Nord Lead A1 velocity issues and keybed age
Posted: 16 Jan 2025, 18:09
Hello,
I recently bought a Nord Lead A1 (used), and I have been having issues with the velocity sensitivity on the keyboard.
If I map it to volume for instance, most notes are way too soft and it's hard to get a high volume unless I completely smash the key (but then it's extremely loud). There is almost no volume difference between playing super softly and playing "louder", but at some point (almost like a threshold, but not quite), it goes up way too quickly, like the mapping curve is exponential. Trying to play with constant velocity feels like it's all over the place, most notes being too soft and the occasional one being randomly super loud, making it impossible to use.
The settings and volume range mapped to velocity don't matter, it just shifts the problem.
The issue is also global and does not depend on specific keys.
I'm pretty much a beginner, so I though it might just be me who can't play correctly with velocity sensitivity, but this still feels very wrong compared to other keyboards I have used. What made me think something might actually be wrong with the keyboard itself is that I've seen other people here or on other forums talking about the exact same issue with the A1 (while some others said everything was perfectly fine with theirs, and I don't think this could be considered fine, so at least for some people it works differently).
Looking up the issue online, I couldn't find much information. Some people mentioned issues with the contacts but after opening it up, everything looked good. Same goes for the connectors.
What seems surprising though is that the keybed looks older than the rest of the synth. This A1 is from 2017 and all the electronics inside look almost brand new (and recent), but the keybed contact board looks worn out and almost discolored (see images below). There's the date 10 SET 1987 (guessing 'settembre' as Fatar is an italian company) printed on the backside, could this be the manufacturing date of the keybed ? That would definitely match the way it looks (and it even has that very specific "old electronics used by someone who smoked" smell that the rest of the synth doesn't have !).
So now I'm wondering if the keybed might have been changed at some point, or if Clavia uses 30 year old keybeds for recent synths (assuming it IS indeed older). I asked the seller if the keybed was replaced but I might not get an answer, especially if he didn't buy it new either.
From the photos below, does anyone know if this is indeed a Fatar TP/7 keybed ? I can provide more photos if needed.
Is there any way to date it other than guessing ? And finally does it look the same in your 2010+ A1 ?
Basically I'm wondering if this velocity issue is normal or not, if it might be because the keybed is old, and if I should replace it (regardless of its actual age). I found out that the Roland PC180 and 200 MIDI controllers use the same keybed and those can be found pretty cheap, but I don't want to buy and destroy a perfectly functioning controller to end up with the same issue.
On the other hand, it might just be the velocity mapping of the A1 itself that's really bad. I tried using the A1 as a controller using FL Studio to use a custom mapping and it was better, but still weird.
What do you think ?
I recently bought a Nord Lead A1 (used), and I have been having issues with the velocity sensitivity on the keyboard.
If I map it to volume for instance, most notes are way too soft and it's hard to get a high volume unless I completely smash the key (but then it's extremely loud). There is almost no volume difference between playing super softly and playing "louder", but at some point (almost like a threshold, but not quite), it goes up way too quickly, like the mapping curve is exponential. Trying to play with constant velocity feels like it's all over the place, most notes being too soft and the occasional one being randomly super loud, making it impossible to use.
The settings and volume range mapped to velocity don't matter, it just shifts the problem.
The issue is also global and does not depend on specific keys.
I'm pretty much a beginner, so I though it might just be me who can't play correctly with velocity sensitivity, but this still feels very wrong compared to other keyboards I have used. What made me think something might actually be wrong with the keyboard itself is that I've seen other people here or on other forums talking about the exact same issue with the A1 (while some others said everything was perfectly fine with theirs, and I don't think this could be considered fine, so at least for some people it works differently).
Looking up the issue online, I couldn't find much information. Some people mentioned issues with the contacts but after opening it up, everything looked good. Same goes for the connectors.
What seems surprising though is that the keybed looks older than the rest of the synth. This A1 is from 2017 and all the electronics inside look almost brand new (and recent), but the keybed contact board looks worn out and almost discolored (see images below). There's the date 10 SET 1987 (guessing 'settembre' as Fatar is an italian company) printed on the backside, could this be the manufacturing date of the keybed ? That would definitely match the way it looks (and it even has that very specific "old electronics used by someone who smoked" smell that the rest of the synth doesn't have !).
So now I'm wondering if the keybed might have been changed at some point, or if Clavia uses 30 year old keybeds for recent synths (assuming it IS indeed older). I asked the seller if the keybed was replaced but I might not get an answer, especially if he didn't buy it new either.
From the photos below, does anyone know if this is indeed a Fatar TP/7 keybed ? I can provide more photos if needed.
Is there any way to date it other than guessing ? And finally does it look the same in your 2010+ A1 ?
Basically I'm wondering if this velocity issue is normal or not, if it might be because the keybed is old, and if I should replace it (regardless of its actual age). I found out that the Roland PC180 and 200 MIDI controllers use the same keybed and those can be found pretty cheap, but I don't want to buy and destroy a perfectly functioning controller to end up with the same issue.
On the other hand, it might just be the velocity mapping of the A1 itself that's really bad. I tried using the A1 as a controller using FL Studio to use a custom mapping and it was better, but still weird.
What do you think ?