stage 4 In the Lab: Nord Stage 4

[Stephen Fortner]

Imagine my excitement when Clavia’s North American distributor emailed me to ask, “If we send you a Nord Stage 4 to check out, will you write about it?” Um, no, I’m too busy eating shredded cheese out of the bag and catching up on Star Trek: Prodigy which is way better than it has any business being. Of course I’ll write about it!

 

 

To be honest I’ve never been a huge Nord guy. I’ve owned three of them over the years: the Electro 2 that replaced my Roland VK7 on the bandstand, an original Wave for a minute, and most recently a Nord Grand because I fell in love with the keyboard action when I reviewed it for Piano Buyer back in April 2020. But even given the little bit of time I’ve spent with the Stage 4 so far, let’s just say I’m understanding why previous Stage models are on so many backline riders and what guys like Eric Lawson are on about.

 

Nords have become a bit polarizing. I’ve met two types of keyboard players. If they have an opinion at all, they either think that Nord’s sound quality and approach to real-time control puts them head and shoulders above any other do-it-all stage workhorse, or they think Nord is an overpriced hipster brand that’s gotten a lot of mileage out of being … red.

 

For me at least, what distinguishes the Nord Stage series is not the color, and we could argue who has the best piano or B3 or Rhodes sound all day and never come to a consensus. Instead, it’s the approach to accessing and controlling multiple instrument sounds and methods of sound generation.

 

The multi-model thing is pretty much standard issue on higher-end keyboards now — samples, tonewheel modeling, virtual analog, FM, physical modeling, wavetable synthesis, etc. But for the most part, the way it’s implemented is, well, workstation-y. On a Kronos, new Fantom, Montage, etc., you pretty much choose a synthesis type and put it on a mixer/MIDI channel in whatever multi-timbral setup the instrument has. More often than not, this requires some menu diving and extended touchscreen poking.

 

With the Nord Stage 4, you see the sections first: organ, piano, and synth. It’s a single button press to turn any section on or off, and there are mixer faders for further multi-timbral parts or layers within each section. Buttons below each fader select which layer that section’s controls are currently editing. Twiddle the knobs in each section until you hear what you like, then hit Store and you have a preset.

 

If the user interface on modern workstations is like the Enterprise D or Voyager or Discovery, Nord is more like the bridge from the original series: lots of tactile feedback and blinky lights.

 

A handful of things made great first impressions on me, though none of this will be news to any veteran Nord players. Across all sections, any layer or combination of layers may be assigned to “Aux KB,” i.e. an external keyboard controller. This is ideal if you have one of the weighted versions of the Stage 4 and want to play organ and synths sounds from a keyboard with a synth or waterfall action.   

 

Also, the Stage 4 is really a seven-part multi-timbral instrument. The Organ section has two parts (corresponding to upper and lower manuals), the Piano section has two parts (letting you layer acoustic pianos and EPs and such), and the Synth section has three parts.

 

Each part/layer within each section, along with all of its associated parameters, is addressable on a separate MIDI channel. I set up a quick template in Logic Pro to test this, with Logic’s external instrument plug-ins on each of seven tracks transmitting on MIDI channels 1 through 7 and just moved an Apple Loop from one track to another. Nope, it wasn’t too good to be true.

 

 

Want to sequence the Synth section in your DAW as though it’s three synths each doing their own thing? Can do. Want to do that as a single synth with three “oscillators”? Set the appropriate tracks’ MIDI outputs to the same channel.

 

Another cool convenience: Shift-pressing the on/off buttons for the part/layer that currently has the control focus in any section toggles whether that part responds to the pitch stick and/or the sustain pedal.

 

Speaking of pedals, you get a lot of dedicated pedal inputs: one for Nord’s triple-pedal unit (I have one that came with the Nord Grand so looking forward to testing it), one for swell in the organ section (insert Beavis and Butt-Head laugh here), one for fast/slow toggle for the Leslie effect, plus continuous control, sustain, and switch jacks.

 

Also like: The Synth section’s filter cutoff and resonance knobs normally work per layer, but you can toggle a “section” mode that makes them affect all active synth layers at once, which is presumably what you’d want to do for dramatic sweeps in live performance.

