Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Review: Getting used to the Nord Piano.

Well, as a lot of you guys know, I've been playing Roland keyboards the last almost 2 years. I owned the RD-700GXF, RD-300GX, and very briefly the RD-700NX. I thoroughly enjoyed playing the RD-700GXF. From the action, to the SuperNATURAL piano sounds, to the RPU-3 pedals. It was a fine instrument. My reason for 'attrition' from Roland really came down to the way they sounded live, even the SN pianos. They sounded very anemic, which was completely opposite of the way they sounded with cans on or through monitors. So this sparked my interest in looking elsewhere...to the Nord!

I picked up the Nord Piano on Tuesday morning, got home from work and dug right in to the Nord. It needed an OS update, so since I'm on a Mac, I needed no special drivers, merely a simple plug in of the USB from the Mac to the Nord, and viola...30 seconds later it was updated. This was so cool to update so quickly and easily, and when you read on Clavia (Nord's) website what the OS updates include, it's really quite amazing that these instruments are so often made better and better.

I then turned my attention to the Nord Piano Library, which came included on a disk with the entire Ver. 5 Piano Library. The one sample it didn't include was the new huge Bosendorfer Imperial sample. The available space on the NP88 is 500MB, and the XL size Bosie sample is 196.8 MB...huge, but man oh man, worth it. A simple download from the Nord site, opening up the Nord Sound Manager app, and voila, the sounds I don't want or use or deleted with one click, and with another click the sounds I want are there. This is such a great feature, and I really applaud Nord for offering this level of flexibility.

Now that I've got my Nord setup the way I want on to the sounds. I've got the Steinway D, Yamaha C7, and Bosendorfer Imperial grand pianos installed-all large or XL in sample size. The pianos sound just incredible. All the string/sympathetic resonance is there that you'd expect from an acoustic. The guts of the Bosie is downright impressive. Through my monitors at home, it hits me right in the chest. The Nord pianos have a much brighter and more stringy sound to them, which coming from the darker, pristine Roland SN piano sounds took some adjusting, but I'm fully adjusted already. They can take on a somewhat harpsichordy sound in certain areas of the piano, but nothing that sounds bad at all to my ears. The pianos have imperfections but this helps make them so expressive and organic, and very playable. The Nord pianos are stuffed with personality, and unlike on a lot of DPs, each different piano sound has a markedly different character and tone.

The upright pianos are exquisite. They have that closed in, somewhat de-tuned character so familiar with upright pianos. I have the Petrof upright and Schimmel upright (Romantic) both in large sample sizes. They're both distinctive and full of character like the grands. They are the best sounding upright samples I've ever heard. Nord hit a homerun IMHO with the grand and upright piano samples.

On to the EPs...darn these are good! The effects options and the different amps and compression is so awesome. I've got a 1976 Rhodes Mk 1 at my work, and I brought in my NP88 this morning, and it sound better than the old Rhodes!! That's a first, and coming from the EP sounds derived from some SuperNATURAL sampling in the Rolands, the NP88 also really really shines with its superb EP sounds. The Warlitzer, Sparkletop, and the Low Deep MK 1 Rhodes sounds are what I have installed, and they are fantastic. Just so authentic.

I de-installed my Clav/Harpsichord sounds as I don't use these at the moment and needed to make space for the larger piano samples. However, the NP88 has the best Harpsichord sounds I've ever heard shy of an actual real in-tune harpsichord. I had the French Harpsichord installed up until last night, and it was terrific sounding.

I don't use the electric grand sounds so the those went off right away...never been a fan of the DX-7 or CP80 sound personally, but the Nord does them well.

Action wise the Nord definitely trails the RD-700GX/GXF/NX, but is light years ahead of the RD-300GX I'm selling. The action is light for me, but not too light, and is very responsive. I can play very fast on the NP88 and it picks up all the nuances and dynamic I'm trying to express. I'd personally like it to be heavier, but it is a good solid DP action. Better than a lot, but not as good as the RDs/MPs/CPs.

The pedal modeling is really brilliant. It's adjustable, and can be turned off entirely. I've found this adds a lot to the authenticity of the experience. When I stomp on it, it's there like the real thing. The string/sympathetic resonance is incredible. It's very similar to the sounds I hear on the Yamaha grand I play at one of my gigs. You can tell Nord put a lot of energy and thought behind the modeling for both the pedal and string/sympathetic resonance.

All in all, so far, I am very happy with my decision to go with the Nord. I do miss some features like the rhythm sections I used on my RD to practice, but it's not a deal breaker at all. The weight (39lbs), the sounds (incredible), the flexibility (unmatched and so simple!), the fact it came with 3 pedals (unheard of for a stage piano in it's price range) are just some of the many unique things a love about the NP88. It's not for everyone, but for it's intended purpose, it exceeds above and beyond. I am a very happy camper.

