Nord Stage 4 - Glide Rate Range (Bug?)

[fabian_janiczek]

Hey Guys,

On My Stage 3 i used to set the Glide Rate to 10 (maximum) to create (pitching up) synth risers, which worked perfectly. On the new Stage 4 the same Glide Rate (10) is much faster, which is a huge problem (so i can't use it for risers anymore). I hope this is a bug and gets fixed soon (im on v 0.98). Anyone experiencing the same issue?

Greetings from Austria

[Fabro]

Hey Guys,

On My Stage 3 i used to set the Glide Rate to 10 (maximum) to create (pitching up) synth risers, which worked perfectly. On the new Stage 4 the same Glide Rate (10) is much faster, which is a huge problem (so i can't use it for risers anymore). I hope this is a bug and gets fixed soon (im on v 0.98). Anyone experiencing the same issue?

Greetings from Austria

I don't know for sure about the glide but you can use the LFO for this.
Set to OSC Pitch, MOD AMT to max (or to 12 semi, if you want an octave), set waveform to INV SAW, sync that to master clock and make sure KBS is on in Master clock menu (also set the tempo of the song there), now set the LFO rate with to 4/1 or 2/1 and you will get the same effect but a lot smoother than the glide.

[WannitBBBad]

This issue is currently listed on the NS4 wish list as a desired global option to extend the maximum duration based on your prior post:
nord-stage-forum-f3/stage-4-issue-with- ... ug#p163950
Have you submitted it as a bug to Nord support?

[allstops]

LOST SALE: I will continue to hold up replacing my NS3 compact with a NS4 compact until the glide rate range increased matching glide rates. One more sale lost - for now anyway. (I did upgrade my NS3 HP to NS4 HA 73 as I never 'glide' glide on my 'lower tier' keyboard).

[Jim Roseberry]

Aside from the limited Max Portamento time (compared to the NS3):
Portamento is broken in Synth engine 1.
Have to go back to firmware 1.06 to resolve the issue.
I've reported this directly to Nord. Zero response!
Each month that goes by... my patience with Clavia grows more thin.
Small company, yeah. Unresponsive to real-world issues affecting users, yeah.
Haven't even acknowledged the problem... let alone fixed it.
Ridiculous in a keyboard that costs the better part of $6k.

Yamaha released the Montage M8x.
No major issues with firmware.
Only downside to the M8x, it's HUGE/heavy.

[tsss27]

What do you mean portamento is broken in synth engine 1? Does it not work at all?

[Jim Roseberry]

I've mentioned this several times... (why I didn't fully explain in my above response)

Intro for "Turn Me Loose"
Synth Engine 1: Multi-Saw x2 (set to 5th)
Synth Engine 2: Shape Sine Saw (set to Octave)
Synth Engine 3: Shape Sine Saw (set to 9th)

Enable Portamento for each Synth Engine... and set it to maximum time (it's just barely long enough for the 2-octave slide up).

Save (Store) the patch.

Play a few different patches (to simulate a gig situation)... then return to the Intro for "Turn Me Loose".
What happens is that Portamento is not functioning on Synth Engine 1.
Synth Engines 2 and 3 glide up to pitch as expected... while Synth Engine 1 immediately plays the G5+D6.
This doesn't sound quite as bad as playing a half-step out of key... but it's a close second.

This bug was introduced after firmware 1.06.
It's been broken since... and remains broken in firmware 1.14

I understand bugs happen.
I've reported this issue directly to Nord... and other than the automated response, there's been no acknowledgement (and obviously no fix).
For covering vintage synth type sounds, having properly functional Portamento is fundamental.
It's frustrating that it's been broken this long... and who knows when/if it'll be fixed.
At the very least, it would be nice if Nord/Clavia would respond/acknowledge the issue.

Also, why in the world would Nord/Clavia decide to purposely (severely) limit the maximum Portamento time?
Bad decision. Better to have too much and not need it... than to have too little and be SOL

If NS4 had the same "user-tunable" intervals with mult-wave oscillators as in NS3, we could work around the issue by avoiding using Synth Engine 1.
As is, NS4 users are limited to preset intervals of 5th/Octave.
Thus, it takes all three Synth Engines to cover what two could do in the NS3.

I came to the NS3 late... but the experience was far more smooth.
Had I realized that many NS3 samples would not be present... and that Portamento would be broken (for many months), I'm not sure I would have upgraded.

Loved the NS3... which is why I was one of the first in the US to get the NS4.
NS4 has great potential...
It would be nice to see it get some attention (firmware updates).

[Nordlicht]

What happens is that Portamento is not functioning on Synth Engine 1.
Synth Engines 2 and 3 glide up to pitch as expected... while Synth Engine 1 immediately plays the G5+D6.
This doesn't sound quite as bad as playing a half-step out of key... but it's a close second.

This bug was introduced after firmware 1.06.
It's been broken since... and remains broken in firmware 1.14

This is interesting and weird at the same time. I've just tried to reproduce this bug by setting up that program, saving it, playing around with other random programs for about 15 minutes, returned to the bug test program - and it played correctly. I then modified waveforms, glide rate, swapped from mono to legato mode and tried other variations, but it still is OK. Perhaps I'll come back to it tomorrow? I'm using v1.14.

[tsss27]

Thanks for the description. I agree having working glide is super important for my use as well. I'm personally less concerned about the max range being shortened though I agree it wouldn't hurt to increase it. However to have one layer not function at all once saved is a huge bug and given that they seem to be fixing lots of other bugs I have no idea why this one isn't getting addressed.

One clarification...does the glide issue with Synth 1 only fail if the glide is set to maximum, or will it stop working regardless of what the value is? At least this will help me determine how limiting this will be for my needs, until they actually fix it! I don't have an NS4 yet.

[Nordlicht]

Thanks for the description. I agree having working glide is super important for my use as well. I'm personally less concerned about the max range being shortened though I agree it wouldn't hurt to increase it. However to have one layer not function at all once saved is a huge bug and given that they seem to be fixing lots of other bugs I have no idea why this one isn't getting addressed.

One clarification...does the glide issue with Synth 1 only fail if the glide is set to maximum, or will it stop working regardless of what the value is? At least this will help me determine how limiting this will be for my needs, until they actually fix it! I don't have an NS4 yet.

As written above, I'm not able to reproduce this bug with my NS4 Comapct. Also today, the test program is still working as it should.
And I've also did different variations, e.g. glide to 50%, other waveforms, legato mode instead of mono mode, etc.
So far, the program seems to be "stable".

I've added it here for any comparison or other tests.

Glide Test.ns4p

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