 

Anything underwhelming so far? There’s a 1/8-inch stereo external audio input, but it’s only a pass-through for monitoring audio from an external devices and is routed directly to the main line-level outs and the headphone jack; you cannot, for example, process external audio through a layer of the Synth section nor the effects. That, and entering program names is a pretty clunky affair.

 

My overall first impression is that “Stage” is really the right name for this beast. Everything on it is geared for quick changes in live performance. If you’re used to more of a “workstation” configuration, there’s a moderate but totally manageable learning curve, especially in the sense that you’ll be using that Shift button a lot because if there were actually one button or knob per function, the Stage 4 would cost twice as much and the necessary panel real estate would have to go above a 176-key keyboard. But once you start to get your head around Nord’s user interface logic, there’s a certain beauty and immediacy to how they’ve minimized menu-diving.

 

A word about the action: The 88- and 73-key weighted versions use a hammer-action Fatar TP-40M with aftertouch. I received the 88 and it’s a great action: heavy enough but not too heavy that I’d get fatigued by playing in a cover band all night — though it does fall somewhat sort of the piano purist’s dream that is the Kawai action in the Nord Grand. The Nord Stage Compact features a 73-key semi-weighted waterfall action, also with aftertouch, and is what I would choose personally as I’m more of an organ and synth player than a pianist. Not to mention, the Compact weighs 22.9 pounds as compared to 43.2 for the full 88. I’ve found that a curious thing happens to keyboards as I get older with more and more gigs under my belt: they don’t get any lighter!

 

(BTW, for anyone wondering, “waterfall” refers to semi- or very lightly weighted keys with square fronts but no “lip” on the key like a piano. Organists in particular like it because it was the key design on many Hammond organs including the B-3.)

 

So, from here, I intend to make posts more or less in the following order:

 

-       Summary of upgrades vs. Stage 3

-       Organ Section

-       Piano Section

-       Synth Section

-       Effects

-       Center Section (the main program selection/saving and menu area)

-       MIDI controller functions

-       Any miscellany we didn’t cover in the previous sections

 

Videos when I can!

 

As always, butt in, interrupt me, ask anything, and if I don’t know the answer I’ll run tests and/or bug the Nord people until I do.

 

[eric]

Hi Stephen!

 

I was excited when I saw that you would be doing this review. I appreciate you mentioning me in your first section - I am one of the legacy Nord users (across the full product horizon), though I've honed in on the Nord Stage being the one that really gets the job done for me. I've had all incarnations of the NS in various sizes. I had the NS1 88 and NS1 EX Compact. Then I had the NS2 88, NS2 EX 76, NS2 EX Compact. I still have the NS2 88 and it hangs out above my Hammond A101 in my music room. I could still gig with it if needed, and I backline it to a trusted concert promoter on occasion. My latest live gigging instruments includes a pair of NS3 Compact units - one mostly for gigs and the other mostly for sound creation and rehearsals.

 

I was at NAMM last month and spent a fair amount of time at the Nord booth playing a couple of the different NS4 units there. I was really taken by it and kept coming back. I think the biggest deal for me is how they have moved from the A/B Panel interface to making all seven engines accessible via a single Panel. I am certainly used to A/B and there are some benefits, though it is often a bit disarming to reach for a big chord on a Program where half of the sound engines are not visible without toggling between the panels.

 

I was also quite blown away by the discrete FX now assignable per part - this was always a trade off on earlier versions, in terms of needing to prioritize which sound gets the delay, which sound gets the EQ/drive, etc. It's really exciting to be able to have all of those things now available by section.

 

Probably related to the last point, something about the depth and quality of the NS4 sound is better - like a fine mix of great instruments, each with the right amount of sonic space to be heard well. This is a bit subjective as I was hearing this through the headphones and not in a live band setting at NAMM. Nonetheless, I was very inspired by the sounds. I didn't deep dive on the synth, so most of what I was doing was scrolling through presets and then starting a Program from scratch, building up each part along the way.

 

I also felt like the piano sounds had a different character in a good way - even though these are Nord samples I've been using for years. Something about the touch (maybe the triple sensor) and the new dynamic compression.

 

I was a little perplexed with getting the Scene function working properly - though I am enthusiastic about the premise of it, like an "A/B" toggle for adjusting two different panel layouts across the 7 engines. I was a little bit bummed that Song Mode is no longer there, though I could probably come up with some workarounds if that doesn't make it into a future OS.

