Nord User Forum

Hervshahn wrote:Wonder how these are mounted, at the NP or at the keyboard stand? If it’a at the NP4 it should be possible to mount them on a Nord Stage as well - what do you think?

Was wondering the same thing. From the Nord webpage for them:
"speakers can be mounted to the Nord Piano 4 using the optional Monitor Brackets. The Monitor Brackets can also be attached to standard microphone stands."
So that says not the Stages. And its not the music stand mounts. But if it also attaches to mic stands that leaves me perplexed.
Strange they do not show in the video they released how they are mounted. I'm going to ask a friend to drop by the Nord booth and send me a pic.

Rusty Mike wrote:Let's hope this is not their big reveal for NAMM '19!

Agree 100%. Been saving my pennies but not for speakers

Okay, but my big question is why? This seems pretty far out of their wheelhouse to me. Oh well ... they must somehow think there's a market for this, though I'm not quite sure what it actually is? Studios are going to already have good monitors, these are too small to use for live performance. It seems all that is left is sort of the hobbyist musician who wants to hear themselves play in their living room?

It's definitely a weird release, I can't see a big market for this. It doesn't look like a very practical rig to permanently set up in your living room, but on the other hand it's totally useless for gigging.

Even if it sounded incredibly better than any other option on the market, it's a baffling offer.

kbmatson wrote:Okay, but my big question is why? This seems pretty far out of their wheelhouse to me. Oh well ... they must

They are a business. If they thought they could sell Red socks, you would see them at NAMM 2020!

Spider wrote:It's definitely a weird release, I can't see a big market for this. It doesn't look like a very practical rig to permanently set up in your living room, but on the other hand it's totally useless for gigging.

Even if it sounded incredibly better than any other option on the market, it's a baffling offer.

I was initially excited as they are all red and matching, but the more i think about it in terms of purpose it is a strange release.

We have said on many threads on this forum that exceptional amplification is needed to get the best of the sounds from a Nord.

However super they have made them, speakers that size are surely just not going to cut the mustard when it comes to the standard of sound we have long demanded from this calibre of instrument?

Like someone has already mentioned, Im struggling to see where they have identified a need to make them in the first place (we have spoke lots about Nord being a small firm, only have small resources for R&D, will only produce products that are commercially viable etc). The kind of folks who buy these top of the line performing instruments mostly will gig with them or use them in studios. Studios will use bigger better speakers for near field listening, and on stage they wouldnt do anything worthwhile over a big PA. For a home use yes they work, but I dont think that many people buy Nord stage pianos to just set them up permanently in the house.

They're clearly "nearfield" use only, as in, a composer or solo player working on their own pieces, and only intended for the performer themselves to get the true sensation of playing the instrument. By definition, nearfields aren't intended to provide an accurate perspective outside the 'sweet spot' of listening at the apex of the equilateral triangle between the two speakers and the performer. So we can infer from this quote that they are only intended for the person playing the instrument, probably for small studios, practice sessions, and composition treating the Nord as an acoustic would be treated rather than as a component of a fully wired studio with it's own monitoring.

Also, Nord doesn't make nor did they design these. They gave their specs to a local Swedish firm known for making small speakers that supposedly sound pretty good: Audio Lab, who presumably did all of the engineering.

Spider wrote:It's definitely a weird release, I can't see a big market for this. It doesn't look like a very practical rig to permanently set up in your living room, but on the other hand it's totally useless for gigging.

.

Yep.

23skidoo wrote:They're clearly "nearfield" use only, as in, a composer or solo player working on their own pieces, and only intended for the performer themselves to get the true sensation of playing the instrument. By definition, nearfields aren't intended to provide an accurate perspective outside the 'sweet spot' of listening at the apex of the equilateral triangle between the two speakers and the performer. So we can infer from this quote that they are only intended for the person playing the instrument, probably for small studios, practice sessions, and composition treating the Nord as an acoustic would be treated rather than as a component of a fully wired studio with it's own monitoring.

Yes agree, totally for home use. For that purpose, I HIGHLY like how you can mount them on the keyboard. For someone like me that doesn't have room for speaker stands in a small office space, yet doesn't doesn't want to have to practice with phones all the time - that is very cool.

I would expect the quality to be mediocre at best as functioning "studio monitors" but be flattering to the Nord pianos. I'd also assume they'd sound better then the internal speakers on the Yamaha P- 515 or just about any slab piano with internal speakers. But man you have to like red because that's a ton of it !! Get that red Omega stand if you really want to go all out.. .

If I highly dug the NP4 enough to buy another Nord - they say the third time's a charm - I would definitely go with these speakers for the home office.

This offering makes a certain sense to me. Nord is completing the experience for a subset of players -- home use. Airpods for your Nord.

How many players want a primary instrument for home use and maybe potential gigging? A lot. How many of those look beyond the Nord simply because it doesn't have built-in amplification? A fair number, I'd surmise. OK, check this out.

If I played primarily at home, couldn't swing a decent acoustic instrument, had disposable income, liked the unique visual style -- this combination would definitely be on my list.

Or, look at it differently. Maybe you gig a lot, but want to use it at home/studio without a lot of fuss. Appealing from that angle as well. Decent WAF (wife approval factor).

I'm not in the market for something like this, but -- were circumstances different -- I do get the appeal. If they got reasonably loud, I could even see them as stage monitors.

Now *that* would be an interesting visual on stage.

P.S. Dave Ferris -- the NP4 has a distinctly different feel (for me) than the NP3. Seems bit weightier, a bit more responsive. Then again, it could be the placebo effect. Who knows? Either way, a big improvement over my previous NP2. The NP3 action didn't quite do it for me, the NP4 action pushed me over the line.

For you, maybe worth finding a way to sit down at one for a while. Let us know what you think? BTW, thanks for hooking me up with the RCF TT08-as way back when. They get a lot of use