Nord User Forum

I'm about to trade my electro 3 for the electro 6D, but I have some insecurities.

Despite being the same keys and practically the same timbres, I've seen people complaining that the keyboard sounds different in the same settings (Like, using the same pure acoustic piano timbre).

Complaints are related to velocity changes and other things.

Does this actually happen or is it a myth?

my first Nord was a used electro 4. I've since acquired 2 electro 6's. comparing them on organ, clavs, pianos and samples, the sound of the 4 was a little brighter and stronger. the difference was extremely slight and would never be noticed in a live or recording situation. I sold the 4 a year or 2 ago to a lady who was happy to buy it- it was still like new and her first Nord as well. you may want to consider keeping the 3 for a while instead of trading it. but you'll love the 6. it's a huge upgrade in features.

xxMisterXCxx wrote:I'm about to trade my electro 3 for the electro 6D, but I have some insecurities.

Despite being the same keys and practically the same timbres, I've seen people complaining that the keyboard sounds different in the same settings (Like, using the same pure acoustic piano timbre).

Complaints are related to velocity changes and other things.

Does this actually happen or is it a myth?

I had an Electro 5D after the original Electro 3, and I found the 5 better for piano. They implemented the Long Release option (which is a very noticeable improvement IMO). I also found that the velocity mapping of the Electro 5 felt better than some earlier semi-weighted models, but I don't remember about the E3 in particular, as I'd had the NS2 in between.

My first Electro was a Electro 3 - I remember struggling with very little memory on that unit. I also remember some people saying Electro 3 was especially good with clavs (different pickup), I did not hear the big difference - except of that - Electro 6 is much better.

On the Electro 6 :
- for onboard piano sounds, there is the Keyboard Touch (with 3 possible values)
- for MIDI, there is the MIDI OUT VELOCITY CURVE setting, with Heavy, Medium and Light.
Hope that helps.

NoDirection wrote: I also remember some people saying Electro 3 was especially good with clavs (different pickup), I did not hear the big difference

Yes, the E3 had all the clav pickup/EQ combinations, while I believe the E6 has most but not all of them. You'd only hear that difference if you wanted to emulate one of the particular actual clav sounds that the E3 replicated but the E6 does not.

anotherscott wrote:

NoDirection wrote: I also remember some people saying Electro 3 was especially good with clavs (different pickup), I did not hear the big difference

Yes, the E3 had all the clav pickup/EQ combinations, while I believe the E6 has most but not all of them. You'd only hear that difference if you wanted to emulate one of the particular actual clav sounds that the E3 replicated but the E6 does not.

E6 has all "original" Clav EQ combinations as NE3, E5 had not.

maxpiano wrote:E6 has all "original" Clav EQ combinations as NE3, E5 had not.

Interesting. The E6 manual says that it has "most" of them, and then lists the seven that it has (which is actually not "most" since the original has 15, all of which are selectable in the E3). But the E6 manual is a copy-and-paste from the NS3 manual, even calling the keyboard a Nord Stage 3, so if there are indeed all 15 EQs in the NE6, then that's an error in the manual. But then the manner by which they would be selected is not documented.

anotherscott wrote:

maxpiano wrote:E6 has all "original" Clav EQ combinations as NE3, E5 had not.

Interesting. The E6 manual says that it has "most" of them, and then lists the seven that it has (which is actually not "most" since the original has 15, all of which are selectable in the E3). But the E6 manual is a copy-and-paste from the NS3 manual, even calling the keyboard a Nord Stage 3, so if there are indeed all 15 EQs in the NE6, then that's an error in the manual. But then the manner by which they would be selected is not documented.

To be clear, when I say "original" I compare to the older Nords not to the real D6, I see is that the NE6 (which I owned just for s few months) Piano section is same as NS3 actually, I see the Bright/Mid/Soft there (which had disappeared on NE5) but actually NE£ ha also the "Brill" ...

CLAV SETTINGS
an original Clavinet is equipped with 4 rocker switches which control the onboard EQ. Most of the combinations produced by these switches are available on the Nord Stage 3.
Available settings are: Soft, Treble, Soft+Treble, Brilliant, Soft+Brilliant, Treble+Brilliant, Soft+Tre- ble+Brilliant.


so "most" not "all"... I stand corrected.

So up to NE4/NS2 the Clav EQ was complete, then no longer...

On an original Clavinet, there are indeed 4 switches for the Eq : Soft, Medium, Treble and Brilliant.
And when all the switches are OFF, there should be no sound.

On the Electro 6, there is a sound even when the Piano Eq is completely OFF and there is no Medium selection in the Eq.
So I guess, it's like the original Medium setting is always ON. And we can choose to add Soft and/or Treble and/or Brilliant in addition.