NS4 problems with external gear

[Valpurgis]

Interesting article about Clavia Nord and their product philosophy; «This is what we do»

https://insounder.org/nord-boss-morten- ... eally-want

[Tracii]

Interesting article about Clavia Nord and their product philosophy; «This is what we do»

https://insounder.org/nord-boss-morten- ... eally-want

What is this official Nord User Forum he's talking about?

[Ecaroh]

for Nord "The Key Is to Understand What Musicians Really Want"

and Nord also say that "a lot of times they would use a certain feature, part of the instruments, in ways that we've never thought about. So it's all very inspiring."

Well to me this is not very convincing... Read this thread if you need to know more what I am talking about.

[anotherscott]

This is just a reminder that we're now close to May 2025 and MIDI problems are still there.

The most amazing one IMO is that you still cannot use Aux KB with Aftertouch, Exp Pedal or wheel. This problem (ID #11 on bug list) is from April 2023, so it has been there for two years now! I really feel that we should not tolerate this. When talking to them Nord has admitted that this is a problem and promised to put effort to fix it. And nothing. What the h*** is wrong with this company nowadays?

If, as you say, they have recognized it as an issue and promised to put effort into addressing it, and yet there has been nothing done about it despite the fact that Nord has released numerous updates that have included significant fixes and improvements since that time, I think that may be an indication that, for whatever reason, the change you're talking about is not as trivial to implement as you think it is, i.e. there is something about the existing architecture of the board that makes it complicated to implement... perhaps it's even not possible, or at least not without introducing other issues. As you said, it's been a known concern for two years, so I think you should assume this is simply the way it's going to be. At this point, if that were to change, I'd consider that an unexpected bonus.

Well if it’s like you said why did they have this aux kb mode in first place?

I think some of the most common reasons people would use this mode would be if they have a hammer action board and want to add a non-hammer controller to play organ; or they have a Compact model and they want to use a hammer action board to play pianos. This limitation does not come into play for these purposes, as neither piano nor organ have aftertouch or wheels; and you can use a pedal plugged into the Nord to control organ expression even if playing organ from an external controller (which, btw, does provide a side benefit of not having to purchase another expression pedal, or have to bring and connect an extra pedal at a gig).

[Ecaroh]

(in aux kb mode) I don’t see fully working AT, Wheel or Exp pedal as ”unexpected bonus”. To me it’s very much expected feature. Why? First because earlier Stage models had it working and I don’t see any rational reason why would they have wanted not to include it. Same reason - it’s working in NS3 for example - it should not be that difficult if they did not make a substantial hardware mistake when they developed NS4. Of course that’s possible, but hopefully not. Secondly you are forgetting a huge part of NS4 which has gotten more power: 3 x synth. Every synth player knows how important is to have at least wheel but also AT and Exp pedal. It’s stupid that NS4 has all these internally but no - you cannot use them with external keyboard.

And now we just talking about the most obvious midi problem (id #11). There are other ones too you know…

[anotherscott]

(in aux kb mode) I don’t see fully working AT, Wheel or Exp pedal as ”unexpected bonus”. To me it’s very much expected feature.

It could have been an expected feature for you when you bought it, based on your assumptions at the time. Today, we know that Nord has been aware of the issue for years, and have left it unaddressed despite having addressed many other things. Therefore at this point in time, based on what we know today, I no longer see any reason to expect it. I am assuming that there is no more than a 50/50 chance that it will ever be addressed. So at this point, if it appears, it will be an unexpected bonus. And in the mean time, I would advise anyone who needs this capability to buy some other keyboard, rather than continuing to expect the feature to appear in this one.

earlier Stage models had it working and I don’t see any rational reason why would they have wanted not to include it.

Maybe there was something about the new architecture which made it more complicated to implement, e.g. some other change they made stopped it from easily working the way you want. Regardless, the fact is, the mere existence of a feature on one model has never been a guarantee that a future model will have that feature. You can ask the exact same question about why the Nord Stage 3 didn't have Nord Stage 2 features like pending load, complete emulation of all the clavinet EQ settings, or the ability to assign different MIDI channels to different instruments and more flexible instrument output routing (these later items restored in the NS4); or why the NS4 doesn't have song mode, and so on.

You say "what the h*** is wrong with this company nowadays?" but Nord is not operating any differently today than they ever have. Features come and go from one model to another. Some things are addressed/improved, others are not.

[Ecaroh]

We can go on forever with this… I see most users here do not see problem and then there are few of us who want to keep this topic active. I have quite long history with Nord and also quite long history with their support and development staff. Over the years I have had good talks with them and I am proud to have even managed to get some small features and improvements to earlier Stage OS. I seriously feel that something nowadays different. There’s a serious contradiction between increasing power and complexity of Stage -line and its MIDI implementation. One is going forwards other is going backwards.


