I'm really confused with all of this comparison junk. It's really tough not being able to play something live so I have to rely on reviews and youtube. I think I finally decided to add a Nord to my lineup. I started out looking at the 2x then moved on to the 3 and now looking at the 4. I'm already using a Roland V-Synth, Yamaha Motif XF and an Access Virus TI. I also use Arturia V-Collection from my macbook but I'm always afraid that will crash during a gig so I want to get something to offset the Arturia plugins.
I think I'm leaning a bit towards the NL3 but wondered if the 4 will really blow it out of the water or not. It looks like I can get the 3 for at least $1000 US less than the 4 is coming out at.
Just looking for opinions. Thanks for your time!
Will the NL4 blow away the NL3?
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mjbrands
Re: Will the NL4 blow away the NL3?
From what I've heard, the NL3 and NL4 sound quite different. The NL3 is a very clean sounding synth (perhaps even a bit thin) and can do some excellent FM sounds, but it sounds like the NL4 has more 'balls'. I like the sound of the NL4 better.
I've got both a Virus TI2 and a Nord Rack 3 (rack version of the NL3). Even with the improvements in oscillators since Virus OS 3, the Virus isn't as clear with high pitched sounds as the NL3; this is especially evident when using the classic oscillators, which alias heavily when producing sounds like that causing a digital 'noise' that is quite pronounced. I think an NL3 adds something to the sound of the Virus, but I think the overlap is so big it might not really be worth it. The user interface is excellent on the NL3 of course; given the amount of functionality on the Virus the interface on that is quite good, but most buttons and knobs have 2 or more functions, lots of parameters are accessed in 'pages' using the same knobs (such as the effects, oscillators, etc.) and some stuff can only be accessed via the menu (or even the TI software).
Also, what if the NL3 breaks? You can get a Virus repaired or rent a replacement (same with the NL4), but with the NL3 this is going to be harder.
I've got both a Virus TI2 and a Nord Rack 3 (rack version of the NL3). Even with the improvements in oscillators since Virus OS 3, the Virus isn't as clear with high pitched sounds as the NL3; this is especially evident when using the classic oscillators, which alias heavily when producing sounds like that causing a digital 'noise' that is quite pronounced. I think an NL3 adds something to the sound of the Virus, but I think the overlap is so big it might not really be worth it. The user interface is excellent on the NL3 of course; given the amount of functionality on the Virus the interface on that is quite good, but most buttons and knobs have 2 or more functions, lots of parameters are accessed in 'pages' using the same knobs (such as the effects, oscillators, etc.) and some stuff can only be accessed via the menu (or even the TI software).
Also, what if the NL3 breaks? You can get a Virus repaired or rent a replacement (same with the NL4), but with the NL3 this is going to be harder.
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alanzo
- Posts: 1
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Re: Will the NL4 blow away the NL3?
The NL4 doesn't have independent FM and Sync for each OSC like the NL3 does. That is an awesome feature. Plus the LCD on the NL4 sucks and no endless encoders. I feel like Clavia is completely forgetting about the NL3 and just basing everything off the NL2. Quite unfortunate.
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metalfingers
- Posts: 45
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Re: Will the NL4 blow away the NL3?
I ended up going with the NL3 given the choice between both.
The panel on the NL4 seems downright baffling, the way they combine the LFO1 and ARP panels in particular, and while I'm sure I could figure it out it seems as though they were trying to really cram a lot into the NL4 without having the option of making the panel bigger.
By contrast, the NL3 definitely (in traditional Nord fashion) has tons of knobs and buttons but it also has the 2 line LCD - same pixel dimensions as the NS2's but slightly bigger - and this makes it infinitely easier to know what's going on when you're playing with a knob. Plus, of course, lights on almost all the rotary encoders, meaning no endless holding-shift-and-turning-knobs to see what makes a program tick. Yes the rotary encoders do have green LEDs in certain spots, it's in the zero position so either top center or all the way down. For example, the osc 2 fine tune encoder is green at the center, while the LFO/envelope amount knobs are green at the "off" position.
Of course the NL4 has an "edgier", harder sound, but I figure that I should be able to create those sorts of sounds on my Stage 2. The one thing I really with the NL3 had was real chorus, not that stack detune unison crap that offsets the copies by 50 cents or more. It's been hard to create really, genuinely thick pads on the NL3 where it's much easier to do so on the NS2 with its effects suite. Thus, I usually end up using the Lead 3 as... well, a lead. The awesome FM capabilities make it great for that. Oh, and neither the NL3 nor NL4 have oscillator phase adjustment, and I don't understand why.
Since there's a shortage of them on the Internet, here's a high resolution picture of the NL3's panel. <3
The panel on the NL4 seems downright baffling, the way they combine the LFO1 and ARP panels in particular, and while I'm sure I could figure it out it seems as though they were trying to really cram a lot into the NL4 without having the option of making the panel bigger.
By contrast, the NL3 definitely (in traditional Nord fashion) has tons of knobs and buttons but it also has the 2 line LCD - same pixel dimensions as the NS2's but slightly bigger - and this makes it infinitely easier to know what's going on when you're playing with a knob. Plus, of course, lights on almost all the rotary encoders, meaning no endless holding-shift-and-turning-knobs to see what makes a program tick. Yes the rotary encoders do have green LEDs in certain spots, it's in the zero position so either top center or all the way down. For example, the osc 2 fine tune encoder is green at the center, while the LFO/envelope amount knobs are green at the "off" position.
Of course the NL4 has an "edgier", harder sound, but I figure that I should be able to create those sorts of sounds on my Stage 2. The one thing I really with the NL3 had was real chorus, not that stack detune unison crap that offsets the copies by 50 cents or more. It's been hard to create really, genuinely thick pads on the NL3 where it's much easier to do so on the NS2 with its effects suite. Thus, I usually end up using the Lead 3 as... well, a lead. The awesome FM capabilities make it great for that. Oh, and neither the NL3 nor NL4 have oscillator phase adjustment, and I don't understand why.
Since there's a shortage of them on the Internet, here's a high resolution picture of the NL3's panel. <3
Last edited by metalfingers on 16 Aug 2013, 06:22, edited 4 times in total.
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mjbrands
Re: Will the NL4 blow away the NL3?
That thing looks weird. The display is in the wrong place and it has those odd white-and-black things at the bottom. 
(Open the image in a separate browser if you don't see the full 3861x1669 size; the image is a bit noisy though.)
(Open the image in a separate browser if you don't see the full 3861x1669 size; the image is a bit noisy though.)
Last edited by mjbrands on 02 Sep 2013, 23:36, edited 1 time in total.