 

Those are my high-level sentiments from spending a few hours at NAMM having fun with the NS4. I look forward to reading your series here!

 

Eric

[MathOfInsects]

I too spent a fair amount of time at NAMM running this board through its paces. And I too started my experience with Nord way back at the original Stage.

 

I currently play an NS3 Compact.

 

I want to say that this 4 is a huge step forward in nearly every way. Those independently controlled layers are a game changer, as is the independent effects path for each layer. This is very much a live-performance board.

 

I also want to give the (common) feedback that not being able to control my own split points is a deal-killer for me when it comes time to upgrade. You cannot simultaneously be a "do everything" board and also not allow me to configure it in the way that best fits the song or the need.

If you're able to send feedback, please convey that even a software fix that lets me set the split myself and then changes the color of the LED to indicate that it is approximate, would be better than the current state. And no, the (clever) "width" setting does not address this; you still lose sometimes as much as an [octave-1] if you can't control where sounds begin and end. 

It's literally the difference between purchasing and not purchasing the Stage 4 for me, since if I am going to pop for the upgrade, I want my primary concern about the current board addressed. Otherwise it's sweet and clever improvements over a board I don't have any problems with on its own.

[Sam Mullins]

22 hours ago, MathOfInsects said:

I also want to give the (common) feedback that not being able to control my own split points is a deal-killer for me when it comes time to upgrade. You cannot simultaneously be a "do everything" board and also not allow me to configure it in the way that best fits the song or the need.

If you're able to send feedback, please convey that even a software fix that lets me set the split myself and then changes the color of the LED to indicate that it is approximate, would be better than the current state. And no, the (clever) "width" setting does not address this; you still lose sometimes as much as an [octave-1] if you can't control where sounds begin and end. 
 

Or (as I suggested to them many years ago), simply turn the LED's off when in "arbitrary split" mode.  Wouldn't be any different than almost every keyboard in that case.  

[MathOfInsects]

22 minutes ago, Sam Mullins said:

Or (as I suggested to them many years ago), simply turn the LED's off when in "arbitrary split" mode.  Wouldn't be any different than almost every keyboard in that case.  

Yep. They are handy, but nowhere near as handy as setting my own damn split points.

[Stephen Fortner]

Eric thanks for your thoughtful response! I haven’t spent much time on the Stage 3 at all, though after reading your post I did look up some videos on the A-B panel button. So, basically, you have two sets of front panel settings per Program. Lots of Arturia plug-ins have this as well. From what you and MathOfInsects say it seems like this is the first Stage (or any Nord?) to address the section level and the part-within-a-section level from the same panel, without having to flip from one mode to another.

 

Math, I feel ya on the split points thing. I mean, there are enough of them that I can more than manage, but for a pro instrument at this price point, players should be able to choose something besides a B/C or E/F split if they want.

[Stephen Fortner]

Main Upgrades versus Nord Stage 3

 

With the above in mind, let’s look to the main ways the Stage 4 improves upon the Stage 3. Aside from the multi-timbral capability we’ve been discussing, one of the biggest things that strikes me is the Synth section. The Stage 3’s synth section was basically the engine of the Nord Lead A1, the closest thing the company makes to an entry-level product. It’s multi-mode “smart” oscillator is powerful, but it’s nothing like a Nord Wave 2.

 

I reviewed the Wave 2 in this thread a couple of years back, so you may find it worth a look to review just how powerful the Wave 2 is. Point being, in the Stage 4’s synth engine you’re getting essentially three-quarters of a Wave 2. That is, the W2 has four parts/layers and the Stage 4 synth has three. Each of those layers can function in either of two modes: Samples or ‘Analog.’ Samples are your all-purpose keymapped multisamples spanning just about all acoustic and electric instrument types. I put ‘analog’ in quotes because it actually encompasses four further modes selected using the left soft knob beneath the Synth section’s dedicated display: virtual analog, harmonic FM, inharmonic FM, and wavetable. Samples mode can load content from the Nord Sample Library, and the memory allocated for this has been expanded from 480MB to 1GB. We’ll leave the rest of the Synth section for its own more detailed post.

