Nord Stage 2 HA76 vs Nord Stage 2 EX HP76

[dimmu]

I have owned both Nord Piano 2 HP and Nord Stage HA76. And without a blink I would go for the HA76 action.
I'm neither a pianist as a organist. I'm a little bit of both like many keyboardist are.

I like to play piano a lot but not always.
The main reason is that I think the HP action is not good for me, it has a slow release time until the key is back up and this is something that I get annoyed by as it slows down my playing and just feels weird in my fingers, I tried but could not get used to it. Also the noisy keybed is not popular at home.

For me weight is of importance, but in this case I would go for compact if weight is most important. Good synth / organ, and OK piano.
HP is bad in all three but good in weight.

I think Compact + a 88 key midi controller is the best solution.

Nords I have had: Nord Lead A1,Nord Electro 3 61,Nord Electro 4 73, Nord Stage 2 HA76, Nord Stage 2 SW73, Nord Piano 2 HP, Nord Stage 2 EX Compact (current one, others sold)

[Jasonbass32]

Agree with the above post. I own or have owned Nords with all three actions HP, SW, and HA. IMO the HP action was by far the worst of the three. I currently own an Electro 4 SW73 and Stage 2 HA76. The SW action is probably my favorite. My plan is to sell both and purchase the stage 3 when it comes out (yes, I know it could be a while). I will definitely get the SW compact and add an 88 key midi controller.

[ericL]

I have the NS2 88 HA as well as NE5 HP. I just picked up a NS2 EX 76 HP and I'm breaking it in for a series of gigs. If I play the HA and then the HP back to back, I realize the HA is FAR superior to the HP. But if I spend enough time on the HP on its own, I can start to gel with it and find that it gives my fingers a decent workout. In a live setting, I think I can get by on the HP...with the benefit being the fact that it is 14 pounds lighter than my NS2 88 HA. I *almost* went for the NS2 EX 73, but I really wanted some kind of weight in the keys. I'll let my next several weeks of gigs determine the future outcome.

[ericL]

Here's an update after using the NS2 EX 76 HP on weekly gigs and rehearsals over the past two months. I have gotten used to this action now and I think it works just fine for me. It is a bit more of a workout and I find that I can play piano sounds a little bit more expressively with the heavier-feeling HP action. I love the lighter weight and ease of transport of the HP 76, which is important to me as I'm moving it around quite a bit every week. I use the Nord gig bag with wheels, but I have a couple of sets of stairs to navigate quite frequently, and the NS2 88 HA was a bit of a beast to carry up and down stairs in the Nord gig bag.

I kept my NS2 88 HA and use it at home for rehearsing and some sound design. I have it on a stand with a second tier and I often bring in my NS2 EX 76 HP and put that on the top tier over the older NS2 88. This gives me a chance to do some A/B comparisons. I still find the HA keyboard is a bit more inspiring and easier on the hands. I think it works very well for playing organ sounds and it just feels more elegant in general. But as is the case with many things, there is a tradeoff. Higher quality action means heavier weight. I'm currently making the tradeoff to live with the less elegant action of the HP 76 action so I can benefit from the ease of transport.

[pablomastodon]

...there is a tradeoff. Higher quality action means heavier weight...

that's it in a nutshell, as they say

[jbolazzi]

My impression is that the keybed on the new model Nord stage 2 EX HP is much better than the one used for the Nord Electro serie. I have owned the 3, 4 and 5 HP. These are OK and I even saw an improvement on the 5 HP versus previous models, but the NE keyboard still remains quite Noisy and unprecise; it requires some time to get use to the mechanics. Apparently Nord have put higher specification requirement on the stage 2 ex and the overall quality is quite superior. I even noticed that the apiano sound better with the Stage than with the NE as a result of this better sensitivity of the keyboard. Now compared to the HA, I would say ( as a piano player mainly) that the Stage EX 2 HP is still not as good to the HA but quite enjoyable to play and very easy to play. ( The HP on the NE serie is not at all at the same quality level)

[Rusty Mike]

I would speculate that the after touch on the Stage has something to do with that. I haven't played one yet, but would surmise that the Stage has a softer "landing" than the Electro, as the AT requires a wee bit of extra travel to work.

I'm eager to try both as I'm considering an upgrade, but I doubt there is a significant difference regarding attack and release between the models. They both use the TP-100 action.

Maybe I'm wrong.