Is my Stage 3 Compact defective

Everything about the Nord Stage series; features, specifications, how to operate, and questions about technical issues.
music_man
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Is my Stage 3 Compact defective

Post by music_man »

I received the Stage 3 compact about 10 days ago and I can't get it to sound good no matter what I try. I also own a Roland KR-7 (for at least 10 years), which is a Digital Piano with built-in amp and speakers, and a Roland A-90 with KC-300 AMP, which are as old as the hills (1998?). I also use Sennheiser HD 280 Pro headphones with both of these keyboards. I'm pretty happy with the piano sounds from these two even though they're pretty old, but the KR-7 isn't portable and the A-90 is a behemoth and weighs 60 pounds. I was excited to get the latest technology in a light-weight small machine. I tried out a few Nords a couple of years ago and I've played them in various jam situations and I've been reading people's reactions which are mostly positive and often raves.

Unfortunately, when I tried my new keyboard through the KC-300 and the headphones, the sound is nowhere near as good as from either Roland. It sounds very artificial, compressed, fuzzy. I tried a number of the built-in pianos and organs (e.g. A01 Royal Grand 3D, A06 Velvet Grand, A08 B3 Full). I upgraded the OS from 1.0 to 1.26 and it had no effect on the sound. I haven't seen anyone online with similar complaints. Is it defective? Is there something I can do to investigate further? I bought it from Amazon as it's not available locally yet. I can return it, but I'd rather not.

Anthony
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Re: Is my Stage 3 Compact defective

Post by kbrkr »

I have similar problems with the NS3 when compared to the Kronos 2. I have found I need to tweek every program on the NS3 to make them sound suitable. However, when I watch the Chris Martarano Sweetwater demo, I cannot get my NS3 to sound that good.
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Re: Is my Stage 3 Compact defective

Post by harmonizer »

music_man wrote:I received the Stage 3 compact about 10 days ago and I can't get it to sound good no matter what I try......
.......when I tried my new keyboard through the KC-300 and the headphones, the sound is nowhere near as good as from either Roland.
How does the Royal Grand acoustic piano sound when you plug in your headphones directly to the headphone jack on your Stage 3 ?
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Re: Is my Stage 3 Compact defective

Post by NordNerd431 »

I tried a Stage 3 88 with Sennheiser headphones and thought the board sounded great. Might want to go to a local store with a Nord on display to compare with yours. You sound like you have an experienced ear, so I’d guess your board isn’t quite right.
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Re: Is my Stage 3 Compact defective

Post by MrTobbe »

I don't think your Stage 3 is defective - but I do think that you are used to the Roland piano sound, and Nords and Rolands have quite different character. Still to this day Roland sounds, IMHO, very produced - the sound seems to be made to fit any mix and sound "beefy" and big on it's own. The Nord has a different approach, with a more natural - more or less the sounds coming straight from the microphones on the piano, but there is also a bit of grainyness in Nord pianos - my NS3 (and the NS2 I had before), never sounded as clean as my Korg M3, but then, I wouldn't say that it's a bad thing - it's just different.

Have you tried playing the Nord through anything else than the KC300? The KC300 might not be the best at reproducing acoustic piano sounds (even though it's marketed as a keyboard amplifier) Maybe you have some powered PA speakers in your rehearsing space? If you do - try those instead and you might like the sound a lot better. Then all pianos don't work great in a live band context - I suggest trying the Silver Grand SK7, the Italian Grand or the Bright Grand S4.

Then one final question, I just gotta ask - did you try any Nord at all before you bought the NS3, or did you just order a $4000 keyboard, without even playing one..?
NordNerd431 wrote:I tried a Stage 3 88 with Sennheiser headphones and thought the board sounded great. Might want to go to a local store with a Nord on display to compare with yours. You sound like you have an experienced ear, so I’d guess your board isn’t quite right.
This is probably the best suggestion - go try another NS3 - and bring your own headphones, and also try it with the headphones the store has.
Last edited by MrTobbe on 27 Nov 2017, 12:10, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Is my Stage 3 Compact defective

Post by MrTobbe »

kbrkr wrote:I have similar problems with the NS3 when compared to the Kronos 2. I have found I need to tweek every program on the NS3 to make them sound suitable. However, when I watch the Chris Martarano Sweetwater demo, I cannot get my NS3 to sound that good.
This makes no sense - it should sound identical (aside from the demo suffering from YouTube format compression)... Are you using the same speakers/headphones when listening to the demo as when you're playing your own NS3? If not - well, then that's probably the reason why they don't sound the same.
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Re: Is my Stage 3 Compact defective

Post by Fallboard »

My NS3C sounds like garbage coming out if my little Roland stereo amp (KC30 or something?). Ditto on what was said above. The sounds that you get from Nord are not given any kind of EQ or compression the way that you would on most keyboards. Think of it like a powerful camera that you have to shoot with on full manual rather than program Auto exposure to use a photography analogy.
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Re: Is my Stage 3 Compact defective

Post by kbrkr »

MrTobbe wrote:
kbrkr wrote:I have similar problems with the NS3 when compared to the Kronos 2. I have found I need to tweek every program on the NS3 to make them sound suitable. However, when I watch the Chris Martarano Sweetwater demo, I cannot get my NS3 to sound that good.
This makes no sense - it should sound identical (aside from the demo suffering from YouTube format compression)... Are you using the same speakers/headphones when listening to the demo as when you're playing your own NS3? If not - well, then that's probably the reason why they don't sound the same.
Actually no. The speakers on the demo are Logitech Z2300 computer speakers with Sub. The speakers on the Nord are Yamaha HS8's with no sub and should sound truer. I don't know what is going on, but i'm determined to figure out why.
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Re: Is my Stage 3 Compact defective

Post by MrTobbe »

Well... yes the Logitech Z2300 are probably inferior to the Yamaha HS8, but still they are two different sets of speakers, and comparing two sound sources through two different sets of speakers makes no sense. If you are determined to figure out why the sound of your Nord and the sound from the YouTube demo sound different, you should definitely start by listening through the same speakers, IMHO.
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Re: Is my Stage 3 Compact defective

Post by Streef »

Actually I had/have the same problem. IMHO my Stage 3 doesn't sound as good as my Stage 2 (both 88 HA). Tried everything, but without success. Also compared my Stage 3 with two other Stage 3's and all three sounded exactly the same. Finally I know what's 'wrong': The Stage 2 has a different velocity curve compared to the Stage 3. I think it would be described as more 'wide'. It impacts your perception of the sound quality enormously.

Today I bought a used MOXF8. I've played it in the store and the piano sounded much better to me compared to the Stage 3. However, when I now play the Stage 3 via the MOXF keyboard (simple midi cable), the Stage 3 plays/sounds great again.

I will likely trade my Stage 3 back for a Stage 2. I reported this issue at Nord and I hope they will implement a different velocity curve, however they haven't confirmed that this will actually happen.

So, my advice, play the nord via another keyboard and see if you like it better.

one other point: imho (again) the reverb acts a little strange in the Stage 3, sort of fuzzy indeed, not as well-defined as for example the MOXF. I believe it has changed from the Stage 2 as well.
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