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Nord Piano 5 Announced


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A non-TP100 73 is always worth two cheers. 34lb is tolerable, particularly with a metal chassis and internal PSU.

 

As usual, price is everything - this is a crowded market sector. Yamaha CP73/88 and Korg Grandstage/SV2 are key competitors. (Roland doesn't have a 73 stage piano does it?)

 

Cheers, Mike.

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I'm not a fan of the Nord acoustic piano samples after owning a Piano3. When I read specs about 2GB piano memory, my thought was is the new piano really new, since the samples are the same? Other companies come out with new versions of DPs and usually they are boasting about new piano samples, but with Nord I can just store any new sound in my current model.

 

Does anyone think it is time for Nord to have a new model that boasts a whole different, and hopefully better architecture of sampling with better acoustic piano results? Maybe start a parallel set of keyboards with the acoustic piano rivals VSTs.

AvantGrand N2 | ES520 | Gallien-Krueger MK & MP | https://soundcloud.com/pete36251

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If it"s not a TP-100 w/triple sensors - what is it?

Same action as the 88. Like what they did in the Nord Stage 2 (before the EX).

 

Does anyone think it is time for Nord to have a new model that boasts a whole different, and hopefully better architecture of sampling with better acoustic piano results? Maybe start a parallel set of keyboards with the acoustic piano rivals VSTs.

Tough one, since one of the reasons people pay a premium for Nords is that they can indefinitely be upgraded for free to have the newest piano sounds. So that would be an easier shift for, well, anyone else. Though I could see the possibility of some "small versions" of new piano sounds growing to exceed 100 mb and XL versions exceeding 400 mb, if they felt they could substantially improve the quality within that capacity. That would still give most if not all Nord owners the ability to load some version of the newest piano, and have their one "favorite" piano and a few small supplemental things. In that context, I'm also reminded that Korg already has multi-gigabyte pianos and Roland already has modeling, and many people still prefer the sounds of the Nords anyway.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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As someone who has clamored for 73s with quality action, I'm excited by this new entry into the field. Even though I probably won't be getting it, I'm just pleased to see another keyboard-maker buying into the rationality of this approach.

 

And if this means Fatar is now selling this 73er to any manufacturer, we may see it in other keyboards. Crumar, Viscount, Dexibell? I suppose it's mainly the European companies that use Fatar (not counting Hammond). Maybe Kurzweil has used them? Scott will know!

 

I also noticed the proprietary legs are being called "V2." Wonder if that's something new. I like the idea of screw in legs, but set up time is a bit longer.

Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro

Home: Vintage Vibe 64

 

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I'm not a fan of the Nord acoustic piano samples after owning a Piano3. When I read specs about 2GB piano memory, my thought was is the new piano really new, since the samples are the same? Other companies come out with new versions of DPs and usually they are boasting about new piano samples, but with Nord I can just store any new sound in my current model.

 

Does anyone think it is time for Nord to have a new model that boasts a whole different, and hopefully better architecture of sampling with better acoustic piano results? Maybe start a parallel set of keyboards with the acoustic piano rivals VSTs.

I would think that improved functionality in the generation, combining, and processing of sounds and the introduction of a new form factor qualifies as new. I don't think that "new" requires something else to be made obsolete.

 

I also don't think that it would be a great use of resources to add pianos that are gigabytes in size to an instrument that is primarily designed to be played through PA systems. I would be on-board for a series of mono-sampled pianos, although I am always pleasantly surprised what I hear from the stereo samples using the mono button on the recordings of our gigs.

 

That being said, I totally get it if you couldn't coax the sounds you wanted out of the NP3 for the music you play.

Nord Stage 3 HA88, Nord Stage 3 Compact, Casio CT-S1, Radial Key Largo, Westone AM Pro 30, Rolls PM55P, K&M 18880 + 18881, Bose S1 Pro, JBL 305p MKII, Zoom Q2n-4K

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I saw prices of 2900 for the 88, and 2800 for the 73. Ykes.

Not only high (as expected from Nord), but almost as much as the Stage 3. And basically no difference between the 73 and the 88. Let's not forget that they come with the VERY expensive triple pedal, though.

 

Also, as the proud owner ;) of a Yamaha P-121, I definitely welcome any new non-TP100 73 key action.

