Nord User Forum

@varignet: I like the NS3 action better than the previous NS ones. But if you primarily play piano, then the NP series is maybe more to your liking. They are a bit heavier in the action and have a somewhat different velocity response to your playing. So as @Mr_-G- says, you'd need to find a shop that has both and go test them for some time and see how you like them.

varignet wrote:I have no rush to purchase the np3 however stocks are disappearing and I can't see the price of the np4 justifiable. So I'm torn between:
-selling my nla1 and getting in the near future a new nord stage 3 88
-getting a np3 now

I found myself in a similar position recently - for some years I've had my eye on a recent Nord Piano (never should have sold my NP88 original...) but couldn't quite justify that ~£2300 price tag...

However, the significant price-drop recently has changed things. I've also seen the remaining new NP3s for £1699, and found a few ex-demos for £1499. Totally different level of affordability. And what the NP4 adds (for my needs, at least) is not worth an extra £800+.

In the end I went with an ex-demo NP3 with a recent serial number and full guarantee from GuitarGuitar. When it arrived it didn't have a single sign of use (all the display covers were still on, etc) and had a 2018 manufacture date label on the box. It also had a more recent returns/repair label from Sound Technology - so maybe it was a dead-on-arrival unit that was sent back and refurbished. Anyway, it's here now, working beautifully, and I couldn't be happier. £1499 seems like a steal for something this good. No sign of any keyboard clacking, though I'll keep my fingers crossed for a while to come.

The A1/Stage question was also pertinent to me. I also have an A1 (well, 3 actually), and it would of course be great to have the additional facilities of the Stage 3's synth (display, patch naming, sample replay). But at the same time, the Stage synth is only equivalent to one part/layer of a A1, as far as I'm aware. Even with the dual panel architecture it's still only 2 layers. The four-layer aspect of the A1 is everything to me, but I appreciate that for others that's a less important consideration.

congratulations on your new instrument.

i went to a store and played the stage 3 for a while ( please note none of the stores nearby have the piano3 in stock anymore ) so I couldn't compare it against the piano 3.

I'll have to make do with memories from past visits.

does the np3 action feels heavier than the s3 to you?
i found the stage3 ok in terms of weight, but I wouldn't like anything heavier i think.
from memory they felt similar, it could probably be the aftertouch despite the different fatar grading

varignet wrote: does the np3 action feels heavier than the s3 to you?
i found the stage3 ok in terms of weight, but I wouldn't like anything heavier i think.

The NP feels slightly heavIer to play than than the NS; this is by design. For acoustic piano playing, the NP offers (in my view) slightly better control of especially the piano range, but both series are very easy to adjust to and I have no problems playing piano no the NS3. Note that if you change the curve on the NP to 2 or 3, it feels lighter and more resembles the NS default curve, I think.

If you don't want something heavier than the NS3 action, there is not much point in trying out the NP3/NP4, I think. But you could of course be positively surprised

Heavier for a Piano (in a certain range of course...) always make it a better playing experience because the range of the sound and the accuracy you could have on fast passages are better....When you have practiced of course and build up strengths in your fingers....

I've unfortunately missed my opportunity of getting a np3 at decent price and the np4 is out of the question.
Can you think of another digital piano with similar action to sound relationship, one which makes you want to play for hours and hours?
A bonus would be that I don't necessarily need a stage piano, I'll only need it for home use, albeit I love the compactness of the nord piano.

tried the new piano4 today, loved it.
does anybody know what the changes are compared to the np3? the sale assistant mentioned they improved something in the action/sound relationship compared to the np3.

varignet wrote:tried the new piano4 today, loved it.
does anybody know what the changes are compared to the np3? the sale assistant mentioned they improved something in the action/sound relationship compared to the np3.

all the ‘new’ under ‘main features’....
http://www.nordkeyboards.com/products/nord-piano-4

varignet wrote:I've unfortunately missed my opportunity of getting a np3 at decent price and the np4 is out of the question.
Can you think of another digital piano with similar action to sound relationship, one which makes you want to play for hours and hours?
A bonus would be that I don't necessarily need a stage piano, I'll only need it for home use, albeit I love the compactness of the nord piano.

There's a lot of subjectivity to this kind of thing, but since travel/stage use is not an issue, but budget is, I'd look at the Studiologic SL88 Grand controller (which uses a version of the Fatar action used in the Nord Piano), paired with a piano VST running on a computer.

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