 

The Piano section is more or less unchanged, except for the aforementioned true dual layers on the Stage 4 instead of switchable A-B settings on the Stage 3. You still select the piano type (acoustic, electric, Clav, etc.) with that round-robin selection button, then call up further variations with the dial below. The other big deal here is support for the version 2 iterations of the Nord Triple Pedal and Sustain Pedal, and the addition of a dedicated input for the triple pedal.

 

The Organ section now features physical drawbars with LED ladders on all sizes of the Stage 4. With the Stage 3, only the Compact model gave you real drawbars, albeit with no LEDs; the 76- and 88-key weighted models had LEDs with those up down “drawbuttons” hailing from the original Electro. They were the one thing I actively disliked about my Electro 2. Nord says the Leslie simulation is improved in the Stage 4, and we’ll evaluate that claim in a post dedicated to the Organ section.

 

Speaking of keyboards, all three versions of the Stage 4 now boast triple-sensor actions. The application here is that presumably the sound engine can interpret subtle timing and velocity differences between the sensors on any key as they register a key strike, then manifest that in the particular harmonic profile of, say, a piano note, adding to realism.

 

Effects have been supercharged, especially in terms of routing. Where on the Stage 3, you could assign each effect sub-section (Delay, Modulation, Reverb, etc.) to a different instrument section (Organ, Piano, or Synth), on the Stage 4 the entire effects complement has an independent instance for each layer within a section — except for the Organ, whose A and B layers share the same instance. So we have Modulation 1, Modulation 2, Amp Sim / EQ, Compressor, Delay, and Reverb subsections on the panel. All of that has six separate instances. Not just switchable settings — separate simultaneous signal paths. (Send and return? What’s that?)

 

The Delay, Compressor, and Reverb may quickly be toggled to Global mode so that the current settings apply to all active sections and layers at once. In the Mod 1 subsection, there’s also a new “Pump” effect that simulates a sidechain compressor keyed to a kick drum for that dance floor sound that always made me feel like I was having inner ear issues, even when I was an appropriate age to like it.

 

There’s a lot more to the new Effects section which, again, we’ll get into in a dedicated post.

 

Hope this has been a good summary of improvements. We’ll dig into the Organ section in my next post, because if there’s one thing I know about the MPN forums, it’s that we never get tired of talking about B-3 and Leslie simulation. Heck, I’ve been talking about it for 35 years and haven’t stopped questing. See you tomorrow!

[allan_evett]

I've been a Stage user since 2006, but to clarify: a hardcore Stage user since the Stage 3 came out. My original 76-key Stage and Stage 2 were somewhat secondary in my rigs then. 

 

The improvements in the Stage 4 are impressive and helpful, especially the addition of a 3-zone Wave 2 engine and greatly expanded effects options. Having spent a few days back in 2021 exploring a Wave 2 (courtesy of RedKey, here), I was intrigued to learn of its slightly modified presence in the Stage 4. The Wave 2 is a fun and extremely powerful synth. 

 

As discussed above, the split-point design is a concern. It was a mildly aggravating challenge to discover that limitation on the Stage 2 in 2012, then learn to work around it on the Stage 3 in 2017. But it was clearly a "What the Squat?" moment upon discovering the Stage 4's split layout remains largely unchanged.  The other thing that puzzled me a bit was the lack of a 76-key option for the Stage 4. Those of you who have been on this KC journey with me since 2009 are likely aware of my 76-key 'Goldilocks-size' fixation. It provides lots of up-top real estate for second-tier of a multi-keys rig, yet can stand well on its own for single keyboard gigs. Those three extra keys have always been super-helpful to me.

 

I played a Stage 4 when out in Fort Wayne a couple weeks ago, and clearly get all the interest it's generating. Looking forward to learning more as this thread progresses.

 

 

[MathOfInsects]

19 hours ago, Stephen Fortner said:

Math, I feel ya on the split points thing. I mean, there are enough of them that I can more than manage, but for a pro instrument at this price point, players should be able to choose something besides a B/C or E/F split if they want.

The thing is, of all the issues, this would seem like the dead-easiest to fix. Just do a software tweak that lets those of us who want it, do it. It's two half steps in either direction, right? None of us who want this, much care about the LEDs. If they did nothing other than let you move the split two half steps up or down if you wanted to, they would convert a whole lot of us who can't see upgrading a really nice keyboard without addressing their (my) biggest complaint about it. What in the world is their sticking point on this?

