Trying to decide between Nord Electro 73 HP vs

[jazzdoc52]

Korg SV-1. What i have gleaned so far is the Korg has better piano, and is easier to edit/tweak, the Nord has way better organ, and both are about equal with vintage EP's . Weight about the same, and the Nord is a little pricier. Is there a differing opinion out there, and are there any other factors that one would think important? FYI, I play jazz most of the time, I like piano 70% of the time, EP 20%, and organ 10%, and occasionally like to split/layer some synths, but that isnt really important. Thanks

[Adan]

The SV-1 73 weighs 39 lbs. The NE3HP weighs 24 lbs. I think if you let 10 good pianists loose on both of them, you might have 6 preferring the sound/action on the Korg versus 4 preferring the Nord. Which is one way of saying that this stuff is all subjective, but Korg may have a statistical edge. Myself, I tend to prefer the Nord for piano playing, and the weight difference nails down the choice for me.

[MojoGuyPan]

Looks like the Korg SV-1 would be the thing to get. The acoustic piano sound is much better on the SV-1 and the key action is better. EP's are a wash as they are both good. Maybe the SV-1 is a little richer. Organ no contest to the Nord. What is sad on the Korg is that it is canned so you can't change registrations.

 

Since you'll be much happier 90% of the time with the better AP's and action, I'd go for the Korg. Plus it is way cheaper, you can save a grand. Maybe you can download better samples for the Electro's piano, I just listened to the stock sounds. But for the money the Korg is better.

 

Oh yeah you also get that tube window on the Korg.

 

Peace,

D.

 

[Adan]

I found the SV-1 tube to be worthless unless you were going for a really nasty distortion.

[ITGITC]

 

NE3HP

 

 

[Marillo]

I wouldn't say there's as much difference between the two in terms of piano as there is with the organs. If that 10% organ playing is still important then seriously consider the Nord

[MusicaL]

I played the SV-1 and have an electro 3 -61. The korg has good pianos and EP's. Forget the organ on the Korg. The E3 has very good Ep's and organs. I personally love Nord pianos but as has been mentioned ad nauseum on this board, the Nord pianos are a matter of taste and tend to evoke strong reactions from both fans and detractors.

 

Both instruments have limitations on their ability to split the board. Pretty much limited to loading samples with predetermined split points and levels. The E3 can split the B3 as well. The E3 gets high marks on the sample loading department as the korg is limited to only Korg samples not user samples which the Nord is able to load.

 

Finally, Nord has a company model which is different than the big three (although other MI manufacturers are now trying to copy Nord). Nord will release a board such as the E3 or Stage and will continue to release OS updates with additional features and new samples well into the product cycle. For examples, i still own a first generation nord stage and I just loaded a new piano just released by Nord. Although Korg has released a second sample package for the SV-1, it is unclear whether Korg will continue to do so.

 

HTH,

 

aL

[jazzdoc52]

Awesome info ! thanks !

[Aidan]

I've owned an SV-1 and now have a Nord Piano 88. In my opinion, the Nord's pianos (especially the newer XL Bosendorfer and Yamaha S4 samples) blow the SV-1's APs out of the water in terms of warmth, sustain and detail.

 

Both the keyboards you cite have problematic keybeds. The SV-1's RH3 action is sluggish while the NE3HP has quite a highly sprung up-weight which could be an issue if you're susceptible to hand problems.

 

That caveat aside, I'd pick the Nord every time.

[JeffLearman]

For 10% organ, and if you're not serious about Hammond-like authenticity, I'd go for the SV-1. I prefer its piano, though I haven't A/B'd the latest Nord pianos, which are far better than the factory ones. The Rhodes on both are very good, but I felt that the SV1's would cut through better in the mix, a problem I have with my NE2. For my use, either Wurlie is good.

 

I was tempted to get an SV1 to sit under my NE2 for piano, but they overlap too much in what they do that I don't think I'll go that route. I use organ about 40%, or more since I often play both piano and organ together (still working on that!) SV1's organ would not cut it for me; I'd rather they'd put a few lead & polysynth sounds there instead. Of course, that would make it a whole different beast.

 

But the downloadable Nord pianos are vastly better than the factory ones. When I tried the factory NE3 pianos in a shop, I was disappointed -- they were hardly better than the NE2. Later, I played the latest pianos on a friend's Stage, and was pleasantly surprised. NE2's piano is barely good enough, and no fun to play. The newer ones were definitely good enough and were fun to play. Huge difference.

