Strangely enough, the Piano 4 only just came out after I ordered my Stage 3, but the Stage is still better in terms of memory. Piano 4 still has just 1 gb. I didn't go with the Piano 3 because the polyphony was way too low. Ocean Etude would flood it out in stereo, and if ever there was a piece of music that really shines in stereo, it is that one. Stage 3 has enough polyphony for my performances, and I wouldn't settle for any less. I have a Roland hp 307, and love it. But nice as Roland sound is, the newer models seem to have gotten more digital sounding again, and the Nord pianos sound phenomenal, especially when in stereo.
Thank you for your videos! I have a question, when you hit a note on the stage 3 , do you have to bring it all the way up to hit it again and make sound? Or it works like the triple sensor in the piano 3 & 4?
Stage and Piano series have different keyboards, they're not the same. Can't answer your question because my review period with the Stage 3 ended a long time ago (I no longer have the board). I suggest posting your question over at www.norduserforum.com
What a hella of a useful video, I was looking for whether YAMAHA is good and then I found out only YAMAHA samples are in it, that's basically a nail in a coffin for me.... Gonna prolly buy nord stage 3. I remember you saying the Action is really bad on the nords, wonder if it's a deal breaker for an unplayable instrument (for me too heavy is bad, I likit light but not "plasticky synthy" haha)
Actually the action on the Nord Stage 3 is not all that bad! Definitely not "plasticky synthy", but not Kawai MP11 grand piano key action either. You can also easily adjust the action to something closer to your liking with the onboard switches. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Yeah Chuck, The Kawaiis are too heavy on the action for me, and in all honestly right now I am not am not gigging as I'm 100% devoted to studies at uni, I do have Keyscape VST plugin and in order to ease the expenses on wallet I'd very much like to know what do you think about getting a MIDI piano instead? I know the Roland A-88 is horendous, I heard that the KX-88 from YAMAHA is a dream but is hard to get by, The KAWAII big thingie is way too heavy and expensive, well what do you think then? (also what do you think of the Keyscape plugin compared to nord samples etc) sorry for mass post :D
No matter how good VST's are, I simply don't like the fact that I need a computer in addition to my keyboard. I much prefer built-in sounds. Any keyboard that's MIDI capable can act as a controller for VST's.
Nord has nice sounds. But when i played it at guitar center, the keybed of the yamaha cp4 is better. Or even the roland rd-800 keybed is better. But so far i like the organ and electric pianos of nord. But interms of piano sounds i dont know why i prefer the yamaha or roland. But ofcourse nord piano selections sounds great. But we all have different preferences.Thanks for the review sir. 👍🏼
Hands down, the nord boards have outstanding sound. Now that I got that out of the way. The main reasons why I wouldn't buy a nord. 1. 120 polyphony - Are you serious? People already complain about dropped notes on boards with 128 polyphony. 2. Memory (i.e. Lack there of). nord is not even being cheap, they are being stinge. RAM is so cheap these days. nord is making a big to do about double the RAM. Give me a break nord. 2GB isn't squat. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't that like 10 different sounds you can store if you choose the larger sound size? Sounds (yes, it's a pun) like a lot of wasted time loading sounds all the time (I believe about 20 minutes). 3. Price, yeah, yeah, I know. You get what you pay for right? I don't think so with the nord. I think it is WAY over priced. I have a RD-2000 and the v-pianos have FULL polyphony, no dropped notes whatsoever. And although the nord does sound better, it ain't double the price sounding better. If you compare them side by side, yes you will be able to hear the difference and the nord indeed does sound better. However, if you we're to play the RD-2000 solo, you wouldn't have too much to complain about it's sound. Also, the keybed on the RD-2000 is better. The over all functionality on the RD-2000, is far superior as well. That's my two cents worth. (I still have two cents after buying the RD-2000. If I bought the nord, I would have to go to the bank and borrow the two cents)
I have an RD-2000 also. Personally, I don't think that it sounds any worse than a Nord. I like the quality and playability of the V-Piano sounds. If you want more of a sampled quality, like Nord, the Supernatural sounds are also excellent and easily as good as the Nord samples in my opinion. And even the Supernatural sounds have 128 note polyphony in Stereo (and a much better keybed also).
Chuck doesn't seem to like, or at least review, Roland products but the RD2000 is 2k less that the Nord Stage, perhaps 5 lbs heavier and has a fantastic triple sensor piano action and as much playing flexibility as the Nord Stage 3 in terms of layers, splits and effects. You can't download from libraries the way you can with Nord but there are over 1100 sounds on the RD with multiple engines. I have an older Nord Electro and love it but 4500 in American dollars is a heavy investment and not sure the 2 grand extra for the Stage 2 buys you much more than what the RD offers. As a pianist having played both--while the Nord's action is good, it doesn't come close to Roland's PHA-50 progressive hammer action that feels like a real grand piano with escapement.
