Studiologic Numa Compact 2x

[QCV]

hello everyone âï¸. help set up your synthesizer to play all four sounds simultaneously. the upper and lower sounds are easy to change. but I can't figure out how to change the sounds at the midi 3 and midi 4 inputs. I connect the Arthuria beatsteep pro sequencer to these channels. and two different patches are played in the synthesizer, but I don"t know how to change them. I did not find anything about this in the instructions. in the synthesizer menu, I did not find how to change the patches that are played from an external keyboard or sequencer.

I haven't done it, but it looks like all you have to do is send Program Changes on MIDI channels 3 and 4. The exact PCs you have to send for each of the sounds is listed in the appendix of the manual, uner "Sounds List."

 

 

I understood you . but if there is no computer and only a sequencer. , but even if you send from your computer. how ? which Commands through which program?

[AnotherScott]

I understood you . but if there is no computer and only a sequencer. , but even if you send from your computer. how ? which Commands through which program?

I've never used the Beatstep Pro, but according to its web page it can "send MIDI CC, note data, program changes" -- so you do not need a computer to send Program Changes.

 

But if you wanted to do it from yur computer, the answer to "which program" is that any program with a MIDI sequencer should be able to do it, as well as programs designed for patch management like Gig Performer, Camelot Pro, Mainstage (Mac), or Cantabile (PC). (The first two are cross-platform.) There are also iOS and Android apps that can do it.

 

As for which Program Change commands to send, as I said, the Program Change info for each sound is listed in the appendix of the Numa's manual, under "Sounds List."

[modalmojo]

Super interested in the portable 88-key NC2X for situations requiring acoustic sounds only.

 

So strictly in terms of bread and butter acoustic sounds, especially Piano+Pad, Strings, are the sound qualities on par with workstations like Montage/MODX?

[ChazKeys]

Revisiting this thread as I'm interested in this board.

 

https://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/3023540/re-studiologic-numa-compact-2x#Post3023540

 

This post seems to suggest that you can program 2 independent slider CCs for each Midi Zone. Looks like that in the manual too. So what happens when you move the slider? Does it send both CCs? OR - if Zone A has the focus, does it just send the CC value programmed for that Zone? Can any 2X owners confirm this behaviour.

 

You can see how useful the second option would be - you could just map Upper and Lower drawbars to Zone A and B. You just need to be able to switch the focus.

[Dave Number Four]

Hi Chaz, I just tested this on my 2x, and it does work -- except that to switch the focus, you seem to need to first push the zone that's currently lit to turn it off, then push the other zone to turn it on. Otherwise you'll have both zones lit, and it will send the CCs for both zones.

 

As you might have gathered from this thread, the midi implementation of this keyboard is a little weird, as is the user interface in general, so I might be missing some way to do it with just one press.

[ChazKeys]

Hi Chaz, I just tested this on my 2x, and it does work -- except that to switch the focus, you seem to need to first push the zone that's currently lit to turn it off, then push the other zone to turn it on. Otherwise you'll have both zones lit, and it will send the CCs for both zones.

 

As you might have gathered from this thread, the midi implementation of this keyboard is a little weird, as is the user interface in general, so I might be missing some way to do it with just one press.

Thanks for testing this out. I can live with that and as you say there may be a way of doing it with one press. The 2x looks like really good value for money if it can double as a 2 channel drawbar/midi controller.

[Dr88s]

I"m not sure if I should include this question in the larger thread or start my own; my apologies if it shouldn"t be here.

 

A few weeks back I was lugging around a heavy keyboard at practice and one of my bandmembers jokingly asked me why I didn"t just go with a controller and Mac running Mainstage.

 

Though I"ve tried PC-based VST hosts in the past and hated the experience, I have never used a Mac or Mainstage before and knowing how light and portable the Numa Compact 2X is, I decided to at least look into it. I bought myself an older but reasonably spec"ed used MacBook Pro, downloaded Mainstage, connected the 2X via an old USB cable I had lying around, and voila! It seems to work great with far less latency than I ever experienced with any of my PCs. So far so good.

 

The next step was trying to figure out how to map the 9 sliders to Mainstage"s drawbars. After much trial and even more error, using uhoh7"s instructions earlier in this thread, in zone edit mode I assigned a different unused MIDI cc to each slider (cc 20-28) and used the MIDI learn to map each. Eureka! It works perfectly over USB. So far I"m incredibly happy.