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There is MSRP price and MAP Price. Nord Stage 3 "MSRP" is $5,999 but it's listed everywhere for MAP price of $4,699 (or whatever it is). Nord Piano 4 "MSRP" = $3,399 and MAP = $2,999

Yamaha U1 Upright, Roland Fantom 8, Nord Stage 4 HA73, Nord Wave 2, Korg Nautilus 73, Viscount Legend Live, Lots of Mainstage/VST Libraries

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The doubling of the piano and synth sections is a nice addition, for sure. This makes it closer to having some Stage features (where you get 2x piano, 2x organ, 2x synth/sample).

 

I'm not really in the market for something like this, though I've always been a fan of Nord keyboards going back to the '90s...so if I was revamping my rig, I'd give it some consideration.

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Adan, does the Korg SV273 not satisfy your goals here for quality action?

 

I'm not a huge fan of Korg's RH3. I'd call it barely adequate, which is of course a subjective judgment. But as a gigging tool the SV2 definitely works for me and it's brings enough value to justify the price tag.

 

For me to spend around $3K for the Nord Piano I'd have to be either 1) playing much higher profile piano-centered gigs, or 2) digging on it as my main practice instrument. #1 is pretty much off the table due to my daddy duties, and #2 is already being fulfilled by the Vintage Vibe. But in some parallel life where I don't have young chilluns or I do need a top shelf digital piano for practice and gigging, I could see dumping the SV2 for the NP573. The imagination runs wild . . .

Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro

Home: Vintage Vibe 64

 

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I also don't think that it would be a great use of resources to add pianos that are gigabytes in size to an instrument that is primarily designed to be played through PA systems. I would be on-board for a series of mono-sampled pianos, although I am always pleasantly surprised what I hear from the stereo samples using the mono button on the recordings of our gigs.

 

I'm not interested in bigger samples. I owned a Kurzweil PC88 and at the time was pleased with the acoustic piano. Also plenty of Yamaha, pre-SN Roland and Kawai samples also are pleasing to my ears. Korg is another no-go for me and they use large samples. I'd love to know how Kurzweil developed such a pleasing acoustic piano sound.

 

IMHO, all the Nord acoustic pianos in all forms of size, sounded the same. (I'll apologize now for the many people here who will disagree with me.) I want to love the Nord line with its innovative loading samples, and ease to program live but the main instrument (acoustic piano,) determine my main needs and I've said it many times here, I think Nord sounds great when I'm not playing but listening to others in bands.

AvantGrand N2 | ES520 | Gallien-Krueger MK & MP | https://soundcloud.com/pete36251

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And if this means Fatar is now selling this 73er to any manufacturer, we may see it in other keyboards. Crumar, Viscount, Dexibell? I suppose it's mainly the European companies that use Fatar (not counting Hammond). Maybe Kurzweil has used them? Scott will know!

Yeah, Kurzweil has often used Fatar actions. In fact, they use a 76 key TP40 variation (similar to what Nord is using here) in the Forte 7. Nord also used this kind of action before, on the 76-key versions of the original Nord Stage, Stage EX, and Stage 2.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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My guess is that it"s a TP-100LR w/triple sensor action as in the Studio Logic SL73. A TP-40 variant would bring it closer to 40lbs.

The 88 is 40.1, the 73 is 34.1. From the specs, both boards use the the same action as each other, and the same as in the Nord Piano 4. The TP100-based Electro 6HP by comparison is only 24.13 lbs.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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@16251 - I'm not sure how Nord can get sounds that rival VSTs without larger samples. They already are using what I understand to be an aggressive, proprietary compression, but there's always the opportunity for improvement, whether it's within this architecture or the next generation.

 

As for the difference in sound between the sizes of a specific sample (S/M/L/XL), I agree that there really isn't much difference in sound between them, since the only differences are string resonance for none/some/all of the keyboard range and a fully sampled keyboard for the XL. I go with the L versions because I prefer to have a greater variety of samples on-board and the fully sampled keyboard range of the XL doesn't add appreciable value for my use. I would think that many can get away with M or S sizes if they are willing to forego the string resonance.

https://www.nordkeyboards.com/sound-libraries/nord-piano-library/information

 

Regarding listening vs. playing, I get that too. Keybeds and connection to the instrument are important and specific to the individual. I'm usually happy with what I hear through my IEMs, but I think it sounds even better through FOH in the mix.

