Nord User Forum

Not sure if this is the right area to put this question, but hope so.

I have some questions about the Nord Monitors (sys. 2.0) and the Nord Stage 3 88 (or an alternative keyboard, if you think that is better)

1) An expression pedal can for example control both the volume of the synth engine and the piano engine, but can it control more than 2 sounds? Lets say when the pedal is pushed all in, the volume of synth and organ on panel A is all on, and when the pedal is all out, the piano on panel A and synth on panel B is all on.

2) Can the Stage 3 88 have more than one expression pedal connected at once?

3) How many decibels can the Nord monitors provide?

4) Does the stage have a recording function?

5) Are the monitors reccomended as floor monitors for stage playing?

6) Are the monitors supposed to last just as long as the piano?

7) Is there an alternative keyboard (preferably Nord) that is more suitable for homeplaying? I dont think I will play so many gigs per year.

Hi eliasl,

seems as if your questions are based on the idea of maybe purchasing a Nord Stage 3-88. As a piano/keyboard for playing mostly at home. What do you exactly want to play and what technical equipment do you already have? Want to use software sounds from the computer, too? Record and edit music? Want any accompaniment? The Stage isn't designed for that - it's mainly for stage use: To have different instruments in one box.

1. You can use a variety of expression pedals, but there is not a single expression pedal jack on the NS3: There is an organ swell pedal jack (for use with an expression pedal to control organ volume) and a control pedal jack - which you can use to control morphs: program changes like different sounds, paramters, volumes etc. that you can assign to the control pedal, the mod wheel or the aftertouch. Then you can connect foot switches/pedals for sustain (sostenuto and soft only with the Nord triple pedal) and Leslie speed. Edit: I forgot the Program Up/Down pedal jack. So 5 pedal jacks in total, but only one close to what you might expect to be an expression pedal controller.

A Nord Stage tends to provide knobs and buttons for all the features it has. And it's amazing how variable it still is. But you can't assign whatever you want to knobs and pedals. Only the morph functionality can contain a lot of different parameters in one - as well on the control pedal as on the mod wheel or aftertouch.

2. See answer #1.

3./5. I guess the Nord monitors are meant to be used at home. You certainly won't put them on the floor for stage monitoring, but I think, you didn't mean that.

4. No recording/sequencer functionality.

The Nord Stage is more than a piano. If you just want a piano (for at home), look at a Nord Piano or Grand. But with sequencing capabilities, you'd have to look at other brands: No Nord has that.

Even if I don't own one I will try to shine some light on your questions:
1) definetely. The stage has seperate volume knob for each section (organ, piano, synth). Assigning a section's volume as a morph destination and control pedal as morph source you can do whatever you ike by just stepping on your pedal.
2) The stage has 3 inputs for pedals: organ swell, expression and sustain. So you can have one expression pedal controling just the organ and another for general purpose. As I mentioned above the nord's morphing function also allows you to do multiple things simultaneously without the need for an extra pedal.
3) I do not know but that information may be available on the official nord page.
4) No
5) I have n't heard of someone using them like this. I guess they are better for home use and solo perfomances. I also believe they are designed in such way that provide optimal performance when put on the ear level.
6) No one can quarrantee that. The nord gear, especially the older models have proved to be very sturdy and last long. The monitors are still very fresh, so there is no actual proof for their duration in time.
7) No and I don't find a reason for that. Maybe you can get a rack version of the leads or earlier electros to use with an external controler or as sound modules for your DAW, but you can still enjoy the easiness and instant tweakability of those instruments to play at home, even if they are designed for giging. You get more freedom to make music instead of diving into menus and parametres.
Hope it helped.

You are the same who was asking that question in the Stage forum:
nord-stage-forum-f3/comparison-between- ... 20113.html

You should just consider that you don't only change 2 or more steps upwards if you are going from a Technics KN1200 to a NS3-88, but you also would change instrument type: One is an arranger keyboard with 200 sounds and some minimal edit, the other is an instrument featuring a double stage piano + organ + synth focussing on-stage/live sound adaption and even creation: no sequencer and no General-MIDI file playing. "What you give is what you get" (with the exception of an audio-in jack for audio file playback). And sounds like brass/horns are not very strong - it's not an orchestra-in-a-box.

Thanks for answers!

Currantly I am playing a Technics KN1200 which my father bought in 1993. It is beginning to get old and both the sound and the keybed is nothing to be impressed over. I play mostly piano, but would like to learn to play synth and organ as well, which is why I want to go for the NS3. The Nord piano 4 dosent have organ, and therefore I disregard it. I dont think any of the other pianos in the piano series have organ either. I've also heard that the Lead series and the Electro series don't have so many piano sounds, which will be my main instrument, and therefore I consider the Stage series instead. The grand would probably suit me the best, but it is a little over the budget.

Well, in Germany, the prize for a Grand is below a Stage 3-88. But it doesn't have an organ section and a very restricted synth section - it's more a pure piano with some boni.

As you can load sounds into the Nords, it's not question of having sounds on the delivered instrument. You just need memory space to load a piano sound on an Electro, a Stage or a Piano/Grand. But nevertheless - if you want the real triple of piano, organ and synth, go for a Stage or buy two different instruments! And indeed, the Stage is the most powerful option in my eyes - at least within the Nord world.

Lead = Synth
Electro = Piano + Organ + sampled sounds
Piano = Piano + sampled sounds
Grand = Piano + sampled sounds
Stage 3 = Piano + Organ + sampled sounds + Synth

(though there are more advantages to having a Stage 3 rather than an Electro besides just the addition of the synth functions)

There aren't too many boards from anyone that give you piano, drawbar-controllable organ, and fully editable synth functions. You can see a comparison of organ-based multi-function boards at - but if you want hammer action, you'll have a smaller selection than that.

Lead = Synth
Electro = Piano + Organ + sampled sounds
Piano = Piano + sampled sounds
Grand = Piano + sampled sounds
Stage 3 = Piano + Organ + sampled sounds + Synth

Forgot the wave, decent synth but a bit limited compared to the leads. Supports sample playback though something that leads don't. And the C2D witch is pure double manual organ.

alex78 wrote:

And the C2D witch is pure double manual organ.

...but It is unfortunately discontinued and thus out of stock everywhere.

alex78 wrote:

Lead = Synth
Electro = Piano + Organ + sampled sounds
Piano = Piano + sampled sounds
Grand = Piano + sampled sounds
Stage 3 = Piano + Organ + sampled sounds + Synth

Forgot the wave, decent synth but a bit limited compared to the leads. Supports sample playback though something that leads don't. And the C2D witch is pure double manual organ.

Didn't forget them... Lead, Electro, Piano, Grand, Stage were the models specifically mentioned in the post I was replying tom so those were the ones I was differentiating.