Difference between timbre and EQ effects?

[happily_nording]

The Nord Stage 4's piano section has the following timbre settings: soft, mid, bright, Dyn01, and Dyn02. Are these just preset configurations of the EQ controls (Bass, Mid, Treble) in the layer effects panel?

Or do the timbre settings change the piano sound in ways you can't replicate using just the EQ knobs?

[maxpiano]

The second: they are specific EQs for Pianos and they behave differently also depending on which piano sample you use (for example Dyn01/02 are available only for Rhodes here they simulate the Dyno-my-piano mod)

[happily_nording]

Thanks @maxpiano. For the Pianos that aren't electric (e.g., the Grands, Uprights, etc), what is it that the Timbre button doing to the sound that isn't replicable via the EQ? I'm curious about the nature of the modification. Are they sample recordings of Pianos that were modified before the recording or something?

[maxpiano]

Thanks @maxpiano. For the Pianos that aren't electric (e.g., the Grands, Uprights, etc), what is it that the Timbre button doing to the sound that isn't replicable via the EQ? I'm curious about the nature of the modification. Are they sample recordings of Pianos that were modified before the recording or something?

Only Nord has that detail, it is still an EQ kind of, but the sensation is that it is more detailed than the "simple" 3 bands (with fixed Lows and Highs) EQ you can do with Amp SIM.

In fact Nord calls them "filters" or "Timbre", not EQs (see also description of each setting on the manual); I partially correct myself: some may actually be easy to replicate on an EQ, but probably not so for the Dynos, (see below from NP6 manual)

Screenshot 2026-01-07 at 17.28.56.png (72.28 KiB) Viewed 1902 times

[happily_nording]

That's a good point, maybe the Timbre settings are mostly EQ, but with finer-tuned modifications than one can do on the three physical knobs on the Nord Stage.

[anotherscott]

That's a good point, maybe the Timbre settings are mostly EQ, but with finer-tuned modifications than one can do on the three physical knobs on the Nord Stage.

Theoretically, there are certainly many more possible EQ settings than can be achieved with the NS4's 3-band front panel control. NS4 has a bass EQ at 100 Hz (presumably shelving), a treble EQ at 4 kHz (ditto), and a peaking mid EQ whose center point can be varied between 200 Hz and 8 kHz (with an unknown width or "Q"). It's an interesting question as to whether the "timbre" controls make use of any settings beyond what could be achieved with those three (e.g. they could use more than 3 bands, they could have other center frequencies or widths, as well as other variables). It might be an interesting experiment to see whether someone could duplicate the various timbre settings with the available EQ controls, even if merely academic. (It would still be useful to have instant shortcuts to some commonly desirable settings, regardless.)

I think the timbre controls had an extra benefit on the NS3 compared to the NS4, since the NS4 allows you to save different EQ settings for each sound within a Program, whereas on the NS3 there was only one EQ setting per panel, so this gave you a way to give the pianos a different EQ while still leaving the EQ free for your organ or synth/sample sound on the same panel.

[maxpiano]

It might be an interesting experiment to see whether someone could duplicate the various timbre settings with the available EQ controls, even if merely academic.

Nice idea, this could actually be done, to some extent, by choosing a good piano sample (I'd use the Bright Grand) and playing the same note at the same velocity with different Piano Timbre settings and comparing the resulting spectra (using a spectrum analyzer, even just a VSTi one), best if done using a low note at (quasi) full velocity so that it will cover most of the audible spectrum and capture the whole potential range of the Piano Timbre EQ.