Nord User Forum

Gambold wrote: ↑27 Apr 2024, 15:25 >An organ with an added piano section and a very basic sample player?<

That's an interesting take but I don't think it is either how most Electro users/buyers see the board, or how the Electro is being marketed by Clavia.

Compounding the issue is that organs require a different keyboard than pianos to function at their best. So on the Electro you have to compromise - do you go with with hammer action and piano keys, or do you take "semi-weighted" with waterfall? I think most buyers get the waterfall by default - and while the low weight of the keyboard is pleasant, in time the lack of good action for regular piano playing becomes ever more irritating.

So come time to upgrade, you have a decision to make, if you only want to cart one keyboard around. How badly do you need the organ? Will samples replace the occasional need? Since I'm assuming (perhaps wrongly), that MOST Electro players are using the organ less than 20% of the time, I don't see much of a future for the Electro.

From my seat, I am exactly the audience for the Electro. Certainly 80% piano / 20% organ. But that organ needs to sound and operate in an authentic manner, which the existing Nord organ engine mostly does (save the 9th drawbar cancel hubris). I can even live with playing organ from a weighted piano action for that 20%. I use the samples on very rare occasions, so what’s in there is fine with me.

The laws of physics pretty much guarantee that we won’t see a keyboard action that simultaneously satisfies both pianists and organists equally. Unless, of course, someone invents an action that alters the physical weighting and retracts the keylip edges when the organ button is hit. Well, Star Trek tells us there is programmable matter in the 32nd century, so we have that.

We can only speculate, but I would guess that the clone organ market is too crowded and wasn’t profitable enough for Clavia. That, and that the existing organ engine sounds pretty good, is most likely why the C2D is gone and investment in the organ engine has slowed/stopped.

I am not so bold to assume what most Electro owners like/don’t like or how they see the instrument. There are many varied use cases. It’s not a secret that the Electro is their biggest seller, so I doubt we will see it disappear. I’d like to go back to using one if the next iteration checks the right boxes.

Gambold wrote: ↑27 Apr 2024, 15:25 >An organ with an added piano section and a very basic sample player?<

That's an interesting take but I don't think it is either how most Electro users/buyers see the board, or how the Electro is being marketed by Clavia.

Electro 5 user here, organ is my main „instrument“, can‘t name the percentage, but I guess 50 or even more. Next is piano. The sample section I only use rarely because I have the korg X50 on top which can do all this much better.

As far as the keybed is concerned: yes, clear, that waterfall and hammer action don‘t go in one board. Only waterfall can make my organ playing doable, and for the piano I have set the touch sensitivity to the most sensitive position. Works quite good. I also play grand and upright pianos so can compare.

I love the electro concept and won‘t need more. It’s a specialist for me, not a generalist.

Cheers from Germany

I have an anecdotal feeling that the Electro is Nord's bread and butter as it has been in the product line up for a very long time and is quite popular, based on the number of them seen on tours, videos, etc. I've been a Stage user now for so long that I have become dependent on the expanded capabilities of the Stage series, though I did have a period of time when I set up a NE5 to do all of my shows for about a year or so. It worked quite well.

I still have my NE2 and when I was gigging with that board, I was about 50% organ and 50% Wurly/clav/EP. When I got the NE3, I used the sample section about 20% of the time and found it quite useful.

I've constantly thought about getting the NE6 with 61 keys and setting it up to do as many gig duties as possible, simply for the smaller footprint and really easy portability...though the NS3 Compact is pretty easy to move and I do love the dual panels, synth section, pitch/mod stuff, etc. I play organ about 50% of the time on my NS3, so having the drawbars is important to me.

As for the NE7, it's only a matter of time. Nord will likely port over some of the things from the NS4 and NP5, like the dedicated effects per engine, maybe a few extra synth/sample features (perhaps a second layer for this engine) and whatever else...Nord is still slowly making updates to the NS4 and new product development such as a NE7 is possibly one of the reasons that their OS updates are slow moving. I would expect we'll see the NE7 by 2025, though I wouldn't bet money on it. LOL.

sonicblue wrote: ↑04 Oct 2022, 08:16 It's been almost 5 years since Electro 6 premiere
2023 is the 40th Nord anniversary
Dear Clavia, it's really the right time to release the brand new Nord Electro 7
Let's shout out here for it!

What I like in Electro HP is that it combines two instruments, organs and pianos
So Clavia please make us the perfect Electro which will celebrate your 40th anniversary

I think you should:
1. utilize the brand new FATAR TP/110 keybed
2. give 3GB memory for piano section and 2GB for synth section
3. implement new synth engine taken from the Piano 5
4. use bigger oled screen

Please give us at last new Electro!

Anyone who shares my enthusiasm for having a brand new Electro 7, could you please send your feedback directly to Nord? I'm sure it can help more than doing nothing:

https://www.nordkeyboards.com/about-us/feedback

Many thanks!

