NORD STAGE 4 officially announced for February 16th 2023

[anotherscott]

It’s an interface decision.

I agree. Not processing/speed.

Those controls normally do send out MIDI, on the global channel (or at least they did on the NS3). It seems to me that Nord (as in the past) just isn't providing an option to send that MIDI data on the channel assigned to Extern. My guess would be, yes, it would be an interface complication; plus those controls might not do what you wanted them to do unless you remapped them anyway, which means Nord would be delivering a box where controls could do unpredictable things (i.e. inconsistent with what they're labeled to do), which is arguably just not the Nord way. (Though I agree, it would be a cool feature for them to support.)

[gordon]

If you end up using global midi channel to drive an external synth, you still get to carve out a keyboard zone 'reserved' for that (i.e. one which is not assigned to any internal organ/piano/synth). Now of course you would have to mirror that key range on your external device or in some SW or HW intermediary like iPad MidiFlow app. But it is workable, for those times you want all three internal synths plus an external device.

In my case, I would be happy to give up one of the two ORGAN layers as an extern - if it's simply an interface choice, why was that not offered? So I think it is more than that - it's the ethos of the Stage that you do not need outboard sounds, period. We'll see if the horn/sax sounds are any better - that's the only place I use outboard sounds.

[maxpiano]

The alternative would have been adding an extra interface section to the front panel, like on the previous models. I guess giving up an internal synth for an external one seemed an acceptable tradeoff.

Not neccessarily a need for an extra section. The synth section MODE button already switch between Samples, Analog and Extern. The same button could be use to change focus between extern and internal for implementing both 3 synths and 3 external panels. Would not be surprised if this will be implemented in an update.

+1 if it is just a matter of space on the panel this would be a reasonable compromise and could be made just as a software update.

[mozart999uk]

Keep in mind that the Stage is not meant to be used as a masterkeyboard, it is (and has always been) designed for live on stage usage focused on Organ, Piano and some sort of synth/sample engine. Having added an option for controlling some external gear is probably a kind of compromise fron my point of view but it's not the original focus. There are other instuments which would do this job much better, so if someone needs a board for external gear then better go for something else, or just add a master keyboard on top of the stage for your external synths.

[cotosso]

The alternative would have been adding an extra interface section to the front panel, like on the previous models. I guess giving up an internal synth for an external one seemed an acceptable tradeoff.

Not neccessarily a need for an extra section. The synth section MODE button already switch between Samples, Analog and Extern. The same button could be use to change focus between extern and internal for implementing both 3 synths and 3 external panels. Would not be surprised if this will be implemented in an update.

+1 if it is just a matter of space on the panel this would be a reasonable compromise and could be made just as a software update.

+1 I agree,
the space on the 73 boards seems to be not enough even for a small physical extern section, but they could fix it in a software way so that we can avoid this limitation.
At the moment whoever has an NS3 can use 2 synth sections and 2 independent extern sections, while in the NS4 one has to be sacrificed ... it seems senseless to me that the NS4 which is better in everything has this limitation compared to the previous version which came out 6 years ago .
This also complicates the transition to NS4 for NS3 (or even NS2) owners.

[cotosso]

Keep in mind that the Stage is not meant to be used as a masterkeyboard, it is (and has always been) designed for live on stage usage focused on Organ, Piano and some sort of synth/sample engine. Having added an option for controlling some external gear is probably a kind of compromise fron my point of view but it's not the original focus. There are other instuments which would do this job much better, so if someone needs a board for external gear go for something else, or just add a master keyboard on top of the stage for your external synths.

With all due respect, I wouldn't be so sure, the Nord Stage has had 2 extern sections since the first model released way back in 2006.
Very often it is the central element of a setup, in which some sounds can come from other sources such as VST.
For me, as for many other musicians, the extern section is of incomparable usefulness.

[Schorsch]

Keep in mind that the Stage is not meant to be used as a masterkeyboard, it is (and has always been) designed for live on stage usage focused on Organ, Piano and some sort of synth/sample engine. Having added an option for controlling some external gear is probably a kind of compromise fron my point of view but it's not the original focus. There are other instuments which would do this job much better, so if someone needs a board for external gear go for something else, or just add a master keyboard on top of the stage for your external synths.

With all due respect, I wouldn't be so sure, the Nord Stage has had 2 extern sections since the first model released way back in 2006.
Very often it is the central element of a setup, in which some sounds can come from other sources such as VST.
For me, as for many other musicians, the extern section is of incomparable usefulness.

Of yourse, and fully understandable - what I'm saying though is that this is not the main focus of the Nords. It's to me like having a Fiat 500 to which you have fitted a towbar, and then wondering why you can't pull as much weight as you can with a RAM 1500

[Mr_-G-]

Well the function was there before... it is a very odd design decision to make something less functional than in earlier models. Although strictly speaking one can still have 2 active synths plus one external section.

[changearound]

Keep in mind that the Stage is not meant to be used as a masterkeyboard, it is (and has always been) designed for live on stage usage focused on Organ, Piano and some sort of synth/sample engine. Having added an option for controlling some external gear is probably a kind of compromise fron my point of view but it's not the original focus. There are other instuments which would do this job much better, so if someone needs a board for external gear go for something else, or just add a master keyboard on top of the stage for your external synths.

With all due respect, I wouldn't be so sure, the Nord Stage has had 2 extern sections since the first model released way back in 2006.
Very often it is the central element of a setup, in which some sounds can come from other sources such as VST.
For me, as for many other musicians, the extern section is of incomparable usefulness.

Of yourse, and fully understandable - what I'm saying though is that this is not the main focus of the Nords. It's to me like having a Fiat 500 to which you have fitted a towbar, and then wondering why you can't pull as much weight as you can with a RAM 1500

I think its more like being supplied with a car with only one rear wheel but being given the choice between left and right.

Take a look on the Product Page for each of the previous Stages and you will see the phrase 'Master Keyboard' used.

[mozart999uk]

Take a look on the Product Page for each of the previous Stages and you will see the phrase 'Master Keyboard' used.

This is true, but it is only a compromise that provides rudimentary master keyboard functions. In my opinion, the Nord Stage is not primarily intended for use as a master keyboard and therefore expectations should be set right