Nord, any (trusted) insight on feature to cost ratio?

[Wurlitzer]

This Japanese Kintsugi (embracing the damaged) is reflective of so many of us as persons.

This could be part of it, but for me, it’s not like that, it’s definitely about making something, creating something, that you are proud of, something that works, against all odds, making the most of things, I think it’s a good thing, it encourages imagination, inventiveness, if you have to think of work arounds, and, it also makes us really appreciate it when we are able to work with things that aren’t compromised or broken, but quite often, the broken, the work arounds, produce far more interesting results, than stuff that is working properly, hence the desire to stick with the broken and damaged.

I'm broken and damaged enough already without needing instruments that make it even worse.

[Arpangel]

I'm broken and damaged enough already without needing instruments that make it even worse.

No your not Wurly, it’s the others.

[jellyjim]

Thanks all, insights for sure and of course, trusted

The 'less is more' vibe of Nords is definitely part of the appeal for me (no menu diving, compact form factor, just the sounds you want) it's just a pity that doesn't extend to the recommended retail price

But I get the point about longevity/investment/quality etc

[Guest]

My G1 and G2ex are actually worth more now then they cost new!

[Guido3]

A real Rhodes, is a real Rhodes, it doesn’t need any romanticism, if you’re the right person, you don’t worry how much it weighs.

I agree with this 100%

I have just sold 3 x Nord boards. A Lead 4, Electro 5D (73 note) a Wave 2. As live boards, they are great. They sound wonderful and are easy to use. As boards to use at home, not so. As other posters have eluded to, there are other boards that can achieve the same for much less. I still have a Kronos 73 which will cover most bases live.

However, onto the real Rhodes debate…..

This is what I am buying with the money raised. Sure, I wouldn’t gig with one but they are becoming more and more rare to find and the prices are rocketing!! If I leave it much longer, a good one will be way out of my reach (I turned down a Jupiter 8 for £800).

Yes, my Electro 5D sounded great. The Rhodes was superb on it but it’s not the real thing. I can understand why people don’t want the real thing (cost of upkeep etc…..) but it will sit in my ‘studio’ with my Moog on top and I’m back in the 70’s playing my vintage funk!!

[Arpangel]

A real Rhodes, is a real Rhodes, it doesn’t need any romanticism, if you’re the right person, you don’t worry how much it weighs.

I agree with this 100%

I have just sold 3 x Nord boards. A Lead 4, Electro 5D (73 note) a Wave 2. As live boards, they are great. They sound wonderful and are easy to use. As boards to use at home, not so. As other posters have eluded to, there are other boards that can achieve the same for much less. I still have a Kronos 73 which will cover most bases live.

However, onto the real Rhodes debate…..

This is what I am buying with the money raised. Sure, I wouldn’t gig with one but they are becoming more and more rare to find and the prices are rocketing!! If I leave it much longer, a good one will be way out of my reach (I turned down a Jupiter 8 for £800).

Yes, my Electro 5D sounded great. The Rhodes was superb on it but it’s not the real thing. I can understand why people don’t want the real thing (cost of upkeep etc…..) but it will sit in my ‘studio’ with my Moog on top and I’m back in the 70’s playing my vintage funk!!

The bottom line, a Rhodes is a moving, mechanical instrument, with all the things that go with that, you can tune it, you can "feel" it, you play it just like an acoustic piano, and no one, absolutely no one, would use an electronic piano if there was the slightest chance an acoustic was an option, same for the Rhodes.

[tea for two]

This Japanese Kintsugi (embracing the damaged) is reflective of so many of us as persons.

This could be part of it, but for me, it’s not like that, it’s definitely about making something, creating something, that you are proud of, something that works, against all odds, making the most of things, I think it’s a good thing, it encourages imagination, inventiveness, if you have to think of work arounds, and, it also makes us really appreciate it when we are able to work with things that aren’t compromised or broken, but quite often, the broken, the work arounds, produce far more interesting results, than stuff that is working properly, hence the desire to stick with the broken and damaged.

I'm broken and damaged enough already without needing instruments that make it even worse.

Wurli I was and am broke that's why I get broken gear 50squid for that 2010 macbook.

