Nord User Forum

tell me your joking. an electro 5, for what? Clavia nord, do you read these forums by the users of your instruments.
your nord stage needs the upgrade, its not as live performance friendly as you think.
A) program hold when changing patches.
B) user definable split points.
C) standard numerical key pad.
D) six programs my way( 6 synths, 6 pianos. ect...).
E) gigibytes of memory( you have this enormous sound library, and don't make an instrument that comes even close to holding them all).

I've been playing live for the past 30 years on a continuous basis, and have found that these capabilities from A-E ( as simple as they sound) are indispensable in live playing.

your stage 2 is $600 more than my kronos, and $1100 more than my kurzweil pc3k6, i can't justify the extra cost with the lack of simple features.

("E" only pertains to the nord sound library since the pc3k6 only has 128megs of sample memory, the kronos 2gigs)

I can't believe it. The NE 4's are fine. Just what RESEARCH did they do? Darn! Final thoughts later. Summer NAMM for a new Stage! IMO seems Crazy. What about the Stage??

There are no words how disappointed I am. I use a Nord Stage 2 (unfortunately...apparently). Looks like Nordkeyboards completely forgotten their Nord Stage users but are very good friends with NE users. Almost as if they laugh a little at those who use a Nord Stage.

One can ask whether they are aware of the tremendous upgrade they will have to come up with if it is going to impress the NS users ever again. Feels like I should sell my old relic in favor of a Nord Electro instead. NE is of course light years ahead. Very disappointed ...

Why don't wait 3 days before complaining?

oh i'll wait, and i hope i'm pleasantly surprised.

Hi guys,
I'm not sure you have already worked for a company and know how difficult it is to build a new product and in the same time, not to pissed off the previous users, not to cannibalize the other products in your line and then being able to pleased everyone....I worked for 2 years in the past for Yamaha music and I heard so many complaints about dealers and users....
They might not have been ready for he stage 3 and it make sense that now they have a Split/layers products without being far from what the common mortal could afford in term or price range....
Making comparison with Korg Kronos or Yamaha Motif is a non sense, Nord took the path of simplicity over lot of features years ago, why they should try to compete with the other big workstations....
They didn't build another workstation for a reason....the market is already filled....
So, as a former product manager, the nord electro 5 makes sense to me.
Maybe they will release the stage 3 within few days but if I were them, I needed to clear my stock of Stage 2 or to let my dealers the time for them to clear their stock....So, a stage 3 without any promotions on the stage 3 seems weird to me....if you want to catch more new customers and still keep your aficionados, you should release the new stage 3 at the same time you do a promotion on the stage 2....
Just some sales/marketing thoughts instead of just customers complaints....

Product marketing is a specific topic. Each product has its own life cycle. It appears that Nord Electro 4 was less successful that expected or the sales started to decline. Certainly Clavia shares the market for Electro with Hammond SK series. So they released the new Electro to address missing features (mainly slit/layer feature). I guess it was a difficult decision for them as that's one of the features to differentiate it from Nord Stage (I mean slit/layer).

Few reason why they have not released the Stage yet:
1) Still good selling figures (no decline)
2) No real competitor in that market sector. Nord Stage is not a work station. It has a unique niche. For e.g. I have both Electro 4 and Stage 2. I've found myself not being able to do any gigs without Stage 2 as it has more features I need (specifically the Synth and better Effects section). What I'm missing in Stage is certainly physical drawbars.
3) As mentioned above by Rkalf such product development is quite sophisticated. It requires a lot of efforts from R&D and marketing departments. But let's think what they could have included in the new stage. No real revolution. Add more memory, few features maybe to the Synth section, improve the organ section and that's it. Would it burst the sales? They need more to introduce the new Stage. It should be a real progress vs the Stage 2.
4) Price. R&D and marketing cost money. To cover that they would have to increase the pricing. We saw that in the past. Stage 2 is significantly more expensive than Stage Classic.

Honestly speaking I'm quite happy they haven't released the new Stage. Stage 2 is "a good enough product" for me. It serves my needs and I'm happy it's the latest flagship product from Clavia. On the other hand there are few features that would make buy a new Stage:
1) E-E keyboard
2) Improved organ section with physical drawbars
3) Synth section with multi-velocity layered samples (seriously doubt they will do it. Too much efforts to create the new sample library)

I'll put money on it that there will be NO stage 3 this year. They won't release a stage 3 and a new electro during this cycle.

Besides which, the Stage 2 is great- ill happily wait for a stage 3 but most folks wont even scratch the surface of the 2!! Yeah, it could do with a few refinements but for me the 2 does the job admirably day in, day out.

Any stage 3 will just be a bonus but 2 has still got it!

I'm sure there is plenty of scope for the stage classic, for those who are prepared to really set the thing up.

I've added a whole dimension to my EX88 with a boss VF1 effects processor (highly recommended).

I'm waiting for a Stage 3 before I chop the EX in. In fact, I'll probably keep the EX, as it's a good board in it's own right.

I want a lot more memory. I want more of a pitch stick, that's about it!

Wow, that's great news from Clavia!
As a proud owner of a Stage2 88, I'm jealous of the new Electro5!

Seriously, I think it addresses all the main shortcomings of the Electro line: monotimbrality, lack of memory and not-so-friendly user interface (lack of a display).
Considering its main competitor is (was?) the Hammond SK line, this is a real jump forward.
If I didn't already own a Stage, I'd buy it ASAP.

The only thought I have, is that now there's a LOT of overlapping in Nord's stage pianos features.
All of the Stages, Pianos and Electros now provide ample memory, sample-ROMpler functions, advanced effects-control capabilities and multi-timbrality.
While the Stage still has enough additional features to justify its existence (6-part multitimbral, better effects and synth section), it seems to me that the new Electros totally cannibalize the Nord Piano line.

Now every charachteristic of the Nord Piano is also provided by the Electro line, mostly in an improved form. Apart from the niche of pure piano players not compromising on 88 fully-weighted keys, I honestly don't see any reason to buy a NP now. Also because the competition from other brands has gotten better and better.

And for most players who only need basic split-layer functions, occasionally use some samples and don't require advanced synth capabilities, the Electro will be a better alternative to the Stage, too.

Bottom line: I'm drooling over the NE5, but also VERY curious to see what happens now to other Clavia product lines.
To really justify its existance, the next Stage needs to do a really BIG jump forward.
As to the Nord Piano... honestly I don't see so much of a future. Maybe a kind of "stepping down": eliminating the split-layer and sample functions, and reverting to be a pure 88-key piano for pure piano players (but reducing the cost way below the Electros)

We'll see, we'll see... Clavia never stops to surprise us, they always have some trick up their sleeve!