Nord Stage EX sounds dull through studio monitors

[Andrej]

Clavia could earn a fortune offering monitors which "fit" to the NS. Such an expensive tool with such poor and inflexible audio (external) quality seems a bit weird...

[Mr_-G-]

What "poor and inflexible audio quality" are you talking about?

[analogika]

BEFORE YOU BUY ANYTHING: make sure the inputs on the alesis are panned hard left/right for the speakers. By default, they might both be centred, which means you're listening in mono, which results in phase issues and weird sound.

[analogika]

Clavia could earn a fortune offering monitors which "fit" to the NS. Such an expensive tool with such poor and inflexible audio (external) quality seems a bit weird...

How much more flexible do you want it than to be able to connect to every single piece of wired outboard gear in the world, from $10 cellphone speakers to $1,500,000 line array systems?

Clavia is doing fine building keyboards, not speaker systems.

[Andrej]

Hello Mr_G,

well, I'm not a professional musician as my grandfather was - but I'm an electronic engineer. Go search this forum (or any other) then you'll understand. I owned a huge collection of electronic instruments (mainly ROLAND, KORG, etc.). I think it's a simple: A stage keyboard should not be a Diva for the mix. The Nord Stage is one - that's really more than clear. If you still don't understand, ask a sound engineer of your choice. I love/hate my NS2 for that reason - as many others do. It's a great instrument - but there is much room to improve - especially if you look at the costs. Dynamic Range, Velocity Control (still), Outputs (Hardware: don't get me wrong here. Built quality is ok - concept is rather poor). Of course, for a real professional, this is rather secondary. I bought the wrong gear. Want to buy it?

[Alev66]

Hello Mr_G,

well, I'm not a professional musician as my grandfather was - but I'm an electronic engineer. Go search this forum (or any other) then you'll understand. I owned a huge collection of electronic instruments (mainly ROLAND, KORG, etc.). I think it's a simple: A stage keyboard should not be a Diva for the mix. The Nord Stage is one - that's really more than clear. If you still don't understand, ask a sound engineer of your choice. I love/hate my NS2 for that reason - as many others do. It's a great instrument - but there is much room to improve - especially if you look at the costs. Dynamic Range, Velocity Control (still), Outputs (Hardware: don't get me wrong here. Built quality is ok - concept is rather poor). Of course, for a real professional, this is rather secondary. I bought the wrong gear. Want to buy it?

Yes, I have to agree, the concept is good but the sound is poor for the money.
I never had a problem with Yamaha, Kawai, Roland, KOrg and even Casio over the years.
My NE never sounds that good, it is easy to carry and you can download sounds in different sizes, yes, fine but...

I hope that Yamaha or Casio copies that concept, that would make me very happy.
Give me one good piano, one good Rhodes and a nice Hammond organ!!

[themixtape]

Reviving this old-ish thread....

I have JBL LSR305s in my home studio. Rocking the Nord Stage 2 EX 76.... when I listen to music through the monitors, the bass is handled well... and very full/loud.

When I play the Nord through my audio interface (either Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 or M-Audio Delta 66 / OMNI I/O)... the bass is not handled well AT ALL... I get buzzing through the monitors even though they're not even that loud. How loud can you guys with studio monitors push them? The Rhodes stuff especially sounds like crap even at a medium volume.

I should mention that my room is treated decently well with acoustic panels. I don't know why just playing albums through the monitors sound fine/full and LOUD... but coming through the line inputs (the standard outs from my Nord)... don't give me as much volume and/or fullness.

Thanks, everyone!

[solmaster]

I play my Stage 2 through studio monitors, KRK Rokit6, and it sounds amazing.

Using the same ones with my Stage 3 88 mate. Agreed, they sound really good to me too. Good value if you don't want to pay for the high end stuff.

[MooseMan]

I have JBL LSR305s in my home studio. Rocking the Nord Stage 2 EX 76.... when I listen to music through the monitors, the bass is handled well... and very full/loud.

When I play the Nord through my audio interface (either Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 or M-Audio Delta 66 / OMNI I/O)... the bass is not handled well AT ALL... I get buzzing through the monitors even though they're not even that loud. How loud can you guys with studio monitors push them? The Rhodes stuff especially sounds like crap even at a medium volume.

@themixtape Also browsing this thread some time later, I also have the JBL LSR305s on my desk. I have the same issue as you, when I play my Nord Electro 6D through these monitors (either directly, through a Rolls MiniMix II, or through my presonus Audiobox interface), the sound seems so flat across the board. If I put on my Sony MDR-7506 headphones and listen either directly from the 6D headphones jack, or the headphones output on my interface, I can hear the full sound range. I am also quite puzzled, since the issue must clearly be in the monitors themselves and they sound great with regular music, other instruments, etc... Did you end up with an EQ solution, or does anyone have other suggestions? I suppose getting a separate amp is a good investment in the long run, but my apartment space is limited...

[MooseMan]

I have JBL LSR305s in my home studio. Rocking the Nord Stage 2 EX 76.... when I listen to music through the monitors, the bass is handled well... and very full/loud.

When I play the Nord through my audio interface (either Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 or M-Audio Delta 66 / OMNI I/O)... the bass is not handled well AT ALL... I get buzzing through the monitors even though they're not even that loud. How loud can you guys with studio monitors push them? The Rhodes stuff especially sounds like crap even at a medium volume.

@themixtape Also browsing this thread some time later, I also have the JBL LSR305s on my desk. I have the same issue as you, when I play my recently acquired Nord Electro 6D through these monitors (either directly, through a Rolls MiniMix II, or through my presonus Audiobox interface), the sound seems so flat across the board. Very disappointing...

If I put on my Sony MDR-7506 headphones and listen either directly from the 6D headphones jack, or the headphones output on my interface, I can hear the full sound range. I am also quite puzzled, since the issue must clearly be in the monitors themselves and they sound great with regular music, other instruments, etc... Did you end up with an EQ solution, or does anyone have other suggestions? I suppose getting a separate amp is a good investment in the long run, but my apartment space is limited...