Dialing in the Royal Grand on a SSv.3

[OrpheusNY]

This thread is inspired by a recent discussion on the Electro forum regarding getting a satisfying natural(-ish) acoustic piano sound out of the Spacestation v.3 when it's used as the main amplification, which can be challenging. Cphollis pointed out that since the Royal Grand has more L/R spread than other Nord piano samples, it is the best matched acoustic piano sample in the Nord library to allow the SS to work a bit of the same magic it does to stereo organ and EP sounds.

Inspired by Chuck, I spent a bit of extended time playing and dialing in the Royal through the SS this morning, and indeed was able to get the best acoustic piano sound out of the SS I've yet managed. I'd like to share the settings I landed on, and encourage others to do the same, since between the amp and the Nord there are a lot of dial options.

A few assumptions here: I was going for a sound with the most openness, clarity and balance possible, because when I use the SS as my main amplification (instead of as a monitor), it's generally in a small to midsize room, either solo, with a singer, or with acoustic instruments. (i.e not needing to cut through a loud band). I was trying to make the Royal/SS combo sound as natural as possible to see if I could be happy enough with it in those applications long term. Disclaimer as well that this was a medium sized room with a mix of reflective and sound-absorbing surfaces, at neither extreme of that spectrum.

SS was on an amp stand, side speaker facing down, contour knobs at noon, width at 11:00, about ten feet away from my playing position. Playing Royal Grand XL on an E5HA with string resonance and long release on.

EQ settings:
Bass:flat
mid freq: 703
mid gain: -6.8
treble: -2.1

Reverb: Room, dry/wet= 1.0 (just a splash).

Curious if anybody else has great SSv.3-specific EQ/FX settings/tricks for the Royal Grand you'd be willing to share. I don't have PA speakers at home, so I don't know how these settings would sound through bigger better speakers. I'm really just trying to make some SS-specific acoustic piano programs I won't be dissastified with.

ONY

[De fursaK NE5]

I don't use EQ on this one. I find the royal grand very well balanced on small or bigger amp.
But ... I use only the stage reverb and not the room to open the sound the more possible.
That's all.

Cheers
De fursaK

[cphollis]

Yes!! Love the fact that you were able to dial in some AP joy the same way I was able to.

All good!

BTW, love this forum, and all the Nord dudes who hang out here.

[cphollis]

BTW, since I'm getting pinged by everyone who owns this amp, here is my unofficial guide to dialing the SSv3 into acoustic pianos.

http://chucksblog.typepad.com/late_bloo ... on-v3.html

Best of luck!