Nord User Forum

Gambold wrote: 08 Jan 2026, 05:06 But the YC88's properly weighted keypad has been a godsend for me getting my technique back after years of playing Nord's craptastic Fatar waterfall offering (gee, will they improve THAT on the Electro 7?).

Apples vs oranges? I can understand if you'd compare the YC61 with the NE waterfall (or the YC88 with a Nord HA or Grand keyboard).

Back to NE new version (i.e. the potential NE7), I think in this forum we discussed many times what the potential improvements could be, number one in my mind being the addition of PB and MW (if Nord would want take the risk to expand NE into the NS territory with this) and possibly memory expansion to align it to the latest NP/NS models. Also Organ 3 engine could be an expected upgrade for the next NE.

This must be what they mean when they say the user community is one of the major advantages of Nord keyboards…

The memory issue...I seem to remember smarter folks than me saying Nord had limitations on what they could stuff in there, based on their current architecture. That the Stage 4 didn't get a memory bump would seem to support this. Meaning 2GB might be as much as we can get, without new engineering...which is expensive for Clavia, and do they have the market to cover the investment.

I don't know what PB and MW are. Peanut butter and Milky Way? I'm just an old analog hack, don't forget.

The Electro 7, what should it have? Well, some of the basics would help:

--Ability to split keyboard anywhere. Mystery to me why this isn't standard.
--Pump up the piano memory to the maximum possible. Which I guess is 2Gb.
--Bring back the 9th drawbar delete. Mystery to everyone why they got rid of it.
--God, please redesign the preset system. Get out of Base 4.
--USB audio. There are no excuses here. That the Stage 4 didn't have it was a big sign that Clavia was just spinning their wheels.
--Wifi connectivity? This might be a stretch, Yamaha doesn't have it either. It's more of a convenience than anything else.
--Release it with a brand new Bosendorfer sample. A big, kick-ass sample from one of the best pianos ever made. No more knitting room pianos or broken-down charmers from old-timey land.

And do we really want to see the Electro 7 released with the White Grand in A11? Talk about rolling out a brand new car on dusty old tires. Or are they going to put the Astoria on there, and market the E7 as a retro board?

Radical notion - also market a stripped-down "Electro Lite" for about 2/3 the cost to woo entry-level buyers in. I know, who cares about them is the usual response, but we need to start. We are all getting older, people, and it's pretty much the same crew here since I started haunting the place, years ago. I'm not seeing a lot of young blood coming in. Compare to the Yamaha boards which may be boring but have a lot more, ahem, youthful energy about them. We are fast becoming as vintage as the Electro 6.

Gambold wrote: 08 Jan 2026, 18:39PB and MW

Pitch Bend and Modulation Wheel, I guess.

The Electro 6 had zero appeal for me. What I would love to see to make me want to upgrade from my NE5:
- FX, EQ and Amp Sim for every sound engine separately, so you can play Hammond through a Leslie and Rhodes through a Fender Twin at the same time.
- An optional lower manual like Crumar has - what would I give for that...!
- A better keybed, i.e. something not as stiff as that Fatar.

Gambold wrote: 08 Jan 2026, 18:39
And do we really want to see the Electro 7 released with the White Grand in A11? Talk about rolling out a brand new car on dusty old tires. Or are they going to put the Astoria on there, and market the E7 as a retro board?

I see Tracii already responded and explained my abbreviations correctly (sorry for that Gambold, I thought they were more widely known among keyboard players, regardless the age, I am not that young either btw )

But about the above I wonder why are you asking Nord what is instead normal for any other brand (Yamaha first) i.e. to issue new models and reuse existing samples on them (particularly if they are still good enough for the purpose which is... to play some good, hopefully, music) as it happened for example for Yamaha YC after CP?

On the rest, while I agree with you that USB Audio would be very nice to have, I still don't get what "WiFi" should be expected for.

>Pitch Bend and Modulation Wheel>

Thanks!

>A better keybed, i.e. something not as stiff as that Fatar.<

Fatar gets mixed reviews, to be sure.

>I wonder why are you asking Nord what is instead normal for any other brand<

Because Nord isn't "any other brand." They are the special ones. At least they used to be. I'd like to think they still want to be. They price themselves as such, that's for sure.

If we want any other brand, there are truckloads of Yamahas, Rolands, Korgs and Kawais to groan through.