New Nord Electro 6 vs used Electro 5 or Stage 2 questions

[rullgardin]

Thank you for all the good advice! This makes it a lot easier to decide (especially since i'm not able to try these in person). The stage 2 compact i'm looking at is actually the EX model, so i will get the 1 GB of piano memory. I guess i could live with the organ on the stage 2, so i'm leaning towards it now. Btw, would you guys consider the piano filters (and ep filters coming) to be important? Is this not achievable wit the onboard EQ?

[baekgaard]

As far as I understand, the NS2/EX will not get the piano filters but it will get the ability to the play the same samples. The new EPs are significantly different from the the older ones, and immensely more enjoyable -- but all the models you've mentioned (NS2/EX, NE5 and NE6) will be able to play them -- so that is a non-issue for selection between the 3.

The new filters come in 5 flavours. You can probably approximate the soft, mid and bright filters with the EQ somewhat, but the Dyno filters will be quite difficult (or impossible) to emulate, I think. You may be able to live with that; the EP5 is already quite bright and "belly", so if you only occasionally need something like a Dyno-my-piano sound, you may be OK. But they also work very nicely for some of the other EPs (EP8, EP2, and even EP3), so a board with those filters gives you more flavours of EPs to choose between. I count them as 8 EPs with 6 unique filtering each, so I immediate access to 48 EPs to start out with -- and then adding my own additional EQ etc

If authentic Dyno-my-piano EP is important for you, then you need to reconsider the NE6 again, I'd say.

Sorry if I make it more difficult now again

[Spider]

Seamless transition between sounds is a killer feature that I miss in my Electro 5, but that is available in Electro 6 and Stage 3. Not in the Stage 2 though.
Worth thinking about if that's a killer feature also for Your use/playing.
Perhaps a minor thing compared to the items You specifically asked about, but an additional 5 cents to think about...

Yes, I forgot a couple of features of the Electro 6 which may be important depending on the way you use the keyboard.
Seamless transistion, split zones crossfades are the main ones. The ability to mount the music stand also on the D versions may be useful.
Then you have a pipe organ and a much better OLED screen.
And of course the new piano filters, which you will not get (it seems) on the Electro 5 and stage 2.

In general, I see no reason to prefer the Electro 5 over a Stage 2 compact, while the Electro 6 actually has some features you won't find on any of the previous boards.
Still, if you're not looking for those features specifically, overall the Stage2 is a much more powerful board than even the Electro 6.

[anotherscott]

piano filters (and ep filters coming) ... Is this not achievable wit the onboard EQ?

There are two issues.

1. Are they achievable? Probably not. Out of the countless number of EQ possibilities one could engineer into a software algorithm, we have no reason to believe that the custom EQs they came up with could be recreated with a single fixed point treble, single fixed point bass, and single sweepable fixed-Q midrange 3-band EQ. Secondarily, you couldn't even try to see how close you could get unless you had a new custom-filter model next to it for reference.

2. Even if you got close, as soon as you put the onboard EQ on one sound in a panel/slot, you no longer have the ability to put an EQ on some other sound in the same panel/slot, so you lose sonic functionality no matter how you look at it.

Yes, I forgot a couple of features of the Electro 6 which may be important depending on the way you use the keyboard.
Seamless transistion, split zones crossfades are the main ones. The ability to mount the music stand also on the D versions may be useful.
Then you have a pipe organ and a much better OLED screen.
And of course the new piano filters, which you will not get (it seems) on the Electro 5 and stage 2..

There are lots of differences between the E5 and E6, and between either of them and the NS2... the ones the OP asked about only scratch the surface. A good thread to check for NE5 vs NE 6 is nord-electro-forum-f9/which-electro-t15820.html

In general, I see no reason to prefer the Electro 5 over a Stage 2 compact

I actually sold my NS2-73 for an Electro 5D-73. I wasn't happy about giving up so much (a lot of split/layer functionality, the VA synth, pitch stick, mod wheel, aftertouch, a good amount of sample memory, a lot of MIDI functionality, more flexible output routing, clav EQ, pending load, more direct patch recall buttons with direct bank buttons)... but I really wanted the low E, the better display/interface, the real drawbars, and what felt like a better action. It depends what you care about most, but while it did less, I enjoyed using the NE5D more than the NS2. Later, going to the NS3 got me (almost) "all of the above," plus seamless sound transitions, a more capable synth section, more effects controls, more polyphony, more sample memory.

[Rusty Mike]

The Stage 2EX Compact has the low E, while the Stage 2 Compact does not.

https://www.nordkeyboards.com/products/ ... ison-chart

[rullgardin]

Ok, thanks for the additional info! Now i'm leaning more towards the Electro 6 again. Especially if the action is better on it and the EP filters will make a big difference.

In the Electro 5 vs 6 thread people talk about the Electro 6 (and nord stage 3 if understand it right) having less options for the B3 organ. Are these settings really that important?

Also i noticed that on the Electro you only have one knob on effect 1 and 2 versus rate and amount knob on the Stage. Does this make a big difference?

[solmaster]

Seamless transition between sounds is a killer feature that I miss in my Electro 5, but that is available in Electro 6 and Stage 3. Not in the Stage 2 though.
Worth thinking about if that's a killer feature also for Your use/playing.
Perhaps a minor thing compared to the items You specifically asked about, but an additional 5 cents to think about...

+1. Definitely one of the single most important features on the newer keyboards for me!

