I adore this keyboard. I think Jordan Rudess once said something about preferring to play on hardware because he liked having a relationship with a physical instrument. That’s exactly how I feel about this board. I’ve owned mine for a year and it’s become like an extension of my own brain and hands. Lots of knobs but the design is incredibly intuitive and I love the tactile, hands-on feeling. The synth inspired me to learn analog synthesis for the first time. My only complaint is that the HP76 keybed is noisy and feels cheap to play on. I’d recommend the 88 or the 73 keybeds instead. If you’re looking for a workstation you will find the Stage limiting, but as an instrument, it’s a joy.
As a very happy owner of NS3 Compact, I think Nords can be compared to Apple; or you're totally hooked, or you don't get those who are.. ;-) Even so with the relatively high pricing, usability, striking appearance etc.; Nord is Apple :-)
Expanding on that, while on other board on similar price range you'll have way more versatility and usability (ie Kurz Forte, Korg Kronos, Roland Fantom, Yamaha Montage), on NS you have a much more friendly and intuitive interface, pretty much like comparing Android to iOS.
The piano sounds are definitely top-rate. Regardless of the price-tag, there's always going to be the possibility of buying a lemon. Check the warranty.
Tried one at a guitar center in my local area and it is nice as hell. Thing sounds just like a Rhodes and just like a Wurlitzer. I am going to get a real mkII Rhodes soon, but this thing is obviously better, and I would definitely purchase it if it weren’t 4K dollars.
You would never be able to take my 1973 Suitcase Rhodes away from me. I will also be coming out with a very important update in the near future about a major problem I had with my Stage 3.
Bright red colour is sick , bro! Pity about the plastic tho, Man, The Faziolio , Steinway sounds etc were totally awesome. Want one of those ... now! So agree with you about the mid range which shows off the Debussy etc. omg you are so proficient on all the instruments - big respect dude! Omg the moonlight ..... !
Bernardo Fitzpatrick, I would really hold off on the purchase of a Nord keyboard right now, as right after this was recorded I found a major flaw in this keyboard that stopped me from wanting one for the studio. I will be uploading that video in the next few weeks.
*You did an excellent and thorough job with this video.* What is the difference between a review, test and demo? I've always believed the following, but I may be wrong: 1) On a review you should be more bold and conclude. 2) When you test something it is only a test, not a conclusion. You only tell us what knobs to push to achieve different things, and what all the sliders are there for and so one. 3) Demo is only for listeners. Often no talking.
Nice review. A couple of small points. The compressor and reverb are global not per instrument like the other fx. Also you did not discuss the Dyno in the piano eq. Apart from that a great start. Looking forward to its next appearance. Lack of additional XLR outs is my main criticism of this keyboard, and that the sample editor remains incompatible with it as at time of commenting.
This was a nice review. Just a few things... the dullness of the samples when reviewing the synth section was probably your filter setting. Also the price is high because a) it's hand-built in Sweden and b) the Nord Stage 3 is essentially 3 different keyboards in one package... and there isn't anything else on the market like it (CP88 is really just a stage piano with some very basic stuff added on)... you are right about the action though... should be better for this price. I have had a Stage 2 88 and now have a Compact Stage 3 as I needed the lightest keyboard to carry around.
James: Have you had a look at the Nord Grand Kawai Hammer-action keyboard? I wonder if it would address the action issues that you found. If it does, it would be nice to know how its features compare with the Stage 3 (main difference that I know of is that it doesn't include organ and synth sounds).
Also there is a button above the bottom 3 draw bars that you can change between organs instead of going through the main list like you did. The stage is designed to access things quickly and is meant for live playing.
There’s not a list for the organs because you can toggle through them using the organ select button. What you were scrolling through were saved presets, not the base organ models.
For the split function, can you use the 3 way split on any of the engines or can you only split between the engines themselves. In other words can I have a 3 way split but with 3 different sample engine sounds?
Hi! Sice I one one I would be happy if you could review a kurzweil synthesizer. I own a PC3 which is totally different from this one. Greetings from a foggy Vienna.
Wow that’s really a lot to do on the stage 3. I noticed one thing. I don’t know if that’s because of my headphones or not but not all the sounds are on the same pitch. If you changed to another setting I mean. Maybe it’s me. Anyway thank you for the nice in-depth review and all the pieces you played.
I am still set on getting a Kawai 11se very soon. I might be wrong but I really feel it offers the best Piano sound and electric piano along with the best action (for a stage piano)
You can't go wrong with the MP11SE, it's a fantastic keyboard. I have used the original MP11 for a very long time now and have had no issues whatsoever, and the new one seems to be even better than the first!
You will be very happy with this beautiful instrument. I love playing the MP11SE. The action, the sound, the easy to use navigation, the built quality.....this is just the best in his clas. You will 1000% love it!
Hi! Could you do a comparison on a Nord stage 3 COMPACT...what do you think of it? Is the sound exactly what you get in the NS3 88?...please let me know! Thank you!
I admit that I am a novice piano player but for some reason I was expecting better sounds especially because of the reputation and price tag. The key bed and material is sorely disappointing again because of the price point.
