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https://www.nordkeyboards.com/products/nord-piano-5

Looks a bit like twice the Nord Piano 4, plus a new 73 key version (apparently with a HA, not a HP action).

Nice.

Nice update, especially the enhanced amount of memory. You can carry around most of the pianos in XL size now I assume.

Of course the elephant in the room (I'll say it before anyone else) is Fatar. Given Nord's extremely positive spiel about this action one wonders what it doesn't do that Nord thinks Kawai's action does do in the Nord Grand.

Not bad. I'd purchase the 73-key version if it had a VA-engine but I guess they wanted to keep that for the Nord Stage. From what I notice, there's some revival of vintage music styles and a modern fusion of funk, jazz, old-style electronica, rock, etc. Many people are now adding real analog or analog-modeled synths on top of their stage pianos. But it would be nice to have all that in a single keyboard. The Korg Grandstage comes to mind and I would personally get it over this Nord Piano 5, as much as I'd love to have a Nord. New Roland keyboards also feature VA-synth engine, as well as Kurzweils. Having simple sample-based engine for synth sounds as in this Nord Piano is a bit lame...

Hmm.... just the next day I paid for my Nord Piano 4 order. Great Should I cancel the deal? Well... since there is no significant improvement with action/polyphony/piano solo section, I guess not. Various layerings are good, but I play piano solo all the time....
And what's gonna be the price? I think it will be much higher than 2300$ I paid for Piano 4.

It's still red.
I would never buy a lurid, bright red keyboard.

Ouch.


In that case, get the Nord Grand.

Cheers,
James
x

Now where is that extremely durable 73 key RH-III action by Kawai, to be built into a NP 5-73 ?

James says, “get the Nord Grand” (for solo piano).


Let’s be clear, using a Kawai action in a Nord was not necessary; other than wanting to market the heck out of this “partnership”.

Kawai has a reputation for making good actions, so what better than to throw their name around and charge a bundle for it.

The truth is that an action in isolation is nothing, and pairing a Kawai action, albeit slightly modified, with a Nord sound engine will not give you a Kawai-like experience.

If they were serious about action, they’d be building their own; designed from the ground up to perfectly match their sound engine(s).

The Nord Grand costs as much as an NU1X; think about that for a minute, and keep in mind that both instruments are targeted towards so-called serious (no bells and whistles) musicians that are mostly interested in “piano”.

The NU1X has a real upright action, but you already knew that; the Nord Grand has an action borrowed from Kawai and modified by Nord, and you guessed it, it’s not Kawai’s top-of-the-line action.

In conclusion, the Nord Grand is overpriced and so are the rest of the Nords.

So their samples are “large”, and?

Yamaha and Kawai have proven what can be possible with moderately sized samples coupled with modeling: it is magical!

Considered that. But it's at least 800 bucks more expensive here. And I had Kawai CA17 with RHIII action. Funny story. I was convinced buy all those flourish descriptions on Kawai site that this action provides realistic acoustic grand expression etc. And when I came to my first piano teacher and tried to play something in front of her, I was confused and ashamed of how my hands got stuck in the keys of an acoustic baby-grand she had, as if the keys were viscous or something. Playing RHIII gane me a feeling of walking on solid ground, and after that acoustic was like a swamp.
So, it's all lyrics. After all, with time I soaked in those russian piano teachers approach - do not care about actions, they are all different, vary from digital to digital, from acoustic to digital, from acoustic to acoustic and so on. You just have to adapt in a couple of minutes.
So, sound is the only thing a care about now.

Are you sure? If that's true, it looks like some piano companies have really dofferent prices for "rich" and "poor" countries, because here on Russia NU1X is two times more expensive than Nord Grand.

Well, you were enemies with Japan in WWII, right? And Sweden was neutral. Coincidence? 🤨

Okay, I will say ‘as it relates to the USA’.

The Nord Grand ‘bundle’ @Kraft sells for $5,396. This includes the piano, stand, speakers, and bench. It includes some other useless/cheap items like headphones and ‘cables’. But the essential package, once again, is piano, stand, speakers, and bench.

