Nord User Forum

Hey guys, I just need to know what is the main difference between the two of them.
I'm planning to purchase an electro 3 but I also found an electro 2 for just $1000. With that price point, that's hard to ignore and it's making me think all over again on what to purchase. I'm fairly new when it comes to the nord products. How much would it be of a difference to get a NE2 rather than a brand spankin' new NE3?

I know that the NE3 has more memory which is a definite plus. I have a mac with OS Lion and I'd like to hook it up to either one of them. It'd be great if the sound libraries for NE2 are still being updated up to know which I don't know really.


Thanks, any input would be much appreciated.

More memory is the least of it. The Electro 3 has much improved organ, even more improved acoustic piano, and a whole sample playback section which is absent from the E2 altogether (which also includes the ability to load your own custom samples).

1.) The E3 can play samples from the Nord Library. The E2 cannot. That may be the biggest difference. The previous reply pointed this out.
As a matter of fact all of the points he made are right on the money.
2.)I think the E2 may have access to the Piano samples but might not have the same amount of memory. i'm not 100% sure on this point.
3.) The organ is definitely improved to the point of being one of the best available. The E2 organ is very good but not as awesome as some more recent products.
4.) Electric Pianos I believe are about equall although the E3 may have more memory again.
5. Some people seem to prefer the older Clavinet sound on the E2.

I like both units and find some of the samples to be much better than the standard fare from the other manufacturers.
I usually have another keyboard for piano.
Additionally the E3 has a firmer feel to the keyboard. Some people like this more.
The E2 has selectable velocity. The E3 does not.
The E3 has adjustable Leslie parameters and a greater selection of Amp sims although the amp sim on the Leslie of either unit is about all I need.
This covers most points but not necessarily all.

Nord has focused on the Sample library for the E3 & other keyboards rather than making the Piano samples more playable for the E3.

Either one is a good one to have.
Good luck,
Bb

You are considering buying a used Electro 2 for 1000.00. Rather than pass on an E3 I would urge you to consider a "B" stock Electro 3
There are some on Ebay. If you buy from someone that offers the warrenty and has a return policy. I just looked and found one for buy it now 1575.00 with shipping. You may be able to bid on one and get
a better deal but you should look at it before deciding.

While the E2 is still a very good keyboard the Acoustic pianos on the Electro 3 are light years ahead of anything you can load into the E2. You specifically mentioned loading new samples and you will not have very much to choose from with the limited memory of the E2. Nord is constantly coming out with new piano samples and other instrument samples from their brass, strings and vintage keys library which will let you load any of those sounds and there are tons. You are limited to the number of samples you can load because of the size of memory but you can swap them out easily with the Nord Sample manager.

These days we all have to think twice when spending our hard earned $$$ but I feel what you will gain from getting the best deal on a E3 is worth it.

edwall.biz

thanks so much for enlightening my thought process of picking which. for a mere $500 more, ill wait, save up to get that e3

Good luck Igexz! I think when you get the E3 you won't be sorry.

ewall wrote:You specifically mentioned loading new samples and you will not have very much to choose from with the limited memory of the E2.

Just for clarification… the problem here isn't one of insufficient memory limiting one's options. Sounds from the Sample Library (as well as from the current piano library) cannot be loaded into an Electro 2, period.

Buy the E3. I just sold my E2 (for $750). If you insist on the E2, shop around and you will find one for $800 or so no problem.

theGman wrote:Buy the E3. I just sold my E2 (for $750). If you insist on the E2, shop around and you will find one for $800 or so no problem.

I agree,
The NE2 is still a great board, and can frequently be found for around $800
However, the NE3 is light years better.
I bought my NE3 61 used for $1300 and sold it for $1500 (hooray capitalism!)
My point is that you can occasionally find the NE3 for $1300
Cheers, Hanon

i just bought an E2 for $730, so a grand seems like a bit much. i love mine, but i haven't tried the E3 yet. for me, the only thing i'd like is the mellotron. i can get a pretty good farfisa/vox tone just using drawbars and switching off the leslie on my E2 (i've owned many farfisas -- compact combos, compact minis, etc. -- and a vox jaguar)