Mezzo Posted August 9, 2001 Share Posted August 9, 2001 Hi all! I spent half an hour testing the Nord Electro today, through headphones. Here's my first impression: Action: Good for organ, lousy for the other sounds. I thought it felt to "plastic". This was the 61 keys version. Sounds: It really sounded like a rhodes when playing ballads, but as I played more powerful it didn't respond with that fat sound you get from the real thing. Sounds nice with the phaser effect. Wurlitzer sounded like a wurlitzer, especially with that nice onboard tremolo effect. It might have been "angrier" when playing hard. Piano sounded more like an acoustic piano than most other digital pianos, which I thought was cool. Sounded good playing jazz..... CP piano sounded good to me....I've never played a real one Clav sounded good with the internal effects....haven't played a real one here either, but to me there's several synths with nice clavs. I was skeptical to the organ part, but I was surprised how easy it was to handle the drawbars. The buttons responded immediately like when you move the bars on a real organ. I'm not an expert when it comes to organs but for me it was one of the best sound simulations I've heard, if not the best, especially when turning on the leslie effect.....nice http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/cool.gif To my ears the onboard effects sounded great, and it made the electric pianos sound "alive". Real time control of frequency and amount made it easy spicing up your performance. +: Great collection of some extremely usable sounds, effects, leslie simulation, drawbar buttons (I know a couple of organ-players out there will disagree with me) http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/wink.gif -: Keys (I liked them for organ playing), missed some edge from the electric pianos Has anybody else tried it out? Would like to hear from you. This message has been edited by Mezzo on 08-09-2001 at 02:08 PM This message has been edited by Mezzo on 08-09-2001 at 04:24 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guestuserguestuser.com Posted August 10, 2001 Share Posted August 10, 2001 So, don't keep me in suspense! Did they use velocity-switching on the electric piano or acoustic piano patches? If so, how well was it implemented? Could you hear the velocity switch points, or did they subtly 'blend' from one layer to the next? This will be one of the first things I check out when I get a chance to play it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mezzo Posted August 10, 2001 Author Share Posted August 10, 2001 I have to be honest with you - I didn't pay much attention to that matter, or let me say it this way: I didn't notice the velocity-switching, which means they did a good job. At least let's hope so, or I would have to contact an ear specialist http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif I know what you're talking about. I recently owned the XV88 with the piano card, in which had this problem, big time!! What I did notice, by the way, was a change of timbre in the acoustic piano, as I played in the upper parts of the keyboard. It suddenly sounded a little nasal, and very acoustic!! Just like when you amplify an upright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwisniewski Posted August 10, 2001 Share Posted August 10, 2001 Mezzo, What do you use now instead of your XV-88? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwisniewski Posted August 10, 2001 Share Posted August 10, 2001 Actually, this is a better question, what do you think of controlling the Electro with the XV-88? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mezzo Posted August 10, 2001 Author Share Posted August 10, 2001 I got the Yamaha P80 just for the action and the piano sound. Of course I had to give up a lot of good sounds, including the keys of 60's and 70's, but it was worth it. I liked the action of the XV but the piano sounds were killing me. Controlling the Electro with the XV88 would be great for the electric and acoustic pianos. I guess it would be kind of heavy for the organ. I can only speak for myself, but I prefer lighter keys there. I guess Clavia discussed several options for the Electro's action. Imagine a two manual version of the Electro - with one weighted and one lighter action. That would have been a monster!! http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif This message has been edited by Mezzo on 08-09-2001 at 07:22 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Fortner Posted August 10, 2001 Share Posted August 10, 2001 Mezzo, where did you play this Electro ? I've been trying to locate one to try in the So Cal area, with no luck. Stephen Fortner Principal, Fortner Media Former Editor in Chief, Keyboard Magazine Digital Piano Consultant, Piano Buyer Magazine Industry affiliations: Antares, Arturia, Giles Communications, MS Media, Polyverse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Fortner Posted August 10, 2001 Share Posted August 10, 2001 Mezzo, where did you play this Electro ? I've been trying to locate one to try in the So Cal area, with no luck. Stephen Fortner Principal, Fortner Media Former