Nord User Forum

Hi all, I understand the difference between S, M, and L sounds -- but I'm not exactly sure what "fully mapped" means when it comes to XL.

I searched around, but didn't seem anything concrete.

Do you have any particular feelings (or differences to listen for) regarding the L vs. XL Bright Grand, and the L vs. XL Grand Imperial?

I believe it means that there are samples mapped to each key (i.e. 88 keys = 88 sampled notes, and whatever velocities). In smaller versions, a single sample is stretched (pitch-shifted) over multiple keys.

That is also how I interpret it.

From Nords web:

The Extra Large versions are fully mapped accross the keyboard which increases the size a bit. The velocity layers are the same as on the other sizes.
The Large versions have String Resonance samples all across the keyboard, providing you with a very full sound.
The Medium versions have String Resonance samples in the important middle region of the range, but omit these in the lowest and the highest areas. This gives you a good ratio of functionality and size.
Sml is the version that uses the least amount of space in the piano memory, but still carry a big and powerful punch. This version does not contain any String Resonance samples at all. If an Sml piano is selected in the Nord unit, the String Resonance feature (if applicable) will be disabled.

Yes, I read that too, but I don't know what "fully mapped" means -- and whatever it means, that means something about the S/M/L versions -- I'm trying to understand what that something is.

For example, if anotherscott/sakari both think it means roughly half (my guess) of the keys are stretched in S/M/L -- I just want to know.

Do any obvious sound differences between the L and XL pianos jump out at you?

The XL samples are about twice as large as the L, so I think they contain twice as many samples, roughly. (very roughly).

turnstyle wrote: Do any obvious sound differences between the L and XL pianos jump out at you?

Yes, extra sampled notes give a fuller sound, try some "cluster chord" for example.
It is also pretty obvious playing bass notes, as they sound pretty different when coming from a sample to another.
I don't think "fully mapped" means 88 sampled notes though.
But as the number of layers remains the same, XL should have twice as many sampled zones compared to L.

I think I know a spot in the Grand Imperial piano where you can hear the transition between samples. The notes that stick out are the G and Ab below the middle C (in the L version). With low or high velocity, there is no difference, but in some medium velocity layer(s?), they seem to be louder and more brilliant than the ones around them.

I tried the XL version some time ago because of this, and I think that reduced the issue to the Ab key. In any case, if you want to verify this, you should probably play the notes from MIDI, with known velocity values.

Well actually I thought so but, in this video I unfortunately could not hear a significant distinction between piano library sizes. It does not change the way you hear a piece that much. It would be nice to hear your thoughts too:

You do hear differences in these recordings if you know what to listen for.

The small versions of all pianos have no resonances when using the sustain pedal, which makes them audibly 'thinner' - however, in a mix that may actually be desirable. The medium versions do have some resonances but not in the low bass and high treble - the large versions do. The pattern he is playing here doesn't bring out these differences as the lowest and highest keys are barely touched in the video. (With an M or L version loaded in your Nord, you can actually hear the sound of the S version by switching off string resonance).
And I doubt you can hear the difference between an L and an XL version in a low quality recording. Again, theses differences won't matter a lot in most live settings anyway. You can hear them with good quality monitors or headphones though...