Nord User Forum

I have a Wurlitzer EP 200 and a Nord electro6.
The Wurly is heavy, only makes Wurly noises, breaks reeds and goes out of tune.
I love the Wurlitzer with all my heart, but prefer playing the Nord. You can adjust the sound almost infinitely on the Nord.
For the record, I do not know what 100mb is and have no desire or need to find out when it comes to playing piana.

I think it stands for moderato binary…it’s sort of a meta computer approximation of gear acquisition syndrome.

Licey wrote: ↑10 Jul 2024, 17:28 I have a Wurlitzer EP 200 and a Nord electro6.
The Wurly is heavy, only makes Wurly noises, breaks reeds and goes out of tune.
I love the Wurlitzer with all my heart, but prefer playing the Nord. You can adjust the sound almost infinitely on the Nord.
For the record, I do not know what 100mb is and have no desire or need to find out when it comes to playing piana.

Hmm, at the moment my Nord Electro 5d is sitting on the top of my Wurli 200 and i must say, i much prefer playing the real Wurlitzer. The Nord Wurli 2 sample is one of the best Wurlitzer samples you can get in hardware, but still sounds one-dimensional and lifeless in direct comparison to the real deal.

I get it, Daniel70.
My Wurli is currently in my ex-wife's loft.

> but still sounds one-dimensional and lifeless in direct comparison to the real deal.<

Hmm, the emulation is pretty good. You'd probably struggle to tell the difference in a blind listening test.

"One-dimensional and lifeless" sounds more like a problem with the player, not the board.

I love the Wurlizer sample... because it is, in size, the smallest one of all the Piano library samples !
I assign this sample to programs that don't use the Piano engine to shrink my bundles to a more reasonable size !!

Wish I could have a silent Piano sample, that, by default, could be mapped automatically to programs not using the Piano engine. Today, bundle will store the first Piano in the Acoustic Piano slot which usually ends up in a filesize above 200Mb+ for nothing !

Fred

Gambold wrote: ↑25 Jun 2025, 04:33 > but still sounds one-dimensional and lifeless in direct comparison to the real deal.<

Hmm, the emulation is pretty good. You'd probably struggle to tell the difference in a blind listening test.

"One-dimensional and lifeless" sounds more like a problem with the player, not the board.

I'm afraid you've misunderstood me. I also think the Wurli sample or both samples in the Nord are pretty excellent. Live in a band context you can hardly distinguish it from a real one, no question, and I really like using it. But what I wrote was that when I have both instruments, my Wurlitzer 200 and my Nord Stage, right next to each other, then of course the sampled Wurlitzer in the Nord falls short of the original, both in terms of sound and feel. That's definitely my impression... and I think it has very little to do with my playing technique.

100% in agreement with you there!

>then of course the sampled Wurlitzer in the Nord falls short of the original, both in terms of sound and feel.<

My guess is far more in feel than in sound. And since you know what you are playing, confirmation bias is playing a big role here.

It's the same when you see those videos of people comparing $4000 Les Paul guitars with $600 dollar ones. They basically sound the same, but of course they "feel" different for the player, because the super-expensive one is made with better materials and has a lot of finishing touches by hand. So as a player one naturally thinks it sounds better too. And maybe it does, but not by same factor as the price difference.

Bottom line is that still-standing Wurlitzers are very old, most of them pretty junky, and those that have been refurbished quite expensive.* And heavy - around 60 pounds, and given their value they need to be maximally cased so add another 20 pounds there. That's not fun to load into the SUV and then unload into the bar.

I'm sure the key bed feels a lot better than Nord's crappy Fatar offerings, and that that feel is helping you think it sounds better too. But to the rest of the world, there's very little difference in what they are hearing. I'd go so far as to say none. So you have to finally decide why you've spent all that money and backache to haul a Wurlitzer to your gig. Remember: Benmont Tench is super rich and doesn't lift a finger to move anything anywhere.

*Here's one for a mere US $6500:
https://chicagoelectricpiano.com/wurlit ... itzer-200/

That’s way overpriced.

Currently mixing a few singles — some with Nord Wurli, some with my real one: it’s a pretty big difference, and not just one of feel.