Should I buy Nord Stage 3??

[anotherscott]

Another thing that out me off was that, while the 2-series boards have all sorts of downloadable sound packs, these still don't seem to exist for the 3

AFAIK, all the sample downloads for the 2 will also work on the 3.

In the end, for almost exactly half the price, I bought the new MODX8.

MODX looks like a great board, and would be a great complement to a Nord Stage 3 Compact. In fact, there's a good chance that that pair will be my main gigging rig.

[Ivan Jochner]

I just sold my Kronos 2 and looking for a new keyboard. I play in a Fusion band that focus on Bollywood and American ....

Thanks in advance
-Swarup

Hi,

I am just disappointed with my NS 3 compact , i am not a jazz player who is satisfied with good Grand Rhodes or Organ sounds. If you not in Jazz or any other style wich uses mostly grands or organs DONT BUY IT!!!
First if you buy it from the dealer Check for consistency in keys "Up/Down weight on " 76, 88 models. Some keys are mushy and uneven.
If its Compact 73 look for scratching noise on black keys when pressing them slow.
Thy are really really bad on compacts.

Plus my Nord is killed with glitchy update which steals Synth polyphony (32 in total ) and on the top of that its handycapped loading and using just 2 voces for the synth section (brass , strings or accordionns etc) if you want three of them together
you have to make all the " tricks of trade" and mambo jumbu dances with Sound Editor in order to make it happen.

(Eg. panel A - 1 sample , panel B - 1 sample that's it.)
and on the top of that split points are the pain in the a....ss!

They say NS 2 is better in this case cause all updates work well..... but i dont want to wait another 5-6 years till my NS3 will work well, i want it work NOW!

IF I had a chance to swap it for Montage or Kronos 2 i would swap it without doubt!

[analogika]

Ivan: i hear you on the bugs and the keyboard issue (though my S3 compact Keyboard is fine).

The limitations you describe are very real; however, they are deliberate choices.

Every complex machine interface is a set of trade-offs between flexibility and usability.

Having had to use a Kronos for a year, I can truly appreciate its vast capabilities and flexibility. I absolutely hated using it. The interface was as complex as the machine’s capabilities and was absolutely atrociously clumsy given its limitations.
I replaced it as soon as I could with a Mac running Mainstage — even more complex possibilities, but an interface that has grown over thirty years to handle just such complexity and is a breeze to program.

The Stage is limited — limited split and layer capabilities, only six engines of predetermined types vs 16 of 9 different engines freely combinable on the Kronos —, but virtually every single thing it can do is accessible right there from the front panel with a dedicated control (or a clearly labelled secondary function via “Shift”). It takes literally less than thirty seconds to do ANYTHING the board is capable of.

I decided during rehearsal yesterday that I might want to use Song Mode for a project I’m working on. I’d never used it. It took me less than thirty seconds to figure out how it worked, and a minute later, I had the patches lined up.
Another case in point: I decided during a gig in the middle of a song that I might want to layer a Hammond in the chorus. While I was playing the next verse, I set up the organ and just punched it in for the chorus.

This is a completely different kind of flexibility, a totally different approach that Nord is pretty much peerless at.

[analogika]

This is a completely different kind of flexibility, a totally different approach that Nord is pretty much peerless at.

I agree with you on these ones like quick access and fast prosses of sculpting sound. Maybe i just got used to different approach working mainly with stations, but nevertheless all my Ukrainian friends profesiional keybordist in the top music bands admitted that keys of NS3 compacts had the same problems as mine.
(What i love in NORD, yes its superb quality of samples but when i hear this quality and can not do anything with polyphony , or working with Sample Editor wich can not load one shot sample without stretching it (even if assighned for one key range) i feel upset .....etc ...and so on ).

I am just sharing with my true impressions on Nords which i have never owned before. Wishing Clavia to make stable relieses but not to postpone them for another 5-6 years.




Stay in tune 440!

Ivan