Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards OK, I admit it, I made a mistake...

To sort of answer the question you asked Steve, I would say for the, the quality and variety of sounds, action/sound connection, the dynamic Nord Triple Pedal, the string and sympathetic resonance, the weight and portability with its short-for-88 key size, the commitment from Nord on the system and software updates and overall product support, oh and did I mention it's red so it stands out nicely on stage! just a short list of reasons to love the Nord Piano for a gigging piano player.

Every band should play at least two Curtis Mayfield/Impressions numbers, in my opinion...

James
x

New MP6 purchased this morning. Many more dollars than what I sold the last one for - that should teach me... maybe.

I was going round and round in circles. I could have bought a used Yamaha CP5 (and even a CP1) for not too much more, but I just knew I'd be inclined to leave it at home more often than not due to the weight. Very tempting though.

I could have repurchased a NP88 and hoped that Nord would release some larger EP samples soon, but I'd still have to live with that compromised action.

The Korg SV-1 reared its (quite pretty) red head again, but there are just too many reported bugs, and I've never been convinced by the APs.

The RD-300NX would have been a relatively known quantity in terms of sounds, but I really don't want a sluggish action

So back to the MP6 it is. It will get used for gigs where I'm not trying to cut the weight down to the absolute minimum - that's what the Numa Piano is for. I will just have to be more appreciative of the MP's many good points, and accept its shortcomings. But, for a board that offers generally good sounds, is not grotesquely heavy, and has a very nice action along with a lot of controller options, it's not a huge price to pay.

Been there, done that. Not MP6, specifically. Emphasis on the . . . maybe.

Lawrence

Congrats Vox. The MP6 is an excellent board, especially for the money. Best action below $2000, great sounds, etc. The second choice to my NP88 is the MP6. If I had extra cash, I'd pick up a B market MP6 for some gigs and at home fun use.

I know you give the MP6 the edge for action and, obviously, overall functionality, but I was wondering how you compare just MP6's piano and EP sounds to both the original and revised Numa sound set...?

Well, I wish I could regain access to the original Numa soundset, then I could give you a more definitive answer. I've forgotten most of the characteristics of the original Numa APs, although I seem to remember them as being a little less broad and open-sounding than the updated ones. This, in some senses, made them more useful and less problematic for numbers that needed a tighter, more controlled sound.

However, the updated APs and EPs definitely rival those of the MP6. I'd have to say that the Numa's EPs seem to have a little more detail, and perhaps feel a little more organic - and maybe that's true of the APs, too, although the MP6 gives one an impression of a very well-regulated grand, whereas the Numa has a "looser" sound.

I was interested to read that Studiologic are claiming there is 1GB of samples in the Numa Piano. I suspect that that is after decompression, since the update pack size was around 120mb, but I may be wrong. If that is the actual sample memory in the the Numa, it's double that of the Nord Piano! There is something a little different, and maybe special about the Numa.

Thanks, Zach. Yes, although the MP6 will never quite be able to compete squarely with the Nord Piano for sound flexibility, it will be nice to have one gigging board where I'm not fighting the action!

I'll also try not to be as hasty with my decisions from now on.

I doubt the update pack includes any new samples. That would require that the samples be kept in an expensive kind of re-writeable memory (a la Nord). I mean, I don't think they'd go to the expense unless they intended, from the start, to offer the ability to upgrade to new sounds (as Nord does), and if that were the case, I'd think they would make that a big marketing point, but they've never made any such claim. Also, the list of what the update does does not mention any new samples. I think they updates are to various software/processing parameters... which would still be able to generate a notably different sound from the same underlying samples.

http://www.studiologic-music.com/numa-piano-update10.html

Vox, are the samples from Studiologic downloaded the way Nords are? Also, do they tell you brand of piano, and how large the samples are? I'm guessing part of what makes the Nords as expensive as they are, outside of the way in which they're constructed and the manufacturing in lower numbers, is the kind of RAM they use, and the royalties they must surely pay to the various brand names of pianos and instruments they use and quote so openly.

Vox, I did exactly what you have done a few years back with a Roland RD-600. Had one, sold it to get a Korg SG-Pro-X, immediately felt a pang of remorse and bought another RD just a few months later. A costly experience. And if you were to see the long list of boards I've had since I don't think you'd come to the conclusion I really learned from it!

Still, you can't take the money with you! This has become my mantra in life to try and stave off the worst of the guilt.

MP6 has a really great key action and I don't think you could better it in something so easily portable so enjoy it a second time around!

Cheers,

Steve

I'm inclined to agree, however how do you explain the 92mb download?

Cheers,
James
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ps. Congrats vox...again!

Well, this is the weird thing. When you update the Numa, you do the DSP firmware first, which takes a few seconds. Then you do the sounds, which is the big file that takes about an hour to update - way slower than swapping out a Nord XL sample. However, it does much the same as the Nord, erasing the flash memory as part of the process. Lastly, you update the control panel firmware - again a very quick operation. Now, I'm no technical expert, but that is a much more involved process than just updating the envelopes etc. And the end result is acoustic pianos that seem to have quite a different character from the original. I wouldn't stick my neck out and say that it's definitely loading new samples, but it sure does seem like it.

Yes, if you see my reply above, you'll see that the process is very similar to updating a Nord, albeit using a less refined interface.

They don't tell you the brand of piano or the individual sample sizes, but the unzipped update pack is around the 120mb mark. Since the EPs don't seem to have changed much between packs, I'd say that the biggest portion of the 120mb is going towards the APs. Surely that is more than just tweaking?

Sloppy programming? ;-)

Thanks, Steve! As for not taking it with you (money or keyboards), as long as they've sorted out their samples and modeling in the next world, I'll be happy.

I fear we might all have to wait that long!

Thanks, James! Now, no introducing the MP7 at this year's Musikmesse...

Or the MP11! (I wouldn't even forgive MP10ii either).

Interesting. Well, I'm certainly not in a position to say it's impossible, I would just find it surprising.


Based on that link I pasted above, there were no changes at all to the EPs. They only talked about changes to the Piano, Clav, and Pad... and in the case of Clav and Pad, it really sounds like they are talking about envelopes and other processing. So I would say that *if* there are new samples in the update, they are only in the piano.

Even for the piano, they don't actually claim to be loading new samples. Here's what they say:
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Improved and extended total dynamic range; optimized sound and envelopes modeling for a greater expressiveness and overall timbre definition of a concert grand piano from the “pianissimo” subtle nuances to the brighter powerful “fortissimo”.
---
Could it involve new samples? I guess so, but it doesn't sounds like it from their description.