Is nord stage 3 better than the korg ls 88 ? Nord as only different types of grand piano on there but the korg ls has a lot more sounds so I'm kinda confuse on which 1 to buy
Can you do a review on a Kayserburg KA series grand piano? If you happen to run into one, I recommend trying it out. I was pleasantly surprised. This brand is the flagship series made by Pearl River. I was lucky to take a trip to the Guangzhou factory in China and was able to play some of these instruments. I was shocked at how good these were and are actually in my top 3 pianos I've ever played. The Kayserburg that I had the opportunity to play was a 7' artist series handmade grand.
I found a Kayserburg at the 2019 NAMM show, but I don't think it was the same type of piano that you found. It has a clear plexiglass case, like a knockoff of the Crystal Bluthner, and I was rather displeased with the sound and feel. The Chinese are capable of making a decent piano these days, but the Kayserburg I found was not one of them. I made a video of it at the time, but it sounded so bad I decided not to post it.
That must be the GH line of Kayserburgs, which I agree with you. They are not that great. I believe the KA series may not be in the US yet. Kayserburg’s GH line is not even better than the Ritmullers, which are still sub par.
Our church bought stage 3. Disappointing. Synth side is cheezy. Decent piano but a bit processed for my ear. Organ good but only a handful are usable. Learning curve is steep so none of the players have bothered to learn it after 2 years. $3700 for an organ is a bit much! Get a Yamaha Montage for less or MODX for 1/2 the price.
I haven't noticed that you ever mention the speaker system being used for the various keyboards you test. Some have their own built-in speakers, and some must be connected to an external speaker system. The quality of the speaker system is obviously a critical element in the way a keyboard sounds, unless being used with headphones. I wish you would explain whether the sound you are recording is directly from the line-out into your recorder, or whether you are actually recording from external or built-in speakers for a keyboard.
The quality of speakers is very important for recording, as well as for playback. At the studio I use and record with the Roland KC-350 amplifiers, which do a fine job with keyboards. None of the keyboards I have in the studio have internal speakers.
Can you give us the raw sound of the piano next time? I am sitting here with exilent Monitors and the Nord Stage 3 sounds worse than my cheap old Yamaha PSR-EW.
The Nord Grand uses Kawai's RH3 action, which I believe is the same one used in the Korg SV1 and Grandstage. It's not a bad action, it works fine for jazz, blues, rock, and light classical, but for the price of the Grand, it really should have come with Kawai's Grandfeel action.
@@ThePianoforever It's interesting that Kawai calls their action "RHIII" while Korg calls their action "RH3." That would seem to indicate that they are not the same action.
@@ThePianoforever Korg's RH3 and Kawai's RH-III are not the same. Korg's version can be found in the Kronos 2, SV-1, Grandstage and D1. Kawai puts their RHIII in the ES8, MP7SE (which actually has an updated version 2) among others. The Kawai RH3 arguably feels better, more like a real piano. The Nord Grand uses a modified version of Kawai's RHIII-2 as found in the MP7SE, but Nord calls it RH-N, I believe. Surprisingly, the Nord Grand's keybed is noisier than the one in the MP7SE ; noisy keybeds seem to be typical for Nord, which has been using Fatar keybeds for most of their boards. Won't matter on stage, but for the home, that is a real deal breaker so in the end, I opted for the MP11SE, saving a good amount of money in the process as I was looking at the Nord Grand as well (I know the Stage 3 in this video is more than just a digital piano but I tried the Piano 4 as well and that (supposedly better than the Stage 3) Fatar keybed was clickety-clack - also, the Kawai MP7SE with the same keybed as the Nord Grand costs three times less !). Build quality of the MP11SE (and also the MP7SE) is wood and metal so very sturdy as well. The only advantage that Nord has in my opinion, is the sound library. But I can always add VST instruments to my Kawai, you can't replace the keybed later on... Also, the 'hands on' user interface that Nord uses, is really really good, although the Yamaha CP88 comes very close for a lot less money, plus it has a much better keybed. Still, this is no rant, love your channel, so keep up the good work !
May I ask a question? You said that there were 3 different models of this Keyboard right? Are they all equally just as good? I know I don’t want this one. I’m just stuck between the 76 key and 73 key. What is the difference between.
3 года назад
Maybe you found the answer to your question since then, but if you check the Stage 3 product page on Nord's website ( www.nordkeyboards.com/products/nord-stage-3 ), you'll see that the 73-keys version is semi-weighted, while the 76 and 88-leys versions are Hammer Action. Other than the amount of keys and the waterfall/hammer action, they are the same AFAIK.
I love Nord but they are totally over priced and when I had my Nord piano I also had the repetitive sounding note bug on an piano sample.actually my favourite Nords are the electro and stage 3 but feel the Nord piano action is lacking for someone looking for the piano experience.Made in Sweden? The key bed is made in Italy and it wouldn’t surprise me if the case is also made elsewhere and I’d imagine the printed circuit boards and other items are made in the Far East and then assembled in Sweden. Great keyboard tho but over priced and over rated
Nords are like BMW's- they look amazing, they can be clutch during high stress performance situations, but in the end they are garbage that depreciate significantly. Those pianos sound so bad to me; sorry Nord.
