Stage 2 still relevant?

[Fritz Frigursson]

my local store has a used Stage 2 HA76 for just a hair over 1500 euros and I’m wondering if it still holds its own in 2020. The sounds are going to be the same as the Stage 3 because of the sound library compatibility, but what about the action? the features? I am looking for mainly piano playing, will this give me a good experience? Is it comparable to the Piano 4 action? what really changes between the Stage 2 and 3? is the small screen sufficient? visually i think the main difference between 2 and 3 is the OLED display, but i don’t see what that does other than looking more modern.

[cphollis]

Well, compared to what's on offer here in the US, that's a great price, so there's that

I sold my NS2 HA76 to friend when I got the NS3. She thinks she got a killer stage keyboard, which she did. She does not push her boards very far, however.

I do a lot with my boards, so I appreciate all the newer features on the NS3. There's no single improvement that seals the deal, but -- taken together -- it's a noticeable upgrade. I was very happy with my NS2, now even happier with my NS3.

[Fritz Frigursson]

Well, compared to what's on offer here in the US, that's a great price, so there's that

I sold my NS2 HA76 to friend when I got the NS3. She thinks she got a killer stage keyboard, which she did. She does not push her boards very far, however.

I do a lot with my boards, so I appreciate all the newer features on the NS3. There's no single improvement that seals the deal, but -- taken together -- it's a noticeable upgrade. I was very happy with my NS2, now even happier with my NS3.

did you find the action on the HA76 to be good for playing piano? I know i have to try one but with the pandemic it’s difficult. Also did the small screen limit your playing or enjoyment of the keyboard in any way? honestly if the S3 had an oled screen it would look identical to the S3, it looks outdated because of the tiny pixelated display.

[anotherscott]

NS3 vs NS2(EX): nord-stage-forum-f3/nord-stage-2-vs-sta ... 14701.html

There are some other differences not mentioned there... IIRC, NS2 permitted output routing and MIDI channel assignment by instrument, not in the NS3, and also there were more parameters controlled by LED-encircled endless encoders, so always indicating their current position, and allowing for altering the settings without "jumps." So you do lose some things, but you also gain a lot, as you'll see from that thread. Another place to look for what you gain would be at https://www.nordkeyboards.com/products/ ... ison-chart

A nice thing about the NS2 76HA in particular is that it was the last 76-key model that had the higher quality action they now reserve for the 88s. Though that also made it a bit heavy to carry around.

[ajstan]

Here's a link to a feature comparison of the 3 and the 2EX from the Nord website. The key NS3 advantages for me are polyphony, 2GB piano memory (vs 512K), sample memory, the upgraded synth engine, the upgraded organ engine, and the dual OLED displays that make programming and navigating a lot easier.

https://www.nordkeyboards.com/products/ ... ison-chart

While the pianos and samples will be the same, the programs can sound different due to different synth engines and effects available. I couldn't compare the keybed to the Nord Piano 4 other than the NS2 has a dual-sensor keybed with aftertouch and the NP4 has a triple-sensor keybed with no aftertouch.

[supermingwoe]

Choose the NS2 if you mainly play piano.
It always easy to say to choose the newer version, because of the new features. But people forget you have to pay almost double of the price. It is simply not worth if you mainly play piano.

€1500 for NS2 HA76 is a decent price from a store, I am sure you will have 3 or 6 month warranty or even 1 year.
A used NS3 HA76 will cost at least €2800 from a store here in the Netherlands.

Also the NS3 will drop in value faster than the NS2.

[Fritz Frigursson]

Is the action on it more similar to the Electro 6 HP or the Piano 4? I prioritize piano and e piano playing so getting an action more tailored to that kind of stuff as opposed to an action more suitable for synth and organ playing is better for me.

[catosim]

Is the action on it more similar to the Electro 6 HP or the Piano 4? I prioritize piano and e piano playing so getting an action more tailored to that kind of stuff as opposed to an action more suitable for synth and organ playing is better for me.

As mentioned earlier in the thread, the action is similar to many of the 88-models.
Therefore the action is suited for piano-playing.

[catosim]

Also:
An advantage for the Stage 2-models, is the huge amount of patches available in this forum

[cphollis]

As a piano player, the only issue I had with the NS2 HA76 action was the aftertouch strip under the keybed. If you're a dynamic, enthusiastic player like me, the slightly squishy bounce can throw you off. I never really got 100% used to it. Other than that, the keybed was fine for most live set lists.

I'm good with aftertouch on unweighted keybeds, but not weighted ones.