Nord User Forum

I wanted to buy my first Nord Stage. And wanted it to be played (and repaired, if necessary) for the next 15 years roundabout - considering the invest. Meaning it should be usable as long as the oldest Nord Stage Classics out in the wild. Is this DSP thing a real issue to that point? Or is the computerized setup of the instrument a threat for the life period anyway (I never would keep my laptop for such a period)?

I'm playing my Yamaha CP33 for 12 years now, and it fits like on the first day. Do I have to think differently about a hightech instrument like a Stage 3? What's your opinion?

Nord staff won't give any statement about the DSP thing before issueing a new product line, will they? Will not help to wait a few months...?

I wouldn't care much if I already had one (as things are rarely totally controllable), but now I'm not sure any more.

Thanks @Benis67 for mentioning!

No this DSP thing is not something you should concern yourself with. It is highly unlikely that you would experience a DSP failure on your stage 3. Statistically speaking, the physical keyboard will wear out long before the DSP will fail.

FZiegler wrote:I wanted to buy my first Nord Stage. And wanted it to be played (and repaired, if necessary) for the next 15 years roundabout - considering the invest. Meaning it should be usable as long as the oldest Nord Stage Classics out in the wild. Is this DSP thing a real issue to that point? Or is the computerized setup of the instrument a threat for the life period anyway (I never would keep my laptop for such a period)?

I'm playing my Yamaha CP33 for 12 years now, and it fits like on the first day. Do I have to think differently about a hightech instrument like a Stage 3? What's your opinion?

Nord staff won't give any statement about the DSP thing before issueing a new product line, will they? Will not help to wait a few months...?

I wouldn't care much if I already had one (as things are rarely totally controllable), but now I'm not sure any more.

Thanks @Benis67 for mentioning!

Did Yamaha tell you which DSP (or custom chip) they used in the CP33 and how long would it last...? Was that a problem when you bought it? So why should it be now thinking about buying a Nord?

Imho this discussion in the end is a pure technical speculation (on how hard would it be for Nord to port their current code to a new platform) but has no practical implication from a user's standpoint and could be applied to any digital equipment.

I want to clarify that my post has no intention of alarming anyone. Each vendor, including Clavia, has all the stocks (in our case CPU and DSP cards) that are needed to repair the models sold in and out of warranty. My intervention stems from the curiosity to understand Clavia's plans for the short and medium term future. I don't hide that the analogous situation of the Acess Virus is the sign that the problem is there and in one way or another it will have to be solved. The difference is obviously in the fact that Access Music is a much smaller company than Clavia

maxpiano wrote:Did Yamaha tell you which DSP (or custom chip) they used in the CP33 and how long would it last...? Was that a problem when you bought it? So why should it be now thinking about buying a Nord?

Well, this is a bit off topic anyway. It's just the pedals and accessory I'm plannig to buy for the Stage are about the price of my older stage. Digging somewhat deeper into that sort of equipment. So I wanted to know if that tech discussion should be on my mind or not. I got an answer from more than one of you. Thanks!

Benis67 wrote:I don't hide that the analogous situation of the Acess Virus is the sign that the problem is there and in one way or another it will have to be solved. The difference is obviously in the fact that Access Music is a much smaller company than Clavia

From what I know the missing next gen Access Virus is more caused by Kemper’s focus on his amp line than on putting ressources into the further development of the Virus. And aren't DSP's used in the Kemper amps as well?

Schorsch wrote:

Benis67 wrote:I don't hide that the analogous situation of the Acess Virus is the sign that the problem is there and in one way or another it will have to be solved. The difference is obviously in the fact that Access Music is a much smaller company than Clavia

From what I know the missing next gen Access Virus is more caused by Kemper’s focus on his amp line than on putting ressources into the further development of the Virus. And aren't DSP's used in the Kemper amps as well?

The Kempler Amplifier series also use an NXP chip, the DSP 56720 running at 2x200 MHz. According to the official End of Life (EOL) policy of NXP they provide supplies for 15 years from the original release date, so the chip used in Virus TI2, the DSP 56321 is available until 2020, the one in Kemper Amp DSP 56720 ends in 2023 and there is no new 56k DSP in NXP roadmap anymore.
https://synthmorph.com/blogs/news/acces ... -virus-ti3
Let's not forget that the computing power needed for an amplifier is much lower than for a synth. For example, Nord Stage 2 uses 6 Freescale 56367s

Well - all true, but still Kemper seems to be more interested in further development of his amps than in development of the Virus, whatever the reason may be. Could be the upcoming EOL of DSPs but also be caused by other reasons, I would not take it for granted that the Virsu does not get an update beacuse of the DSP availability

Schorsch wrote:Well - all true, but still Kemper seems to be more interested in further development of his amps than in development of the Virus, whatever the reason may be.

I wasn't aware that Kemper and Access were the same guy…!

Knowing this, I really wouldn't expect any priority to be placed on the Virus. The Kemper is the de facto standard professional modelling amp worldwide, full stop. (One of my projects just converted their guitar rigs to 2x Kemper last month, and they're used by the international who-is-who of A-level sidemen.)

I'm sure Kemper has his hands full just dealing with that.

Yes, Christoph Kemper developed the Access Virus back in 1996/1997, so more than 20 years in the market now - not bad I think and it would be a pity if it will be stopped