Have a Nord Piano 3. Just played the Stage 3 at NAMM 2018 and love it. Prefer the keyboard of the Piano 3 but realise that to play organ as well you need a lighter action so its a compromise. Maybe I can afford to keep the Piano 3 at home and use the stage 3 for my gigging band that also needs organ,rhodes,synths etc.
That depends on what you play. If you're going to play something that doesn't sustain more than 40 struck notes in stereo, the Piano 3 should suffice. Any more than that, and Stage 3 is the way to go. And yes, there are solo piano pieces that would flood out the Piano 3 and cause it to drop notes. Chopin Etude 25-12 has some sections in it where you're up and down the keyboard with a bass melody note that's meant to sing out throughout a phrase of massive arpeggios in both hands. No trouble at all for my Roland hp 307. But IMO, if you want a more portable digital with as much of the best of both worlds - sound quality and less risk of dropped notes, Stage 3, or something from Roland or Korg is probably the way to go.
You are welcome. I haven't tried playing the Piano 3, there wasn't one in the music store, but as far as weighted keys go, Nord Stage 88 is closer to my Roland than to something like the Nord Electro or the others with semi-weighted or waterfall keybeds.
两人茶煲teapot4two 46 seconds ago I am a teenager trained on an upright piano achieving grade 8 afew years ago. I am in the market for a grand piano / keyboard. Can someone share some insights on the Nord stage3/piano4 as a grand piano. Or am I wasting time thinking about a keyboard ?
I still think that the polyphony on Nords is unacceptable in 2017. The Nord Stage 3 piano polyphony is 120. But, layering two pianos leaves you with only 60. Cut that in half again for stereo, and you'll have 30, Most competing instruments have at least 128 note polyphony in stereo. And I remain unimpressed with the 2Gb of memory. Compare it to the 60Gb SSD on a Korg Kronos. Of course, the Nord Piano 3 is twice as bad. Can you imagine playing with 15 note polyphony on a $3000 instrument? Neither can I. And for $4300, the Nord Stage 3 also seems way overpriced. You also get better actions on most competitors. The Roland RD-2000 and Yamaha CP4 are vastly closer to an acoustic action, for far less money. Still not a Nord fan.
The Korg Kronos II still has 2 GB of RAM and pretty much the same motherboard (Considering it's just a PC. Even the motherboard is a model you can buy on the market). You can put more RAM and maybe more SSDs if you open it and know what you're doing but still.
Yeah, that's why it takes a ridiculous amount of time to boot. But my point is that regardless of the RAM (actually 3 Gb on a Kronos2), it also has SSD storage that lets you load a very large number of samples on board for nearly instant use. By contrast, the Nord quickly runs out of storage space for samples and requires you to unload old samples to load new ones after only a couple of Gb. Combined with the price and polyphony, that's a bad combination, even if many of the Nord samples are very good (and even if the Korg hardware is pretty ordinary).
Considering the price of the keyboard, that SSD is quite small for the amount of samples you have on the board. Also, you still have the combi mode issues that people complained a lot on the first version of the keyboard and haven't been solved yet. Also, you'd think that they make the OS on the keyboard 64 bit, so you could put more than 4 GB of RAM in it but nope.
Hey, I'm not arguing that the Kronos is perfect. I wish. But compared to competing Rolands, Kurzweils, Yamahas and Nords, it's very competitive and a nice piece of kit. Compared to a cheap MIDI controller keyboard and a nice PC with a DAW and some softsynths, it's probably overpriced and less powerful, but you're paying for the integration and overall package. Hopefully, in the Kronos3 we'll see a 64-bit OS, more RAM, a better CPU and a bigger SSD, as well as a lower price. But my original point is that as flawed and overpriced as the Kronos is, it's still practically a bargain compared with the Nord (with 2 Gb of TOTAL storage for $4300).
You never mentioned it, or I missed it. Does the Stage 3 have weighted keys still? That’s a big must for me, but I have no access to a store to check the feel.
Hmm, that's interesting. Have to disagree there. At least, the demos I've listened to seemed to have more sound coming louder out of one earphone than the other, but the Nord demos were completely balanced.
Piano Man Chuck, excellent presentation! Very educational and gives me so much more to think about before I buy.
Great review. I agree that the Royal Grand 3D piano sounds the best.
Thanks, Chuck.
Strangely enough, the Piano 4 only just came out after I ordered my Stage 3, but the Stage is still better in terms of memory. Piano 4 still has just 1 gb. I didn't go with the Piano 3 because the polyphony was way too low. Ocean Etude would flood it out in stereo, and if ever there was a piece of music that really shines in stereo, it is that one. Stage 3 has enough polyphony for my performances, and I wouldn't settle for any less. I have a Roland hp 307, and love it. But nice as Roland sound is, the newer models seem to have gotten more digital sounding again, and the Nord pianos sound phenomenal, especially when in stereo.
