Nord User Forum

As the title says, I got a Piano 5 88 in May and really liked it. However, as time goes on, I can't shake the feeling that the Piano 5 88 feels more like a somewhat restricted Stage 3 rather than a keyboard tailored for "pure piano experience". I am thinking get rid of it and get a new Stage 3 88 at $3499. I mainly play at home and I don't see myself giving very soon (a key reason behind my initial choice of the Piano 5.) Below is a list I made about the differences that I am aware of, feel free to let me know if I missed something :

What I will get from updating to a Stage 3:
-Organ section (which I love
-A powerful Synth section (Came from an electro 6D so no experience on Nord's synth, but excited to try!)
-More versatile control (morphing) and routing. ( Always wanted a pitch bend and mod wheel on my Nord)
-Better effects section

What I will miss from updating:
-Sample synth version and memory downgrade
-Action is worse? I've been hearing the word "aftertouch bounciness" a lot about the action on Stage 3.

So I guess my question is, is it worth upgrading my Piano 5 88 to a Stage 3 88, given that I mainly play at home? My hesitation is mainly about the action on Stage 3 -is it significantly inferior to that of the Piano 5 88? To be honest, I don't find the action on my Piano 5 particularly commendable anyway, particularly after experiencing my friend's Kawai CN29. So if the action is about the same then I will probably pull the trigger.

The NS3 synth also plays samples, so you should be able to recreate any sounds you like from the NP5 using the exact same samples -- you just have more options to tweak the sound also of that.

As for the action, the NP5 is more targeted towards piano playing. I really like the action, and it works well for me both playing acoustic and electric pianos -- among the boards I play regularly, it is the one that I like most for acoustics given that it is also very portable. I wouldn't want to play organ on it, though.

The NS3 HA88 has a somewhat different feel, and responds differently to your playing. For electric pianos, I really like it and it also works just fine for me playing acoustic pianos, although I prefer the NP5 for the latter part. For organ and synth parts, it works better than the NP5 (although organ is of course nicer to play on a waterfall board). So it's designed to be a jack-of-all-trades board -- and I've played it extensively since it was released and done a lot of acoustic parts on it also.

You may also consider the NS4, which is again different. I really like that board

But... we all tend to look for the "best" and "most optimal" feeling, and that can sometimes be a lifelong journey that never reaches a destination. I've learned to adapt to whatever I'm playing -- sure, if I jump from one board to another, I do feel the difference, but I also quickly adjust to it after a few minutes of playing.

So then it more becomes a matter of the overall ergonomics and features you need/enjoy to have for your playing.

And there clearly the NS3 (and even more so the NS4) are much more capable boards with a lot of features without really being much more difficult to use. And they can (also) bring you hours of joy playing

So do you need/want the additional sounds, effects and controls? Or do you want to focus 95% on your piano playing and excel with that?

The NS3-HA action has only 2 sensors for each key, so fast repetition is somewhat problematic. In my eyes, the NP4/5 feel much more like a piano than the NS3: I don't think the NS3 is an upgrade to a NP5 for piano playing - the NS4 could be (it has 3 sensors per key).

I have not played the Piano 5, but going from my Piano 4 to a Stage 3 88 that I tried out at Guitar Center earlier this year, the Stage 3 had a dramatically inferior keyboard action for piano playing. Not just the lack of a the triple-sensor, but the weight / travel of the keys was much lighter / shorter on the Stage 3. The Stage 3 practically felt like I was playing an unweighted synth keyboard by comparison to the Piano 4.

agcohn wrote:I have not played the Piano 5, but going from my Piano 4 to a Stage 3 88 that I tried out at Guitar Center earlier this year, the Stage 3 had a dramatically inferior keyboard action for piano playing. Not just the lack of a the triple-sensor, but the weight / travel of the keys was much lighter / shorter on the Stage 3. The Stage 3 practically felt like I was playing an unweighted synth keyboard by comparison to the Piano 4.

I think this is my main problem with the Nord Piano. Traditionally I started as a classical player, but I have evolved into playing synths as well so perhaps my taste changed as well to be looking more towards a key bed that works for both piano and synth . I believe I shared the sentiments where the Stage 3 feels more lighter compared to Piano. However, for me the keyboard action does not feel inferior, rather it works much better for me. At the end of the day keyboard action is subjective, and one just has to try it themselves.

My primary use of my Nord is piano. When I was shopping for a keyboard last year I compared the Piano 5 to the Stage 3 88. I much preferred the Stage 3 action. To each their own!


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