Nord Piano 4 thoughts

[SimonIsHere]

I got a Kawai acoustic and a bunch of high end mics, but my workflow isnt great, since I aint got it at home fx. I want a better workflow and that is why I am looking for a DP first of all.
First I feel for the Sv2, but after doing my research I finally got stuck at the Nord Piano 4 (Or the grand if having the extra money).
But I am a lil curious about the little amount of Memory. How many "sounds" can i have on it approx, if they are at their biggest size?
I am also a lil concerned about the Poly which is only 128. I see Kawai has 256 already. If investing now I am afraid that the realism of my samples wont follow the technology and this is a big investment for me.
I also took a look on the date releases of the Nords. I see that the piano 2 came out in 2012. The Piano 3 came out in the 2015 and the Nord piano 4 came in 2018. Now we are facing 2021 and I know it is most likely that no one knows anything about releases since it used to be secret. But having in mind that I am going to record with this instrument and that i want realistic sound and due to the fact that this is a big investment for me, should I wait for the Nord Piano 5?

Big thanks.

[cphollis]

I have owned a NP4 for a few years, and like it very much. I'm not in the market for something newer/better/different since it does such a great job at what I want it to do.

Going from 1GB to 2GB piano memory is more of a convenience than a necessity. If you play live, you'll use S/M/L samples as no one will be able to tell the difference, including you. When recording, it's easy to roll larger piano samples on and off, albeit time-consuming. My first Nord Piano 2 had 256 MB of piano memory (I think), and I gigged/recorded with it for many years.

I didn't know there was a 128 voice limit on polyphony. That's probably because I have never tried to sound 128 notes at the same time, and listen closely for the 129th voice that didn't play My NP4 is a joy to play, and interfaces well with my Stage 3 Compact. I will probably keep it a long, long time -- it's that good.

I'd normally suggest finding a used one, but it seems that you don't get much of a price break that way -- at least here in the US. They go for near-new prices. That tells me it's still a current, desirable instrument.

Unless Clavia does something amazing with the action (like they did with the Nord Grand) it's hard to see what a future Nord Piano 5 would bring other than more memory and potentially a small handful of small improvements.

You also can be assured that -- like most Nords -- a newer NP4 will keep great resale value. I have sold my NP2s, NE3D and NS2 after newer models came out, and got great prices for all of them. Heck, even an ancient NE2 goes for $1000 here.

There are people out there who want to play on Nords and will pay for the privilege.

[SimonIsHere]

It makes a good point with the memory, also because I am aiming for one good and realistic piano sound that I will have to tweak the way I find it most realistic. I think the white grand sounds great and with some post eq and reverb, I hope I can get there. But I read about issues with a DP when it is heard in mono. Does that mean if one record in mono only, or also if a stereo signal is recorded, but then heard on a mono speaker, such as smartphones fx?

I know the poly should work for the amount of keys played at the same time, but IF that is all it does then why operate with 256 in poly? The poly is very important when using the sustain pedal alot, like I do, but I am almost sure that the higher numbers in poly the more each key will act on its own without being pressured of the other keys, also when playing less than 128/256 keys at one. I mean: on a acoustic piano every key has its own strings and they play theirs like the other keys does when hit. Dont you think I got a point, or is it so Black and white that it just means that the 256 poly system cannot play 257 notes at one time?

I would buy pre-owned, but here (in denmark) I can only find a used stage 3 for the same amount of the piano 4 as new, and even though the stage 3 has more memory then i dont need all the things it can do. I can also find the cheaper electro models, and i believe I can download the same sounds on them all, but I need a real acoustic piano feel in the keys, so I think I need to go with the piano 4 or the grand. Have yoiu tried them both?

Maybe Nord is way more expensive than other brands, BUT hearing the Kawai Mp7/11 and all the other brands then Nord has a more realistic sound, maybe a bit more dull as well, but the kawai and all those others sound like a DP and in a way that I dont think I can tweak. In live situations I would be able to be satisfied, but in a studio where the piano will be stand alone instrument sometimes then I only think the Nord can fool me and the listener to believe that it is the real deal.

