What does "fully mapped" (XL sounds) actually mean?

[Ceyhan]

You do hear differences in these recordings if you know what to listen for.

The small versions of all pianos have no resonances when using the sustain pedal, which makes them audibly 'thinner' - however, in a mix that may actually be desirable. The medium versions do have some resonances but not in the low bass and high treble - the large versions do. The pattern he is playing here doesn't bring out these differences as the lowest and highest keys are barely touched in the video. (With an M or L version loaded in your Nord, you can actually hear the sound of the S version by switching off string resonance).
And I doubt you can hear the difference between an L and an XL version in a low quality recording. Again, theses differences won't matter a lot in most live settings anyway. You can hear them with good quality monitors or headphones though...

I agree with you, I said that no 'significant' difference in average quality monitors, but sure you can hear up to some extend. A kind Clavia Staff member told me that:

With “fully mapped keyboard” we mean that every note within the keyboard range uses its own unique set of samples. In lighter versions (S, M, L) some notes may be transposed versions of a neighbouring notes - which still sounds good, and allows us to reduce the size of the sample set.

[maurus]

Yes, the above quote covers the difference between the XL and the other versions. Stretching or no stretching is independent of damper string resonance, however.

On the other hand I find the difference between the S and all the other versions quite significant - it's simply the question whether you want damper string resonances or not. That does make a difference in many contexts and is not very dependent on audio chain quality. Just compare a key struck without damper (sustain) pedal pressed, and the same with pressed pedal.

Against that background, if you are limited in piano memory, the M or L versions are the most practical in my view.

[mon8169]

(With an M or L version loaded in your Nord, you can actually hear the sound of the S version by switching off string resonance).

Not right. The switchable string resonance has nothing to do with the samples. It is a software effect, not sampled.

Except if you consider the sustain pedal a switch.....

Ramon

[maurus]

Hi Ramon, I think you have to rethink! Pressing the sustain pedal does two things: It kills all note off-signals - this has nothing to do with string resonance of course - and it activates the damper resonances (what Clavia calls String resonance type I). If an S version is loaded, the damper resonances (which are sampled, not modeled) are not present. String resonance type II (what others call sympathetic key resonance) is an entirely different matter. However the most audible effect of the string resonance button is to switch on and off the sampled damper resonances that come with M, L and XL versions. At least that's what it does on my NE 3 HP. Go listen to your Nord...

Edit: I just looked up the Stage 2 manual, and indeed, its string resonance button does activate BOTH damper resonances and sympathetic key resonance. They explicitly say that with S versions you won't get the former... see p. 28 in the manual.

[AlQuinn]

I can hear/feel a difference between L and XL when I play them but I can't explain exactly what it is. The XL just sounds closer to a real acoustic piano to me.

[karri]

I can also hear difference around C3-C4 area in Faz XL vs L. I think XL has fuller sound in these keys. I noticed this when playing with headphones. XL is also little bit brighter.

[mon8169]

.....However the most audible effect of the string resonance button is to switch on and off the sampled damper resonances that come with M, L and XL versions...

You are wrong. I have a Classic Stage, it doesn't have any string resonance button, nor have the related sofware because the CPU was not powerfull enough, BUT I can play the pedal down samples, and it makes a lot of difference soundwise playing the S version against any of the others. Of course only if you use the sustain pedal.

No idea about type I or II. I always though they were 2 stages of development. If they are 2 types of different resonance (I don't doubt it, I just don't know it), it is strange that Clavia doesn't allow the user to switch them on and off separately.

best regards
Ramon