 

The next step was trying to program stick 2 (the mod stick) to control Leslie rotor speed. While I got this to work with MIDI learn, the mod wheel also unexpected changes a handful of the drawbars and for the life of me I can"t figure out why.

 

I went through every single routing option and tried to delete or disable anything having to do with the mod wheel with no luck. The mod wheel continues to (appropriately) toggle the Leslie speed but also pulls out some drawbars and pushes in some other ones and it makes absolutely no sense to me.

 

Does anyone who"s used the Compact 2X or Mainstage (or ideally both) have any suggestions to shed some light on this most frustrating roadblock?

[JoeD]

Hi Dr88s,

 

Not sure it this will help you, but if you're using the built-in Vintage B3 that comes w/Mainstage, check the "Morph" defaults under "Options". I believe the MIDI controller to smoothly crossfade (morph) between the presets of the upper manual defaults is Modwheel (hence moves the drawbars). If you change this to "off" or any other CC in the pop-up menu, that may resolve the problem you're having.

 

I was using exactly the setup you described, but I recently switched to a YC88 with an iPad Pro running Camelot Pro. I still have the Compact 2x and plan to try it with the iPad running Camelot Pro for what may be an ideal light rig.

[Dr88s]

Hi Dr88s,

 

Not sure it this will help you, but if you're using the built-in Vintage B3 that comes w/Mainstage, check the "Morph" defaults under "Options". I believe the MIDI controller to smoothly crossfade (morph) between the presets of the upper manual defaults is Modwheel (hence moves the drawbars). If you change this to "off" or any other CC in the pop-up menu, that may resolve the problem you're having.

 

I was using exactly the setup you described, but I recently switched to a YC88 with an iPad Pro running Camelot Pro. I still have the Compact 2x and plan to try it with the iPad running Camelot Pro for what may be an ideal light rig.

 

Joe D,

 

I"ll only be able to test it out tonight, but this seems like an excellent candidate to explain my problem. The drawbars shift gradually as the mod wheel is engaged, very much like the morph feature works on my Nord stage. This is almost certainly the issue.

 

It"s actually a pretty useful function. I"m wondering if I can use a sustain pedal or other foot controller to assign to rotary speed instead and keep the mod wheel doing the morph?â¦

[Dr88s]

but if you're using the built-in Vintage B3 that comes w/Mainstage, check the "Morph" defaults under "Options". I believe the MIDI controller to smoothly crossfade (morph) between the presets of the upper manual defaults is Modwheel (hence moves the drawbars). If you change this to "off" or any other CC in the pop-up menu, that may resolve the problem you're having.

 

Indeed this was the problem and you pointed me in the direction to fix it.

It took me a while to find the 'Options" screen but there it was.

Thanks!!!

[JoeD]

Glad it worked out!

[LarsHarner]

Hello, I was thinking of getting this (hoping to get a 15% or 20% discount calling one of the big box retailers I use). How would this be as a replacement for a Yamaha P125- I know I would be getting semi weighted vs the Yamaha GHS.

How would the speakers be for a living room small room? I liked how the pianos sounded, to confirm if I add on the free downloads would I still have space in the keyboard? thanks

[brenner13]

Last month Studiologic dropped 14 more new sounds for Numa Compact 2 & 2X. Several new synth pads, a new upright piano and a tack piano, and banjo, mandolin and classical harp. Hope to give them a try tonight.

[ElmerJFudd]

If you weren’t using the onboard sounds but rather as a controller.  Would you rather have the C2X or a Numa Organ 2? 

[AnotherScott]

Numa Organ 2 has better action, C2X is a better controller. As a controller, the Organ is only single zone, and its drawbar CCs are fixed so any mapping has to be done on the receiving side, and it has no storable presets for sending program changes, or anything else. NC2X has definable sliders, two zones, aftertouch, and 100 user presets which can store program changes and other parameters for each of the two zones.

[wd8dky]

A few new sounds are available:

 

 

[funkyhammond]

I'm looking at possibly picking up a Compact 2x and wondering about some of the complaints in this thread regarding the touchy action. My main purpose for the board will be organ and electric pianos. I don't care if the acoustic pianos don't respond well. I had the same issue with my old Nord Electro 2 because that action was too light for acoustic pianos (they made the springs a bit stiffer in later models). As long as I can get a decent amount of dynamic control for electric pianos, that would be fine.

 

Also, any common defects to watch out for in this model if I'm picking one up used?

