth in the Stage 3, so it all depends on how important the Piano Library (and Organ modeling) is to you.

-dj

[anotherscott]

A couple of really obvious differences... Wave 2 has velocity morph, and full 4-stage ADSR envelopes (instead of combining the decay and sustain functions into a single knob)