[Stephen Fortner]

HI friends! Still writing up the organ section in the Stage 4, which I hope to have done today. Meanwhile, I was struck with what’s either a genius or a batshit crazy idea (maybe both) which I posted in the KC: MPN members collaborate on the biggest and most authoritative Leslie simulation roundup ever. CLONK IT

[Stephen Fortner]

Organ Section Part 1 — Everything but the Leslie

 

 

The Organ section of the Stage 4 has two parts and six organ models: B3, Vox, Farfisa, Pipe1, Pipe2, and B3 Bass, selected by Nord’s usual round-robin button. All organ models are lay-two-forearms-across-the-keys fully polyphonic.

 

Importantly, you can select different organ models for parts A and B. You can have the Leslie simulation on any model, but both parts share it.

 

The B3 model is of course where the majority of players will spend most of their time, but labels for the drawbars’ alternate behavior in Vox and Farfisa modes are printed in two rows above the drawbars, with the B3 footages below. In Farfisa mode, the drawbars become on/off stop tabs for the various voices.

 

Speaking of drawbars, they’re not merely smooth faders with drawbar-shaped caps; they have just the right amount of click to feel like the “smooth” drawbars on vintage Hammond organs beginning with the B-3 and C-3.

 

 

I’ll assume we’re all familiar with what pipe-equivalent pitches B-3 drawbars produce, but the user manual has handy diagrams relating these to a keyboard graphic to illustrate what pitches they trigger in each mode. It has similar diagrams for the Farfisa and Vox. I’m gonna do a quick overview of the non-B3 models first, then get to the main course.

 

Farfisa:

 

-       Stops: Bass 16, String 16, Flute 8, Oboe 8, Trumpet 8, Flute 4, String 4, 2-2/3

-       Harmonic Percussion: not available

-       Vibrato/Chorus has four options: light/slow, light/fast, heavy/slow, heavy/fast. Vibrato is shared by parts A and B.

 

Vox:

 

-       Drawbars: The Stage 4 makes all the drawbars for both manuals of the original Super Continental available for both parts A and B, but provides this diagram so you can use only those corresponding to the desired manual:

-

 

-       As on the original, Roman numerals refer to a mixture of frequencies. The rightmost drawbar sets the balance between sine and sawtooth character for all the other drawbars.

-       Harmonic Percussion: not available

-       Vibrato/Chorus has three options: original, less, and more

 

Pipe 1 and 2:

 

-       Drawbars: Same pitches as the B3 model, and variable like a B-3, not just on/off.

-       Harmonic Percussion: not available

-       Vibrato/Chorus: Doesn’t add any sort of vibrato, but switches to a model with less precise tuning between the pipes, resulting in slight chorus effects between seemingly random frequencies

-       Pipe 1 has an immediate attack and thus sounds almost like the B-3 model, but without key click, tonewheel leakage, etc.

-       Pipe 2 has a softer attack and more closely imitates the principal tibia rank of a pipe organ

 

B-3:

 

Okay, now let’s talk about the B-3, which is the reason most of us are here. Drawbar for drawbar, it’s hard to fault this model for, well, anything. The drawbar tones sound right to my ears. So does the Harmonic Percussion, which has the correct triggering behavior (it had better, right?). The Vibrato/Chorus is tasty, but the C3 position could stand to be a bit deeper if my memory of many vintage Hammonds I’ve known is accurate. Vibrato/Chorus can be set independently for parts A and B.

 

The Sound menu, accessed by pressing Shift-2 on the panel’s center section, houses a couple of parameters for which the organ section lacks dedicated controls: the all-important key click produced by the organ’s key contacts, and a choice of three tonewheel models with progressively more grunge and leakage: Clean, Vintage 1, and Vintage 2. Key click is not continuously variable as of the firmware I’m working with (v 0.98); there are only low and high options. There are also low and high settings in the Sound menu for the organ key trigger point — low matches that of the Piano and Synth sections and high raises the point in the key dip. Some organists find this adds an edge of authenticity in terms of the feel of a vintage Hammond.

