Nord User Forum

Howdy all -

Guitarist who is a relative synth n00b with a fairly comprehensive home studio building up a little keyboard capabilities. I have Ableton 9 and an Akai MPK49, but would like something I can plug into a PA without having to lug my PowerBook around, and am not finding pages and pages of instruments very intuitive.

Trying to find a side-by-side of the Stage 2 and the Lead 4 - I realize they're different, but does such a comparison exist that highlights those differences?

Again, neophyte here. Would appreciate any insight - the cost isn't the factor, but breadth of sonic options and, to some extent, ease of use/playability/intuitiveness factor in here. I love the sounds I've heard in the demo room, but don't know what else there is - for example, is it my imagination, or are there limited effects on the Stage 2 ("the flagship product") versus the Lead 4? And the Lead 4 has no aftertouch?

I'm a Floyd/King Crimson kind of guy, if that helps at all. If you're hearing the sounds from them, they're sounds I'd like to have. But the more sounds I can get, and the easier they are to get, the better.

Would genuinely appreciate it if someone could take the short bus kid (me) on a brief tour of the differences/strengths/weaknesses.

Thanks much, ladies and gents.

DannyO

Well Danny,

both are made with different purposes.The NL4 is intended to do only synth sounds and it can have up to 4 at a time. That means no real piano, no clavs, no electronic pianos, no mellotron sounds and no realistic B3 sound engine. The Nord Stage 2 is sort of a "vintage" instruments in one, it has pianos, clavs, harpsichords, eps (although those could use some renewal), farfisa organ, vox continental organ, a B3 organ emulation, a sample player and a synth (although very limited and basi compared to a NL4)

I believe that to do those covers better, you could need several keyboards and you can certainly do it in the NL4 but it may turn out better on the NS2 since it has B3, EP, Clavs and Mellotrons, which were the instruments of the time.

But in general: Superb synth sounds, Nord Lead 4. Vintage keyboard emulator, Nord Stage 2. At least that's how I see it.

It can also be helpful to you to see some demoes:







Hope those videos can clearly answer your question.

Saludos,
Gustavo

Spectacular summary; sincere thanks!

Danny O

I agree with Gustavo's summary. One small thing that I'd like to add is that Stage 2 can extend its more limited synth capabilities by using synth samples (from other synth instruments). In general, as Gustavo says, a wide selection of good quality sounds by Stage 2 vs. deeper capabilities in a narrower segment (synthesizer) by Lead 4. Also in synths Stage 2 can play a wide range of sounds (samples) but its ability to tweak those synth sounds in real-time in traditional synth style is more limited.

Thank you, Juholaatu!