NS4 button quality worse than on NS2

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uhura
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NS4 button quality worse than on NS2

Post by uhura »

Hi, I have a question about my new NS 4 Compact: most people probably won't even notice it, but I'm a very haptically oriented person and it really annoys me that the buttons (not the knobs) no longer feel as valuable as on my NS2.
They all feel a bit heavier, sound more hollow and feel as if they are dragging slightly. Do you know if Nord has changed this in general at some point or did I get a bad batch?
It's subtle, but it really annoys me because I'll probably press these buttons 100,000 times.
Alexandr74
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Re: NS4 button quality worse than on NS2

Post by Alexandr74 »

Hello. I used to have an NS3, now I have an NS4 compact, which has quite a few problems, but the buttons work fine. There is one annoying problem, though, which may not be related to the quality of the buttons. When I try to use the combination to change the name of the program (Shift+Page name), it may work right away, or it may not. I have to press this combination 5-7 times.
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MartinJ2EX
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Re: NS4 button quality worse than on NS2

Post by MartinJ2EX »

I think I remember that the original Nord Stage 2 used metal potis and they switched to plastic ones starting with Stage 2 EX.
This could be the reason they feel different.
I feel right at home going from Stage 2 EX to Stage 4, although I miss the ring LED encoders…
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maxpiano
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Re: NS4 button quality worse than on NS2

Post by maxpiano »

MartinJ2EX wrote: 05 Jun 2025, 11:25 I think I remember that the original Nord Stage 2 used metal potis and they switched to plastic ones starting with Stage 2 EX.
This could be the reason they feel different.
I feel right at home going from Stage 2 EX to Stage 4, although I miss the ring LED encoders…
But the OP is talking about buttons (not knobs), so unless this time they changed the buttons type on NS4 there should be no difference with previous models ones.

Then personally I wouldn't see problem if a button "sound" or feels different, as far as it just works fine for what it has to do, but as they say "YMMV"
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Re: NS4 button quality worse than on NS2

Post by pterm »

@uhura
If you have access to both an NS4 and NS2, the button caps can be popped off (there's a thread on the forums describing how https://www.norduserforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=22769).
You could compare the internal components (I think it's just a spring contact) to see if they changed.
If you need help finding the forum post (link added above)
If you do this, please provide photos comparing the two for the forum.
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