Someone here @PW recently bought an NU1X for about $5,300. This included the upright cabinet, mounted speakers, real action, and a nicer bench; heck, if you poke at the dealer you might even get headphones and a wireless adapter (for WiFi).

So do the math........

Ha-ha))
I am messed up a little. Is it Nord too cheap in Russia compared to USA or is it Yamaha too cheap in USA compared to Russia:)? What's the pricing?
Russia: 3150 for Nord Grand (no stand, speakers etc. - just an instrument) and 7000 for Yamaha NU1X.

Not a fan of Nord acoustic pianos after owning Piano3. To me, a new piano using the same samples is not a great leap. Just being able to store more XL samples doesn't change the fact, IMHO, still all sound similar. I'd like to see a new leap from Nord with different sampling architecture and samples/sounds rivaling VSTs.

As you kind of said, this is why they make the Nord Stage 3. I guess what you want is either a Nord Piano with a full synth, or a Nord Stage without the organ.

I'm seeing $3700 for Nord Grand, $6600 for NU1X. I saw your other post, but skewing the comparison with extra items not everyone needs for one vs. a special deal not commonly available for the other is not a fair comparison, and I imagine some people have found some special deals on Nord Grand, too.

Nord Grand doesn't doesn't really compete in the same market as the NU1X...it is designed to be a premium portable piano, and one with a wide range of supporting non-piano sounds. The closest Yamaha would be the CP88.

No one is going to argue that Nords are not premium priced. They are a lower volume, more "boutique" company than Yamaha. But they succeed by supplying products that better fill some people's needs. CP88 came out later and provided some good competition, and I have a feeling Nord Grand will be updated before too long as well. If people don't think it's worth it, they won't buy it. Ultiimately, that's what determines whether it's over-priced or not.

..but, 33, you can’t compare just the Nord Grand, you need to factor in the stand, speakers, and bench because with Yamaha this is all included by design, and one can argue, more cohesively because the unit is designed from the ground up to work in tandem; all the moving parts working in a perfect synergy that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Take the speakers, for example, in isolation they’re nothing to brag about, but as part of the cohesive the experience is uncannily real.

I wonder if the Nord Grand with an action built by Kawai and speakers built by who knows who will match the experience of playing the NU1X.

Perhaps Nord built the speakers?, but still they stand independent from the piano; whereas with the NU1X the speakers are the piano, the action is the piano, the cabinet is the piano......you get where I’m going with this?

anotherscott, if I may humbly disagree, we need to include the stand, the speakers, and the bench because the NU1X includes all of this.

The comparison is fair because whilst the Nord Grand ‘can’ be portable this is not how it’s marketed. It’s marketed as an instrument for serious ‘solo’ piano playing; hence, why James recommend it for just that.

I don’t see anyone buying a Nord Grand for gigging, and since Nord had the nerve to “suggest” that this instrument is the holy grail then it should be compared to the real holy grail: hybrids!

Once again, the comparison is valid because of the similar prices (all included), and the fact that Nord sells the piano as a no-nonsense instrument for ‘serious’ pianists; a bit of an oxymoron, if you ask me, because other than Liberace, most pianists like their pianos black, but I digress.

Perhaps they should tuck it all into a cabinet, paint it black and rebrand it as the Nord Nero!

And for folks who would want a completely Nord-only package, it costs more. That is, the Nord stand, Nord pedal unit, both specially made for the Grand, Nord Piano Monitors, stands for Monitors, all colored red (except for Piano Monitor stands)

- if not exceeding, it's almost the same as the NU1X.

Thank you, mmathew!

Finally, a voice of reason arises.


I tell you, sometimes it’s tough trying to get through to some people ‘round here (this part is meant in jest; in case someone doesn’t get it).

Yeah....
Well, we all have various needs. I do need cabinet piano with speakers now. I already have some to connect my soon coming NP4. And I owned LX706, so I understand really (not only in theory now) that even relatively expensive cabinet piano with speakers will not come close to real acoustic. And thus I play in headphones almost all the time. Cause in headphones even cheap slabs sound better than expensive cabinet DPs through speakers.