Could I, should I upgrade to NS3?

[anotherscott]

As far as the Motif sounds -- if you're looking to recreate a handful of go-to sounds, you'll probably be OK. Worst case, you sample them.

The problem is that, outside of the piano section, the Nord supports only a single velocity layer (for both factory samples and user samples). Sampling a single velocity of a multi-velocity Yamaha sound won't give you much of a reproduction. For an obvious example, the Yamaha flute has an "overblown" sound when you hit the key hard, you can't duplicate or sample that into the Nord, and it's the kind of thing that makes Yamaha strings/brass/winds more authentic sounding than Nord's.

If you just need a handful of sounds, though, you could do something like sample them into your computer (using a program like SampleRobot for example), generate a Soundfont file, and then play that sound from an iPhone/iPad with a Soundfont player (like BS-16i).

[Hobster]

I have a different feeling about the Leslie sim. While it’s a vast improvement over my last stage (I upgraded from the Classic). I still don’t think it holds a candle to the Vent, and since I already own one, I never leave home with out it. Not sure I’d buy one now, but it does a lot to the sound besides spinning it. YMMV.

Totally agree. I have the NS3 organ going thru a Vent II and I feel that it's WAY better sounding than the NS3 inbult Leslie (I have OS v1.32).
For some reason, the NS3 Leslie seems to suck out all the bass-end warmth and also adds a slight harshness to the upper-mids no matter what I try to do with the EQ.

While I'm at it, I'm still not sure about the basic Hammond Percussion sound. To me, it just sounds too loud on it's normal setting.
I personally think that the drawbars drop too much in volume when the Perc is engaged. But there are plenty of others on the forum who seem to like the latest version so...

Having been a tiny bit negative about the Hammond emulation, I have to say that the pianos and samples definitely sound better - more clarity but still with a lovely warmth - than the NE5D and the synth section is an absolute joy!!

[DJKeys]

As of the 1.32 OS update and the nsmp3 sample converter, I can see no real drawbacks to the NS3 (I have the Compact).

It has, as mentioned, a very hi-fidelity sound and the new synth section is extremely powerful. I now have all my NS2 samples loaded using the converter. There are a vast amount of features made it a no-brainer for me such as a top notch keybed, beautiful displays, Song mode, piano filters, filter drive, amp filters, added key zone etc. It did take me about 16 hours to program all of the sounds, but I am familiar with the A1 engine (I have one) and I love programming keyboards anyway.

The NS3 is a huge project and there have been many issues. However, they are all being addressed, and in few more updates, this will be a rock solid unit. Keep in mind, I paid $100 less for the NS2 than I did for my NS2 and sold the NS2 for 70% of what I paid 5 years previously. In my opinion, you cannot go wrong getting an NS3. I have had 5 Nord keyboards, and they are one of the best musical instrument investments you can make, IMHO.

-dj

[ericL]

Thanks for all of the excellent replies! They have been very helpful.

I am a longtime Nord enthusiast - I went from NE2 to NE3 to NE5 (still have my old NE2) and likewise from NS1 to NS1EX to NS2 to NS2EX (still have NS2 88 and NS2EX 76 and Compact) plus I've owned NL1, NL2, NL2x, NL4, NLR2x (still have just the rack) and not to mention a Nord modular and probably some other stuff. So I'm definitely a HUGE fan and it is really just a matter of time before the NS3 is mine. I was mainly wanting to hear some of these descriptions of sound and feature improvements, how they line up to the NS2 etc.

As for replacing my Yamaha rack, it could be a phased thing. I do use a lot of sounds from it and some are hard to sample (like the very expressive Sweet Flute sound). I am a one-keyboard guy on gigs (my performance centers around a rolling and tilting keyboard stand), so I need to stick to just one board and the rack helps open up more sound capabilities.

At the end of the day, I'm still going to need some kind of rack to hold my IEM wireless stuff and DI, possibly a mixer. Sounds like it's a toss-up on whether the NS3 really needs the Vent, but I have three of those and it would not be hard to keep that in the mix.

I'd probably be rushing to get the NS3 now if not for some of the decisions I'm weighing, plus the time needed to recreate my sounds on the new platform (not to mention the cost). My biggest struggle now is which NS2 variant would I sell first. That's a really tough call.

Thanks again, and keep the thoughts coming!

