only 256 megs of memory????

[dkgross]

Well...been playing all day with the new Stage 88..even went thru the whole manual :))

but, as I stare at my 3-pack of 4 GIG USB drives that I just picked up from Costco for $40...I can't help but wonder why a $3000 keyboard only has 256 megs of memory....

any thoughts??

[seventn]

I have to agree. I don't understand why only 256 RAM. And even worst is that they are missing a great opportunity to make money after the initial sale. I would have paid up to 250.00$ for an other 256 megs. I guess they are thinking long term. If you have all the memory you need, why would you buy their next model....

Stranger to me is why on earth is it impossible to load samples (strings etc from the sample library) into the Stage EX? The Nord Electro 3 does it!! I didn't know this at first so I purchased a stage EX but soon took it back to the store for a "downgrade" to a Nord electro. Now THAT is not good for business!!

[Randelph]

Yeah, not being able to load in new sounds (other than their selected piano/rhodes/clav sounds) into the 256 MB is disappointing; I imagine they came up with that capability after they came out with the Stage. That capability (along with more Flash RAM) would make this keyboard unbeatable.

I've got the Stage classic with only 128MB, but personally I'm good. I'm having so much fun with what it does have that I'm not worried about what it doesn't have. I SO LOVE the sounds and the sound quality on this board, and am finding the synth section to be good for making up what I may need in the way of other sounds.

I also own the Korg M3 and the Motif XS, and find the Stage refreshing after dealing with so much technology. I was always in the consumerist feature quest with those boards, only to discover I was spending too much time on learning the technology and not enough on playing. When you look at the Stage and what it does do, there's nothing I know of that's equivalent for an all-in-one stage oriented board:
~ Quality sounds thru and thru
~ 88 weighted keys, pro sounds, 41 POUNDS!!!
~ Relatively short with joystick on top (fits in 76 note bags)
~ Super easy interface with 6 part multi-timbrality
~ Super fast and visual interface
~ Outstanding leslie and fx- what a difference!
~ Morph controls and good aftertouch
~ Awesome sound VA synth section (much better/richer/deeper/evolving sounds than romplers trying to be VA)

The NE3 looks great- but I would seriously miss being able to have 2 keys, 2 synths and 2 organs at a time- it's an awesome capability, one I use all the time as I start off simple and then add in other sounds (like swelling in the organ or synth). The fx are also more extensive. However I do envy the NE3 for its half-damper capability. It's a newer model than the Stage, so it's got some things the Stage doesn't, like that mini-jack input.

[Gustavo]

It is a very small amount, but it is a VEEEERY FAST, I mean, reaaaaly good quality FlashMemory. Usually the normal USB 2.0 speeds would not suffice this, theoretically speaking. Not to mention it probably cannot handle a v5 piano.

The kind of flash memory Clavia chose is top notch, and it is not your average big usb memory, its more than that. And its also unlike any computer´s RAM. I believe their architecture is similar to that of the common RAM, but it is non-volataile. I mean, look at the PC3K. Also has a small amount of sample memory. but it provides for fast, non-volatile action. Remember that those old samplers holded only 1 diskette at a time and that was enough for most. the most advanced diskette holded about 200MB, and that was around the year 2000.

And yes, I would have liked that my Nord Stage Classic had the NE3´s capacity of playing samples, but well... it is quite good as it is!! Yesterday I was composing some music and jamming with my friends, and they were all very impressed with the quality of the v5 Acoustic Pianos!! They thought that some of the recordings were made miking actuall pianos. That is A LOT coming from fellow musicians/sound freaks. Moments like those make me never regret about the limited capabilities of my NS.

[dkgross]

Understood! I love everything about the Stage EX. The sound, the action, etc. Having lived with it and used it in the studio a few times now...just sounds and feels great. Just want more memory and the ability to load more sounds into it :)

[fabiokey]

In my opinion , the amount of memory is important , as would be important to load samples from nord wave library....
but I think Clavia's policy is clear....and in my opinion , is a good policy.
I own a NS EX....but let's think about this...people who own a NS CLASSIC has the possibility to update OS and load the last library...after so many years (becouse in technology is ..."so many years" :-) , the keyboard is still fresh and still sound great.
ok...maybe you just can load few pianos...but for a gig is enough...and for the studio you can load other pianos...
an other aspect of Clavia's Policy is.... buy what you need :-)
if you play JUST piano , buy a nord piano and put a lot of sounds in it (512 mega)
if you need a bit of everything on the fly , just one sound at a time , maybe with another main keyboard , buy a nord electro.
if you need a great sinth , buy a nord wave.
if you need a bit of everything and an all in one keyboard , buy the nord stage. (need violins or oboe? the external section is for a module or a laptop...)
let's think about this ... the biggest sound size is about 62 megas in v5 library , something like that... maybe will take time to have a 129 mega piano sound which will not fit in NS CLASSIC... I think even NS CLASSIC users are happy to use NOE same sounds that NORD PIANO users load in their units.

last thing...
let's suppose Clavia put out a NS 2 with 512 mega ram ,and the possibility to load nord wave samples.
why buy a nord electro?
why buy a nord piano?

[martin]

i wonder if its possible to open up the nord and add memory??????