 

Thanks

[LRexroat]

Been using my NC2X about a year now. Haven’t really done much midi work with it, and really a midi novice in general. Decided to hook up my Axiom 49 to the NC2X with a midi cable to see what I can get to happen, and something is happening but I don’t know what or how to control it. Been searching for answers to no avail so here I am. Here’s the setup: Axiom 49 midi out to NC2X midi in, NC2X has zone A on ch 2 and zone B on ch 1, using P99 set up as Jazz Flute split to left and Banjo split to right. If I have the Axiom on channels 1, 2, or 16 I get the programmed sounds for patch 99 from the NC2X as expected. If I put the Axiom on channels 3 or 4 I get other sounds. Where are the other sounds coming from? As I understand it midi-controllers have no sounds of their own. 

[AnotherScott]

NC2X is actually 4-part multi-timbral. The sounds on channel 1 and 2 are triggered from its own keys. The sounds on channels 3 and 4 can only be triggered externally. 

[D. Gauss]

On 11/26/2021 at 2:36 PM, LarsHarner said:

How would this be as a replacement for a Yamaha P125- I know I would be getting semi weighted vs the Yamaha GHS.

How would the speakers be for a living room small room? I liked how the pianos sounded, to confirm if I add on the free downloads would I still have space in the keyboard? thanks

you want the 2x AND the 125. you can do a lot with that combo.

[LRexroat]

3 hours ago, AnotherScott said:

NC2X is actually 4-part multi-timbral. The sounds on channel 1 and 2 are triggered from its own keys. The sounds on channels 3 and 4 can only be triggered externally. 

Yes, thank you, I understand that but the only thing attached to my NC2X is the Axiom 49 midi controller and something is being transmitted on channels 3 and 4. Maybe there is more to the midi controller than I realize. 

[AnotherScott]

3 minutes ago, LRexroat said:

Yes, thank you, I understand that but the only thing attached to my NC2X is the Axiom 49 midi controller and something is being transmitted on channels 3 and 4. Maybe there is more to the midi controller than I realize. 

 You previous post said, "If I put the Axiom on channels 3 or 4 I get other sounds. Where are the other sounds coming from?" The answer is, they are coming from the Numa, they are the sounds the Numa is associating with channels 3 and 4. As I said, NC2X is 4-part multi-timbral, and the sounds on channels 3 and 4 are triggered externally (in this case, from your Axiom, which you are setting to transmit on channel 3 and 4).

[LRexroat]

49 minutes ago, AnotherScott said:

 You previous post said, "If I put the Axiom on channels 3 or 4 I get other sounds. Where are the other sounds coming from?" The answer is, they are coming from the Numa, they are the sounds the Numa is associating with channels 3 and 4. As I said, NC2X is 4-part multi-timbral, and the sounds on channels 3 and 4 are triggered externally (in this case, from your Axiom, which you are setting to transmit on channel 3 and 4).

… triggered... 🤦🏻‍♀️ Sorry, that just clicked. Is there a way to find out what I’m triggering? More to the point, I’m wanting to trigger an organ, like all drawbars organ. When I connect my Axiom to Logic, I can see where programs 15 thru 20 are organs but only 19 and 20 will trigger an organ sound and those particular sounds aren’t usable in classic rock. 15 thru 18 aren't triggering any sounds. Is this something I need to pursue from the Axiom side? Edit: Found the general program chart for Axiom and it does list a Drawbar organ at 15 so now to figure out why it isn’t triggering similar on the Numa Compact 2x. Thank you for helping me figure out what I needed. 

[LRexroat]

Learning so much from this forum, and particularly this thread. You guys are great! Still can’t get my midi-controller (attached to NC2X using ch 3 or 4) to trigger organ sounds at programs 16-18. The rest of the program #s trigger sounds but at 16-18 there is nothing. 19 does trigger its organ sound but that is the only one. I don’t have any other midi-controllers to test it with so I can’t figure out if there is a problem with my midi-controller or the NC2X. Also, is there a way to transmit/ trigger notes/sounds but not send program change information from the midi-controller?  I don’t want my Axiom changing the program on my NC2X.

[Collie]

I have a Numa Compact 2X and I’m trying to use it as a controller keyboard, but it has some annoying behaviour.  Whenever I move the mod joystick all the way to the right so it sends the maximum value 127 on CC01 (modulation wheel coarse control) it also sends a single message with value 127 on CC33 (modulation wheel fine control).  It does not send CC33 for any other position of the mod joystick, only when CC01 reaches 127 it sends a single CC33 message with value 127.  It never sends CC33 value 0, so if another synth uses CC33 for some other purpose it suddenly jumps to the maximum value and remains there unless the patch on the other synth is reloaded.