Editor in Chief, Keyboard Magazine Digital Piano Consultant, Piano Buyer Magazine Industry affiliations: Antares, Arturia, Giles Communications, MS Media, Polyverse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 10, 2001 Share Posted August 10, 2001 I'm sorry guys, but I don't get this Nord Electro thing. I'm not a hard-core B3 guy but I know my way around the drawbars. It hits me that the Electro's button/LEDs miss the mark. You need to be able to grab a handful of drawbars at a time and very quickly adjust them. The Nord drawbar buttons are too cumbersome. Also the other buttons (Leslie, chorus, percussion) seem too small for performance playing. Based on the MP3s, here's my impression of the other sounds: Rhodes, very good; Clav, not great; CP70, OK; ac. piano, weak; Whurly, pretty good. None of them hit me as that much better/worse than what I can find on any number of PCM-based synths/modules. Here's the dilemma that I see for Nord. Anyone who is semi-serious about playing B3 style is going to go for something like the Korg C3-X. It's going to feel alot better and the sound is top-of-the-heap. For a player who is less of a purist, I don't understand why this keyboard would be attractive? For these guys, any of the available PCM-based B3s (or the Kurzweil KB3 mode) are satisfying. Without pitch bend/mod wheels this keyboard is of limited use as a master controller. In my studio space is at a premium. I can add rack modules all day long, but if I add a keyboard it had better be a killer. Personally, I'd go for a Korg C3X/Kurzweil PC2R combo. Signed, Confused in Seattle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mezzo Posted August 10, 2001 Author Share Posted August 10, 2001 Originally posted by SteveFortner: Mezzo, where did you play this Electro ? I've been trying to locate one to try in the So Cal area, with no luck. The Clavia company is swedish, and I live in Norway. I guess the shipping goes faster to the European countries, and especially Scandinavia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guestuserguestuser.com Posted August 10, 2001 Share Posted August 10, 2001 Originally posted by burningbusch@home.com: I'm sorry guys, but I don't get this Nord Electro thing. I'm not a hard-core B3 guy but I know my way around the drawbars. It hits me that the Electro's button/LEDs miss the mark. You need to be able to grab a handful of drawbars at a time and very quickly adjust them. The Nord drawbar buttons are too cumbersome. Also the other buttons (Leslie, chorus, percussion) seem too small for performance playing. Based on the MP3s, here's my impression of the other sounds: Rhodes, very good; Clav, not great; CP70, OK; ac. piano, weak; Whurly, pretty good. None of them hit me as that much better/worse than what I can find on any number of PCM-based synths/modules. Here's the dilemma that I see for Nord. Anyone who is semi-serious about playing B3 style is going to go for something like the Korg C3-X. It's going to feel alot better and the sound is top-of-the-heap. For a player who is less of a purist, I don't understand why this keyboard would be attractive? For these guys, any of the available PCM-based B3s (or the Kurzweil KB3 mode) are satisfying. Without pitch bend/mod wheels this keyboard is of limited use as a master controller. In my studio space is at a premium. I can add rack modules all day long, but if I add a keyboard it had better be a killer. Personally, I'd go for a Korg C3X/Kurzweil PC2R combo. Signed, Confused in Seattle. Well, you've got a point, but I would imagine there are a lot of guys like myself that fall somewhere between the "absolute B3 purist" and "guy who doesn't care that much what his B3 clone sounds like". If I were a total purist, yes, I'd get CX3 because that's the best clone available (in my opinion). But, in fact, I'm really a piano player who also doubles on B3 clone and synth. So, in fact, while B3 is very important to me, piano sounds are equally important. Naturally, the "ideal" board for me would be one that included the guts of a CX3, a P200, an Andromeda, a Triton, had a killer performance-related UI, 88-note weighted action, and weighed 35 lbs! But in the real world, you have to make choices. Yes, I want the best B3 sound I can get, but I also need piano sounds. The Electro could cover quite a few bases for me (in principle, I haven't actually played it yet). I wouldn't miss real drawbars because I'm not a real B3 player. However, I do want the best B3 and Leslie sound I can get. I want the best electric piano and acoustic piano sounds I can get, and I want a lightweight keyboard with weighted, or at least semi-weighted action. Electro fits the bill better than most. Does that help to exlain the Electro's attraction? Regarding the CX3/PC2r combo, that sounds pretty good, but the CX3 doesn't transmit aftertouch, and doesn't have pitch bend or mod wheel, I don't think, so it isn't really that much better than an Electro in the controller department. This message has been edited by guestuser@guestuser.com on 08-10-2001 at 08:39 AM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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