For anyone on the fence about purchasing something in league of the RD-700NX, CP5, MP10, Nord Piano, SV-1, etc, I'd strongly suggest playing each one (if possible). The Nord took a little adjusting for me, and if I judged the Nord off of first impressions, I'd probably have gone for the RD-700NX, MP10, or CP5, but I went back and played the Nord next to the CP5/50 and RD-700NX, and decided that because I'm a gigging musician who doesn't always get to play on a grand, the Nord suits my need the best.

Cheers,

.

Great review, Zac! Congrats on your new piano.

How's the decay time on the Nord? I'm always searching for something with that nice long natural slow fading tone. Still haven't found it...

Great review Zachary!

Now there's two very happy Nord owners on the forum...

Steve

Another question for Zac: Is it possible to download strings or pads as well for the NP88 and is there a layer function?

Thank you for the review. I am definitely on the fence with all the models you are talking about. I need organ too so I would have to go with the Stage Ex or the new Stage II when it comes out. It is so expensive though.I was also thinking about the RD-300NX when that comes out. Is there a reason Nord keyboard action does not compare with its competitors? Is there a design decision that the weight on the Nord should be lighter then others?

I've found the decay to be nice and long, though I do hear some audible looping going on. The Bosendorfer has the best decay, and least amount of looping...the sound of the Bosie sample in one word is HUGE!

Big thanks to you Steve, and Dave Ferris for really giving me some invaluable advice. {thumbsup}

I think it's because Nord has Fatar build their piano actions to Nord spec, so it's probably because Fatar's piano actions generally aren't as good as the new stuff coming out from Roland, Yamaha, and Kawai. That's just my guess though. However, I do like the action of the Nord.
No unfortunately not. You only have access to the Nord Piano Library which only includes Grand Pianos, Upright Pianos, Electric Grands, Electric Pianos, Clavinets, and Harpsichords. It truly is a Stage Piano! I miss some of my rhythm section patches, and the ability to split, but I never ever use those features real time, so for me the NP88 was the best choice. You may want to pick up a Stage EX or wait for the new Stage 2.

Thanks for the review Zachary - by all accounts the NP88 sounds like an excellent board, congrats!

Cheers,
James
x

It probably contributes to the fact that the instruments aren't as heavy to carry around as most others. But in the case of the Stage series, there is actually a further benefit... the keyboard is reasonably suitable for both piano and organ playing, whereas the heavier weighted actions of other brands are often not suitable for organ techniques at all.

Right now I'm playing in a jazz situation with a Motif ES7 and am really struggling playing piano patches without any weight. I'm going to assume the Nord is light years ahead from a control perspective then my ES.

I believe they mentioned a new keybed on the Nord Stage II.

Thanks for your review, Zahary - it's great.

Looks like Clavia will upgrade Nord Piano pretty soon, just because bigger samples = better sound. It still have too less memory to handle a few big pianos like 200MB, which I'm sure will be released.

What will we see in a 10 years? 500MB or 1GB pianos?

I stand by my prediction of NAMM 2020 for the first, real, dyed in the wool, >4GB, unlooped, unstretched, hardware DP. (I'd be ecstatic to be wrong in a less time sense).

May god have mercy on our souls until then.

heheh

The Korg Kronos 88 doesn't count?

Nice one Zac! Those machines look so cool as well. I like the fact you can download new Piano samples from them as well.. Smart..!

Be great if you could get the machine involved in the DP Comparison Thread when you have time.

Regards. Rimmer

Is there something else that makes you think they will upgrade the Nord Piano?

Korg Kronos, NAMM 2011: ... The SGX-1 Premium Piano sound engine offers two distinctive grand pianos; a rich German D piano, and a robust Japanese C model. Each uses superb, un-looped stereo samples sampled at eight velocity levels for each and every key...

Honestly, I'd be happy having 2 200MB grand piano XL samples, one upright Larger sample, and the Sparkletop Rhodes and Wurlitzer samples.

I brought my Nord up to my office yesterday because I had a rehearsal with my trio and wow, everyone, including two guys who work at the office commented on how acoustic the Nord sounds in the mix. It's just damn amazing. It sound better through a PA or monitors than it does in headphones! Like Dave Ferris, the Nord sounds better in front of it than it does in your ear coming from a monitor in a live setting. I don't know what it is, but I walked 10 feet in front of the Nord while my drummer was running some licks and I grinned from ear to ear in sheer joy of finally having a really good sounding stage piano in a LIVE mix. Plus I already know it records well thanks to Dave Ferris, so yet another bonus. Live and studio-it's a win win.

True that. Though it's more of a workstation than a DP. Just watched the video again, it looks really sweet. The physically modeled guitar and sitar sounds are awesome.