My Novation Peak synth module uses CC33 for controlling how much LFO1 affects the oscillator 1 wave shape (the position in the wavetable).  So I start playing my Peak via the keyboard on the NC2X and using the mod joystick, the Peak patch sounds as intended until I move the NC2X mod joystick all the way to the right, and then suddenly the sound of the patch changes and does not return to normal until I reload the patch on the Peak.
I did some testing while monitoring the midi data being sent by the NC2X and found that the same thing also happens if you are using an expression pedal, it normally sends only CC11 (expression coarse control) but whenever it reaches value 127 it also sends a single CC43 (expression fine control) message with value 127, and it never sends any other values for CC43.
The sliders behave the same way, so if you set one of the sliders to transmit CC01 it will also transmit CC33 when the value reaches 127, and if you set one of the sliders to transmit CC11 it will also transmit CC43 when the value reaches 127.
For those of us who own synths that respond to CC33 or CC43 for purposes other than NRPN fine control of modulation or expression, it would be best if this NC2X behaviour could be removed in a firmware update, or at least made optional. At the moment I have to try to avoid ever moving the NC2X mod joystick all the way to the right when playing my Peak, which is a nuisance.

[allan_evett]

After lots of listening, reading reviews, then spending an inordinate amount of time on this thread, I decided to take the plunge. One NC2X inbound from Fort Wayne.  

 

This all started with an idea last fall: "Let's get a self-contained keyboard I can use in the teaching space - both as a controller and for playing ideas back and forth from the studio-supplied digital piano.  I'd tried various sized controllers since 2016, but finally bought a Casio CT-S400 last fall - which had recently evolved into a CT-S500.  In addition to use for teaching, I'd started taking the Casio(s) out for rehearsals and small, grab 'n go gigs. But the limitations of 61-keys began to wear thin, especially with the recent trio gig I picked up (guitar-vocals, violin and keys) So an ultra light 88 has a strong appeal, and the relatively compact design of the NC2X will just fit in the teaching space. Thinking as well that it will work capably for small, solo piano gigs - especially when I download the new, Japanese grand sample. But I'm also under no illusion that this one will replace my YC88 or Stage 3, 76. For gigs with adequate staging and setup time those will remain my main choice.

 

The user manual is fairly straightforward, but I'm sure I'll still have questions for the experienced users here.

[brenner13]

Really hope it works for your needs. I’m still gigging with this as my piano/ep/pad/vox organ underneath a VR09 that does hammond and synth leads. I’ve just not been able to get along with the internal rotary on the Numa 2X so I’m still futzing with VB3m and B-3X on iOS being controlled by it…once I get that sorted out and reliable, the MODX7 just might finally replace the VR09 in the gig rig. 

 

If the sounds and action work out, I can highly recommend the Studiologic proprietary case for the Numa Compact 2/2X. The backpack straps are wonderful.

[obxa]

Deleted- wrong section

[allan_evett]

10 hours ago, brenner13 said:

Really hope it works for your needs. I’m still gigging with this as my piano/ep/pad/vox organ underneath a VR09 that does hammond and synth leads. I’ve just not been able to get along with the internal rotary on the Numa 2X so I’m still futzing with VB3m and B-3X on iOS being controlled by it…once I get that sorted out and reliable, the MODX7 just might finally replace the VR09 in the gig rig. 

 

If the sounds and action work out, I can highly recommend the Studiologic proprietary case for the Numa Compact 2/2X. The backpack straps are wonderful.

The case was bundled in with the Numa Compact 2X. Definitely wanted that for ease of portability when I use the keyboard for next Saturday’s funky load-in - one of those that’s smack in through the middle of the crowd .

 

Yep, I’ve heard that the internal rotary is off-kilter. Might try one of the edits noted a few pages back in this thread. Or if needed, I could use my Lester K. Might be tempted to hook up B-3X on my phone or iPad. Curious as to how the NC2X>B-3X control setup works out for you. Keep me posted on that.

[HSS]

On 7/21/2022 at 7:12 PM, brenner13 said:

 I’ve just not been able to get along with the internal rotary on the Numa 2X

Same here.  After having the NC2X for 2 1/2 years, I've given up waiting for an update to improve its Leslie sim.