NAMM is just around the corner

[Fritz Frigursson]

Yamaha has about 300 times the personnel working on their dozens of keyboard lines, IIRC.

There’s a bit of a different dynamic there.

What have Nord been doing for the past 3 years with the Electro and Stage?

[Nord33]

I'd almost say that Nord is a leader in stage keyboards, that's why many brands try to copy what they do. If Nord drops a new keyboard with great features, other brands will try to copy that, meaning stage keyboards will also get cheaper and better while brands become more competitive.

Well, I agree/don't agree at the same time. Not because this is not true, but the reason is the same I say for every youtube video or comment in which people compare Nord with other keyboard brands. I think that Nord is the only of it's kind to have this type of keyboards. Nord and other brands are not that much comparable because they have different purposes. Nord has it's unique function per button "user interface" while others don't have that, or they have but it's not nearly as good as Nord's. I would say, Nord is like very very good manual car, and many other brands are either not so good manual cars, or semi-automatics, or automatic ones. And if you put things like that, everything is down to only one question (maybe two). What do you need keyboard for? that's about 90% to get going for best keyboard you need, 10% is what do you prefer. So my point is, Nord is Nord, and those who need good stage keyboard and who want a complete control over keyboard while playing will love it. Those who don't need that, and those who want kind of a workstation (or at least mini workstation) inside, they will say Nord sucks. Personally, I love it and I can't wait to buy it one day

[Nord33]

What have Nord been doing for the past 3 years with the Electro and Stage?

Nord electro 6 has came out in April, 2018. Year after that Nord Grand was introduced, and year after grand, Wave 2 came out. So they are doing quite well if I can tell. Maybe it's time for stage again now...

[analogika]

I do understand the desire to get something new from time to time, but I can't see why this needs to follow a fixed schedukle expected by the public. I also don't really get the point about asking for a new release of an instrument right at the time when the usual period between past releases has been reached - before that point of time the current versions of instruments like Nord Stage or Electro are considered amongst the best for their purpose, and suddenly they need an update just because time expired???? A great instrument will remain a great instrument, although there is always room for extensions of functionality (don't want to call it improvements since extensions may also not meet the original purpose anymore). New gear is not always good gear compared to the earlier versions - see for example the various discussions about the changes in midi from Stage 2 to Stage 3 or about the organ settings in the Electro series.

I look for quality, stability and long term support rather than for frequently released new generations, by which from my point of view most of the other vendors in the market push down their support of the older generations - Nord has an outstanding performance in that respect which is much more important to me than having them launch a new product every year at NAMM or whatever other event or point of time

[FZiegler]

Hi Fritz,

you don't seem to want to spend your money on a well established model whose development is more than three years old. I understand your approach to wait for the big new deal. And you are right: Some people on the forum have pushed that expectation. But I'm quite sure the teething troubles of the Stage 3 are over. And I don't like you blaming Nord for not being in your schedule and, looking into history on that forum, I'd wait a bit with buying if a new model appeared. How long do you want to wait in total?

What have Nord been doing for the past 3 years with the Electro and Stage?

For the Stage 3, they published hardware Rev.B in March 2019 and developed some firmware revisions (for NE6, too). The people who already own one are just awaiting another FW update for the latest issues.

[Hlaalu]

To me, wanting/expecting/asking/hoping for a new product "just for the sake of it" sounds more of a gearnut/gearfreak-oriented mindset, rather than the point of view of someone who actually needs an upgraded instrument because the current one has some flaws that he feels should be corrected.

[analogika]

Yamaha has about 300 times the personnel working on their dozens of keyboard lines, IIRC.

There’s a bit of a different dynamic there.

What have Nord been doing for the past 3 years with the Electro and Stage?

Which part of "Nord has about 35 employees" is unclear?

Those are ALL the employees — software developers, product designers, firmware guys, engineers, back office, AND the people assembling the units.

If they prioritise building a new version of Sound Manager for macOS 11/iPad OS, then those software engineers will not be working on firmware upgrades for existing product lines, nor on the firmware for new products.

As for the IMO rudely presumptuous question what they've been doing with the Stage line for the past three years:
https://www.nordkeyboards.com/products/ ... te-history

Clavia simply don't have the resources to just throw a hundred people at a new product. Their people all already work in rotation on multiple products as it is.

I still have NO idea why people are upset at Clavia not doing something they have NEVER DONE BEFORE anyway?

IF, as people are saying, there is a "regular release schedule" to Nord Stage releases, and IF this "regular release schedule" has not been affected by Covid (which is a pretty ridiculous assumption, given what we know about the company and its location in Sweden), then you could MAYBE expect an update IN APRIL OR SEPTEMBER.

And it wouldn't be a new Stage — it would be a Stage 3 EX, with ZERO updated functionality, just double the memory and a slightly different shade of orange on the front panel.

[analogika]

Also, I'll note that while it's true that a lot of people have picked up instruments during lockdown, Nords are built for STAGE musicians.

And all of the STAGE musicians I know (including myself) have been pretty hard-hit financially during the last year. We may have bought the odd instrument back when it looked like this might pass soon, but right now, every professional I know is SELLING stuff, not buying.

[be lee vit]

I love my nord and I love clavia for what they are. Basta.

[Fritz Frigursson]

Also, I'll note that while it's true that a lot of people have picked up instruments during lockdown, Nords are built for STAGE musicians.

And all of the STAGE musicians I know (including myself) have been pretty hard-hit financially during the last year. We may have bought the odd instrument back when it looked like this might pass soon, but right now, every professional I know is SELLING stuff, not buying.

What, so I can't buy the Grand because I want to play upright? I think stage pianos are arguably a very popular category for ALL musicians and not ony stage musicians.

With that aside, I'm not bashing Nord for not releasing anything. I am disappointed because I was hoping the older products would come down in price, and also so that the other brands would follow suit, copy a few features from the new Nord so that other keyboards get competitve also. That's a personal opinion. Nord's not going to start crying because a dude in Italy said that they're disappointed in them not releasing anything.

It's not a big deal people, is wanting a company to release stuff regularly a bad thing? Is it too much to even think of expecting it?