Thank you for your videos!
I have a question, when you hit a note on the stage 3 , do you have to bring it all the way up to hit it again and make sound? Or it works like the triple sensor in the piano 3 & 4?
Stage and Piano series have different keyboards, they're not the same. Can't answer your question because my review period with the Stage 3 ended a long time ago (I no longer have the board). I suggest posting your question over at www.norduserforum.com
I’m used to weighted keys on my Yamaha mox8 will the stage 3 feel any different and make my playing different ?
What a hella of a useful video, I was looking for whether YAMAHA is good and then I found out only YAMAHA samples are in it, that's basically a nail in a coffin for me.... Gonna prolly buy nord stage 3. I remember you saying the Action is really bad on the nords, wonder if it's a deal breaker for an unplayable instrument (for me too heavy is bad, I likit light but not "plasticky synthy" haha)
Actually the action on the Nord Stage 3 is not all that bad! Definitely not "plasticky synthy", but not Kawai MP11 grand piano key action either. You can also easily adjust the action to something closer to your liking with the onboard switches. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Yeah Chuck, The Kawaiis are too heavy on the action for me, and in all honestly right now I am not am not gigging as I'm 100% devoted to studies at uni, I do have Keyscape VST plugin and in order to ease the expenses on wallet I'd very much like to know what do you think about getting a MIDI piano instead? I know the Roland A-88 is horendous, I heard that the KX-88 from YAMAHA is a dream but is hard to get by, The KAWAII big thingie is way too heavy and expensive, well what do you think then? (also what do you think of the Keyscape plugin compared to nord samples etc) sorry for mass post :D
No matter how good VST's are, I simply don't like the fact that I need a computer in addition to my keyboard. I much prefer built-in sounds. Any keyboard that's MIDI capable can act as a controller for VST's.
Sir ... which piano has the best sound ?
Nord has nice sounds. But when i played it at guitar center, the keybed of the yamaha cp4 is better. Or even the roland rd-800 keybed is better. But so far i like the organ and electric pianos of nord. But interms of piano sounds i dont know why i prefer the yamaha or roland. But ofcourse nord piano selections sounds great. But we all have different preferences.Thanks for the review sir. 👍🏼
You get all the cool toys.
Hands down, the nord boards have outstanding sound. Now that I got that out of the way. The main reasons why I wouldn't buy a nord.
1. 120 polyphony - Are you serious? People already complain about dropped notes on boards with 128 polyphony.
2. Memory (i.e. Lack there of). nord is not even being cheap, they are being stinge. RAM is so cheap these days. nord is making a big to do about double the RAM. Give me a break nord. 2GB isn't squat. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't that like 10 different sounds you can store if you choose the larger sound size? Sounds (yes, it's a pun) like a lot of wasted time loading sounds all the time (I believe about 20 minutes).
3. Price, yeah, yeah, I know. You get what you pay for right? I don't think so with the nord. I think it is WAY over priced.
I have a RD-2000 and the v-pianos have FULL polyphony, no dropped notes whatsoever. And although the nord does sound better, it ain't double the price sounding better. If you compare them side by side, yes you will be able to hear the difference and the nord indeed does sound better. However, if you we're to play the RD-2000 solo, you wouldn't have too much to complain about it's sound. Also, the keybed on the RD-2000 is better. The over all functionality on the RD-2000, is far superior as well.
That's my two cents worth.
(I still have two cents after buying the RD-2000. If I bought the nord, I would have to go to the bank and borrow the two cents)
I have an RD-2000 also. Personally, I don't think that it sounds any worse than a Nord. I like the quality and playability of the V-Piano sounds. If you want more of a sampled quality, like Nord, the Supernatural sounds are also excellent and easily as good as the Nord samples in my opinion. And even the Supernatural sounds have 128 note polyphony in Stereo (and a much better keybed also).
Yup Roland RD2000 is an awesome board!
Chuck doesn't seem to like, or at least review, Roland products but the RD2000 is 2k less that the Nord Stage, perhaps 5 lbs heavier and has a fantastic triple sensor piano action and as much playing flexibility as the Nord Stage 3 in terms of layers, splits and effects. You can't download from libraries the way you can with Nord but there are over 1100 sounds on the RD with multiple engines. I have an older Nord Electro and love it but 4500 in American dollars is a heavy investment and not sure the 2 grand extra for the Stage 2 buys you much more than what the RD offers. As a pianist having played both--while the Nord's action is good, it doesn't come close to Roland's PHA-50 progressive hammer action that feels like a real grand piano with escapement.
