Nord User Forum

If you just got up, we got a Xmas grand from Nord. What’s your take?

ovrdrvn wrote: 18 Dec 2025, 14:19 If you just got up, we got a Xmas grand from Nord. What’s your take?

So... do I understand well: it has just been issued today (probably few hours if not minutes before your post) and you already ask "where does it rank"???

Well I thank you for the highlight, but you should maybe allow people some time to know it now exists and try it, don't you think?

https://www.nordkeyboards.com/sounds/pi ... ria-grand/

The Astoria Grand is a mid-sized grand piano, crafted in New York in 1916 during the renowned “Golden Era” of American piano making. This soulful grand delivers a warm, rich, and expressive woody tone.

As a Nord Grand owner My favorite pianos have been

Royal Grand
Velvet Grand
White Grand
Amber

I am more inclined to dark mellow piano sounds but Amber and White has a beautiful spark in the Upper range.

What impressed me with The Astoria (by ear because I have not downloaded The Sound) is that it feels very organic, I can feel the Wooden sound and mechanics... It breathes. Also I can realize that the sound is not too big, so it maintains an intimate feeling, something that other sounds like the Royal does not do.

As soon as I download and play for some days I Will let You know.

Thank you Nord!

I just installed the Astoria Grand and initially substituted for the Royal Grand 3D which was not a good choice as it is much smaller and darker sounding and a better substitute for the soft grand. I spent about :30 and it is a very playable, nice sounding small grand (older Steinway Model L?) with a good amount of colour and realism. I ended up replacing it with the Royal Grand 3D which cuts through the mix much better and then re-installing it to replace the Soft Grand which I rarely use and can be closely approximated with the Astoria Grand using the soft timber and rolling off a bit of high end. So far, I have found that the tuning and voicing is more inconsistent than I would prefer (try playing a chromatic scale from bottom to top without reverb and you will see what I mean), but again it is quite realistic sounding and very playable* Another observation is that the Keyboard Curve seems less responsive (when using Aux Keyboard mode) compared my go to White Grand, so I have switched to the AUX KB Keyboard Curve to Soft. I will try it as my go to songwriting piano for awhile and see how I like it over time, but my first impressions are good.

Installed the "L" version into my Electro 6D and have been playing it from my RD-800 keyboard for the last few hours. This is in my home studio so I can't yet attest for how it sounds live. After running through some classical and jazz bits, I have to say it's got a lot of character.

You definitely hear the soundboard and mechanics. It's slightly quirky and pretty dynamic. Soft playing is pretty mellow, but the top end can get bright quickly. The low end is solid but not thunderous. That said, I picture this as the very type of piano the old jazz players recorded and performed with. In the early days, the pianos were not always perfect, and the Astoria takes me back to those jazz recordings.

I just put my Piano 5 away for a few weeks. When I pull it out in January, I'll load the Astoria into it and see how it fares live. For now, I'll use it as my go-to for personal practice at home.

I like it so far. It won't replace the "works everywhere" White Grand, but it's yet another great sample of a piano with real character. Definitely evokes a mood when you play it.

I’ve been using the White Grand for the vast majority of non-upright sounds. I EQ and/or touchup dynamics or compression for different purposes. I always found the Royal grand worked better in headphones than it did through speakers so I replaced it with the Astoria. The Astoria is a bit more mellow, wooden and darker, and I actually like as a contrast to the White Grand. So far I’m keeping it installed and I wouldn’t be curious to know if it turns out to be a specific model of a Steinway as mentioned above.

I love it. It feels very alive and organic, like an old jazz piano as suggested above. I have the white, silver and now this one and that covers a lot of sonic ground.

>New Astoria Grand: Where Does It Rank<

It ranks somewhere between Thank God we finally got a grand sample, and

Oh, another one we'll never use.

Gambold wrote: 22 Dec 2025, 03:33
. . . Oh, another one we'll never use.

Oh I’m not so sure about that yet. I am definitely the target audience for this piano.