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By the way.... I saw one od James Pavel Shawcross videos some days ago and he wondered if any company would ever male an instrument with only ONE piano sound, with no other sounds, features, mixers, EQs etc. Just one sound, but as perfect as possible. He would like to be a buyer of such a DP. I had same thoughts sometimes.

I don't think there's any need for them to tell us "it's portable!" when their entire line is and has always been built around making things that are portable. Plus the fact that it weighs 46 lbs. So yes, I'd say it's marketed as portable (and giggable). Whatever other marketing points they make about how acoustic-like it is should IMO be seen in the context of "for a portable piano." In terms of marketing, it does not compete against a NU1X or against a real grand piano. It competes against other portables. That's not to say that it's impossible that some particular customer could be considering choosing between them, but the target customers are different, and almost certainly, the vast majority of Nord Grand purchasers did not consider an NU1X and vice versa. Or to put it differently, you're not seeing marketing images from Nord showing a Nord Grand being played in someone's living room. Or go to youtube and search for "nord grand" to see the videos from Nord and their dealers... they all come up calling it a "stage piano."

You make a good point, “acoustic like......for a portable”.

I wonder if something like that would’ve worked better!

“The Nord Grand is the most acoustic-like digital piano ever........for a portable”.

But you see, even if we keep the comparison(s) between ‘portables’ it just doesn’t add up, Watson!


Nord Grand: $3,699
Monitors: $799 (4.5” woofers).
Music Stand $200 (no, that’s not a typo).
Piano stand: $699

For a total of $5,397


Kawai MP11-SE: $2,799
JBL Monitors $540 (5” woofers).
Music stand: $50 (why not splurge on a fancy one).
Piano Stand: $200 (I’d say that’ll get us something steady).

For a total of: $3,589


Something’s not adding up here (no pun intended); it seems like the Nord Grand portable-package costs $1,808 more than the MP11-SE portable-package.

I wonder if the higher price of the Nord Grand is due to the Kawai action, but wait, the MP11-SE also uses a ‘Kawai’ action, and Kawai makes all these claims that it’s the best action they make (for a portable); I believe they call it GF (as in Grand Feel).



P.S.

Can somebody check for me if the Nord Grand uses the GF action? I didn’t have time to look it up. Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Luckily, if you need these things, there are less expensive options for all of them. In fact, you could choose the exact same ones you chose to put on that MP11SE. Which means that the real difference between the Kawai and the Nord is half what you posted. (I wonder if maybe wood is especially pricey in Sweden compared to what it costs in other countries? I know, IKEA is Swedish, but their products are actually manufactured in China/Asia.)

Thanks, anotherscott. Some people DO know why they are buying Nords...

Question is, for those who do, will the NP 5 cut it, in either the 73 or the 88 key version? I for one do have a need for a 73 key portable piano with excellent sounds and a direct user interface... so I might indeed be tempted, eventually, and depending (of course) on playing experience and the price. There are a few competitors (Korg SV2, Yamaha CP73, Dexibell S3, Crumar Seven, etc.) in the 73-76 key range, and of course Clavia's own Nord Electro, each with a different feature set, and I guess it is in this field in which the NP5 73 needs to be competitive.

Not against the NU1X or any other console piano

Maurus,

Things are-a-changing at Nord possibly. Maybe to do with their use of memory or type of memory etc. The next Stage might break a bit of ground. I'd like to provide the provenance of that bit of gossip but it's come to me through a tortuous route!

And I see the NP5 now has double the memory. That alone is a good thing.

SV2 looks and sounds excellent - finally competitive with the acoustic piano sounds. But CP73 looks good too. Problem is Yamaha has fitted what you might call a sub-optimal action to the 73 when compared to CP88 (which has a fantastic action in my opinion).

Korg Grandstage has a 73-key version too and to me it seems better than SV2 in every regard except maybe for the vintage shape coolness of the SV.

:-) I think you know the answer, but I'll bite!

Nord Grand doesn't use the GF (they have "Kawai Responsive Hammer keybed with Ivory Touch"). And what's disappointing to me is it's priced way above the MP11SE, which clearly has a better action. Remember they're wooden, which to some people (like me), is important.

And what's with this re: Nord Piano Monitors?

"
Developed to give you the optimal nearfield listening the compact Nord Piano Monitor system lets you experience the true character of our renowned piano sounds with impressive depth and dynamics – a natural extension of our instruments.
"

Buyers who can afford the NG will naturally demand the best their money can buy. And statements like the above are a trap. Are they claiming the Nord Monitors can do better than humble HS8s (which some would call industry standard?), or the Adams JBLs and KRKs?

### With this, I promise to end my sidetrack and return to the NP5.

Pros and cons. Read this short thread to to the end, I think most of it is covered: http://forum.pianoworld.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/2987057/korg-stage.html

I have a $600 yamaha p125 and I swear I would choose that action over the nord piano 3s that I had a couple years ago. After reading the specs it looks like this new Nord piano 5 is just another 'modified' fatar action, just like the NP3 and NP4 before it. Does my P125 sound as good as the nord did? No, but I have VSTs to fill in the gap. No matter how you look at it, all of this nord stuff is way overpriced for what you are getting. Yamaha and Kawai have this market covered. Nord should hang up the towel and just start licensing their sample library or turn it into a VST.

Not to mention Nord Grand fails on the techically most important requirement: it is soooooooo ugly.

33,
Layering another piano can be quite wonderful. Shift it up an octave (like a Latin piano sound), or just layer a different piano to get a fuller sound, using EQ, etc., to get the 2 to play nice together.

Having 2 pianos is also great for coming up with your ideal sound. I've usually found that I can easily divide a pianos' sound into the sound above and below middle C. I often like the sound of one piano for the upper octaves, and the sound of another for the lower octaves, and usually you can't really tell (unless of course they're really different from each other). You end up with a unique piano voice that suits you better than any single piano would. Try it, it might surprise you.

I'm surprised that the Nord Grand and the Nord Pianos rarely if ever come up on this forum. I guess they've priced themselves so high that few consider them as an option.

Kraft just posted prices for 88 & 73


$3,499.00 https://www.kraftmusic.com/nord-piano-5-88-stage-piano.html

$3,299.00 https://www.kraftmusic.com/nord-piano-5-73-stage-piano.html

I'm not in the market for top of the line any longer, but if I did I would say for $3,499 it just has to do something more. At least, for those purchasing the Stage, you get so many more avenues.

Maybe it's just me, but that sounds a lot like the Cybrid

Reminds me I haven't even seen the poor thing in months... It tended to attract more YouTube views than my last videos with the N1X. It's a tough choice to decide whether to keep the safe, mature (but somehow dull and boring mass produced instrument) or the quirky but one of a kind bunch of hand-made wires, PCB-s and frames that make wonderful sound 😕

I agree. There's something totally off about the proportions of the Nord Grand. I think it's that the casing is too tall. I find the back end of the Kawai MPs and VPC1 to be a bit slabby and a tad too tall as well. And that's the bit that the audience sees.

I haven't seen one in person, but I really like the look from the pictures. But I really like when the control panels face forward instead of to the ceiling (also seen on Korg SV1/SV2, Kawai MP6, for example). It also helps keep the keys close when stacking boards.