Nord Stage 3 HA88, Nord Stage 3 Compact, Casio CT-S1, Radial Key Largo, Westone AM Pro 30, Rolls PM55P, K&M 18880 + 18881, Bose S1 Pro, JBL 305p MKII, Zoom Q2n-4K

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I have the NS3 HA76, love the light weight for portability but don't like the "weighted" action so having the same action as the 88 is a well thought out move by Nord. Now let's see if they have a bloated price tag.
You don't know you're in the dark until you're in the light.
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I had the original NP, loved the concept of a pure & simple piano-focused instrument. One job, that it did extremely well.

Now, with each iteration they are incrementally cramming in the features from their other products, none of which I need or want on a piano-focused instrument.

Just because they can, doesn't mean they should.

It just spoils the original philosophy of the instrument, for me.

Not to mention the price increase in every model for features that nobody (?) asked for.

hang out with me at woody piano shack
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I had the original NP, loved the concept of a pure & simple piano-focused instrument. One job, that it did extremely well.

Now, with each iteration they are incrementally cramming in the features from their other products, none of which I need or want on a piano-focused instrument.

Just because they can, doesn't mean they should.

It just spoils the original philosophy of the instrument, for me.

People similarly have said they miss the simplicity of the old Electros, once they added the split/layer ability so many asked for. That's either an example of "you can't please everyone" or "be careful what you wish for." I've had the thought before that I would have liked to have seen a re-released Electro 2 rack module (the last one they made with that design), with no changes except the ability to load in newer, better piano samples. It was a really nice design.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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Just my guess... but I'll make one. I think it will be USD $2,999 MAP for the Piano 5 88 and $2,599 for the Piano 5 73.

 

I'm just basing that as a premium over the Yamaha CP88/CP73 and Korg alternatives that I think Nord will expect.

Yamaha U1 Upright, Roland Fantom 8, Nord Stage 4 HA73, Nord Wave 2, Korg Nautilus 73, Viscount Legend Live, Lots of Mainstage/VST Libraries

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I also noticed the proprietary legs are being called "V2." Wonder if that's something new. I like the idea of screw in legs, but set up time is a bit longer.

 

I think the V2 refers to the "Music Stand" (now 4 sheets wide), not the Keyboard Stand.

Legend '70s Compact, Jupiter-Xm, Studiologic Numa X 73

 

 

 

 

 

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So the Nord Piano # are Stage # without the "roll your own" synthesizer section?

The piano doesn't include the drawbuttons (organ) either. :cool:

PD

 

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy"

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I had the original NP, loved the concept of a pure & simple piano-focused instrument. One job, that it did extremely well.

Now, with each iteration they are incrementally cramming in the features from their other products, none of which I need or want on a piano-focused instrument.

Just because they can, doesn't mean they should.

It just spoils the original philosophy of the instrument, for me.

People similarly have said they miss the simplicity of the old Electros, once they added the split/layer ability so many asked for. That's either an example of "you can't please everyone" or "be careful what you wish for." I've had the thought before that I would have liked to have seen a re-released Electro 2 rack module (the last one they made with that design), with no changes except the ability to load in newer, better piano samples. It was a really nice design.

 

Oh, totally, Electro 2 was the sweet spot of the range for me, then they started adding in all the sample playback extra voices, complexity, screen etc. I clearly remember their marketing back in the day, "The best tool is not a swiss army knife". Seems to me they abandoned that philosophy which is a shame. I'm with you, Imagine an Electro 2x, lower price, lose all the unnecessary bells and whistles and just give us back their latest and greatest electromechanical pianos and organ models with a stripped down UI.

hang out with me at woody piano shack
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Just my guess... but I'll make one. I think it will be USD $2,999 MAP for the Piano 5 88 and $2,599 for the Piano 5 73.

 

Sweetwater says $3499 (88) and $3299 (73). Ouch...

 

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/NP5-88--nord-nord-piano-5-88-88-key-stage-piano

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/NP5-73--nord-nord-piano-5-73-key-stage-piano

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Yup -- I just saw that pricing too. A little too rich for my taste since I just need a piano. That Kawai ES920 with the RHIII action is looking better and better for me each day as my next gig piano and is well below half the price of the red thing, but has the same action as the Nord Grand.

Yamaha U1 Upright, Roland Fantom 8, Nord Stage 4 HA73, Nord Wave 2, Korg Nautilus 73, Viscount Legend Live, Lots of Mainstage/VST Libraries

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