Bring back the set list! And make it pointers not programs taking up memory.
This has been a tragedy IMO...I haven't upgraded cuz I think the 5 has better features and settings. I don't need 3 layers, don't even use 2.

Well - for me Pitch Stick and Mod-Wheel would be really a MUST. Separate FX per Layer would be great, but this will not happen to keep the distance to the "big brother". So: small, but hitting improvements could make a new model senceful for seller and buyer. What about 4 ADSR Potis for the better Sample tweaking - just as an interface improvement? And more memory is surely welcome, but I guess the programming effort and firmware change would also be a cost factor for Nord...

I´m questioning myself, how much could the Electro been improved without stepping in the way of the Stage - the NE6 is really a great product as a "small Stage" allready and much more functions will lead to a much higher price...

It’s funny, I think a pitch wheel and mod stick will never happen on the Electro. These items are really synth territory in my opinion and that is one of the features to keep the distance between Stage and the Electro.

For me personaly, I am hoping they will update all the specs to bring the Electro back on par with the rest of the products.

So all these things sound like no brainers to me and still keep the Electro in its own segment:
More memory
Seamless preset switching
Zone/layer xfade
Dual layers on all engines
Fx per layer (cmon, ‘even’ the Grand2 has this )
Synth engine updated
DO NOT ditch the key sensitive filter please!!!
Triple pedal support, mostly for preset switching etc. I bet they are eager to sell that E400,- pedal with all boards

And…. Here I go: The Electro 7 would be the perfect unit to present an upgraded organ engine right?

And I think they need to upgrade the Electro big time to create an interesting unit for less than E4000,-. It will probably be around E2500 and I would love to buy that unit. I am fairly happy with my NE5. But my mind is hoping for an updated NE7 presentation in the beginning of 2025…
It doesnt hurt to dream right?

Afghanza wrote: ↑24 Jun 2024, 11:56 It’s funny, I think a pitch wheel and mod stick will never happen on the Electro. These items are really synth territory in my opinion and that is one of the features to keep the distance between Stage and the Electro.

For me personaly, I am hoping they will update all the specs to bring the Electro back on par with the rest of the products.

So all these things sound like no brainers to me and still keep the Electro in its own segment:
More memory
Seamless preset switching
Zone/layer xfade
Dual layers on all engines
Fx per layer (cmon, ‘even’ the Grand2 has this )
Synth engine updated
DO NOT ditch the key sensitive filter please!!!
Triple pedal support, mostly for preset switching etc. I bet they are eager to sell that E400,- pedal with all boards

And…. Here I go: The Electro 7 would be the perfect unit to present an upgraded organ engine right?

I agree that Nord will skip putting pitch and mod controls on the Electro. As for your wish list, the NE6 already has seamless transition and crossfade for zones. If they were to add dual layers for all engines, that's definitely getting into Stage territory, though I could see them adding a second synth layer. FX per layer seems reasonable, as it could trickle down from the NE4, NP5, NG2 and become part of the Nord DNA. A bit of a synth update would be likely as well, since each generation of the Electro since NE3 has seen a small iterative update.

Upgraded organ engine would be HUGE! Not sure how likely that would be, as Nord's development of new organ features seems to have slowed or nearly halted for some reason. This is true for both the Electro and Stage models...not to mention there has been no dedicated dual manual successor to the C2D that was retired in 2020. Perhaps there are already enough organ options flooding the market in many shapes, sizes, and price points...so it's no longer a differentiator for Nord's relatively small shop to spend time developing any further than where it is with the NS3/NS4/NE6.

I agree, Nord seems to be quietly bailing on the organ side of things. And the problem remains - organs want a waterfall keybed, Pianos want weighted ones. The Electro can only offer one or the other, so you end up with one side of things (organ or piano) not as playable as they could be.

I have had two Electros and have opted for the waterfall keys on both units. But more and more I realize that I miss having a decent weighted keybed for acoustic and electric pianos. My Korg SV-2 has a nice one, but their acoustic piano samples are way below the quality of Nord's.

Gambold wrote: ↑26 Jun 2024, 21:28 I agree, Nord seems to be quietly bailing on the organ side of things. And the problem remains - organs want a waterfall keybed, Pianos want weighted ones. The Electro can only offer one or the other, so you end up with one side of things (organ or piano) not as playable as they could be.

I have had two Electros and have opted for the waterfall keys on both units. But more and more I realize that I miss having a decent weighted keybed for acoustic and electric pianos. My Korg SV-2 has a nice one, but their acoustic piano samples are way below the quality of Nord's.

I totally agree and believe that the Electro is at its best in waterfall action...I have the NE2 61 still after all these years, had the NE3 and NE5 also in waterfall. For a brief period I had the NE5 with the HP weighted action and really didn't like it. Same was true for the NS2 EX 76 HP...just not a comfortable action for me, despite its portability factor. Nord's best weighted actions are the HA found in the Piano and Stage, plus the Kawai action in the Grand.

The webpage nordelectro7.com seems to be existing already.