Do you still enjoy using a Nord Lead A1? I find its specs very interesting. Poly, multimode, split, FX per slot, and from what I’ve been following online for a while, it’s supposed to be easy to use and sound fantastic. I’ve had a few analog ones, but looking back, I still miss true multimode. And the A1 is supposed to be a good replacement for analog and offer good digital sounds.
how your experience?
Never had one, but drooling for it since it was announced. They discontinued the A1r before I had a chance to get one. Dunno what Clavia’s plans are for it, I’ve seen exactly zero rumours and it’s been out quite a few years.
Maybe one day I’ll own one
the nord 3r was my first “serious” / modern synth in the early 00s and i think that line is great, always will be. i like the sound of nords more than other VAs of the era. and they have possibly the best multitimbral implementation too. i did a lot of shows back then with just the nord and a couple drum machines.
i never owned the a1 but have played with a friend’s. i remember thinking it was all sweet spots but quite limited in many ways, it has a rigid structure and many things aren’t as freely assignable as one might expect. but still a wide pallet and probably quite fun to explore. the just sound good.
Are you a keys player ? What’s your main purpose in your studio rig for one ? If it’s a backing synth track then it’s more than enough. To me it sounds analog enough.
I’ve had an A1R for a few years and keep falling in love with it! The sound, polyphony, and effects per track, plus multiple outs made me upgrade it from studio to live use (replacing a DN2, which was great on paper but has way narrower sweet spots.) The oscillators and filter types sound great, the effects hold up (at least far better than OT). This thing is a chameleon and can do vintage, modern, and between.
It’s very fast and I find compelling new sounds without needing to do a lot of deep sound design or layer lots of sounds like I do on DN.
I honestly think if it came out today with a proper screen it’d be 1,500€ and worth it. I paid 1k for mine.
Things I miss
But the sound speaks for itself and I make decisions faster with fewer options.
If you find one at a good price, give it a try!
Love mine. It has sweet spots for days 
just power it on and get to playing.
Before synths I played piano and all the jazz dudes had nords. They made magic of course but I never liked the piano sound. Later I learned that the sound is “good enough for production” and that they are in a class of their own for getting the right sounds and patch changes for playing live with a band thanks to the limitations/bias. I don’t play in a band so I’ve got a hydrasynth and a modular so it’s the right tool for the right person.
I wanted to use it with my Digitone 2/Digitak 2 duo. My idea would be to create tracks on both Elektrons, along with a synth with a keyboard and direct editing without menus (local off to play the Elektrons directly, or to control the Digitone 2). I tend to play dark electronic/industrial sounds, with a lot of atmosphere, but gritty, dirty, noisy sounds are also welcome. But I’m certainly not a good live keyboard player I used to have a Nord Lead 2x and I’m still annoyed that I sold it. Well, then came all the affordable analogue ones…
It would be more of a complement to my equipment (the two Elektrons, Behringer Neutron, Arturia Microfreak). A used NL2x would also be an option. But of course, they don’t have any FX and no warranty. Although I’ve heard that users still have them today with no problems. I like the 90s sound.
For that, I’m currently looking at VAs again. The Nord Leads. I think they have everything I need to create good and interesting sounds. Sweepspots have very good hardware. An Opsix, for example, or my DAWs are great, but they overwhelm me with their features. I’m increasingly looking for “good,” simple synths that will also be interesting for the future. It’s fascinating that the Nord A1 is over 10 years old, and the overwhelming majority of people are enthusiastic about it.
Since reliability is the prime feature it would make a great midi keyboard. It has lots of organ models and you can create a sample worthy patch very quickly when you want to explore the keys.
it’s a lovely instrument, all of it’s outputs have panning, and for an instrument that people sometimes think of as limited you can create great sounding patches on it for days, and days, and days… and like someone said earlier you can go forward and backward with ease on it, even has one of the best randomizers in the business on board
I never had one, but I liked so much the official demos and packs. If I’m not mistaken, it has not only “analog-modeling” waveforms (like sin, saw, etc), but also sampled ones (one-cycle or so), so the palette is pretty vast. It’s relatively simple synth, like most Nords, but very musical.
A1 is severely underrated, I think it’s one of the best synths Nord has made. A very elegant balance between simplicity and flexibility with a great, quite modern, sound. The oscillator modes are really fun and easy to explore.
Yes, bell (harmonic and in harmonic), ep, organ, digital, and analog+ waveforms. (Edit: forgot about the vocal formant oscs!) The nice thing is the Shape osc type essentially does PWM on any of them so there’s a pretty broad palette just by choosing one of the dozens of oscillators + lfo or envelope to shape.
Someone did a video comparing the raw oscs and shape mods here:
And worth mentioning the filter types include a Moog modeled ladder (“M”) and a 303 modeled one that is super convincing (“TB”). A1 does killer acid, very fun to try unusual oscs through the TB filter.
Patch demo videos from Geosynths (broader palette and classic sounds) and Aiyn Zahev (more modern club and trance patches) are worth checking out. I’m likely going to pick up both sets soon.
I think the lack of content in the synthfluencer world, and lack of this synth being in discussion is very simple.
This is an older product, from a company that didn’t care about “our” target demographic, there is a lot of content for musicians (people playing on the synths), becuase in the end this is what is important
TLDR Nord is awesome, every Lead is very good, and if you want a 2x download the emulator
By chance, I ended up with a used Nord Lead 2x (around €500). It looks like new. Wow! The 2x sounds great. I had forgotten how powerful and assertive it could be. And the hands-on experience. Nord Lead, what a fantastic job you’ve done!
Thanks Elektronaut’s User for your tips and input!
