New Nord Stage 3 EPs and Filters

[jeffinpghpa]

I'm not sure if this is Nord's annual Christmas release gift to their customers or if another piano is forthcoming, since this is for Stage 3 only.

 

https://www.nordkeyboards.com/enhanced-ep-collection-and-dedicated-ep-filters

 

They've added some additional velocity layers and new filters (like Dyno) to their Rhodes download library.

 

I watched the video. I personally wasn't moved by the sound, although I'm sure it is in improvement in a core specialty of the Nord Stage 3 where Nord has fallen behind. I don't think this works on previous generations of Stage 2/EX or any of the Electro boards, either.

[fjzingo]

This is actually a possibility to tryout the tricks that are used with real rhodes pianos to get different sounds from different eras. Great news.

[Sam Mullins]

Good news...I've thought the EP's were due for a refresh for a long time. Frankly, I prefer the Kronos modeled EP's to the Stage. Hopefully this new ones will be competitive.

 

This is part of OS 2.0 release. I haven't tried it yet; Nord's been a little shaky on the quality of software releases on the Stage 3 so I've stopped jumping on each one. 1.6 was better than the previous few so maybe they are hitting the knee in the defect curve.

 

One long-time common user complaint that is addressed in 2.0: programmable pitch bend range on the synth! (I know...non-Nord owners are saying "wait...you didn't' have programmable pitch bend range? What year is it?")

 

[cphollis]

As everyone knows, I've been a fan of Nords and the Stage 3 in particular simply because it does a lot of things pretty well, and makes it all easy and fun to play.

 

Like many, I found the EPs usable but not distinctive. Good enough, but not great.

 

Yes, they've struggled a bit on getting all the kinks out of the Stage 3. Nothing major, just minor annoyances for the most part. But now most of that seems behind them. The previous 1.60 release was stable and fixed a bunch of stuff, and now we've got 2.0. All good.

 

The new EPs seem to be a meaningful improvement from what I can tell. I'll reserve my final opinion until I've had a chance to gig with them a few times.

 

I also liked the last round of free samples: choirs and horn sections.

[AnotherScott]

I'm eager to check out the new EQs. One of the limitations of Nord's EPs has been that, at least to me, they really needed EQ... and on the NS3, once you put EQ on an EP to make it sound the way you wanted, you were still left with two problems. One is, the EQ was then not available for any other sounds on the same panel (one of its two layers of piano + organ + synth/sampled sounds). Second was that, any time you wanted your EP, you had to navigate to one of your saved programs to get it (i.e. calling up an EP from the front panel could never get you the EP you really wanted). Hopefully, these EQ settings will address all that, if we can really get closer to the basic EQs we're after without having to rely on the main EQ controls to get there.

[MathOfInsects]

One long-time common user complaint that is addressed in 2.0: programmable pitch bend range on the synth!

 

Hal.

Le.

Mother.

F*&%ing

Lujah.

[fjzingo]

And soon, in 5-10 years we can set the splitpoints exactly where we want.....;-)

 

One long-time common user complaint that is addressed in 2.0: programmable pitch bend range on the synth!

 

Hal.

Le.

Mother.

F*&%ing

Lujah.

[jimkost2002]

Now they need to adjust that pitch bend for the NON-SYNTH INSTRUMENTS....just downloded 2.0!

[AnotherScott]

Now they need to adjust that pitch bend for the NON-SYNTH INSTRUMENTS....just downloded 2.0!

pretty rare to need to bend pianos and organs more than a whole step, if at all...

[CountFosco]

But it is pretty cool when done right

 

[jeffinpghpa]

But it is pretty cool when done right

 

George Duke working it on that X-Stand, baby!

[analogika]

Oh, it doesnt work for organs. Duh.

 

I use pitch bend on the organ only to simulate kicking the power switch to get that delirious pitch-wafting. Having +2/-12 seemed ideal for that. Ah well.

[jeffinpghpa]

Now we just need Nord to create a 2GB XXL sample with 30 velocity layers and make it so realistic that it models the experience of breaking a tine every two months and forces you to download and install the patch all over again to fix it.

[fjzingo]

Teh filter settings are really good and the rhode pianos quite dynamic. This made me put my Nord stage 3 through my speakeasy tube preamp. TMmmmh, open and nice sound and loads of prescebce and tine adding that dyno. Tried to emulate that sound with the onboard eq and got close, but in comparison the sound is somewhat compressed.

[ChiefDanG]

Yes, they've struggled a bit on getting all the kinks out of the Stage 3. Nothing major, just minor annoyances for the most part. But now most of that seems behind them. The previous 1.60 release was stable and fixed a bunch of stuff, and now we've got 2.0. All good.

 

I'm new to Nord (NS3 for about 6 months now) and this was a big concern for me. 1.40 was the newer OS and updates started coming fast & furious. But, each one fixed A and broke B. Some things were added without any info about what they did. Found out about their new MSB/LSB/# from the user forum, after my SetListMaker was calling up the "wrong" songs. However, Clavia seems sincere in getting their S&$-t together and maybe 2.0 will be the beginning of the end of the nonsense.

[jimkost2002]

Now they need to adjust that pitch bend for the NON-SYNTH INSTRUMENTS....just downloded 2.0!

pretty rare to need to bend pianos and organs more than a whole step, if at all...

 

Listen to Live George Duke 2011!

[Kawai James]

Perhaps unlikely, but fingers crossed the enhanced EPs (with additional velocity layers) will be made available to owners of other Nord boards in the future.

 

Cheers,

James

x

[elsongs]

I updated the OS and downloaded the new v6.0 EPs for my Nord Stage 3.

One notable improvement! THEY GOT RID OF The HIGH-END HISS! I'd always have to run my Rhodes sounds through the Twin amp sim to mask that hiss, but now I can use no amp sim and tweak the high end without that awful annoying hiss!

[AnotherScott]

Perhaps unlikely, but fingers crossed the enhanced EPs (with additional velocity layers) will be made available to owners of other Nord boards in the future.

According to a post elsewhere, Nord Piano 4 and Nord Electro 6 will get these updates as you'd probably expect, but also the older Nord Piano 3, Nord Electro 5 and Nord Stage 2/2EX are also likely to be getting the new EPs (but not the new front panel EQ options for them).

 

 

[harmonizer]

And soon, in 5-10 years we can set the splitpoints exactly where we want.....;-)

 

My personal opinion is that Nord will never really "get" or care about splits at the level I use them (which I admit is not typical). This is why I recently upgraded my XV-5050 to an FA-07.

 

I still have my Electro 3 to supply the sounds for Organ, Nefertiti EP and Wurly, and I have not found any sounds yet in the FA-07 which equal my Electro 3 for any of these. Nord's recent upgrade of the EP sounds will help motivate me to upgrade to a newer Nord if my Electro 3 ever starts to show signs of not working anymore.

[AnotherScott]

I still have my Electro 3 to supply the sounds for Organ, Nefertiti EP and Wurly, and I have not found any sounds yet in the FA-07 which equal my Electro 3 for any of these.

I agree. Despite Roland's SuperNatural modeling, I'd say the FA-07 lags Nord not just in organ as seems pretty much a given, but also in EPs. In fact, except for Dexibell, I think every competitor has at least some models with EPs I prefer. Korg, Kurzweil, Kawai, Numa, Crumar, Casio...