Nord User Forum

Good afternoon from Spain. I'm new to the forum and this is my first time posting, so I apologize if anything is not right.
I have an NS4 compact and was thinking of buying a Nord Grand 2 (or a Korg Grandstage X when it's on sale).
I like that they have the flat top surface to put my NS4 on top and have all the appropriate keys together to play pianos, organs and synthesizers.
A few days ago I saw an ad for a Kawai VPC1 controller and I thought that although it is an expensive keyboard, it is much less expensive than the Nord Grand 2 or Korg. Also, the Nord Grand 2 means having almost all the sounds duplicated.
The Kawai has enough surface area to put the NS4 on top (with some homemade adaptation), and it seems to be the best feeling similar to a real piano. For me the quality of the keys is the most important thing, and I think it would be perfect to connect via MIDI to NS4 and play the piano parts (Everything else will be played on the NS4 itself).
I've seen in previous threads that you've talked about Kawai VPC1 to connect to some Nord keyboards. It seems that there were some problems with MIDI and velocity curves.
I've also read about connecting to NS3 or Nord Electro but I assume it will be different as they are different class keyboards.
NS4 is the most modern and there have been major firmware updates recently so I'd like to know if there is any user who has these two keyboards linked by MIDI.
Do the velocity curves adapt well?
Are there any major problems regarding MIDI?
It's no use having the best keys if there are problems with velocity curves or MIDI.
I appreciate your help and advice.

I am running NS4C along with VPC-1. A beneficial connection for me.

I don't see any problems with the MIDI connection of both. The velocity parameter is NS4C accepted, as is the use of the VPC-1 triple pedal.

The top surface of the VPC-1 is not flat and you can't put the NS4C on it without some sort of shaped pad. I solved it with a Bespeco BP100TN keyboard stand with additional arms.

According to one discussion here, I tried fast note repetition on the NS4C keyboard and it plays better than the VPC-1. I have no comparison with AP, I haven't played it for a long time.

Vojtech

I recently gigged twice with a VPC1 and a Stage 3 Compact. During performance, the sustain (pedal) not always worked as expected, either would loose sustain or retain it when not intended. I never experienced that at home. The only explanation I have at the moment is that when performing, I may be a bit nervous and not always keep the foot off the pedal or not always depress it fully. Maybe. Needs to be watched a little: At the moment, I think using a sustain pedal that isn't continuous may be the better choice when playing in the band - but I never tried to use the VPC1 with a switch type sustain pedal (and don't know if it would be accepted).

FZiegler wrote: 20 Sep 2024, 00:46 I recently gigged twice with a VPC1 and a Stage 3 Compact. During performance, the sustain (pedal) not always worked as expected, either would loose sustain or retain it when not intended. I never experienced that at home. The only explanation I have at the moment is that when performing, I may be a bit nervous and not always keep the foot off the pedal or not always depress it fully. Maybe. Needs to be watched a little: At the moment, I think using a sustain pedal that isn't continuous may be the better choice when playing in the band - but I never tried to use the VPC1 with a switch type sustain pedal (and don't know if it would be accepted).

This can happen if you plug the sustain into the controller -- instead of the NS3C directly. I have had this problem when sustain pedal is connected to a controller (including the NP5), never when plugged directly into the NS3C.

Your mileage may vary.

I use DualKB on the NS3C in both single engine and full panel version. Only the former will react to the internal controllers like sustain pedal, mod wheel or pitch control pedal; the latter needs external controllers. While this leads into issues with pedal noise in combination with the MIDIed continuous sustain pedal, I never had problems with sustain as such as long as I used my Yamaha stage piano as a weighted controller.

I'm not familiar with the behaviour of the NS4 in these constellations; but I got a little unsettled about my beloved VPC1 as a live keyboard controller (it's a great keyboard though).