 

For any model, the Preset button toggles whether you’re playing the preset as stored in the program, or the live settings of the drawbars and other controls in the Organ section. (In the center section, you can hit a button that lets you dial through only Organ — or other section — presets instead of changing the multi-timbral program for all sections.) Hitting Shift-Preset matches the Preset settings to the physical drawbar positions. Note then when you’re in “live” (non-preset) operation, the LED ladders all turn off to let you know.

 

B3 Bass:

 

I saved this for the end because it’s sort of an adjunct to the B3 model. In this mode, the first two drawbars become the pair of pedal drawbars on a vintage Hammond: 16 and 8 feet. Except they kinda don’t. Maybe this is due to a pre-1.0 firmware version, but I found that the second drawbar was actually pulling a mixture of tones. I know — the pedal drawbars are supposed to produce harmonically richer sounds than the more-or-less sine waves of the drawbars for the manuals, but this was a bit too much to be accurate. In particular I was hearing to much of the fifth.

 

Well, this post feels like it’s been a bit dry, just an overview of the Organ section’s features and a few first impressions. Could be I’m tired. Over the weekend we’re going to have more fun, digging into the Leslie simulation with some audio examples. This may be controversial, but for the aesthetic and emotional experience most of us want from the B-3 sound, I’ve always felt that the rotary simulation is 75 percent or more of the battle. I’ve put sounds from my original DX7 through a real Leslie, Vent, and Dynacord CLS-222 (wish I still had mine) and they had depth and balls. On the other hand, a poor rotary simulation takes me out of the song immediately, even if applied to a perfectly modeled organ.

[Stephen Fortner]

HI friends,

 

Working on writing up the rotary effect section for you. In the meantime here’s the first audio example I dashed off for the rotary simulation. Just some fat major-seventh chords.

 

Full drawbars, toggling rotary back and forth, no vibrato-chorus:

 

 

 

Full drawbars, toggling rotary back and forth, C3 chorus:

 

 

 

[nursers]

7 hours ago, Stephen Fortner said:

HI friends,

 

Working on writing up the rotary effect section for you. In the meantime here’s the first audio example I dashed off for the rotary simulation. Just some fat major-seventh chords.

 

Full drawbars, toggling rotary back and forth, no vibrato-chorus:

 

 

 

Full drawbars, toggling rotary back and forth, C3 chorus:

 

 

 

Thanks for posting these, I only have the Electro 5D I used to own to compare to, but I'm liking what I'm hearing..... It's been great seeing all the in-depth work on this!

[Stephen Fortner]

Rotary Simulation

 

The rotary simulation on the Stage 4 is up there with the better ones that are built into clonewheel organs.

 

In Nord fashion, it keeps the parameters tidy compared to simulations that let you tweak every little detail of rotor acceleration, mic technique distance, and the like. In the hands of a Jim Alfredson or David Weiser, that kind of depth can be very useful for designing a precise virtual Leslie in your mind’s ear. In my hands, it offers me just enough rope to hang myself, so I kind of like the Nord’s approach.

 

We’re in an early firmware version, so all of this may expand. Panel controls include on/off for the organ section, a Drive knob, Stop (brake), and Slow/Fast, which also has a dedicated ¼-inch input around back. A couple of notable things:

 

-       Drive doesn’t add as much buzz and hair as some other sims. It’s max setting is crunchy but relatively civilized, like so:

-       

 

 

-       Shift-stop lets you select where the rotors park when braked: free, front center, front left, front right, back center, back left, or back right. This is cool if you’re going for that Brian Auger sound and want consistent frequency response when the rotors aren’t moving.

 

The rest of the rotary parameters are in the sound menu. These are the pages, followed by the parameter name, followed by the values for that parameter as of firmware version 0.98.

 

7: Rotary Speaker Type (122, 122 close)

8: Bass Rotor Speed (low, normal, high)

9: Bass Rotor Acceleration (low, normal, high)

10: Treble Horn Speed (low, normal, high)

11: Treble Horn Acceleration (low, normal, high)

 

That’s it. Nothing for stereo spread, nothing for mic distance, etc. The closest thing is the Type selection, which does appear to give a closer-miked setup on a 122. Here’s me starting with 122 then switching to 122 close then repeating the switch one more time:

 

 

 

 

Incidentally, the audio example in my previous post was recorded with the 122 type and everything set to “normal.”

