Help me with a BIG DECISION...

[clbctrs]

I've had my Piano 2 now for about 4 years, but recently I've been getting a bit frustrated with only being able to layer 2 sounds, only having Nord pads etc.
I love everything about my Nord but really need a bit more freedom for around the same money.

I've been looking at Midi setups and a few people have recommended the Arturia Mk2 88, which seems to be one of the best in the Midi set up,
Interested to get people's thoughts on this potential change! Has anyone used the Arturia? How does it compare? How does the Midi world compare to Nord?

[DJKeys]

Hi-

The Arturia is a controller only, it doesn't make any sounds on its own. Are you moving to VSTs inside a DAW? If so, any dedicated controller will be superior to the Piano 2 as a controller, but it won't replace the sound engines of the Nord. Can you give us more details about your setup?

-dj

[baekgaard]

Aren't those two very different approaches? And is it for live or home use?

The nice thing about the Nord is that you don't rely on a computer -- just plug in and play. For live, that is "key" to me; being dependent on a computer is quite different. Of course you can benefit from just about any software instrument, but you will also rely 100% on the computer, which I would not personally like to do for live use -- but that's probably just because my daytime work is teaching and doing research related to software, mathematics and cognition/AI Maybe it's fine for others.

But if you're heading in that direction, why not just use a computer with your Piano 2? That should work fine in many cases, and you can compensate for the lack of multiple zones with clever MIDI routing on the computer, I think.

Also, if you lack more flexibility and multiple layers, and like the Nord "plug and play" approach, the Nord Stage series is maybe more in the direction of what you wish for. That gives you a lot of practical flexibility in terms of live playing.

[clbctrs]

Yes, would move everything DAW, would probably run off Ableton with Keyscape or something similar!

Would be using this for home and live use, not too worried about the additional work and running of a laptop, happy to work with that, main reason for looking at the MK2 88 is I like the ideas of faders on the keys to control on the spot, having a nord purely as a controller is a pretty expensive way of doing it, the piano 2 being almost worth double compared to the MK2

[Kaffimusic]

Maybe you should look out for a workstation. Mybe not for sequencing/composing (it´s done way more comfortable with a DAW) but for the flexibility of sounds. And some of them have some serious soundengines with incredible flexibility. Some are with 88key hammeraction, if you are into this.

[baekgaard]

Using a DAW is something you can easily try out even with your existing keyboard; then you can see how well it works and if you like the sounds and the workflow.

I also use a DAW (several, in fact; Cubase and Ableton) but sometimes get caught up tweaking settings instead of making music. Sometimes less choices are better

In any case, just try it out and see if you like it. You can always sell your board and buy the controller once you've decided on the DAW approach.