NORD STAGE 4 officially announced for February 16th 2023

[changearound]

I’m sad with this new Stage 4: if you are using (like me) 2 Extern sections on your NS3, you will only have 1 synth layer with the NS4.
...
I owned all previous NS (1, 1 ex, 2, 2 ex,3) and I have to stop upgrade now for a choice of developent that consume almost no CPU (midi is very light). I hope this limitation can be fixed…

The issue is presumably not CPU, but rather interface/control. I don't see how it can be "fixed" in that I don't see an obvious, intuitive way to use 3 sets of control settings to enable 4 sounds.

But regardless, I discussed a workaround at post161973.html#p161973

Theoretically you could have both internal synth and External simultaneously active without changing the interface. The Mode button could simply act as a 'focus' for whether the controls relate to Analog/Sample or External. Sounds simple but there may be good reasons why this can't be done, presumably CPU related.

The workaround you mentioned. if I understand it correctly, would still involve the scarifice of one of the Stage 4 internal synths. I take your point that you'd have 2 internal + 2 external as previous models but you're losing one of the big advantages of the stage 4, i.e. 3 internal synths.

[anotherscott]

It seems to me that there is. Leave the synth engine on and use the range set for the synth layer for sending MIDI out in the desired channel. If you *want* to switch that synth off, that is a different issue.

Good point. That actually would be something that might not be difficult for Nord to implement. Here's the relevant part of the manual:



Each synth part can be set to receive on a MIDI channel. If it could also send, then each synth part could kind of function as an Extern (though perhaps without some of the other parameters that External supports, like a user-specified Program Change... which would require additional changes to the code/interface). That would also address the desire for having synth controls available to control external devices. Though whether the NS4's internal architecture actually could easily do this (and whether Nord feels this adds unnecessary complexity) are unknowns. (For example, incoming MIDI doesn't have to respect split points, but for this to work, outgoing MIDI would need to.)

to make the point that nobody really knows what the engineers have implemented without asking the engineers ... a MIDI note on message with a velocity of 0 is often parsed as a MIDI note off message!

As maxpiano said, that's not "often" parsed that way, it ALWAYS is. That's always been part of the official MIDI spec, that Note On of zero is functionally identical to Note Off. If anything doesn't work that way, it a fault.

The workaround you mentioned. if I understand it correctly, would still involve the scarifice of one of the Stage 4 internal synths. I take your point that you'd have 2 internal + 2 external as previous models but you're losing one of the big advantages of the stage 4, i.e. 3 internal synths.

Right. But you'd have the new capability of 3 internal synths, without losing what you don't want to lose from your NS3, the ability to have 2 internal synths and 2 external, when that's what you would prefer. And it's do-able today, with no update from Nord. So "losing" that function is then not a reason to not buy a NS4. True, you're not getting the ability to have 3 internal synths AND 2 externals. But you're still ending up with capability beyond what the NS3 had, without really losing the NS3 capability you thought was gone (by getting that other capability from "the other side" of what you're connecting to).

[DanielD71]

It won’t be the end of Clavia to put the entire external section in a menu. I could live with that.
We could set the external section, set morph, etc. all within a menu.

It would absolutely be “the end” of the Nord Stage series, though, as this is the exact opposite of everything it tried to do. The whole point is having the same physical interface, including the split selection, for all engines — whether organ, piano, synth, or external.

Building a completely new interface to achieve the same thing for one single mode is not going to happen, as it breaks the fundamental idea of the product.

There are other manufacturers that do this as part of their product concept, and that’s fine. That’s why they’re other manufacturers.

I do not agree “at all”. But yes they are other manufacturers that does all that and more.

[Al_DeKlein]

Does anyone know how many organ, piano and synth user Section Presets are available? I didn't see this in the NS4 or NSM user manuals.

[dcjams]

Relating to the discussion of the triple-sensor keybed, I can confirm that, on the Nord Piano 5 at least, the triple-sensor functionality neither transmits nor receives MIDI.

That is to say, if I make use of the triple-sensor function - playing multiple notes without fully lifting the key - no MIDI data is transmitted other than the initial note on message and the final note off message when I release the key. I used a MIDI monitor to monitor the output of the Piano 5.

As nothing is transmitted it follows that this feature cannot effectively be received (not that that makes much sense anyway). If I record a performance using the triple-sensor function into a DAW and then play back the recorded MIDI data, only a single note is heard.

[Al_DeKlein]

Does anyone know how many organ, piano and synth user Section Presets are available? I didn't see this in the NS4 or NSM user manuals.

Based on the restore file, 64 Organ, 64 Piano, and 4 banks of 64 for Synth, all pre-populated to try out.

EDIT: Note correction by Schorsch below - the NS4 has double the amount I noted.

[DanielD71]

It’s actually 2x64 presets for Organ, 2x64 for Piano and 8x64 for Synth as stated in the specs of the Stage 4 on the Nord product page: https://www.nordkeyboards.com/products/ ... ifications

[Al_DeKlein]

Does anyone know how many organ, piano and synth user Section Presets are available? I didn't see this in the NS4 or NSM user manuals.

Based on the restore file, 64 Organ, 64 Piano, and
4 banks of 64 for Synth, all pre-populated to try out.

Based on my NS3C use of mostly Dual Keyboard panel A-B *or* piano x organ-synth splits, losing Song Mode does not appear to be as dire as I originally thought. Between that many Presets to pull from, an additional 112 programs, Program Organize function and new AUX KB structure, it may actually better than Song Mode was on the NS3 ... albeit different.

If I decide to make the NS3 to NS4 jump, I see it as a similar process I went through making the jump from the NE5 to my current NS3C.
1) Reprogram my mind with a new NS4 logic and structure.
2) Formulate an NS3C to NS4 migration path and process.
3) Delete all NS4 Section Presets that, while they may be good examples of the NS4 capabilities, I know I'll never need.
4) Build the Section Presets I need to rebuild the NS4 Programs to replicate my NS3C Songs.

It may seem like a daunting task on the surface, but I'll choose to look at a great NS4 learning experience... Now I just need to think about if i want to swap my AUX KB setup from my current 88-key controller x NS3C on top *or* NS4-88 x 61-key controller on top.

[WannitBBBad]

It’s actually 2x64 presets for Organ, 2x64 for Piano and 8x64 for Synth as stated in the specs of the Stage 4 on the Nord product page: https://www.nordkeyboards.com/products/ ... ifications

Thanks, that's great. I would guess that half of the presets are empty in that case so we don't have to pitch some to save others.

[vojtech-h]

Now I just need to think about if i want to swap my AUX KB setup from my current 88-key controller x NS3C on top *or* NS4-88 x 61-key controller on top.

If you have the previous choice of NE5 and NS3C (apparently for organ and synth), I would expect the choice of NS4C (with with its integrated keyboard for organ/synth) + 88-key controller.