 

Here’s that same registration, switching between regular and close again, with C3 chorus. You can hear the little pop where I turn the value dial.

 

 

 

 

Annnd let’s do a couple more full drawbars, 122 normal, everything else set to normal. Here’s no vibrato/chorus, rotary only:

 

 

 

 

Here’s the same with C3 chorus (Drive is back at zero on all these):

 

 

 

 

Next up, I’ll pull out some other clones and do some comparisons. This is not as structured as what we’re planning for the big simulation roundup; I just want to get it up here to put the NS4 in context. Want a registration or parameter combo I haven’t covered here? Just ask!

[mobi]

Besides finding uninspiring, the C/V of the NS4, (compared to other modern clones) there's another issue that bugs me a lot: Organ 1' drawbar doesn't get canceled when you turn Perc ON, I personally don't get why at least they add a menu option to engage or disengage this behavior (any seasoned organ player will notice that).

 

[Stephen Fortner]

Mobi let me check that. There’s gotta be a menu option somewhere … 

[MathOfInsects]

Nord takes some heat for that perc/1' drawbar issue, and it's true that it's an "inauthentic" touch, but then I always end up wondering...so? If Hammond COULD have found a way not to lose that drawbar and still have perc, they most certainly would have. I don't know if this was an intentional override or an oversight on Nord's part, but it doesn't bother me a bit. If anything, it's a cool little bonus. 

[Stephen Fortner]

Well, I’ll be damned. I thought even my old Electro 2 did the 1' drawbar cancel with percussion active but I could be having a Mandela effect memory. As of firmware 0.98, yeah, there’s no menu item I can find that toggles this. In practice I don’t think it would affect my playing at all, but from an authenticity standpoint, it’s a weird and presumably easily fixable omission.

[jerrythek]

On 5/16/2023 at 10:11 AM, Stephen Fortner said:

-       Shift-stop lets you select where the rotors park when braked: free, front center, front left, front right, back center, back left, or back right. This is cool if you’re going for that Brian Auger sound and want consistent frequency response when the rotors aren’t moving.

Sorry, brother, but Brian's sound isn't a stopped Leslie. It's NO Leslie...

 

Back to our regularly scheduled programming...

[mobi]

On 5/23/2023 at 2:59 AM, Stephen Fortner said:

it’s a weird and presumably easily fixable omission.

 

Maybe you can put some pressure on Clavia's side for fixing this, AFAIK, none of the Stage iterations had this feature, and you can bet it's been requested many times.

 

[Stephen Fortner]

Jerry, I do know about Brian’s rig with an amp head but I could swear I’ve seen him play through a braked Leslie at the Baked Potato. Guess we could ask him … 

 

Ok back to my audio comparison. It took some setup but getting there! 

[AWkeys]

Hello Stephen,

 

Thanks so much for your detailed review! As a long time Nord guy myself (since the Electro 2 and through every Stage iteration), I am looking forward to you getting into the program and MIDI management (ie, the center section) of the S4. I still have two NS2's that are my main giggers and the NS3 for special gigs where there is always a setlist. Why? First, they removed "pending load" in the redesign from the 2 to the 3, and that is one of the most useful ways to get around the programs in the Nord, especially when you are on a gig and people are calling off songs. I know I could manage this function from an iPad hooked up to the Nord and Gig Performer or whatever app, but that's just a PITA to have to think about all the time, especially for the many gigs where I don't need to bring an iPad.

 

Another curious and major issue thing I came upon with the NS3, below. Someone posted about this in the "List of Nord Stage 3 known issues/bugs" thread:

 

"Found a couple of big MIDI problems and omissions from NS3:
* Sending Program Change via MIDI is now only possible through the Global Channel, whereas on the NS2 this could be done via the Slot/Panel. If using the NS3 with an external board eg. Korg Kronos, they must be set to the same MIDI channel, which massively limits the MIDI capabilities"

 

In my experience this meant I had to execute program changes directly from the NS3 in "Song" mode and not from the much, much better Setlist mode in my Kronos. Really hoping Nord fixed this in the new Stage 4.

