Stage 4 Owners - Any impression?

[analogika]

It would be worth testing. On my NS3 if I hold the sustain pedal down while playing a chord, switch to another program, and then change any parameters, it doesn't affect the sound from the prior program, so it's possible that folks will be able to pull up the next program and adjust levels before playing. It's inconvenient at best, and I hope Nord offers us some options in the future to address it.

The NS4 has a Program Level adjustment which will raise or lower all layers/sections the same amount.

-dj

[DJKeys]

...- My main criticism is the thing with the new volume controls, because the current value is displayed but the slider, of course is not at the position. And you can hear that when I want to change it.

Thanks for your assessment and also noting this point we hope Nord can improve with a future OS update. It appears the only (inconvenient) workaround at this point is moving the sliders to the positions indicated by the program before playing the related layers.

But if new need multiple programs for the same song, seamless will work but the level faders won’t be at the right place for the next program.

The Level LEDs will change to the value of the next program, regardless of the position of the sliders-

-dj

[mozart999uk]

I have an NS4 88. First Nord. I do really like it . Lots and lots of positives. One of the most inspirational keyboards I've ever owned (and I've had a few!). Just makes me want to sit down and noodle!

A few negatives for me:

1. the front panel rattles a bit when I play. Pressing down on the panel stops it. Not a game changer - not something you hear when on stage but I would have hoped for a little better quality. The keybed itself feels a bit cheap - a bit like an old studiologic I used to play back in the 90s. But it does a really good compromise for me (feel wise) between piano, organ and synth. If it was any heavier (more piano like -as some have been hoping for) I feel the organ and synth sounds would be unplayable.
2. A few seconds after saving a program I get some weird digital glitching if I'm playing - it feels like the nord is writing to an old mechanical disk and that is causing the sample playback to glitch. I appreciate this is not actually what is happening but that's what it feels like (from back in the day when I had my DAW samples and project files on the same physical disk
3. I was really disappointed in the packaging. The item arrived in the original nord box but with very little internal packing - no internal box for example. Just three polystyrene spacers and a polythene bag. This may well have been the fault of the Uk supplier rather than nord though - I don't know
4. the white grand doesn't have proper soft layer samples (to my ears anyway). Playing softly just sounds like louder samples turned down in volume.

Those points aside though...definitely glad I bought it!

[NoDirection]

>>2. A few seconds after saving a program I get some weird digital glitching if I'm playing - it feels like the nord is writing to an old mechanical disk and that is causing the sample playback to glitch. I appreciate this is not actually what is happening but that's what it feels like (from back in the day when I had my DAW samples and project files on the same physical disk

I guess you have connected your USB-cable to a computer. It's the communication back to the computer that makes this glitch. (Keyboard signalling there has been a change) I guess it will not happen if you remove the cable or your computer is off.

I agree they should have solved this problem long time ago...

Good luck with your new board

[mozart999uk]

>>2. A few seconds after saving a program I get some weird digital glitching if I'm playing - it feels like the nord is writing to an old mechanical disk and that is causing the sample playback to glitch. I appreciate this is not actually what is happening but that's what it feels like (from back in the day when I had my DAW samples and project files on the same physical disk

I guess you have connected your USB-cable to a computer. It's the communication back to the computer that makes this glitch. (Keyboard signalling there has been a change) I guess it will not happen if you remove the cable or your computer is off.

I agree they should have solved this problem long time ago...

Good luck with your new board

Thanks. No, no USB connected to the board when this happens

[WannitBBBad]

...1. the front panel rattles a bit when I play. Pressing down on the panel stops it..

This might be a fixable problem under warranty. I'd suggest reporting this and other NS4 problems such as #2 to Nord at https://www.nordkeyboards.com/support
Take care

[mozart999uk]

...1. the front panel rattles a bit when I play. Pressing down on the panel stops it..

This might be a fixable problem under warranty. I'd suggest reporting this and other NS4 problems such as #2 to Nord at https://www.nordkeyboards.com/support
Take care

Thanks. It's a case of; having just got it whether I can be without it for as long as it takes. Hee hee.

I'll report them anyway :-0)

[anotherscott]

The only logical solution would be an update to allow fader and knob value pickup

If I understand correctly from what's been said, yes... If "monitor" lets you move a slider without changing a value, and then the fader/knob could be set to need to "catch up" to the current value before it did anything (rather than jumping to a new value when moved), then if you wanted to lower the volume of a sound, you'd use the monitor function to silently move the slider to its uppermost position, then without monitor, lower the slider... lowering the slider would do nothing until it passed the "current" position, from which point it would lower it smoothly. And the same operation would work the other direction if you want to increase the volume of a part.

If you could assign the monitor function to a footswitch, you could do these operations with one hand instead of two, so you could keep playing while smoothly adjusting.

(ETA: As subsequently pointed out, the volume faders already have LEDs, so it was not a good example to use, but the concept still applies to other controls.)

[DanielD71]

The only logical solution would be an update to allow fader and knob value pickup

If I understand correctly from what's been said, yes... If "monitor" lets you move a slider without changing a value, and then the fader/knob could be set to need to "catch up" to the current value before it did anything (rather than jumping to a new value when moved), then if you wanted to lower the volume of a sound, you'd use the monitor function to silently move the slider to its uppermost position, then without monitor, lower the slider... lowering the slider would do nothing until it passed the "current" position, from which point it would lower it smoothly. And the same operation would work the other direction if you want to increase the volume of a part.

If you could assign the monitor function to a footswitch, you could do these operations with one hand instead of two, so you could keep playing while smoothly adjusting.

That could be a workaround, but I would prefer a menu option like Hammond provides with their XK-5 which sets the knob mode to either "Momentary" or "Catch", same is done by Roland on the Juno-X with "Direct" or Catch" for example. Ideally as a per-program (per-preset) setting

[anotherscott]

That could be a workaround, but I would prefer a menu option like Hammond provides with their XK-5 which sets the knob mode to either "Momentary" or "Catch", same is done by Roland on the Juno-X with "Direct" or Catch" for example. Ideally as a per-program (per-preset) setting

Yes, that's part of what I suggested. You'd need that "jump or catch" setting AND the monitor function (ideally operable without requiring another hand) in order for this to work really smoothly.

... you need the "catch" function to be able to move a control without hearing a jump in sound

... to be as smooth as possible, you need the "monitor" function to make sure the control is on the "other" side of where you want it to end up, before you move it in the direction of the change you want to make.

For example, let's say the volume slider is physically at the 70% point. Say you want to make it quieter. If the volume's current "real" setting is 60%, you'll need to move the slider down in order to catch it, but if the volume's current "real" setting is 80%, you'll need to move the slider UP in order to catch it... and without the ability to use the monitor function to adjust the slider's position without altering the sound, moving it up (past the 80% point so you can catch it on the way down) will momentarily make the sound louder, which is the exact opposite of what you want. You can minimize that by moving the slider "gingerly" but that will make it take longer for you to complete the operation. (And either way, you still need to "know" where the current real value is, relative to the position of the slider.)

But this is conjecture on my part, since I have not laid my hands on an NS4 and don't know exactly how it currently works.

(ETA: Again, as subsequently pointed out, the volume faders already have LEDs, so it was not a good example to use, but the concept still applies to other controls.)