NAMM 2022

[Gambold]

They are certainly into smooth jazz in Sweden these days. I wouldn’t mind hearing someone bash out some good old rhythm and blues. Or even some 80s synth-pop

[Hlaalu]

Yeah, it seems that the variety of music genres that they sport for their products sponsoring isn't that big...

[FZiegler]

I saw J3PO playing at NAMM, too. Which is a quite different style. Nevertheless - nothing really new.

[st2ex]

Yeah, it seems that the variety of music genres that they sport for their products sponsoring isn't that big...

Yepp

[Mrniceguy76]

I agree with most people, this current situation is the worst to release new hardware and still will be for quite some time... For example Korg suffers the most among keyboard manufacturers according to my authorized dealer. They basically cannot ship anything to Europe (probably US too). They archived the Kronos2 but nothing really replaced it. The grandstage and kingkorg are still listed as "active" products but cannot be shipped at least for another 6 months but probably they will archive them soon as well. Sweetwater and Thomann also deleted these boards from the selection on the website. So I completely understand Nord not releasing new hardware.

However, I don't understand Nord on the software side at all...In fact I am disapponted and made me cancel my NS3C order. They should keep releasing OS updates at least since users still keep reporting bugs, and most importantly updating their libraries. Nord's weakness is also the compatibility with operating systems such us Win10 and most likely the MAC OS.

[analogika]

Huh? The stage 3 is working really well, no major bugs. If they add support for the Sample Library 4.0, that’s quite sensational— few companies add major functionality to their keyboards five years after they’re brought to the market.

Their software works fine on the latest versions of macOS and Apple Silicon AFAIK. Is it broken on Windows?

[n0rby]

I agree with most people, this current situation is the worst to release new hardware and still will be for quite some time... For example Korg suffers the most among keyboard manufacturers according to my authorized dealer. They basically cannot ship anything to Europe (probably US too). They archived the Kronos2 but nothing really replaced it. The grandstage and kingkorg are still listed as "active" products but cannot be shipped at least for another 6 months but probably they will archive them soon as well. Sweetwater and Thomann also deleted these boards from the selection on the website. So I completely understand Nord not releasing new hardware.

However, I don't understand Nord on the software side at all...In fact I am disapponted and made me cancel my NS3C order. They should keep releasing OS updates at least since users still keep reporting bugs, and most importantly updating their libraries. Nord's weakness is also the compatibility with operating systems such us Win10 and most likely the MAC OS.

I recently got the ns3 and use it with windows 10 without issues. I haven't seen any bugs in the keyboard either.

[StrangeAeons]

In my opinion, Nord's current strategy is to stick to the famous American saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". As long as their three "older" products (that is the Electro 6, the Stage 3 and the Lead A1) keep selling well, they have no strong reason to upgrade them, especially the Lead since digital synthesis can't get much better than that, unless you're trying to emulate a specific synth like many VSTs do. They probably thought they reached a nice spot functionalities-wise, and adding just a bit of memory isn't really worth it if they can't offer any substantial upgrade: on the contrary, prospective buyers might be even more willing to buy a used keyboard at that point, which wouldn't benefit Nord's finances at all.

One might ask "Why did they bother upgrading the Piano as per their usualy upgrade cycle then?". There are a few valid reasons. Aside from memory (a flagship board aimed at being mainly a digital piano ought to be able to store more piano samples than an Electro) and the new 73-keys version, Nord most probably needed a testing board for the new Sample Library 4. I believe that we'll get new Stage and Electro models as soon as they sort out all of the issues regarding the new format and finish converting the whole 3.0 library. Personally speaking, I also hope they're working on a new B3 simulation to bring it up on an equal footing with the other leading clonewheels.

Clavia surely took way too long to release the Sample Library 4 and despite that it's still incomplete. Still, the fact that they found time to release the Felt Upright is indicative of some internal organisational troubles, or some challenges on new software, not quite any financial trouble (above all, they wouldn't have released a new Piano iteration). Considering it's been only a year since the pandemic's worst part finally ended, they're probably multitasking and trying to work on several products at once. I might be wrong but I wouldn't be surprised if next year Nord release loads of new products and software updates all at once.

They are certainly into smooth jazz in Sweden these days. I wouldn’t mind hearing someone bash out some good old rhythm and blues. Or even some 80s synth-pop

Nord's best endorser ever is Rachel Flowers: there aren't many people who can play Keith Emerson's pieces to a T. And she's probably the only blind one in the whole world. I'd listen to her playing for hours straight. I totally agree with you: some of the recent demoes are pretty boring. Blues, rock, prog do exist too! Even metal or gospel would make for a nice change of pace.

[Mr_-G-]

I agree Rachel Flowers is incredibly talented. There is a video of her playing the guitar (!) (Montana) with Dweezil Zappa and the Zappa Plays Zappa Band. which is worth watching.
Going back to the Namm 2022, I thought that the J3PO video was very good. I also spotted Pablo in there!

[MarkJames]

Huh? The stage 3 is working really well, no major bugs. If they add support for the Sample Library 4.0, that’s quite sensational— few companies add major functionality to their keyboards five years after they’re brought to the market.

Their software works fine on the latest versions of macOS and Apple Silicon AFAIK. Is it broken on Windows?

Except of course that NS3 is still a CURRENT product, right?

And how about updates for NW2? Released in 2020, last update in…2020.