Nord User Forum

Anyone else finds the key action on Nord products too noisy?
Or is it just me???
It’s so uncomfortable playing in a quiet environment i.e. bedroom...
At low volume, the keybed noise is even louder than the piano sound itself.
Maybe the Nord Grand is the only way out...

Clearly you haven’t played some early 00’s kurzweils or yamahas. Nords are average noisy and entirely typical of Fatar actions. Weighted ones are usually louder than unweighted due to more moving parts (though some unweighted are really “slappy”) and the grand actions can be noisiest of all so I’m not sure the Grand is going to be significantly better - though it certainly could be. I have no personal experience listening to a Kawai action in a silent room. Maybe some others can chime in with their expectations. Personally, my Nords are all quieter than the Rolands and Korgs I used to own and the aforementioned other brands I played in gigs. I’m quite happy with the SW73 action sound frankly.

One happy Electro 6D and Piano 3 owner here. Nord instruments are at their best in live gig situations and usually in a band mix. At home when practising, I will either use headphones or my Spacestation V.3....either way I don't get distracted by any mechanical noise.

I find the Stage 3 compact somewhat quieter than the Stage 2 compact. Though that never actually bothered me — I just noticed it occasionally.

All Nords with 88 keys are noisy - no doubts. I presume that Nord grand can be much more quiet than all NPs and NSs, by two reasons:
1. Kawai keyboard action instead Fatar,
2. Material tape used between keyboard and metal case.
This is only my wish and prediction

Rychubil wrote:All Nords with 88 keys are noisy - no doubts. I presume that Nord grand can be much more quiet than all NPs and NSs, by two reasons:
1. Kawai keyboard action instead Fatar,
2. Material tape used between keyboard and metal case.
This is only my wish and prediction

I had a Kawai ES 7, it was definitely more noisy than my Nord Stage 3

tomzi wrote:

Rychubil wrote:All Nords with 88 keys are noisy - no doubts. I presume that Nord grand can be much more quiet than all NPs and NSs, by two reasons:
1. Kawai keyboard action instead Fatar,
2. Material tape used between keyboard and metal case.
This is only my wish and prediction

I had a Kawai ES 7, it was definitely more noisy than my Nord Stage 3

It's possible, cause ES7 has RHII action, which is more sprung than RHIII in ES8 which is more balanced.

I agree with the mechanical noise. Compared to others I have owned, my Stage 3 88 action is very noisy. That said, I kept the Nord because of the quality of samples and interface. Nothing else came closer to meeting my musical needs. But the type of Fatar action used combined with the metal chassis makes the mechanical noise very distracting, as you say.

My Roland VR-09B was much quieter, but in my E6D's defence it is a much better board and the VR-09B had synth keys that felt really cheap and I wasn't convinced that they wouldn't snap under more aggressive organ work. If the noise bothers you in quiet places, use headphones. The key noise really isn't an issue for me as I play organ mostly and it is much quieter (cheaper and takes up less room) than having a Vox Continental, Farfisa Combo, B3 and Pipe Organ! It is quieter than a Roland digital piano I had though (FP 30)

I've noticed the same with my NS2, when playing it on my fairly hefty X stand (don't hate me!!). However, when I have had the keyboard on a flat surface, it's much quieter. I've not opened the case of the NS2, but I think there's a fair agree of room in there which may add to the thumping noise resonating.

You could try a few things to dampen the noise:

Play with headphones.
Put some thick rubber pads on the bottom of the NS to isolate it from the surface you're resting it on.
Open up the case and line it with some industrial anti-vibration foam used in lab / engineering equipment - don't block any air flow though.