 

I use NE2 piano for practice, but not for performance. Even for a short gig, I'll haul 2 keyboards. I play for fun, so why play a piano that's no fun?

[Fusker]

Gee, is the 50/50 split on here helping you?

 

I think the real answer is there never has been, and never will be the "perfect" keyboard. Definitely try out both and go with which piano you like better since that's your primary concern. If the piano is a wash for you, I'd go Nord in this case since it does offer very good organ sound. If you hate the Nord pianos than your choice is clear. Though Nord's model of offering a free, frequently updated sound library probably supersedes "tweakabilty" issue....though I'd question that as Nords are very easy to tweak on the fly.

[AnotherScott]

I prefer the NE3 pianos to the SV1, and as everyone has said, the organs aren't even in the same league. EPs are probably where they are closest, personally I'd lean toward the Korg there. But yes, apart from the organ functionality, all that is subjective.

 

But one of the biggest variables is the feel of the keyboard, and the NE3HP uses a new action for Nord that isn't on any of their other keyboards, I haven't tried it yet. That could be an important part of the decision. (From reading other people's reports, my guess is that the SV1 will feel better to most people, though it's not a "state of the art" action either.)

 

Of course, as others have mentioned, the sheer weight of the boards may be worth taking into consideration as well. And to the extent that you ever want other sounds, Nord has much more to choose from. Neither board is good for splits and layers, they are both very limited in that area (as well as limited in their abilities to control external sound modules, so that's not a great way to address the problem either).

 

I might also look at the Yamaha MOX8. I happen to like its piano better than the SV1, and it has a reasonable assortment of pretty decent EPs and organs (again, nothing like an E3 in the organ department, though). It's all very tweakable, it has plenty of other sounds, isn't too heavy, and you can split and layer. But if you're happy with the NE3HP action and don't really care about split and layer, that would probably be my pick for your priorities.

[MusicaL]

Another minor advantage for the Nord: You can send the Organs out one output and the pianos/sample out the other output. That way if you hook up a ventilator let's say to your B3 output, you don't have to bypass it when you switch to EP's or Pianos!!

 

I don't believe the SV-1 has that capability, but, I could be mistaken on that one.

 

aL

[AnotherScott]

Also... you can get a 61-key Electro 3 for $600 less than the HP. For about the $600 difference, you can put an an 88-key board under it. Then you'd have a full 88-piano action, a good organ action, and the ability to play combinations of sounds between the two. Though you would lose the nice "long release" piano option of the NE3 HP.

 

Boards you could put under it, depending on how you like the actions...

 

* Casio PX3, about 24 pounds, lots of nice sounds and capabilities in it... excellent MIDI controller functions that would let you easily integrate the sounds of the NE3. Not a great piano sound, but that doesn't matter... for piano, you'd be using it to trigger the pianos sounds of the NE3, and you could split or layer it with other PX3 sounds. If you like the PX3 action, this would be a great combo, IMO.

 

* The less expensive Yamaha P95 and Casio CDP-100 would also work, but their more limited MIDI capabilities would make it more awkward to integrate their own sounds simultaneously with triggering the Nord.

[area51recording]

Haven't played the SV, but I'd be surprised is its pianos are that much better than the ones that can be downloaded from Nord. I've got an E3 61 and while I loved everything else about it I HATED the pianos it shipped with! However once I downloaded some of the pianos, especially the new Bright Grand, that all changed. In fact the Bright Grand has become my favorite piano for live use....

[ADino]

^

I just tried both the Yam P95 and a few Casio's. I need a light controller and these fall into the light 4sure.

Has anyone here tried the above mention w/a Receptor?

A friend of mine is a music director for a large church, he told me to check out the Yam95, as he uses them to control various modules. AnotherScott mentioned "limited" midi capabilities..how limited?

 

[AnotherScott]

AnotherScott mentioned "limited" midi capabilities..how limited?

Beyond the most minimal function (MIDI out triggering of an external device), I think the only enhancements are that, when you do a split, it transmits on a different MIDI channel on each side of the split (there are ways to take advantage of that when using external gear), and you can choose whether or not you want its internal patch selection buttons to send corresponding Program Change commands out via MIDI. That's about it.

[ADino]

Thks AScott...