Nord Stage 3 over Nord piano 5?

Everything about the Nord Piano and Grand series; features, specifications, how to operate, and questions about technical issues.
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Nord Stage 3 over Nord piano 5?

Post by joaofrancisco »

Hey guys, my first ever post in the forum and I am pretty sure it's a typical one! :D

I am about to buy my first Nord ever, and I am almost fully set on getting an NP5 (that thing is sooo cool)! However, because it is so pricey, a lot of friends of mine recommended me to get an NS3 HA instead,
simply because it has a lot more features that I can (eventually) use in the future.

Will I lose anything if I pick the NS3 over the NP5 ? (Action, Effects, Reverb...)

Thank you very much for your help!
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Re: Nord Stage 3 over Nord piano 5?

Post by FZiegler »

Hardly anybody has seen a NP5 yet, so it's not so easy for you to get a good advice. Assuming that the NP5 has a similar action as the NP4, I'd say that it has the slightly stiffer and the more pianolike key action than a NS3.

Of course, a NS3 has lot more features - mainly more effects, a synth engine and more MIDI capabilities. But we don't know if the new features of the NP5 and it's new sample format will be provided for the NS3 as an update or not.

Maybe, you take into account, that both instruments are great and should sell well second-hand if one day you would want to switch to something else. I understand the idea to take future commitments into account if it comes to buy something rather pricey, but I would not say that it's the only way to do it.
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Re: Nord Stage 3 over Nord piano 5?

Post by CountFosco »

I honestly can't understand how this question can exist. These are different instruments entirely. Do you need a piano, or do you need piano, organ and synthesizer?
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Re: Nord Stage 3 over Nord piano 5?

Post by taxman »

That's the right question.
None of the nords can do all. These instruments are for special needs. Do you need a piano with a pianolike keybed, take the np4, np5 or grand. Looking for a full stage piano, take the ns3, for less the electro.
Some people have more than one nord ... or another brand together with a nord.
Last edited by taxman on 17 Jun 2021, 07:13, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Nord Stage 3 over Nord piano 5?

Post by cphollis »

I'll make a case for both, which is sort of what I do.

The NS3 Compact is my do-it-all board for electric bands. It's configured with several set lists spanning over 100 custom patches across multiple bands. Ready to go, no stress, etc. I add a weighted MIDI keybed for piano parts, and I'm golden.

My NP4 not only serves as my weighted keybed (overkill, I know) but it also does a great job at acoustic gigs where it's 2-3 musicians playing to a small afternoon crowd. If I were to lose either, I'd buy another.

Actually, I'm thinking of getting another NS3C as a spare ... it's that good for me. One for studio, configuring, playing with patches, etc. -- and then take a backup for my more beat-up NS3C which will go to gigs.
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Re: Nord Stage 3 over Nord piano 5?

Post by FZiegler »

I forgot one point. The Piano has the virtual hammer action which means that you have triple sensor keys with virtual double escapement - retriggering the same key in a fast way without letting it come fully up is easy. The Stage doesn't have that - it has aftertouch instead for synth playing (and of course mod wheel, pitch stick and morphing functionality). Another thing where you have to choose either .. or.
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Re: Nord Stage 3 over Nord piano 5?

Post by joaofrancisco »

Right at this time, I really need a really nice piano sound with good action and some pad sounds for church, and I get all of that with NP5.
But maybe in the future, I could use some organ and synth sounds, and with 500 euros more I get a lot more stuff. I think as Fziegler said, it's about the commitment to something
really pricey and making sure it's something that will last me years to come.

Do the reverb effects that transitioned from the wave to the NP5 available in the NS3 as well?
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Re: Nord Stage 3 over Nord piano 5?

Post by Tasten-Bert »

joaofrancisco wrote:Do the reverb effects that transitioned from the wave to the NP5 available in the NS3 as well?
Not in the current range of Stage models, but you‘ll never know, what the future brings. I bet that a Stage 3EX or a Stage 4 will at least have this, if not more.
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Re: Nord Stage 3 over Nord piano 5?

Post by Nord33 »

joaofrancisco wrote:Hey guys, my first ever post in the forum and I am pretty sure it's a typical one! :D

I am about to buy my first Nord ever, and I am almost fully set on getting an NP5 (that thing is sooo cool)! However, because it is so pricey, a lot of friends of mine recommended me to get an NS3 HA instead,
simply because it has a lot more features that I can (eventually) use in the future.

Will I lose anything if I pick the NS3 over the NP5 ? (Action, Effects, Reverb...)

Thank you very much for your help!

As many guys here already said. There is no Nord that can do everything and every Nord is good for something else. At this point as not that many people got to own NP5 it's really hard to tell is it worth the money and compare it with other models and keyboards. Only things we have for now are the specs, user manual, overview video and few more videos that don't cover it very deep. And I assume nobody on this forum owns one yet...

Take a note that NS3 and NP5 are very different keyboards for different purposes regardless of their close price range and that NP5 is completely new. You need to take into account that NS3 is now 4 years old and even though it has been hardware and software updated it can't include some of the new features that Wave 2 and Piano 5 brought to the Nord assortment. I think that some of the new features and solutions that came with NP5 are very helpful and useful, but as your friends suggested, NS3 is like all in one board that includes Organ/Piano/Synth engines with A1 synth engine and also Morph feature that Piano 5 doesn't have.

It all gets down to what do you actually need?


UPDATE:
joaofrancisco wrote:Right at this time, I really need a really nice piano sound with good action and some pad sounds for church, and I get all of that with NP5.
But maybe in the future, I could use some organ and synth sounds, and with 500 euros more I get a lot more stuff. I think as Fziegler said, it's about the commitment to something
really pricey and making sure it's something that will last me years to come.

Do the reverb effects that transitioned from the wave to the NP5 available in the NS3 as well?
I assume you and me have very similar needs because I play worship music here in Croatia and I play a lot in church... That means I need good piano and pad sound too --> I don't own Nord yet, but as it came out I stopped my eyes on Nord Stage 3 88. As a worshiper (if we really have similar needs) I would definitely suggest going for NS3 rather than NP5. I don't say you won't be satisfied with NP5 (at this moment actually nobody knows that), but I'm telling you that I think that you will like very much possibility of layering different pads with pianos (sometimes organs) and morphing all that together with effects. That way you will be able to create very beautiful atmospheric sounds and pads that will help you a lot in worship/church playing. :)

p.s. as I said, I don't own any Nord keyboard yet, but I've put my self so much into Nord keyboards last few years (especially Stage 3 88) that I've read the whole NS3 user manual a few times, I've watched many many videos, reviews, comparisons, tests, sound checks... I've also went to the store many times to test it and play it so I will not say I know everything, and I don't know more than someone who already owns it for few years, but I think that I know pretty much about NS3 and it's capabilities, features and so on...

Hope that helps :)
Last edited by Nord33 on 20 Jun 2021, 23:05, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Nord Stage 3 over Nord piano 5?

Post by aakash »

After having gone through the experience of owning a Nord Grand and a Nord Piano 4, I now have the Stage 3 HA 88. It is a vastly more interesting, organic and enjoyable instrument than the others (both of which are wonderful in their own right).

If you can afford it, get a Stage 3 88. I know a vendor where you can get a b-stock unit for under $4k.
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