Install larger piano and sample memory?

[Nordine]

Beside the fact that Clavia will never do this, it'd be so great if they offered some way to have any USB Flash Stick be connected to Nord keyboards via a USB A to USB B adaptor and have it formated with Nord OS to load and have a quick access to additional NSL samples. Too bad!

Thanks a lot for all your replies

[analogika]

Beside the fact that Clavia will never do this, it'd be so great if they offered some way to have any USB Flash Stick be connected to Nord keyboards via a USB A to USB B adaptor and have it formated with Nord OS to load and have a quick access to additional NSL samples. Too bad!

Thanks a lot for all your replies

If you buy a cheap Windows tablet (some 7" models are well below 100€) that can run Nord Sound Manager and has at least 1 USB port to connect to the keyboard (and to a USB key, if needed) you have all you need to do that today on existing models, without waiting for Nord to add that feature to future ones (and you can use the tablet for many more things also)

[Nordine]

If you buy a cheap Windows tablet (some 7" models are well below 100€) that can run Nord Sound Manager and has at least 1 USB port to connect to the keyboard (and to a USB key, if needed) you have all you need to do that today on existing models, without waiting for Nord to add that feature to future ones (and you can use the tablet for many more things also)

@maxpiano, thanks for your reply, but I'm confused, do you mean that on that Tablet you can load the NSL samples and get access to them instantly?

[maxpiano]

If you buy a cheap Windows tablet (some 7" models are well below 100€) that can run Nord Sound Manager and has at least 1 USB port to connect to the keyboard (and to a USB key, if needed) you have all you need to do that today on existing models, without waiting for Nord to add that feature to future ones (and you can use the tablet for many more things also)

@maxpiano, thanks for your reply, but I'm confused, do you mean that on that Tablet you can load the NSL samples and get access to them instantly?

No, not instantly but you can run the Nord Sound Manager on the tablet to download them to the keyboard (and also erase, organize etc...), as you would do from a computer; consider that even if Nord would add a USB Key port you would still need to select and load them from the external memory into the Flash SRAM, so it is practically the same.

[Nordine]

No, not instantly but you run Nord Sound Manager on the tablet to download them to the keyboard (and also erase, organize etc...), them as you would do from a computer; consider that even if Nord would add a USB Key you would still need to select and load them from the external memory into the Flash SRAM, so it is practically the same.

Ah! Okay! I see.

[tsss27]

Since an SSD is too slow to stream samples off of, this requires an operating system capable of pre-loading samples from the SSD into RAM — which requires actual RAM, and a conventional CPU to run that operating system.

Yes, the synths I mentioned above have actual ram and an operating system capable of loading samples into it. This would require a totally new operating system and new hardware for Nord. I never said it was easy! But I'm looking at the bigger picture, 10 or 20 years from now. Surely eventually Nord will have to catch up to other boards offering more sample space at some point?

There are other alternatives as well (though still requiring new hardware.) In the e-drum world we have the 2Box DrumIt series of modules. These were developed by former Clavia employees in fact. These just stream the samples direct from an SD card. Only certain cards will work for this application, but you can fit up to a 64 GB card with the correct type and formatting. I've played them before; the sample playback is instant and perfectly glitch-free no matter how fast one plays or how many drum pieces you hit at once.

We also have other hardware boards which are said to have flash ram (Kurzweil, GSI, Yamaha) which I guess are all different from how Nord does it as well.

At the end of the day it's all speculation and yes, there have been a multitude of threads on this topic before. I just have a hard time believing that Nord is still going to have this same exact software architecture in a decade or two... They've done it thus far and it's served them well, but time will tell...

[Schorsch]

I just have a hard time believing that Nord is still going to have this same exact software architecture in a decade or two... They've done it thus far and it's served them well, but time will tell...

Isn’t this what most of the others are also doing since decades?

[Gambold]

>I just have a hard time believing that Nord is still going to have this same exact software architecture in a decade or two<

I wondering if Clavia is going to be around at all in a decade or two. The old man will have passed on by then, and there doesn't seem to be any leadership in the wings - I base that completely speculative comment on the completely objective truth that Nord has released nothing new or gone in any new direction for a long time now. The Stage 4 was, well, not exactly a doorbuster. More of a placeholder. Does anyone honestly think the Electro 7 is going to be any different than the 6, save for some interface tinkering and MAYBE some more memory? They could bring back the optional 9th registration setting - sorry, that's an open sore, I know...

The company has been quietly shaving back its products and its presence. Remember when they had a dedicated Hammond clone, in two models no less? Or when we got Grand Piano updates more than once every four years and counting? When is the last time the Lead got an update? Their sound library is still a mess and inconsistent with their backup files. Their last few appearances at NAMM have been underwhelming. Here on the home-front we lost Pablo, and his promised replacement (whose name escapes me, but it's in the archives of this forum), never showed up.

Customer service-wise, they've abandoned all of us to our local music shop sales staff, some of whom are helpful, most of whom are clueless - if they even sell Nords on their floor. A lot of us get our Nord board via online dealers, whose own revolving door of support makes getting any real Nord help or questions answered a chore. This forum is the only real resource we have, and it's cluttered with a lot of dross from lunatics like me. Think I'm making this all up? Send Clavia an email, a phone call, smoke signals or a messenger pigeon, about any topic at all - it won't matter, you won't hear a thing back. If you do, please record it and post it here. Don't just tell us you had some wonderful conversation with a Nord engineer. We've seen that fish tale already.

I've said it before - the best thing that could happen is for one of the big Evil Corporations like Korg or Yamaha to buy them out. These Suits may belong to the dark side, but they have a funny way of building and evolving their product lines and markets. Keep the company local, keep the staff, but take over (excuse me, start) marketing and customer service departments and get some keyboard people in there who have some notion of what the next generation of digital keyboards are going to need. HINT - it's gonna have something to do with software and computers. Or...gasp...wireless!

Fondly, Gambold

[Gambold]

RE the potential new Pablo:

>This is a general notice that I am no longer working as Nord Tech Support for either Canadian or US wholesale distributors, effective May 1, 2020. Folks in Canada and the USA seeking tech support will be directed to my former colleague, Matthew Wood.<

Matthew Wood never made an appearance on this forum. He worked for American Music and Sound and was reachable there, but he hasn't been there for over two years. Clavia never made any effort to designate a replacement.