[rullgardin]

While searching the forum i found this thread: nord-stage-forum-f3/nord-stage-2-vs-sta ... 01-10.html

A poster there claims the Stage 2 sound better than the stage 3 (which i assume sound similar to Electro 6):

"Honestly... THIS IS ONLY MY PERSONAL OPINION. BUT MIND THIS, I have both NS2 and NS3 compact SIDE BY SIDE and spent a lot of time comparing them !
If you like synth. Buy a Dave Smith or something. The "A1 synth" on NS3 sound very thin and digital, I much prefer the NS2 Synth SOUNDING (very limited indeed but sounds way better)
If you like pianos (rhodes, acoustic, etc...) don't buy NS3 keep the NS2 or 2ex. Pianos on NS2 sounds more Deep, Real, Dynamic, Expressive, Harmonic and 3D imaged.
If you like organ, keep NS2 too.. the "upgrade" don't worth it... And I personally prefer the NS2. Just me I guess.
If you like samples, don't go to NS3, they will sound hollow and mid and bodyless.
NS3 reverbs has no bright, it's dark.
EQ on NS3 just give you MID. Low mid, mid mid, high mid.
The morph on NS3 Compact is bad assembled FOREVER... At least until you open it and glue it (!!) (Yes with hot glue or something) it will won't work properly.
"

Is there any truth to any of these statements?

[anotherscott]

Ok, thanks for the additional info! Now i'm leaning more towards the Electro 6 again. Especially if the action is better on it

I found the Electro 5 waterfall acion to be better for piano than the Stage 2 waterfall action. I assume the E6 feels like the 5, but I've never played one.

In the Electro 5 vs 6 thread people talk about the Electro 6 (and nord stage 3 if understand it right) having less options for the B3 organ. Are these settings really that important?

For some people. Personally, I liked a couple of the extra settings on the 5 over the NS3, but not enough to offset all the other things that were better about the Stage.

Also i noticed that on the Electro you only have one knob on effect 1 and 2 versus rate and amount knob on the Stage. Does this make a big difference?

Depends if you care about having things like a continuously variable rate for pan and tremolo effects, vs. a choice of 3 rates. A lot of what you ask is really subjective. We can talk about what the differences are, but only you know whether they would really matter to you.

While searching the forum i found this thread: nord-stage-forum-f3/nord-stage-2-vs-sta ... 01-10.html

A poster there claims the Stage 2 sound better than the stage 3 (which i assume sound similar to Electro 6):
...
Is there any truth to any of these statements?

There was for the poster. Again, a lot can be subjective. But also, take note of the date that was written, and the updates to the NS3 that have been made since then. That same poster posted this more recently... post111025.html#p111025

[23skidoo]

In my not-always-humble opinion, I think that a huge amount of these differences (and people's opinions of them or the overall nature of one board vs. another) are quite often (though not always) splitting hairs about something that's already an exceptionally fine instrument.

ANY of these Nords will be fun to play, will bring a smile to your face, and will sound fantastic. Will they each sound exactly the same? Can you do exactly the same thing with each of them? No, but that's not the point. Almost any Nord will get you 'close enough" to the sound you want for a cover band, a live gig, or what-have you. They'll also get you into gorgeous new sonic territory perfect for whatever you want to cook up on your own in the studio. But they aren't clones and I don't think they're intended to be clones of anything - even the Rhodes models and piano choices show that Nord is specifically looking for characterful base instruments on which to build a vibrant, enjoyable platform to build your own sound from, not to duplicate in precise nature an existing sound.

As a corollary, any of these Nords will also make you bang your head against at wall at some point saying 'it doesn't do THAT? NOOOOO' but if you take a step back and think about it, very little on the planet is likely to actually DO that (maybe one other keyboard or instrument, sometimes not even the real thing, like transitions, for instance) at all. So in reality, while they aren't read-your-mind dream machines, they do so much already to get you to a gorgeous sound (sometimes with a little creative thinking and the realization that maybe working within reasonable limits is a valid creative process after all) and you will end up an extremely happy person.

With that said, my personal experience playing quite a lot of diverse brands of keyboards and being able to be content no matter what keyboard I find myself playing (but still having strong preferences for what I'd ideally like to have), the NS3C waterfall keyboard is, IMO, a perfect compromise between piano, synth, and organ. Now, I'm not a hammond purist, I come from (simultaneously, as it were) the classical piano world AND the synth world, I can use a Nord Lead as a PianoTeq controller and be "ok" with it (although I'm not likely to play or even want to play a Mozart concerto on it!), and I certainly don't care about needing to cover somebody's exact moves on an exact vintage keyboard at some point in their concert career. So, take this all with your own preferred version of sodium chloride. But... in MY experience, the NS3C keyboard ROCKS. It's very similar to the 61-key keyboard in my Prophet Rev2 which is nearly identical to that in an Access Virus KC I played and loved, which is many synth-head's ideal keyboard, but at the same time, the slight differences give it a little different weight and feel that somehow work very nicely for piano control of dynamics, return and retrigger, etc., without even being a hammer-action board at all. So to me, it's really a near-perfect compromise and if you changed anything in any direction, I'd bet as many people would be off-put as would be pleased, so that's winning, if you ask me. The Electro 5 and 6 both have very agreeable waterfall keyboards, and my old Stage 2's HP76 had a very playable action as well, although I'm far more likely to try to emulate keith emerson on the compact than I would be on the HP, just because one time I tried a couple crazy hammond-style glisses on a Kurzweil and tore a fingernail pretty badly mid-concert.

So sure, go play a few of them, trust your fingers, but in the end, if you're deeply in love with the features of one of the keybeds you didn't prefer head-to-head as much, trust me, you'll adapt super quickly and end up loving pretty much any of them. Unless you're insanely picky and absolutely cannot be human and adapt to a changing environment, in which case, well, I have no advice for you!

Happy new year, good luck with your choices, and I wish you years of joy playing whatever board you choose.