BTW As a side note, why do I feel that some guys here take this critic personally? I have never criticed any user here, just Nord and their MIDI competence. I am 100% fine with the fact that most NS4 users do not see this as a big problem. Sometimes I must read the forum title again ”User Forum” and not ”Fan Club”. People advice me to shut up and sell my Stage 4. Well, I might do sell it some day, who knows. To be fair I really love Nord’s many features and especially sound. That’s why I am not in hurry to sell my NS4, especially because I still have my Stage 3 which is close to perfect what comes to its MIDI features.

[Ritchie333]

I think some of the most common reasons people would use this mode would be if they have a hammer action board and want to add a non-hammer controller to play organ; or they have a Compact model and they want to use a hammer action board to play pianos. This limitation does not come into play for these purposes, as neither piano nor organ have aftertouch or wheels; and you can use a pedal plugged into the Nord to control organ expression even if playing organ from an external controller (which, btw, does provide a side benefit of not having to purchase another expression pedal, or have to bring and connect an extra pedal at a gig).

I'm coming to this getting frustrated that nobody in the real world can answer my questions.

For the past 14 years my gigging setup has been a Stage 2 Compact in Dual KB Mode with a Fatar Studiologic underneath, most recently the SL73. The Studiologic is used for pianos, the NS2 for everything else. I've got a sustain pedal going into the Studiologic, which the above seems to imply will work. But I also use a joystick on the Studiologic for when I want to layer piano with synth, controlling the latter's filter cut-off frequency, and I use another joystick to control the Leslie speed, as I found it actually feels the same as a real half moon switch. The above seems to suggest this won't work.

Nobody I've spoken to seems to definitively know if all of this will work with a Stage 4 Compact.

Am I SOL on this, and will swapping the Stage 2 for the Stage 4 actually degrade my playing experience? I've been to Andertons in Guildford and one of the Denmark Street shops (can't remember which) and the people I spoke to in-store couldn't give me a definitive answer. I'm not going to shell out my hard-earned cash unless it does at least what my current setup does.

[cgrafx]

Hi Richie,

I can 100% say your experience is going to change.

I don't have a NS4, so cannot tell you exactly what those changes will be, but I've seen most of the threads on the forum regarding MIDI issues/implementation and the architectures are very different.

That doesn't mean you won't be able to get to a place similar to what you have now, but the path to getting there is not going to be the same and may require an external MIDI processor to get the end result you are looking for.

[SuperStage]

I'm coming to this getting frustrated that nobody in the real world can answer my questions.

For the past 14 years my gigging setup has been a Stage 2 Compact in Dual KB Mode with a Fatar Studiologic underneath, most recently the SL73. The Studiologic is used for pianos, the NS2 for everything else. I've got a sustain pedal going into the Studiologic, which the above seems to imply will work. But I also use a joystick on the Studiologic for when I want to layer piano with synth, controlling the latter's filter cut-off frequency, and I use another joystick to control the Leslie speed, as I found it actually feels the same as a real half moon switch. The above seems to suggest this won't work.

Nobody I've spoken to seems to definitively know if all of this will work with a Stage 4 Compact.

Am I SOL on this, and will swapping the Stage 2 for the Stage 4 actually degrade my playing experience? I've been to Andertons in Guildford and one of the Denmark Street shops (can't remember which) and the people I spoke to in-store couldn't give me a definitive answer. I'm not going to shell out my hard-earned cash unless it does at least what my current setup does.

I think you can accomplish everything you want to with the NS4C and the SL73, with a slightly different pedal configuration.
I upgraded from a NS3C to a NS4C with a Korg D1 as a controller in AUX KB /DUAL KB mode with all sounds coming from the NS4. I have two Boss FV500 pedals, a Yamaha FC4A and two Boss FS5U pedals all connected to the NS4. With this setup, I assign sustain to the FC4A, rotor fast/slow to one FS5U, layer switching to the other FS5U, Swell to one of the FV500 and use the other FV500 for morphing layer volume and filters and also use the mod wheel for morphing filters, overdrive etc. I also have a Nord TP2 which provides for 3 additional assignable pedals if required. I also route the NS4 organ to output 3 into a NEO Vent II and HOF reverb and then stereo return into the AUX IN so that all sounds are routed through outputs 1/2. I do miss the song mode in the NS3, but have overcome this by sending and receiving program changes from my iPad using Onsong and a CME WIDI Jack and CME WIDI Thru6 BT. I hope this helps.