[Streef]

I switched from NS2-88 to NS3-88 and I can't get used to the keyboard feel. Basically they implemented a different velocity curve compared to NS2. Be sure to play the NS3 somewhere before making this decision. Although NS3 is a great board, I will switch back to NS2 because of this single reason, unfortunately.

Note: Nord did hint on implementing a different velocity curve in my e-mail contact with them. However, so far this has not been the case...

[GeeDeWee]

I switched from NS2-88 to NS3-88 and I can't get used to the keyboard feel. Basically they implemented a different velocity curve compared to NS2. Be sure to play the NS3 somewhere before making this decision. Although NS3 is a great board, I will switch back to NS2 because of this single reason, unfortunately.

Note: Nord did hint on implementing a different velocity curve in my e-mail contact with them. However, so far this has not been the case...

In what way do you feel the keyboard feel is different?
My upgrade would be from NS288 to NS388 also.

[GeeDeWee]

Ha GeeDeWee,

I made the same change (NS2 --> NS3) and now I'm changing back to the NS2 (!). Despite the great specs of the NS3, they did IMHO 1 thing very wrong: changed the velocity curve response. Drove me crazy, I haven't enjoyed playing for months... .

To be clear, I'm talking about the piano response/velocity curve, any piano (grant, electric, etc). On the NS3, they all have a quite hard velocity response, that you could best compare by setting the keyboard touch to '2' on your EX2-88. The result is that whatever you play, it all sounds hard/loud and it is very difficult to play with a lot of dynamics (loud and soft). To play soft, you really have to play *very* soft and to get the max velocity out of the NS3, you really have to hammer the keyboard.

Since yesterday I have both machines at home (NS3-88 and NS2EX-88) so I can make quite a good comparison. It is since months that I've enjoyed playing again...on the NS2ex.

And the irritating part is that it is only a simple curve - setting, that could be adapted by Nord within just a few minutes work. They did the same for the NS2 in 2015.... Still hope they will do it in an upgrade

So my advice: Go to a dealer and play the NS3 for an hour or so and see if you're happy with it (or buy it at Bax so you have 2 months to test . As others on this forum have commented before: The keyboard-feel is quite a personal thing, it might not be an issue for you.

[baekgaard]

NS3 keys work very well for me. I am primarily a piano player, and originally thought I would use my RD700NX as controller for more critical work. I never do, as I find it easy to control the NS3 keys. I find it very playable for a and e pianos. So when I want two sets of keys I use an older NE3 with waterfall on top for organ or synth leads.

[jazzystu]

I have a Stage EX (1). The 2 wasn't enough to upgrade, nor the 2EX. The 3 looks very good, but the board is still short on clavinet and rhodes (to the degree I want, like a good suitcase pan).

For me, it's a case of "Do I look for another D6, late suitcase 88 and keep the EX, or get a 3?"

I would not bother owning another hammond or minimoog, but since the Rhodes/Clav are such bread and butter instruments, I'm very inclined to get another. I might leave it a while, get another D6 and then see what the 3EX brings.

[BuckW]

Agree with most of what's here. Sold my NS2 76, got a NS3 Compact, using my NP2 as weighted MIDI controller. So far, I really like it. "Song mode" is turning out to be dandy for pre-defined set lists.

Organ is fixed in 1.32. I own a Vent II, but the built-in sim is now a heckuva lot closer than it was, and settings (like drive, etc.) can be stored as part of a preset, and both drive and speed as well as other organ effects can be driven by a morph.

Can't do any of that on a Vent. So I'm guessing my new-ish Vent II is going to backup status.

I would agree on the "sheen" comment, especially if you're playing through higher-end stuff. There's a sparkle to the APs in particular that wasn't quite there before. I'm using the one button EQ for the APs a lot.

As far as the Motif sounds -- if you're looking to recreate a handful of go-to sounds, you'll probably be OK. Worst case, you sample them. If you're into using dozens of sounds, it's a different proposition entirely.

I've invested about four hours in recreating my sound palette on the new setup. Probably have another eight hours or so to go. But I really like what I'm coming up with, as I'm improving every sound I bring across in at least one dimension, if not multiple ones. So a good investment in time.

The band has noticed as well, e.g. "what's that you did there?". Since they can't tell the visual difference between the NS3 Compact and the previous NE4D (it's all red keyboards to them) I had to explain what I had going on.

Got some grief from the guitarist, so I asked "how many guitars do you own?"

Guitar guy might still not get it as he probably doesn't own multiple red guitars.