Logo for Nord should be a snoring human

[Gambold]

Nothing to see here - I pop in every now and then, as an ex-Nord user who reluctantly left due to a complete lack of innovation and new product, and...nothing has changed. Hoary forum topics about keyboards entering their second decade...most of them concerned with the inevitable breakdowns and fixes that instruments this old would require.

How the mighty are falling. Stockholm is on auto-pilot while technology and the rest of the music world relentlessly advances away from Clavia's once-mighty and now-quaint keyboards. Yeah, they are still made of metal and have lots of knobs, I know. So are late 1950s Chevrolets.

Gambold, not unhappy that he left Nord for Yahama, but kinda sad that he doesn't regret it.

[Gambold]

Hello Gambold, yes no big news from Stockholm lately, but what great or revolutionary products have the other brands issued or proposed meantime...?

Maybe I am missing something, but I see all of them stuck to the usual technologies and features as well, more or less, then if I check the statistics of one of the largest online shops I find (a bit surprisingly, I have to admit) that NS4 88 is the top seller amongst the high-cost Stage Pianos (4th overall, but the previous 3 are Roland FP10/30X and Yamaha's P145) https://www.thomann.it/topseller_GF_stage_piano.html

I also moved away from Nord from time to time across the years, but when I got back to own one it wasn't because there was a new product or a new piano sample to download, but because I was missing its sound, effectiveness (particularly for band/live usage) and ease of use (and in fact every time I got back, I didn't buy the latest model but the -1)

[analogika]

Press key — get sound.

Now get all excited, won’t you.

[glombi]

And Yamaha is more exciting?! As Nord (NS4) and Yamaha (CP88) user I value the different qualities of both companies...

[cphollis]

Nice car!! I saw one go for big money at an auction, so definitely a classic among enthusiasts. An inexpensive Toyota would provide much better transportation at a far lower cost -- so why would anyone buy an antque?

After burning through several Yamahas, Korgs and Rolands I settled on a Nord Electro 2 back in the day, and never looked back. They spoke to me. I made better music, and got more enjoyment from the experience.

Indeed, every time I've upgraded (NS2->NS3->NS4) I feel like I'm making better music and enjoying it more.

I think that's because Nord seems to know what I want before I do. And you can bet when a NS5 comes out, I'll be first in line.

[Melies59]

I'm a bit like cphollis today.

I've long been a guy of Japanese workstations and synths (started with a N364, alongside a Yamaha AN1x). I've had a Triton for years and a M3 at some point (and even more recently, Krome, and I also tried a Fantom 0), but when almost 20 years ago I bought my first Nord, the Stage "Classic", I was quite hooked. By the quality of the main keyboards sounds that I needed and the "hands on" experience. And then on, I upgraded to each Nord Stage iteration (and I'm also keeping my A1). I spend more time making music than programming and if I need something more "complex", VSTs are there. There is something with the "touch to sound" connection that I did not felt with other brands.

I agree with OP that not much is currently going on in Sweden, but I do really like my new Stage 4 (for the new Fatar keyboard itself! And the FX section is clearly ahead of the previous generations). Before upgrading, I was thinking about a Studiologic SL mk2 with VSTs only, but the ease of use of Nord is quite unmatched from my point of view.

And regarding other brands, Korg is reissuing its Kronos (once again), the Nautilus is based on the same technology. On Roland, the ZenCore is interesting, but a lot of samples are from the golden age of JV/XP/XV lines of keyboards. Kurzweil is coming back with the K2061 (a very powerful keyboard for sure, VAST is quite unsurpassed in terms of programming capabilities).

I do not know Yamaha so well, but the Montage would be quite overwhelming to me (despite its excellent sound quality). And as Roland did with the V-Stage, they also try to copy the Nord philosophy. That's good for the market anyway

[kotatsu]

I do not know Yamaha so well, but the Montage would be quite overwhelming to me (despite its excellent sound quality). And as Roland did with the V-Stage, they also try to copy the Nord philosophy.

Yamaha has a very interesting thing going on. Their response to Nord's philosphy in stage keys is the pretty awesome YC series and their more recent idea of offering a scaled-down budget option in the form of the CK series is paying well, considering that the CK88 often ranks in the top selling synths/keyboards charts.

[Gambold]

I do not know Yamaha so well, but the Montage would be quite overwhelming to me (despite its excellent sound quality). And as Roland did with the V-Stage, they also try to copy the Nord philosophy.

Yamaha has a very interesting thing going on. Their response to Nord's philosphy in stage keys is the pretty awesome YC series and their more recent idea of offering a scaled-down budget option in the form of the CK series is paying well, considering that the CK88 often ranks in the top selling synths/keyboards charts.

All those keyboards are good products, but they are 2 or more years old (YC was issued in 2021) and apart from the packaging they don't offer anything really innovative, imo, which is what our dear OP Gambold is instead complaining about with Nord.

[taxman]

Gambold is Gambold and he makes his points since many years (and some valid ones to be honest) but I’m always thinking “well, he did not gave me enough good reasons to switch from Nord to something else (except the organ IMHO)“ so I read it with a bit of amusement and go on with my red one.

[Gambold]

> which is what our dear OP Gambold is instead complaining about with Nord.<

Yes, because Nord is supposed to be THE LEADER. If for nothing else, to justify their eye-watering prices. But I'll toss in history, legacy, past product lines, and market adulation as other factors that imply, hell, insist that Nord stay in front of the boat, not just snooze in the cargo hold.

Who cares about the other keyboard makers. Comparing Nords to them as a way to justify the ennui in Stockholm is too easy, my friends. We don't look to Yamaha or god, Korg to show us the way. And we don't pat ourselves on the back just because the worst Nord blows away the best Roland any day of the week.

Raise the bar, people. Demand better from the once and hopefully future industry leader. Because better is sure NOT what you've been getting lately.