Nord User Forum

Hi everyone,

Maybe im just extremely unlucky but out of 3 orders I received 3 faulty units.

1. NS3 with a broken synth screen.
2. NS4 with some kind of grease between all the keys and worse, some sharp edges on some of the keys. Looked like residues from the casting process that hadn't been polished.
3. NS4 with very loud transformer noise. Even with headphones the humming is audible in a quiet environment, when you're not playing.

Is it just my bad luck or have others experienced similar issues recently?

Philipp wrote:Hi everyone,

Maybe im just extremely unlucky but out of 3 orders I received 3 faulty units.

1. NS3 with a broken synth screen.
2. NS4 with some kind of grease between all the keys and worse, some sharp edges on some of the keys. Looked like residues from the casting process that hadn't been polished.
3. NS4 with very loud transformer noise. Even with headphones the humming is audible in a quiet environment, when you're not playing.

Is it just my bad luck or have others experienced similar issues recently?

I'm sorry that has happened to you!

1. Haven't seen that before. I've owned 8 Nords, none of them had any screen issues.
2. Grease between keys is normal, and applied to most key-actions/bed. My Yamaha YC 88 has quite a bit of grease you can see down in the keys. Being mechanical weighted actions, all the Nord HA models will have some grease applied by Fatar at the factory.
3. This is an issue I've seen on almost every Nord I've owned. The power supply transformer is indeed quite loud in a room with nothing else going on. All but one of my Stage 3 models had a very audible constant HUM as long as the boards were powered on. I don't see this as an issue, and never caused me any problems, though I'll grant you that it is annoying.
Almost all of my issues with any Nord keyboard, have been with the weighted actions on the Piano 2, 3, 4, 5 and Stage 3 HA88. Every single one of them developed some kind of issue with the keys, or the felt pad under the keybed wore down and resulted in a loud THUD when the key would go back down. For this reason, I now only purchase the compact models of the Stage 3, and the same with my Nord Stage 4 Preorder which is held up at Sweetwater in the USA.

My NS4 compact arrived with a badly damaged wooden end panel, it looks like the box was dropped. I guess it's not Nord's fault although the packaging doesn't protect the corners well. Been waiting a month for a replacement panel, so far...

I received a "new" Nord Electro 6d 73 and the high E key was stuck in the down position. The black metal was dented very badly into the keys and also damage to the wooden end panel. I sent it back for replacement.

Replacement Nord Electro 6d 73 also showed up damaged. The black metal on the right side of keyboard was hit hard enough to seriously dent the metal and permanently mark 3) keys. The bent metal almost touching the keys, less than a centimeter of space between metal and keys where dented.

Both Nord boxes looked like they went through a war. Since the company only offered a discount of $250.00 I sent it back for a full refund. All I can think is these Nord keyboards need to be boxed up better for shipping or the company I purchased from is selling B-Stock/Damaged products as new.

It ended up working out for the best though. After playing the damaged electros I realized the organ was not essential for me. I went to another company and purchased a Nord Piano 5 and thankfully it showed up in "new" condition. I love it.

jackamoo wrote:I received a "new" Nord Electro 6d 73 and the high E key was stuck in the down position. The black metal was dented very badly into the keys and also damage to the wooden end panel. I sent it back for replacement.

Replacement Nord Electro 6d 73 also showed up damaged. The black metal on the right side of keyboard was hit hard enough to seriously dent the metal and permanently mark 3) keys. The bent metal almost touching the keys, less than a centimeter of space between metal and keys where dented.

Both Nord boxes looked like they went through a war. Since the company only offered a discount of $250.00 I sent it back for a full refund. All I can think is these Nord keyboards need to be boxed up better for shipping or the company I purchased from is selling B-Stock/Damaged products as new.

It ended up working out for the best though. After playing the damaged electros I realized the organ was not essential for me. I went to another company and purchased a Nord Piano 5 and thankfully it showed up in "new" condition. I love it.

I had the same thing happen to my NP4 - UPS must have thrown it on its end or dropped it off the truck because the end cheek was broken and the chassis bent, with the top key stuck down.

I got a heavy discount and ended up just replacing the end cheek - as long as I don’t screw it 100% tight there are no issues.

My NS3C made it ok but the box was pretty beat up.

spradders wrote:My NS4 compact arrived with a badly damaged wooden end panel, it looks like the box was dropped. I guess it's not Nord's fault although the packaging doesn't protect the corners well. Been waiting a month for a replacement panel, so far...

I thought this was an “only in America” problem where the courier treats packages like that. I agree that Nord could better protect the ends.

1. Haven't seen that before. I've owned 8 Nords, none of them had any screen issues.
2. Grease between keys is normal, and applied to most key-actions/bed. My Yamaha YC 88 has quite a bit of grease you can see down in the keys. Being mechanical weighted actions, all the Nord HA models will have some grease applied by Fatar at the factory.
3. This is an issue I've seen on almost every Nord I've owned. The power supply transformer is indeed quite loud in a room with nothing else going on. All but one of my Stage 3 models had a very audible constant HUM as long as the boards were powered on. I don't see this as an issue, and never caused me any problems, though I'll grant you that it is annoying.
Almost all of my issues with any Nord keyboard, have been with the weighted actions on the Piano 2, 3, 4, 5 and Stage 3 HA88. Every single one of them developed some kind of issue with the keys, or the felt pad under the keybed wore down and resulted in a loud THUD when the key would go back down. For this reason, I now only purchase the compact models of the Stage 3.

2. The grease was kind of all over the keyboard. My NS4 did not have this. That alone wouldn't have been a reason to return it for me, but the sharp edges on some of the keys were definitely a quality issue and very noticeable while playing.
3. The first NS4 did not have this issue. Also according to Clavia this hum is not normal. Mine was so loud that a smartohone mic could easily pick it up.

I'll try one last time. Asked the vendor to pre-check the unit and according to him everything was fine and now it's on its way. Fingers crossed I can finally settle with this one.

Did you get your keybed issues fixed or are you living with the thud noise?

I received the first NS4 with a HUGE dent in the front. Second came and I thought it was missing screws on the bottom (seems they all have a few holes with no screws). I tried to use the Nord EX Stand but one screw went in odd and there seemed to be something moving inside. Was told to return it. Third just came: seems fine but is the wooden pitch bend normally a bit rough and not uniform in color?

No excuse for the dent, but aren't the holes in the bottom like that from factory for the metal stand?

>I received the first NS4 with a HUGE dent in the front.<

Who was your supplier? I ask, because this sounds to me like it's on them, not Nord. If they are not giving their NS4s a once-over before shipping them out to their customers, they are not doing their job. Being a distributor doesn't mean simply acting as a shipping depot. You have an obligation to verify that what you are selling is what the customer ordered and paid for, and is in factory shape. Simply scanning a barcode on a box is not enough.