Nord User Forum

Gambold wrote: As for supply-chain issues - I'm getting pretty tired of hearing those used as an excuse for sloppy customer service. I'm sure they exist here and there, but it's too easy for any company to use that as an excuse for not getting their act together after the Covid hiatus.

I can assure you that supply chain issues for chips do not exist just here and there, they are a massive problem throughout the electronics industry which I come across in my job every day at technology partners like IT companies and also at customers. These cause product shipment delays of 6 to 18 months right now and cause even more delays in developing new products or product generations, and it would be an illusion to believe that Clavia is not affected by this.

What I agree with is that this is no reason to not continue working on fixing bugs and optimizations, but on the other hand many of their competitors do not provide this at all. We are very spoiled by Clavia in this respect, but that doesn't mean we have a fundamental claim to it - it is just nice to be treated by them better than by most of the others

>I can assure you that supply chain issues for chips do not exist just here and there, they are a massive problem throughout the electronics industry <

"Massive problem" is an over-statement. And I'm pretty sure that a chip shortage, whatever it's level, is NOT the reason you didn't see new keyboard model at NAMM.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/ ... TrendForce

https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/su ... nt/617377/

Schorsch wrote: what I agree with is that this is no reason to not continue working on fixing bugs and optimizations

Exactly.

-dj

StrangeAeons wrote:(but would anybody here seriosly contend the Kronos' library is bigger than Nord's?)

Doesn't the Kronos have a 40GB SSD in it, and now also has the capability to stream samples from said drive? People have loaded entire Kontakt libraries into it. It also loads user samples that can have many velocity layers rather than just one for Nord...not to mention the synthesis aspects are miles deeper. Now, I think Nord has some amazing sample content that the Kronos does not (many of the Nord pianos are far superior to the ones Korg has built in for example.) Not to mention Nord's main selling point...simplicity and ease of use. A Kronos will NEVER be as easy to get up and running as a Nord Stage. Korg's answer to that (sort of) was the Grandstage, which also has a larger piano selection; but that's still not the same animal. But in terms of size and expandability of the sound library? I don't see how Kronos couldn't win that battle. But it's such a different product that it's hardly worth the comparison anyway.

StrangeAeons wrote:Likewise, Yamaha rarely releases significant updates for their keyboards (even the Montage's last update dates back to 2020).

Yamaha seems to release updates that are more comprehensive with a wider gap in between. Fewer larger updates vs many smaller ones, basically. Of course there are exceptions but that's been my experience at least.

StrangeAeons wrote:Crumar does update their lineup frequently but, concerning their Mojo organs, no real improvements were made since 2017-2018: and certainly the Mojo 61 can't even compare to the Electro for anything that's not pure Hammond tones.

I can't speak to the Mojo, but the modeled electric pianos in the GSI Gemini (Crumar's other brand) are wonderful to play especially after the last few updates. Nord still has them beat for acoustic pianos although they've been trying to make progress in this area. What sets Nord pianos apart for me is their raw character. So many products include an ultra perfect piano with no imperfections. Nords have a slight bit of detune on some, for example, and that really adds life to the samples. But that Gemini module is a really nice all-in-one solution; it could certainly replace an Electro plus it has a VA synth in it among other things, though it only layers or splits 2 sounds at once so couldn't really compete with a Stage.

StrangeAeons wrote:Finally, it's hard to complain about the Wave 2 if it isn’t affected by any bugs:

If only that were the case!

StrangeAeons wrote:but no pro, and very few dedicated amateurs still play keyboards from more than a decade ago (and when they do you can clearly feel they sound "old": the Kronos might be the only notable exception).

I come across Yamaha Motifs in their various forms on a regular basis here. Korg SV1 still seems to have a good following as well, and of course lots of older Nords are still gigged with. In terms of older digital keyboards I think Yamaha has dominated that space. The Motifs are classic, and their sounds are often instantly recognizeable. This may depend on the styles of music you play and your location; perhaps these boards are not so commonly used where you live. I even know a few people still using the old Roland Fantom X from the early 2000's!