 

[DJkeys]

On 5/9/2023 at 7:44 PM, Stephen Fortner said:

Eric thanks for your thoughtful response! I haven’t spent much time on the Stage 3 at all, though after reading your post I did look up some videos on the A-B panel button. So, basically, you have two sets of front panel settings per Program. Lots of Arturia plug-ins have this as well. From what you and MathOfInsects say it seems like this is the first Stage (or any Nord?) to address the section level and the part-within-a-section level from the same panel, without having to flip from one mode to another.

 

Math, I feel ya on the split points thing. I mean, there are enough of them that I can more than manage, but for a pro instrument at this price point, players should be able to choose something besides a B/C or E/F split if they want.

Hi, Steven-

 

This new architecture was introduced in the Nord Wave 2 minus the Piano and Organ sections-

 

-dj

[TomKittel]

On 5/8/2023 at 8:41 PM, MathOfInsects said:

It's literally the difference between purchasing and not purchasing the Stage 4 for me, since if I am going to pop for the upgrade, I want my primary concern about the current board addressed. Otherwise it's sweet and clever improvements over a board I don't have any problems with on its own.

 Same is true for the ommission of the song mode.

[AnotherScott]

On 5/8/2023 at 2:41 PM, MathOfInsects said:

If you're able to send feedback, please convey that even a software fix that lets me set the split myself and then changes the color of the LED to indicate that it is approximate, would be better than the current state.

 

I don't know whether the LEDs they're using are capable of different colors, but regardless, my suggested solution for this is that the LEDs blink to indicate "approximate." This is consistent with what many of us have long experienced from tuning analog synths... when the LED is solid, it's exactly right,, and a slow blink indicates that it's "close" and a faster blink indicates that its farther from its target.

 

 

On 5/9/2023 at 10:44 PM, Stephen Fortner said:

I feel ya on the split points thing. I mean, there are enough of them that I can more than manage, but for a pro instrument at this price point, players should be able to choose something besides a B/C or E/F split if they want.

 

I can usually get by with those split points, but the one that really bugged me was that, when playing organ, I need a high C, and I don't need anything above a high C. So with highest split point activated,  I'd want the highest C of the 7x models to be included in the organ sound (instead of stopping at the B), which would then make the (otherwise organ-useless to me) very top keys available for things like triggering a custom sample.

 

All that said, the NS4 introduces a possible workaround. As mentioned, "each part/layer within each section...is addressable on a separate MIDI channel." This means that, unlike before, one could presumably employ Local Off and route MIDI Out to an external app (Camelot Pro, Keystage, Gig Performer, etc.) and then back into the board, which should allow you to address each sound over whatever arbitrary key range you might want, yes?

[Sam Mullins]

As a former Stage 2/3 owner, I can say the complaint about split points goes back years and I wouldn't hold my breath.  I suggested 10 years ago that they simply allow a mode where the split points are arbitrary and the lights are off (like many of us do with most keyboards).  

[MathOfInsects]

After literally decades of complaints, it feels like it's become a matter of some kind of principle for them at this point not to just accommodate one of the primary necessities in something that aspires to be people's one-board solution. 

 

It's the dumbest of all hills for them to die on. It's not like there are two good options and they had to choose one. No one on the planet is asking for fewer split points. The two states are, "I can work with this stupid limitation," or "I can't work with that stupid limitation." Is that the threshold they're aiming for?

[CraigT]

I dig the lighted split points.  Also, you can have them be hard splits (green light) or overlapping splits (red or orange light) that transition over a certain number of keys.

[AnotherScott]

No one is suggesting that they ditch the lights. Just that there be at least an option to be able to override the fixed split points. Or, considering the price of a Nord Stage 4, maybe they could put LEDs over each key, like Native Instruments does on their Komplete-S controllers. Then they could still indicate the splits with lights while also giving total freedom of where those splits can be.

[SamuelBLupowitz]

On 5/22/2023 at 8:59 PM, Stephen Fortner said:

Well, I’ll be damned. I thought even my old Electro 2 did the 1' drawbar cancel with percussion active but I could be having a Mandela effect memory. As of firmware 0.98, yeah, there’s no menu item I can find that toggles this. In practice I don’t think it would affect my playing at all, but from an authenticity standpoint, it’s a weird and presumably easily fixable omission.

There is definitely a setting you can toggle for this on my Electro 4D. Just double-checked the manual to make sure. "Perc 9 Drawbar Cancel" is option 8 on the B3 menu on that board.