[SimonIsHere]

In my eyes, Nord stage pianos are strong for live use. Of course, they are often used in studio environments, too.

But on the other side, you have the possibility to play a Kawai VPC-1 with a software sound on your PC, too. Another approach.

Concerning polyphony: It's complicated to compare polyphony between brands: Some count 2 voices for a stereo note, most count 2 and more voices for layered notes (whereas a layered piano/strings sound on a NP will count 1 voice on the piano engine and 1 voice on the synth engine). The polyphony on the synth part sometimes is tight, but not so much on the piano part.

[SimonIsHere]

Thank you for the answer Ziegler. I have thought about the VPC-1, but midi is too heavy cpu-wise when layered. Some will say that DP just are hardware with vst's on which might be true, but still there is some no nonsense to it as I know what I got and I believe i can use it as midi controller as well as the Kawai is just an expensive midi controller, so the nord (and others) can do both.
Talking about midi, then ive heard few good sounds from Keyscape f.eks and maybe I would be able to tweak it the way I like it, but my experience is that midi has a hard time taking EQ in post and it has a lot of mid, but not a strong depth of high end. It is just very much in the middle often.

About the poly, if I buy a Nord piano 4, then i have read that i get new updates of sounds for free, but is the magic only in the downloaded sound or is the hardware also limited in a way, so I would end up needing a new hardware piano to get that greater and realistic sound when NORD has a software update in 5 years for example?

[baekgaard]

As already mentioned, the polyphony limitation is so high that it's never a real issue in real life.

As for the NP4 vs NS3, then the NP4 has a slightly heavier (to the touch) keyboard, using a different action than the one in the NS3, and as it also does not have aftertouch, and thus feels more like a "real" piano. It is, in my view, a very nice action for piano playing and if you select the "medium" (or "light" touch) it also works very well for EP (for the NS3 I may stick with the "heavy" touch also for EP at times). It's also very portable and has a nice overall solid feel and is a well-rounded digital piano. You probably end up using just a few pianos as your favourites so the 1 GB limit is not a major concern; I tend to keep one or two in XL and the rest in L or M for my Nords. Your favourites may change over time, though -- we all tend to (re)discover something new in even older samples, or check out newer releases.

Comparing the NP4 and NG is a bit different. The NG has an even more acoustic piano like action, and is a really nice board too. It's maybe not "heavier" but just has a different feel. It is a bit bulkier and weighs more, and depending on your needs, you may prefer the lighter weight of the NP4 although the NG is also gigable. The console layout is quite nice, giving it a bit of vintage vibe by the looks, I think.

As for updates, then Nord/Clavia have been maintaining the same sample format for quite some years. They did change that a few years ago when when White Grand and the newer EPs were released, to allow for better filtering. The NP4 (as well as the NG and the NS3) all support the latest sample format 6.x. The NS2 does too, but does not support the new filters. The synth sample format was also updated from nsmp2 to nsmp3 to allow for storing more "built in" settings with the sample. Older instruments only read the older sample format. However, changing the format is not something Nord seems to do frequently!

Nord updates their instruments from time to time, and the NS series have received more substantial upgrades over the years and even the somewhat older NS2 series got an upgrade to support the newer piano formats e.g. I would think -- based on history -- that the NP and NG series will receive bug fixes (if any are required) as long as they are current models.

The free updates to expect are thus of course any potential bug fixes, but to a large degree also new samples and new pianos when released. I don't remember when the past sample format was released, but I think all instruments from the NE3 and original NP have been supported until the upgrade of the sample format so that is maybe a 10 year period where you will received fresh sounds

Hilsen også fra Danmark!

[Deluxeifall]

I’ve had a similar issue syncing layers cleanly, especially when dealing with quick changes between patches. What helped a lot was setting up custom panel presets using ArtMaster to handle transitions smoother. It lets me pre-map what I need visually, so I don’t get surprised mid-set. Also found it handy for organizing my sounds per song instead of scrolling through programs during a gig.