Nord acoustic pianos are still the best by a country mile. I went to a Sam Ash not too long ago - it's a reasonably successful brick-and-mortar chain in the US that has a decent keyboard room. I played several of the top competitors (Yamaha, Roland, Korg) to Nord in price and features. I was surprised at how unimpressed I was at their acoustic pianos. They all had one good one as their default and then a handful of progressively more artificial-sounding things like "rock" and "dance" pianos. Nord is the way to go if you want a variety of interesting and decent acoustic pianos.

They didn't have any Kawai at this location - maybe those are better.

I did a charity-gig this weekend, and was part of the audience occasionally. Got to experience both the Korg SV2 og Nord stage 3 from the audience's point of view.
The NS3 pianos sounded far better than the Korg. Not sure what patches the Korg player used, but the piano was very anonymous.
So even though there weren't any news from Nord at NAMM, the instruments still sounds good, and makes pretty good music

tsss27 wrote:

StrangeAeons wrote:but no pro, and very few dedicated amateurs still play keyboards from more than a decade ago (and when they do you can clearly feel they sound "old": the Kronos might be the only notable exception).

I come across Yamaha Motifs in their various forms on a regular basis here. Korg SV1 still seems to have a good following as well, and of course lots of older Nords are still gigged with. In terms of older digital keyboards I think Yamaha has dominated that space. The Motifs are classic, and their sounds are often instantly recognizeable. This may depend on the styles of music you play and your location; perhaps these boards are not so commonly used where you live. I even know a few people still using the old Roland Fantom X from the early 2000's!

Thanks for addressing this.

I do this for a living, and the Nord Stage 3 is literally the only keyboard I owned up until last week (except for a few controllers) that is less than ten years old — I just got a Yamaha SHS-300 keytar for cheap on a blow-out sale, just as a stage gimmick.

(Actually, I just remembered that I bought a Korg ARP Odyssey clone in 2015. I guess that counts, but in my head that's filed under "vintage"…)

Next-youngest is a Motif XS 6. Next, I think, is the Nord Electro 2, bought new in 2005. Then the SY77 I bought new in 1990.

No reason to replace what works…

I did have a Stage 2 that I replaced with the Stage 3, but that was only because the one thing I *really* missed on the Stage 2 was drawbars…

Gambold wrote:Nord acoustic pianos are still the best by a country mile. I went to a Sam Ash not too long ago - it's a reasonably successful brick-and-mortar chain in the US that has a decent keyboard room. I played several of the top competitors (Yamaha, Roland, Korg) to Nord in price and features. I was surprised at how unimpressed I was at their acoustic pianos. They all had one good one as their default and then a handful of progressively more artificial-sounding things like "rock" and "dance" pianos. Nord is the way to go if you want a variety of interesting and decent acoustic pianos.

They didn't have any Kawai at this location - maybe those are better.

A friend has the cheaper Kawai model (ES110 maybe? it was under $1,000.) The main piano sample in it is pretty good, though Nord still beats it. The problem is simply that these manufacturers like to record the pianos when they are absolutely perfect, to the point that they can almost sound fake.

Gambold wrote:>I can assure you that supply chain issues for chips do not exist just here and there, they are a massive problem throughout the electronics industry <

"Massive problem" is an over-statement. And I'm pretty sure that a chip shortage, whatever it's level, is NOT the reason you didn't see new keyboard model at NAMM.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/ ... TrendForce

https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/su ... nt/617377/

Interesting to see this - just contrary to the real world of my two largest customers who are manufacturing IT equipment, supply chain issues costs them several dozens millions dollars of business each quarter which cannot be delivered since about a year now, delays due to chip shortages are in the range of at least 6 to 9 months …. I’m calling this massive because this IS massive

I'm so disappointed with Nord at NAMM 2022. No new products.