NS2 Solo Piano: Half Pedal and Long Release...Real hype?

[JP_88]

Hey forum, Newbie here... I've read through every page to glean what I could, but need to ask a specific question I haven's seen fully addressed elsewhere.

I have (and love) the Stage EX 88. In every 10 minutes of solo playing in my studio I will experience once or twice a 'clipping' of the notes that I'm playing that don't catch in my normal pedaling technique and therefore don't sustain.

I've spent more than 35 years behind an acoustic piano with a piano performance degree, as a professional musician and music teacher in a public school, so I feel as if I'm accomplished enough to not attribute these moments to my personal style of playing.

I was wondering if upgrading to the NS2 with the long release and more interestingly, half pedaling with the Triple Pedal, is enough of an improvement to people who use their Nord Stage 2 for solo piano playing worth the cost? (I figure selling a Stage EX88 and purchasing a new NS2 would be about a $1500US difference...)

Thanks for your time on this, I hope to get some great real-user experience on what I've poured over on the stats sheet. Certainly not so much on the cost analysis question as much as a discussion on the NS2 piano half pedaling/long release realism and real-world benefits to solo piano playing...

-JP88

[Niarf]

I had a S90ES which had half pedaling, It was pretty cool, and now I have the stock pedal with the NS2, so I think it's worth buying it and I should do it soon =)

I can't tell about the sostenuto, I never tested it on a real grand...

[JP_88]

Thanks for the post Niarf. I welcome any and all input on this question.

Does the half pedaling feature provide a noticeable improvement? Does it open up a greater pallet for expression? Does the long release feature offer solo piano playing the same level of improvement that the string resonance feature offers? In your opinions, do these two features offer a compelling reason to upgrade to the NS2 by themselves?

Really, thank you all for sharing your experiences. I'd love to pull the trigger, but there is no music store within hours of me that has one set up. I'm relying on reading Nord literature and these posts!!

[mjbrands]

Maybe a Stage 2-owning forum member lives close by and would let you try out the NS2 to see if upgrading would actually add something for you? That'd probably only work if you happen to live in one of the bigger cities.

Also, I think some music stores have a no-questions-asked return policy. That might be a way to try out the NS2, while still having the option of returning it. I bought a Kurzweil PC3K8 from such a store and returned it in the end, because it wasn't what I'd hoped for (got a NS2 from a another store around the corner in the end).

[JP_88]

Thanks mjbrands. I was hoping that this was a more active forum though. It may be that the question just isn't clear...

[RedLeo]

It's not so much that your question isn't clear, it's more that it's difficult to answer. There is no real objective, definitive answer to a question like this. Different people play the piano in different styles, and have different needs and expectations from a digital piano. What is a problem for one person may not be an issue for somebody else. Nobody can really evaluate how you, JP_88, play the piano, except yourself. The advice already given to try it for yourself really is the best possible answer.

Best regards and good luck in all your endeavours.

[maxpiano]

It's not so much that your question isn't clear, it's more that it's difficult to answer. There is no real objective, definitive answer to a question like this. Different people play the piano in different styles, and have different needs and expectations from a digital piano. What is a problem for one person may not be an issue for somebody else. Nobody can really evaluate how you, JP_88, play the piano, except yourself. The advice already given to try it for yourself really is the best possible answer.

Best regards and good luck in all your endeavours.

I want to quote this, many times in the forums I read questions that cannot have a definitive answer, because they fall in the area of personal tastes, expectations, playing styles etc.

In these cases the best advice is indeed "try it yourself!"

[Johannes]

good points! it very much depends on your specific style and needs.
half pedaling is a very particular feature and on its own I am not sure it would warrant an upgrade to the ns2.
IMHO, the increased memory, the organ, but most importantly the sample playback plus the much improved synth section are the main arguments justifying the investment.
plus, if you only needed it for solo piano, why not get a NP2 or other brand piano without adding (much) more cash to the equation?
and bear in mind that fit half pedaling you need to get the triple pedal which costs as well.
Personally I an very happy about having upgraded, but mostly for samples and the synth section plus the bigger piano memory to load more uprights. haven't yet noticed any big changes from the long release and don't have the triple pedal to comment on those features. just my 2 euro cents.

Sent from my Wildfire S using Tapatalk 2

EDIT: I just have my NS2 for one week so my opinion is necessarily not based on an in-depth analysis so far!!

[JP_88]

Fantastic! Love the input ... dialogue!! There's no doubt that if I could try it, I could see for myself and be able to adequately evaluate these two isolated features in a board that boasts many greater improvements.
Reading an opinion like Johannes though, for me, is exactly what I was hoping for... "haven't yet noticed any big changes from the long release".
I don't mean to use the word "hype" in the post's title in a negative way, but if you guys here in the forum who are using the NS2 day in and day out aren't having your jaws dropped with a specific admiration for long release and half pedaling (like I am about the way string resonance makes the Nord pianos the best out there)... then that's just as valuable, if not more so, than if you were!

[anotherscott]

I would say that the biggest reason to upgrade from the older NS to the new is the sample library. Second would probably be the improved organ. Third would probably be the Long Release, which I find very noticeable (more so, in fact, than the string resonance). It may depend on your style of playing and the context (i.e. solo vs. band).