Nord User Forum

I bought a Nord Stage 2 last May, and for the most part, I love it. The sounds are great, it feels great to play, and mine actually survived being run over by a conversion van without a scratch or blemish. (it was in a soft case, but stil!!!) Great build. What gets me for the life of me is the output level. This unit was obviously designed for professional musicians playing gigs, yet the output level is SO FAR BELOW anything else I've ever owned that I am forced to listen to loud hiss all night in order to maintain a reasonable stage volume. My stage amp is 2 EV powered 8" speakers with a 12" powered sub, fed by a Mackie mixer - which is EXTREMELY quiet with ANY other line-level source. I use the headphone outs for the pianos (still REALLY low), stereo. I use OP 3 to feed my ventilator. Also LOW. Why should I have to use line amps to get the signal to a useable level for FOH and monitors when I paid nearly $5k for what is supposed to be a professional piece of gear? I consider this to be a major design flaw. Is it a defect in the output circuitry design or something that can be fixed through a software release? anyone know? Anybody get inside the thing yet and come up with any real mods to boost it? I've read countless threads about it, yet there is no response from Nord anywhere, nor is there any real solution offered that really works. In order to get reasonable S/N, I need to have the main output ALL THE WAY UP - then, of course I have nowhere to go if I want my solos to cut a bit more. I gotta reach for my mixer, and then HOPE that the FOH guy isn't too drunk at that point in the night to ride up with me. My JV-1010 from 1998 has a much higher output, and THAT was an extremely low-output for its day. What is up with this?? Really, tho - I LOVE my Stage 2, I'm just frustrated with this one thing that just seems like it should have been step one in the design process. I have yet to take this thing to a gig and not field complaints from FOH about it. Yes I'm using a high-end stereo DI. I'm gonna order some stick on line amps if you folks haven't found a solution, but that just feels like such a Band-Aid. Anyone have any legit suggestions? Thanks!

I can't really comment on the overall output level, but I haven't had any problems using the headphone outputs for personal monitoring, both with and without a mixer. In fact, running through a mixer, there is still lots of headroom at all four level knobs. No hiss whatsoever.

Just a wild guess (you seem to know about this, but just in case): Could it be that your mixer is interpreting the stereo headphone signal as a balanced mono signal? What kind of cable do you use to connect your headphone output to your mixer?

Cinemafixer wrote:I bought a Nord Stage 2 last May, and for the most part, I love it. The sounds are great, it feels great to play, and mine actually survived being run over by a conversion van without a scratch or blemish. (it was in a soft case, but stil!!!)

Cinemafixer wrote:What gets me for the life of me is the output level. This unit was obviously designed for professional musicians playing gigs, yet the output level is SO FAR BELOW anything else I've ever owned that I am forced to listen to loud hiss all night in order to maintain a reasonable stage volume.

This really doesn't sound right (pardon the pun); I've had several Nords (NL2X, NL3, Wave, NS2) and I've never had an issue with the loudness of the outputs.

Cinemafixer wrote:My stage amp is 2 EV powered 8" speakers with a 12" powered sub, fed by a Mackie mixer - which is EXTREMELY quiet with ANY other line-level source. I use the headphone outs for the pianos (still REALLY low), stereo. I use OP 3 to feed my ventilator. Also LOW.

Ideally you shouldn't be using the headphone outputs for that, but even with those you should get a better result than what you're describing. What kind of cables are you using between the Nord and the mixer? Specifically, what kind of connectors do they have on each end? Are you using 'mono' cables (1/4" TS jack to 1/4" TS jack), 'stereo' cables or even TRS (stereo jack) to XLR? If you're not using 'mono' cables, I recommend giving those a try.

FunKey wrote:Just a wild guess (you seem to know about this, but just in case): Could it be that your mixer is interpreting the stereo headphone signal as a balanced mono signal? What kind of cable do you use to connect your headphone output to your mixer?

I also suspect a balanced v.s. unbalanced (line-level) issue. You'd need a 1/8" (3.5 mm) stereo jack to two 1/4" (6.35 mm) mono jacks.

Something like this:


I've had an issue like this with a Waldorf Blofeld. It outputs a stereo line-level signal on the left output and a mono line-level one of the right one. One channel sounds completely screwed up if you connect it with balanced ('stereo') cables to a balanced input, such as an audio interface. Since then I've always used unbalanced ('mono') cables to connect line-level sources to balanced inputs.

Cinemafixer wrote:Yes I'm using a high-end stereo DI.

Great. How do you have that connected to your Nord? Do you actually need it? I mean, couldn't you run the balanced outputs of your mixer to the FoH?

Cinemafixer wrote:Anyone have any legit suggestions?

I'm just a nerd in an attic with more music equipment than my talent warrants. Doesn't sound very legit to me, sounds more like someone that should be on gearslutz.

+1 on my two previous speakers.
Agreed in particular previous Nord keyboards had comparably low output levels (NE2), but on the NS2 I agree this is not normal IMHO.
I have not had once issues with the soundman about the FOH level, be it via DI or without, using the Main Outs or Headphone Output.
Maybe it's indeed a balanced vs. unbalanced issue, or a general technical problem, but you should definitively be able to get sound you like
at a decent level. Hope you can work it out!
Cheers!

It may be that there is an internal hardware issue. You can feel free to call me at:

800-994-4984 x3030

I'm Tech Support in Canada and USA.

Personally, I'd like to learn more about The Amazing Run Over By Conversion Van Incident that everyone all over town has been talking about.

Bless,

Pablo

I'm using a pair of TS jacks from the CH-1 and CH-2 outputs into the line inputs of an Allen&Heath PA-20CP mixer (no DI box, even though i have one) and get 0-gain levels with the master volume on the NS2 at about 1/3.

only 1/3? I never run at less than halfway, sometimes 2/3. I don't think there's a reason to use DI if you're running straight into A7H board and have short cable runs.

Pablo

Indeed Pablo, the desk is next to my boards as you can see from my profile photo, so no need for the DI box (which is used for the girlfriend's guitar).

1/3 was perhaps a bit optimistic but it's not much more than that. I looked again and the volume is between the s and the t of Master Level. I suppose volume levels are influenced by the quality and diameter (section mm2) of the cables and the build of the pre-amps in each channel strip? I'm no expert of course!

At what levels do you have the individual instrument levels set on your board? Also, I've heard enough experts claim that you always use a DI when going into any kind of balanced input from an unbalanced source, on any mixing board. Whether it says you need one or not. Aren't the stereo L and R inputs on most mixers balanced?

Hi Hambone, I hope I'm not hi-jacking this thread, but to answer your question I'm going into two line inputs on the desk, not L&R stereo inputs or XLR mic inputs. I've not had the board so long and haven't "messed about" with it yet so all level settings are still the factory presets.

I agree that the general consensus is to use a DI box if you have an unbalanced source going to a balanced input.