Nord User Forum

Looking for guidance in choosing the right action for a Stage 4 I'm planning to purchase. The "Compact" (The Nord designation for the semi weighted action) is less expensive and significantly lighter I just sold my Stage 2 EX hammer action and noticed the keyboard action had gotten pretty noisy. I would welcome anyone's thoughts on choosing which action to purchase. My back ground is as a pianist.

Had the Nord Stage 2 88HA, updated to the NS3 Compact and now to a NS4 Compact. With your back ground as a pianist I would consider the hammer action 88 if you plan to use a single keyboard setup. Myself I am using the NS4 Compact on top of a 88 key hammer action controller to have both an action suitable for piano and another for organ/synth. Of course portability differ and must be considered based upon the way you plan to use it stationary or bring it out for rehearsels or gigs.

A drawback with playing a NS4 Compact from an external hammer action controller is that you will miss the benefit of the triple sensor keybed.

Question - does the Compact feel the same on the 4 vs 3?

Valpurgis wrote:Had the Nord Stage 2 88HA, updated to the NS3 Compact and now to a NS4 Compact. With your back ground as a pianist I would consider the hammer action 88 if you plan to use a single keyboard setup. Myself I am using the NS4 Compact on top of a 88 key hammer action controller to have both an action suitable for piano and another for organ/synth. Of course portability differ and must be considered based upon the way you plan to use it stationary or bring it out for rehearsels or gigs.

A drawback with playing a NS4 Compact from an external hammer action controller is that you will miss the benefit of the triple sensor keybed.

The Compact Stage 4 now has the Triple sensor action as well. Also, the HA73 version, has the same action as the HA88.

The Stage 4 compact feels similar to the Stage 2ex compact, but it's slightly nicer - it has a softer stop when you press the keys down - hard to describe but feels higher quality and very slightly quieter.
I used to have the HA88 but find the Compact really expressive and it's super lightweight. OK it's not a real piano feel but I adjusted to it and am more than happy with the compromise. I mainly play funk / pop etc... 'proper' classical pianists might struggle more with the lightweight keys.

MarkJames wrote:Question - does the Compact feel the same on the 4 vs 3?

To me they feel exactly the same, I think they basically have the same keybed with the addition of a triple sensor on NS4C.

Macsaint777 wrote:

Valpurgis wrote:A drawback with playing a NS4 Compact from an external hammer action controller is that you will miss the benefit of the triple sensor keybed.

The Compact Stage 4 now has the Triple sensor action as well. Also, the HA73 version, has the same action as the HA88.

My point was that you miss the triple sensor effects when you play the Compact (or any Nord Stage 4) from an auxilliary keyboard which is a thing to consider.

You are a pianist? Would you be OK with fewer keys that you will never miss? Consider the shorter, weighted version. A few have said that the keybed is quite similar to the one in the NP5 equivalent, and that's a joy for me to play. The smaller form factor reduces the hassle factor *significantly*. I can't imagine trying to do piano parts on any unweighted keybed, including the NS4C -- but you may be OK with it!

"Fatar model numbers" will only get you so far. I have found that Nord will calibrate the Fatar keybed differently than other vendors, and even calibrate differently over a long-running product run such as the NS3C. I have one from the early part of the run, and another from a later part of the run. The keybeds plays noticeably differently, and it's not just wear and tear.

As a piano player (not a pianist!) I find the more recent weighted keybeds from Nord very pleasant to play.

With your pianist background I would advice you not buy the compact unless you really try it out in the store first. The Hammer Action on both 88 and 73 are much better than the Hammer Portable action on your Stage 2EX.

Good to know that you've found the hammer action on the Stage 4 is improved over the Stage 2 EX. But are you referring to the action itself or the triple sensor feature?