Nord User Forum

Hi there ....... is anyone using both of these keyboards in a live setup? keen to understand config of how you connect and what works well.

Me: MODX7+ (not M) and NS4 73 HA… nothing fancy here… just MIDI from Yamaha to Nord to play organ patches with Nord sounds and smoother Yamaha’s keybed

This was The plan for me. I currently have nord stage 4 88 and korg Nautilus 73 But have recently been intrigued by the modx m/montage m lineup. I ordered on saturday modx m8 and should have this week but have always owned flagship models so i have a chance to trade my stage 4 for a new montage m8x. I am torn now and not sure what to do at this moment. I usually play 2-4 gigs a month so i know the extra weight of the montage would be a pain in the ass

Have you used a MODX / Montage before? It’s an incredibly different user experience than the Stage. It’s a common joke that the MODX/Montage requires a Ph.D to fully understand and operate.

Fully agree: MODX UI is a pain in the ass…. Every time I need to rearrange layers/splits I have to watch a YT tutorial. And regarding the weight, for me is painful to carry the NS4 73 HA. You claim the Montage 8 is even heavier than the NS4 88?

Montage 8 is 65 pounds
Stage 4 88 43 pounds.

-dj

I use a 73 key NP5 and 73 Key NS3 with the waterfall keys.

Less weight and easier to fit on tight stages.

I have the same setup at my studio but use the 88key version of the NP5. I have found I don't really miss the extra keys at the top and bottom of the NP5 keybed.

My main rig is an NS4 88 with a (1st-gen) MODX7 up top. I am planning on upgrading to the M7 eventually. My use case doesn't involve the Yamaha controlling the Nord at all (which doesn't work well anyways with the weird midi implementation on the Nord), but I play various Yamaha sounds from the NS4. Mostly pads/strings/synths that I layer with the NS4's pianos, EP's, etc. It's a fantastic combination as it is, with the only real limitation being the number of sounds I can play from the Nord's keybed since there's a max of 3 external zones and theoretically the Yamaha can do up to 16. Since I want different sounds accessible from the MODX's own keybed at the same time, it doesn't work to just set the master midi channel on the MODX to the Nord's or such. But for 95% of what I do, I can get what I need. What's cool about the MODX M series is that they've allowed the per-part midi channels to be reassigned again (it only took three generations...lol) - so that would actually eliminate that limitation I mentioned above, and would let you use just one external zone on the Nord for whatever combination of splits/layers you wanted to set up on the MODX. Killer rig.

I also find that the two soundsets complement each other really well - where one is weaker, the other is stronger.