(If I can't make music on a 50squid knackered macbook I don't deserve anything better) .

I have considered, were I gifted £100Gs to spend on gear would I get the Synth dream machines.
The answer is Nope. Not even one for myself.
I would get a second hand Organ with Pedal board (Eminent 310u), and a concert Harmonium to replace my knackered Harmonium.
Maybe a Chamberlin (not sure which one).
Probably a Mk1 Rhodes becuase of Max Middleton.

[tea for two]

I find myself heavily GASing for a Nord Piano 5 whilst simultaneously screaming:

"How f ing much £££ do you want for it?! Say that again!"

The Roland RD88 has 3,000 sounds. Maybe that's a terrible feature in a stage piano? Maybe I only want the sounds I want. The Nord only has 2Gb piano memory. Maybe the truth is, in reality, you don't need more than that for a convincing piano?

Nord/cost ... help me understand!

Jim

Turning to Jelly

Nord have a kind of Digital Leica Rangefinder thing going on.
No one can persuade someone that has their desire set on getting a Digital Leica Rangefinder that another digital from Canon, Fuji, Nikon, Sony that offers more xyz for less outlay is better.
Were they to listen to others and not get a Digital Leica Rangefinder, they would probably hanker for a Leica.

So yeah Jelly go for the Nord

[jellyjim]

haha, great comparison. but you're talking to the wrong man ... I'd LOVE a Leica Rangefinder

I'm doomed!

I find myself heavily GASing for a Nord Piano 5 whilst simultaneously screaming:

"How f ing much £££ do you want for it?! Say that again!"

The Roland RD88 has 3,000 sounds. Maybe that's a terrible feature in a stage piano? Maybe I only want the sounds I want. The Nord only has 2Gb piano memory. Maybe the truth is, in reality, you don't need more than that for a convincing piano?

Nord/cost ... help me understand!

Jim

Turning to Jelly

Nord have a kind of Digital Leica Rangefinder thing going on.
No one can persuade someone that has their desire set on getting a Digital Leica Rangefinder that another digital from Canon, Fuji, Nikon, Sony that offers more xyz for less outlay is better.
Were they to listen to others and not get a Digital Leica Rangefinder, they would probably hanker for a Leica.

So yeah Jelly go for the Nord

[R_A]

It sounds like you really want the Nord

Though if you've not done so already have a play of the Yamaha CP88.

Enjoy your deliberations!

[Arpangel]

I’ve just ordered a Yamaha YC61, I’ve come to a conclusion, it may not fit in with what you want your instrument to do, but I’ll share my thoughts anyway.
Having played Nords, they are fine instruments, very playable, especially the acoustic pianos, and I’d choose one on those sounds alone, if I needed a piano, which I don’t.
I’m after primarily the electric piano sounds, organ, and a bit of synth, maybe as a bonus.
To my ears, the Yamaha instruments have the edge on these, they aren’t as refined, or as smooth as the Nord, but the Yamaha's have character, in comparison the Nord sounds a bit lifeless. There’s a great ring to the Yamaha electric pianos in the upper registers, an almost ethereal quality, that I loved as soon as I heard them, the organs are capable of being very dirty, and gritty, and the effects really do compliment them.
If you want possibly the best acoustic piano sound, and keyboard feel, I’d go for the Nord, but for EP's, and organs, it’s the Yamaha for me.

[jellyjim]

I’ve just ordered a Yamaha YC61,

The YC61 and CP88 do look great.

Having played Nords, they are fine instruments, very playable, especially the acoustic pianos, and I’d choose one on those sounds alone, if I needed a piano, which I don’t.
I’m after primarily the electric piano sounds, organ, and a bit of synth, maybe as a bonus.

It is primarily piano sound and feel I'm after. I do love electric pianos of all shapes and sizes but I'll dial in a piano sound 4 out 5 times when I sit down to play. Don't know anything about playing organ, though I love Hammond (big fan of Jack McDuff, Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff etc). So I can compromise on good samples for both those duties. I've a Quantum and an OB6 (haha, I clearly like expensive things, God help me!) so synth sounds are covered too.

