Ten Shortcomings of the S3

[Spider]

To me, the biggest problem of the Stage series is having only two non-piano, non-organ sounds. Many times it becomes a real limit for general purpose band play, even more than the limited split capabilities.
Almost everything else is as good as can be...and yes, I love the pitch stick much better than any alternative I've tried

[kbmatson]

I guess what really brings me back to the love this board though is the fact that I went from three boards to just one, and because of the weight, great sounds, etc. I only need this 1 & only Red machine on stage!

Yes - that was a main driver for me too - FYI - bought mine shortly after turning 56 LOL! With the splits layers and engines, it served me well covering a lot of stuff - with only one 20lb keyboard and I loved it. However, new band is pushing me for more synth-heavy songs and even some sequenced parts. So ..... I'm expecting my new Roland Fantom to arrive today! The two of them should be a killer combo.

[kbmatson]

To me, the biggest problem of the Stage series is having only two non-piano, non-organ sounds. Many times it becomes a real limit for general purpose band play, even more than the limited split capabilities.
Almost everything else is as good as can be...and yes, I love the pitch stick much better than any alternative I've tried

Yep - see my post right after yours! LOL! Fantom on the way today.

I'm gonna throw in the towel on the pitch stick. Apparently I'm the only one in the world who doesn't like it LOL! I dunno - I guess having cut my teeth on a Minimoog, I have the pitch wheel embedded in my brain as the "right" way to do pitch bend - though I do like the Roland bender thingys. The Nord stick just feels like something that's gonna break. And i have a hard time being precise with it.

[analogika]

To me, the biggest problem of the Stage series is having only two non-piano, non-organ sounds. Many times it becomes a real limit for general purpose band play, even more than the limited split capabilities.
Almost everything else is as good as can be...and yes, I love the pitch stick much better than any alternative I've tried

Agree with this. Although the main design has been made and will never change, I never need more than one piano or organ in a program. It would be a dream world if you could order the stage with 6 modules of your own choosing. Mine would be 1 piano, 1 organ, and four synth.

-dj

[Spider]

To me, the biggest problem of the Stage series is having only two non-piano, non-organ sounds. Many times it becomes a real limit for general purpose band play, even more than the limited split capabilities.
Almost everything else is as good as can be...and yes, I love the pitch stick much better than any alternative I've tried

Yep - see my post right after yours! LOL! Fantom on the way today.

I think they could add one or more synth slots without reducing the playability and immediacy of the interface: just have separate "slot" buttons for each sections instead of the two global buttons. Two for the organ section, two for piano and 3-4 for the synth section. Or even just one button cycling through the slots, since space on the panel is really scarce... in the NS3 Compact every usable square inch is crowded with controls!
And talking about that, I think the synth interface is already a small miracle of usability: if you consider how many controls they managed to squeeze in such a tiny space, it's hard to think of many possible improvements which wouldn't involve menu diving.

[kbmatson]

To me, the biggest problem of the Stage series is having only two non-piano, non-organ sounds. Many times it becomes a real limit for general purpose band play, even more than the limited split capabilities.
Almost everything else is as good as can be...and yes, I love the pitch stick much better than any alternative I've tried

Agree with this. Although the main design has been made and will never change, I never need more than one piano or organ in a program. It would be a dream world if you could order the stage with 6 modules of your own choosing. Mine would be 1 piano, 1 organ, and four synth.

-dj

Yep - i occasionally need two organs to emulate upper/lower keyboard on Hammond, And do like to layer Acoustic and Electric Pianos sometimes. Having only two synths is limiting at times. Thus - new Fantom on way today. It can split/layer up to SIXTEEN parts across the keyboard and they can be any "engine".

[LewTheKeysGuy]

... I found a particular ns3p file that got me back to my roots.. . This particular NS3P file (has) the sample of a full brass section with velocity layers.

Please could you tell us which program file (I believe they actually have an NS3F extension) you're refering to. Is it a factory program, Forum program or one you've programmed yourself?
If the latter, which NSMP3 sample file did you use?
Thanks.

the file as found in ensemble woodwinds / brass on Nord website is 3-trumpets legato.nsmp. I've not had full chance to do anyprogramming yet but as it is, beautiful. though it says trumpets, it's more of a layered trumpet, horns, etc and just has that certain something.. if you were to create it as a program, I'd roll off the decay to about 10 seconds maybe but other than reverb as either stage 2 or hall 2 at about level 2 or a touch below, not much else to really do to it unless you want to add a little compression to it.

lew

[hernjov1]

The synth section could have had a 3-4 parts added... A lot of times I'm adding organ or piano lower octave parts with my horns to fatten up the sounds! Especially when I'm using a hand clap in a song which is a synth sound...That being said. One horn plus the clap is all I get when it would have been great to be able to add another instrument sound to add! It still falls back to the being able to carry one board & the light weight of it with great sounds for me!

[Schorsch]

6. Full palette of Organ settings per program. I would really like to be able to choose tone wheel type, key click, and other settings PER PROGRAM

Same wish from me, including saving settings like individual fast and slow rotary speeds PER PROGRAM

[kbmatson]

The synth section could have had a 3-4 parts added..................It still falls back to the being able to carry one board & the light weight of it with great sounds for me!

Yep - I relished the "one light keyboard" approach for quite awhile, but the band's needs started dictating more sounds, and having to go with unnatural splits and rapidly switching between programs finally dictated the need for a second board ... thus my new Roland Fantom arrived last Friday! It adds 16 "zones" which can be split/layers any way I want - way more than enough now! Will say I still prefer Nord for piano and definitely for organ. The two are a killer combo.