Nord Stage vs Electro line

[cheopsnet]

Hi guys,

Argh, this choice is killing me.. though I have to say I am kinda enjoying the process

I guess the sample memory is a big factor for me, as I am looking to get a variety of instruments loaded (Rhodes, Mellotrons, upright, some loops, organ, ..). On the plus side, I am not very interested in the Grand Piano sounds (which looks like massive memory hogger). From reviews/specs/videos, thinking that perhaps the Stage 2 is what I need, with the 500MB..

Now another question I have not yet tackled is: Weighted Hammer Action keyboard vs Semi Weighted Waterfall keyboard.....

[anotherscott]

I guess the sample memory is a big factor for me, as I am looking to get a variety of instruments loaded (Rhodes, Mellotrons, upright, some loops, organ, ..).

Organ doesn't take any sample memory.

Not sure if Nord's the board for loops. It's nothing I've worked with, maybe someone else can address that, but the Nord doesn't have a sequencer or looper per se. It does have an arpeggiator, and I guess you could do some looped custom samples... like I said, I'll leave this for someone else.

I am not very interested in the Grand Piano sounds...From reviews/specs/videos, thinking that perhaps the Stage 2 is what I need, with the 500MB..

500 MB for pianos (including uprights and rhodes). 380 MB for non-piano sounds. You can't use either section of memory for the other, each section is dedicated. Since you don't care about grands, 500 is a lot. You can look on the Nord web site and get an idea about how much space each piano sound you want will take up.

Weighted Hammer Action keyboard vs Semi Weighted Waterfall keyboard.....

Will you be playing more piano or more organ? Is travel weight an issue?

[cheopsnet]

@anotherscott. Thanks for the comment, some of the points you made are great because i did not have them clear in my mind

- Loops >> I was not very clear in my statement. I was referring to some samples which provide some loops (for ex. Mellotron Master Tapes). Kinda of a corner case. Yes, we are clear on the fact that the Nord Stage is not a looper/sequencer

- Organ not taking up sample memory >> Great, I did not know

- 500 MB for pianos (including uprights and rhodes). 380 MB for non-piano sounds >> That's actually great news, as I was under the understanding that the Nord Stage 2 has 500MB total for both piano- & non-piano-sounds..

- HA vs SWW keyboard >> I am asking because I have not had a chance to try both formats. The core of the instruments I am interested in are non-organ (mostly piano & rhodes). I guess this brings me to HA... As for travel/weight, not that much an issue as this would be for my home studio and for occasional local gigs.

Also, do you know if there are some piano models that are out of tune (i.e. to replicate saloon uprights kinda sounds)?

Thanks
Louis

[Leo Castro]

Yes! There is a detuned upright piano.

[stiiiiiiive]

As far as what sounds better on what, I think that there is subtle nuance involved, and that subtle nuance will almost always be completely lost in a live gig setting. Also, one could place three Steinways (or name your brand) side by side on a stage and perhaps discern subtle differences. It's all I can do to actually play the darn thing in a musically meaningful way, so I don't spend much time sweating the small stuff.

I've actually observed that much forumers do talk much about those particular small stuffs -me included. But in the end, indeed, the differences are most often barely noticeable in a concrete musical context.

Yeah, we're geeks

[white barracuda]

So true stiiiiiive

[anotherscott]

500 MB for pianos (including uprights and rhodes). 380 MB for non-piano sounds >> That's actually great news, as I was under the understanding that the Nord Stage 2 has 500MB total for both piano- & non-piano-sounds..

Here are the specs for non-piano sounds:

E4D = 68 mb, up to 50 sample sets total
Other E4 models = 128 mb, up to 50 sample sets total
NS2 = 380 mb, up to 999 sample sets total

[AlQuinn]

Be careful with your choice of action. Once you've decided waterfall or hammer action you really need to try it out before buying. While I'm fine with the action on my NS2 HA88 and Electro 4D I've heard others complain, in particular about Nord's implementation of hammer action. It seems to me they've implemented hybrid keyboards. More specifically the hammer action my NS2 HA88 allows for organ smears -- unusual for hammer action but I like it. The Electro 4D action is a little bit stiffer than my Hammond A100 but I like this too because it feels better when playing piano sounds. Choice of action is very personal so no one can tell you if you'll like Nord's implementation. You really need to try it yourself and form your own opinion.

[pablomastodon]

Hi Al,

There is no "Nord implementation" per se, other than their calibration operation to even out the velocity response across the range of the keys. Those are Fatar keybeds and it is Fatar's implementation. Same keys as found on Kurzweil, Studiologic and many other brands which are supplied with keybeds by Fatar.

Pablo

[Leo Castro]

Nothing exclusive but the retro ivory color....