There’s a great ring to the Yamaha electric pianos in the upper registers, an almost ethereal quality, that I loved as soon as I heard them

There's some great electric pianos on my MODX8 (which will depart if I do get a Nord). There's downloadable patches of some of Chick Corea's boards which sound good.

If you want possibly the best acoustic piano sound, and keyboard feel, I’d go for the Nord, but for EP's, and organs, it’s the Yamaha for me.

Enjoy the YC61! ... and not feeling like you had to give up a kidney to buy it

[Arpangel]

Enjoy the YC61! ... and not feeling like you had to give up a kidney to buy it

Yes! I suppose it depends on how important sounds are to us, as to how much we spend, and often, getting good simulations of acoustic instruments isn’t cheap, but I’m happy with the sound of the YC, I’m not buying it for how well it simulates, I just like how "it" sounds, as it is.
Hope you get what you want soon, I’m sure the Nord won’t disappoint, I had a chance to play one quite a bit, not completely my cup of tea, but after awhile, I really got into it, it’s was fine, no problems, and after all, a couple of nice pedals on the end of it, can make up for any little things you may not like.
No board is perfect, let’s face it, we always have to mould them a bit.

[jellyjim]

OMG!

It doesn't repond to pitch bend ... I don't mean it doesn't have a pitch bend wheel, I literally mean it doesn't respond to pitch bend ...

Who do they think they are ffs? £2.5k and it doesn't respond to pitch bend!

I get you might not want to pitch bend a piano but it has the sample section, including a unison feature that they're making a big deal of. What might you want to do with that? Play a searing mono synth lead perhaps. What's a common technique for such a thing. Um ... pitch bend.

What a strange company!

[jellyjim]

Ahem, cough splutter, posted a little 'inebriated' there, previously/above. Didn't mean to be quite so melodramatic

I guess they figured it didn't need to ... who am I to judge?!

[Arpangel]

Ahem, cough splutter, posted a little 'inebriated' there, previously/above. Didn't mean to be quite so melodramatic

I guess they figured it didn't need to ... who am I to judge?!

You are right to judge, no pitch, no mod, both reasons that excluded me from buying one, completely, wouldn’t even consider it.
My YC61 has both, on nice little metal levers, I know a Rhodes and a Hammond didn’t haven these features, but I love them, and feel lost without them.

[N i g e l]

they aren’t as refined, or as smooth as the Nord,

The Nords ive used all run at 96kHz which means they can only do 1/2 as much as a 48kHz processor for the same money. Maybe the x2 contributes to the price.

[jellyjim]

they aren’t as refined, or as smooth as the Nord,

The Nords ive used all run at 96kHz which means they can only do 1/2 as much as a 48kHz processor for the same money. Maybe the x2 contributes to the price.

That’s an interesting point.

[Funkyflash5]

I'm not much of a keyboard guy, but a little over a year ago I decided that it was time to retire the digital piano I learned on 20+ years ago to home noodling, and have something in the studio that covered the sorts of sounds I'd like to have quick to hand, and something that anyone coming in to rehearse or record wouldn't scoff at.
Asking around the local keys folks, I came to the conclusion that Nord People were a lot like Mac People, they accept feature limitations and a price premium in exchange for a workflow that makes going too far wrong hard and a fit/finish/style that goes with the premium. If that's a trade-off you're willing to make, then a Nord is a perfect choice.
I ended up going with an (open box) Korg Grandstage, as it covers the sorts of sounds I want, with a good balance of quick access to major sounds and user presets, while allowing some pretty deep tweaking if needed. 2nd choice was a Kurzweil Forte SE, but that seemed to be a lot busier front panel and at that time it was a little more expensive. Looking now the prices seem to have flipped so the Kurzweil might edge in if I was buying today, but its really had to say as I like the workflow (and xlr outs!) of the Korg so much. Either were/are at least a third less than a comparable Nord and other options l looked at were missing my favorite sound, Mellotron Flutes!

[Arpangel]

If that's a trade-off you're willing to make, then a Nord is a perfect choice.

But that’s just it, the Nord is not "the perfect choice" if it was it would be worth the asking price, it’s an "OK" choice, for perfect money.
And if a studio wants me to look impressed, then get a nice acoustic piano, a Rhodes, or a real Hammond, they are all reasons I’d book a studio.