Synth - adjustment flexibility on Piano vs Stage?

[WP63C]

I don’t yet own a Nord and am trying to decide which one is right for me.

Recently I played a Stage 3 with Royal Grand 3D mixed with a Soft Pad and the sound was fantastic.

I will only ever play piano and pad so I don’t really need a Stage – EXCEPT…..

On the Stage 3 in the Synth section (ie in that instance, the Soft Pad), there is a red Freq knob (Actually it’s a black knob with a red surround).
What that did was to change the nature of the Pad sound hugely and it meant I could get just the sound I wanted.

There is no such button on the Piano 4 or 5 but is the functionality nevertheless there (eg underneath a menu)?

Thanks

One other question
- If I want to restrict the key range over which a pad will play, is that possible on the Stage or Paino (4 or 5)?

[23skidoo]

Welcome to the forum!

On the Stage 3 in the Synth section (ie in that instance, the Soft Pad), there is a red Freq knob (Actually it’s a black knob with a red surround).
What that did was to change the nature of the Pad sound hugely and it meant I could get just the sound I wanted.

There is no such button on the Piano 4 or 5 but is the functionality nevertheless there (eg underneath a menu)?

Not really. The sample synth they have is not a complete synthesis engine, the only functionality is what you see on the panel. You can use the EQ section of the effects if you don't want to use it on the piano, and the NP5 has bright or soft dynamics which are, not quite the same thing but allow a small, limited degree of flexibility there. But that's about it, it's not really the same as adjusting the filter cutoff on a synth LPF that's got it's own envelope on it, though depending on what you need/want it might be sufficient to get the job done.

If I want to restrict the key range over which a pad will play, is that possible on the Stage or Paino (4 or 5)?

Yes, you can choose from several split points on the NP4 or 5, with varying degrees of blend either side of the split point similar to the Stage 3. Note that the NP4 has only piano/synth split/layer, you cannot stack pianos or synths. The NP5 allows stacking and splitting 2 pianos and 2 sample synths.

In short, the Piano is very much oriented around taking pre-existing sounds and slightly tweaking them to make them work better in a given mix. The Stage is about customizing the sounds to a very high degree and even coming up with your own new ones.

[WP63C]

Thankyou that's really helpful.

[anotherscott]

One other slant on this, though... While it's true that you can't make the adjustment you're looking for on the Nord Piano's pad sounds, you do have the ability to load in completely different pad sounds, so you might be able to find, for example, a darker, more mellow pad sound, if that's what you're looking for.

[cphollis]

One other slant on this, though... While it's true that you can't make the adjustment you're looking for on the Nord Piano's pad sounds, you do have the ability to load in completely different pad sounds, so you might be able to find, for example, a darker, more mellow pad sound, if that's what you're looking for.

This is probably a better direction for you, since you're ultimately after a great pad, and not so much full synth capabilities. Having owned both the NP4 and NP5, the latter is much better in this regard.

[WP63C]

Thankyou anotherscott and cphollis - very good points.

The other option I'm looking at is a Stage 2 EX.
Looking at photos, the Synth section is layed out differently vs Stage 3 but does it have the same Freq function as the Stage 3 as described above?

[cphollis]

I'm thinking you're looking at the filter frequency knob. If you want to do filter sweeps on your pads, maybe using a control pedal, then, yes, you'll be better off with Stage 2, 3 or 4. The more recent 3 and 4 have a very powerful "morph" function that can change more than one parameter at a time, which would be the next step in that direction.

[anotherscott]

I'm thinking you're looking at the filter frequency knob. If you want to do filter sweeps on your pads, maybe using a control pedal, then, yes, you'll be better off with Stage 2, 3 or 4. The more recent 3 and 4 have a very powerful "morph" function that can change more than one parameter at a time, which would be the next step in that direction.

the stage 2 also has those morph functions.

[maxpiano]

I'm thinking you're looking at the filter frequency knob. If you want to do filter sweeps on your pads, maybe using a control pedal, then, yes, you'll be better off with Stage 2, 3 or 4. The more recent 3 and 4 have a very powerful "morph" function that can change more than one parameter at a time, which would be the next step in that direction.

the stage 2 also has those morph functions.

And Stage Classic/EX as well

[WP63C]

Understood - thanks to all.