NORD STAGE 4 officially announced for February 16th 2023

[analogholic]

If I remember well Forte "Flash play" actually used SSD streaming, so not the same type as Nord more similar to Kronos. Anyway it was not such a successfull product afaik.

Nope

"Flash-Play® provides the Forte® with a staggering amount of horse-power; 16 GB sample content with zero-loading time, heaping mounds of powerful DSP and ultrafast performance."

and

"Load up to 3.3 GB of your own custom samples into non-volatile flash memory. Supported sample formats: .WAV, .AIF (up to 16 bit / 96kHz) and Kurzweil formats (.P3K, .KRZ, .K25, .K26)."

https://kurzweil.com/forte/

Btw, what has "Anyway it was not such a successfull product afaik" anything to do with talking about Flash tech?

[mozart999uk]

Just out of interest, what do we think the new way of managing multiple presets per song is?

[spalding12]

Proud owner of a Nord since I was 16, mowing lawns all summer & bussing tables at a restaurant so I could afford an Electro 3HP, here to say--

This is complete bogus. None of us, as enthusiasts for this company, should consider buying this synth for this price. This is a lazy renovation that does not feel like six years in the making. The creation of a Nord Sample Library 3 without backwards compatibility for the Stage 2 owners was a big blow to the value of these synths, and now if they chose to inevitably stop making Sample Library 3 samples, to drive us to purchase their baseline $5000 "memory upgrade", I'm out.

Exactly
and only fan boys and fan girls will feel differently
you didn't less money
after six years
even the people who run this company are stupid or they just don't give a damn about those people who have spent all this money
those of us who only gear have already had to justify the purchase to people for ever
always charging us more money than others think it's worth
now most of us will agree with them
except a few people here who think this company can do no wrong
give truth serum to everybody here today and there will be a single person who says they work at least quite a bit disappointed with what's been given to us here after a 6-year wait

[Gambold]

It clearly escapes some people here that one can heavily compliment AND severely criticize a company and its products at the same time.

Obviously I love and use Nords or I wouldn't be here, absorbing a more or less continuous shellacking from fanboys and gatekeepers whenever I say something less than flattering.

Equally obviously I think that Clavia as a company has made some questionable moves and has spent the past few years in some kind of stasis. I'm sure some of my points have been silly. I'm equally sure some have been valid.

That's the problem for Clavia with setting such high standards - they open themselves up to criticism when they don't meet them (in my personal opinion, of course). It's not a conflict for me to slam them for some things and praise them for others.

I'm sorry if that's confusing for some of you. I'm even more sorry that some people choose to make the poster the topic of discussion, and not stick to the ideas and issues at hand.

Gambold

[LeftyBass68]

Will need to read the manual which is not published yet.Go figure......today is all about the hype!
Screw the fancy shmancy pictures and give us the freakin manual to read so we know EXACTLY what we are getting.
Or is it published on Instagram first as well?
They must have got the memo about the 76 key models.....

[Swampfox]

IMO, moving away from panels and having independent effects is a big step forward. A triple sensor key action on the 88 is also an improvement and step forward, although I'm not sure what it adds to the compact. The loss of the extern panel is a disappointment, it was one of the most powerful aspects of the NS3 and deserved upgrading and simplifying, even if was underutilized. The lack of a adding network connectivity or upgrading USB is confounding and disappointing; most the limitations of limited memory could be mitigated by being able to quickly reconfigure the instrument. Likewise, not having full ADSR on the synth engines in any fashion is a disappointment.

Both Extern and Envelopes are still there, but apparently no longer with fully dedicated buttons/knobs, more in a partially menu-diving fashion

There are envelopes buttons which activate the menu-driven ADS controls but not ADSR. Probably not a huge thing, but it is what it is.
I can't find any mention of the extern section. Clearly there is midi support but how it's implemented will be unclear unless they post the user manual or a video explaining those features. Even if it's menu-driven, it would still be better to be able to switch channels and the like directly from the console when controlling an external module.
I think both of those issues are more of "should I upgrade from a NS3" than how does a Nord compare to xxx. Honestly, if you want better synth than a NS3 you could likely add a Wave 2 (or other synths) to your rig cheaper than selling the 3 and buying the 4; assuming your OK with having 2 KBS.

[Olltsu]

Asked my local retailers about prices for the new Stage 4. 4999 euros for 88 keys... yikes. But he said that he could sell me brand new stage 3 for less than 3000 euros now that they want to get rid of them fast.

Should I upgrade Stage 2 EX to 3 or save up for 4? 2000euros difference is huge amount of money

[mozart999uk]

Just curious. Some people have been mentioning a possible price drop in the future. Is that something that happened with the NS3? Is it worth waiting before ordering? 6 months? 1 year?

I had a stage 3 88 on order but UK supplier has just confirmed that they wont be getting any more in now.

I don't recall prices dropping after the initial Stage 3 release but some retailers did offer "open box" units for less. With the Stage 4 priced significantly higher, I think resale value for Stage 3 models will stay strong for some time.

Thanks that's interesting. So far Thomann seems the cheapest to be delivered to the uk £4399

All the other retailers are at £4449.

[analogholic]

It clearly escapes some people here that one can heavily compliment AND severely criticize a company and its products at the same time.

Obviously I love and use Nords or I wouldn't be here, absorbing a more or less continuous shellacking from fanboys and gatekeepers whenever I say something less than flattering.

Equally obviously I think that Clavia as a company has made some questionable moves and has spent the past few years in some kind of stasis. I'm sure some of my points have been silly. I'm equally sure some have been valid.

That's the problem with setting such high standards - you open yourself up to criticism when you don't meet them (in my personal opinion, of course). It's not a conflict for me to slam Clavia for some things and praise them for others.

I'm sorry if that's confusing for some of you. I'm even more sorry that some people choose to make the poster the topic of discussion, and not stick to the ideas and issues at hand.

Gambold

Exactly....it´s corny when a place gets like a cult..nothing can be questioned in the mighty "Nord Church" well, btw how "unusual"...

Let's see...I own six Nord products myself and have had personal contact with a Nord employee and one Nord sound designer.
I told them what I think about stuff and gave them suggestions without them whining or getting defensive.

Fanboy/girl-ism is of no use to anyone, least of all Nord

[mozart999uk]

Asked my local retailers about prices for the new Stage 4. 4999 euros for 88 keys... yikes. But he said that he could sell me brand new stage 3 for less than 3000 euros now that they want to get rid of them fast.

Should I upgrade Stage 2 EX to 3 or save up for 4? 2000euros difference is huge amount of money

Wow that's a really good price. Do they ship to the uk????