Nord User Forum

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)

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.

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.

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.

ericL wrote:...there is a tradeoff. Higher quality action means heavier weight...

that's it in a nutshell, as they say

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)

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.