So I’m GASsing quite a bit these days, and the Nord Electro Series is to blame.
My current synths: AK, Nord G2 Modular, Moog Minitaur.
I got the latter only recently, same for Strymon BigSky and AH (have yet to drill down to the fine details of each instrument).
I could go in depth about what the Electro brings to the table that would be super useful for my compositions (eg. awesome Pianos and high-end Samples), how I frequently feel the need for such an instrument, but reality is a cold-hearted mistress: like many among you, I get the impression that extra gear tends to stifle creativity, and this purchase may not be an exception - hälp?
If your music will benefit from these capabilities, and the Nord Electro provides good examples, and you don’t need the money for rent or food, then why not buy it?
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well, i had an electro 5d for a couple of months. my background is mostly piano and rhodes, whenever i jam with musicians i am on the rhodes sound 85% of the time… the nord sounds great, i love the grand pianos and eps and LOVE some of the upright piano models.
…however…i’m not gigging or jamming with musicians a lot anymore. this instrument doesn’t make much sense to me unless i am taking it places (light and sounds great), …for home/studio use the keys are not comparable to my old trusty yamaha p-120 and the sounds are great but not better than plugin options i have. the rhodes is not as great as neo soul keys on my i-pad, the pianos are not as good as a 5 gb sound font sampler. synth sounds without control for filters.etc have no use for me.
1600 (or so) is a lot of money that can be used more wisely, imo. unless you gig. then this is the best.
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Talk me out of getting a Nord Electro
Dont buy a Nord Electro! (did that work?)
To me it doesnt make much sense unless you need something really portable for gigs with approximate sounds. Are you gigging?
If you just need the keyboard sounds then maybe something like spectrasonics keyscape might be worth a look.
Or maybe look into getting an original of your favourite keyboard. One of my most treasured instruments is mk1 Fender Rhodes which I service myself and has its own lovely character.(used to gig it loads)
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Aight so I came across an irresitable price tag on a quasi new 5D (1099€), incl. a one year warranty.
Released some GAS and am happy as can be!
Whoop whoop!
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I say the big thing with NE is the organ sound. That was pretty much the only reason I bought it.
If you can work with software plug-ins, Rhodes & Pianos are better elsewhere. You will also find samples like Mellotron better elsewhere.
But if you need hardware then it´s a good synth.
//Tomas
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I currently own a Nord Electro 4HP and LOVE IT!! However, a few concerns of mine:
1 - the Keybed is very noisy. If you are practicing in a room by yourself on monitors, it can be distracting. Live/headphones make it a non issue for me
2 - Noise Hum in signal when I plug in the USB cable. I get a spike in 12khz plus area. You can get all the same function from the classic 5 Pin Din jack (MIDI) so I just use that.
3 - Noise Hum externally. It hums noticeably, not sure why. No issue though unless I’m recording with a condenser Mic in the same room (unlikely).
edit:
4 - no “escapement”, i.e. no matter how slow you depress the key, it will trigger a piano sound. A real piano has a threshold if you don’t reach, the “whippen” doesn’t strike the string. This is kinda of a boon when you need to play really soft but don’t want to miss any notes.
Other than that, the lack of memory can be a pain but it’s doubled I think in the 5th iteration.
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I was going to say, check out the competition (Roland VR-series, Vox Continental, Korg Grandstage, etc.) first, but…
congrats on the purchase and enjoy!
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You might get rid of that usb noise by using a usb cable with only the internal black wire cut.
Has worked for me and others with similar issue.
Have fun with it, and hope the GAS discomfort stays away for a while at least.
…in the studio, there are lots of alternatives…
on stage…not really…
a computer is a great tool for musicproduction…but it never will be a music instrument…nord is into real musicintruments…period.
oh, wait a second…u wanted to be talked out of it, right?..ok, sorry…i failed…
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Interesting… could you explain more? Is this a cable I can purchase some where or a modification that must be done?
I’ve noticed my Moog Minitaur and Moog Slimphatty suffer from this too (much less noticeable then the Nord though). Strangely enough, I just bought a Deepmind 12 and had read other people had similar noise issues but it’s dead silent.
Hi there,
I believe the keybed noise issue is with the weighted keypads (HP keyed), not the waterfall/organ style keys.
Are you happy with your style of keys? I only ever tried a Nord Lead 2x with that style of keys but I didn’t care for them. I wonder if they are the same