I bought both!
Have a Nord Piano 3. Just played the Stage 3 at NAMM 2018 and love it. Prefer the keyboard of the Piano 3 but realise that to play organ as well you need a lighter action so its a compromise. Maybe I can afford to keep the Piano 3 at home and use the stage 3 for my gigging band that also needs organ,rhodes,synths etc.
what if you have another keyboard, a workstation one like kronos ls and want a keyboard to play piano, you still recomend stage 3, or go to piano 3?
That depends on what you play. If you're going to play something that doesn't sustain more than 40 struck notes in stereo, the Piano 3 should suffice. Any more than that, and Stage 3 is the way to go. And yes, there are solo piano pieces that would flood out the Piano 3 and cause it to drop notes. Chopin Etude 25-12 has some sections in it where you're up and down the keyboard with a bass melody note that's meant to sing out throughout a phrase of massive arpeggios in both hands. No trouble at all for my Roland hp 307. But IMO, if you want a more portable digital with as much of the best of both worlds - sound quality and less risk of dropped notes, Stage 3, or something from Roland or Korg is probably the way to go.
thank you Miss Capri, i just ask because i hear that nord stage has a bad keybed if compare to nord piano. didn't pay attention to polyphony.
You are welcome.
I haven't tried playing the Piano 3, there wasn't one in the music store, but as far as weighted keys go, Nord Stage 88 is closer to my Roland than to something like the Nord Electro or the others with semi-weighted or waterfall keybeds.
Piano 4 or Stage 3?
This: czcams.com/video/CVSsmYCgMi4/video.html
两人茶煲teapot4two
46 seconds ago
I am a teenager trained on an upright piano achieving grade 8 afew years ago. I am in the market for a grand piano / keyboard. Can someone share some insights on the Nord stage3/piano4 as a grand piano. Or am I wasting time thinking about a keyboard ?
I still think that the polyphony on Nords is unacceptable in 2017. The Nord Stage 3 piano polyphony is 120. But, layering two pianos leaves you with only 60. Cut that in half again for stereo, and you'll have 30, Most competing instruments have at least 128 note polyphony in stereo. And I remain unimpressed with the 2Gb of memory. Compare it to the 60Gb SSD on a Korg Kronos. Of course, the Nord Piano 3 is twice as bad. Can you imagine playing with 15 note polyphony on a $3000 instrument? Neither can I. And for $4300, the Nord Stage 3 also seems way overpriced.
You also get better actions on most competitors. The Roland RD-2000 and Yamaha CP4 are vastly closer to an acoustic action, for far less money.
Still not a Nord fan.
The Korg Kronos II still has 2 GB of RAM and pretty much the same motherboard (Considering it's just a PC. Even the motherboard is a model you can buy on the market). You can put more RAM and maybe more SSDs if you open it and know what you're doing but still.
Yeah, that's why it takes a ridiculous amount of time to boot. But my point is that regardless of the RAM (actually 3 Gb on a Kronos2), it also has SSD storage that lets you load a very large number of samples on board for nearly instant use. By contrast, the Nord quickly runs out of storage space for samples and requires you to unload old samples to load new ones after only a couple of Gb. Combined with the price and polyphony, that's a bad combination, even if many of the Nord samples are very good (and even if the Korg hardware is pretty ordinary).
Considering the price of the keyboard, that SSD is quite small for the amount of samples you have on the board. Also, you still have the combi mode issues that people complained a lot on the first version of the keyboard and haven't been solved yet. Also, you'd think that they make the OS on the keyboard 64 bit, so you could put more than 4 GB of RAM in it but nope.
Hey, I'm not arguing that the Kronos is perfect. I wish. But compared to competing Rolands, Kurzweils, Yamahas and Nords, it's very competitive and a nice piece of kit. Compared to a cheap MIDI controller keyboard and a nice PC with a DAW and some softsynths, it's probably overpriced and less powerful, but you're paying for the integration and overall package.
Hopefully, in the Kronos3 we'll see a 64-bit OS, more RAM, a better CPU and a bigger SSD, as well as a lower price. But my original point is that as flawed and overpriced as the Kronos is, it's still practically a bargain compared with the Nord (with 2 Gb of TOTAL storage for $4300).
Cut in half for stereo?? You sure about that? I've never heard of that being the case for ANY instrument.
You never mentioned it, or I missed it. Does the Stage 3 have weighted keys still? That’s a big must for me, but I have no access to a store to check the feel.
As long as I know yeah they do
I have Stage 3 and think that it is excellent. However the new Dexibells have an even better piano sound.
Hmm, that's interesting. Have to disagree there. At least, the demos I've listened to seemed to have more sound coming louder out of one earphone than the other, but the Nord demos were completely balanced.
Dexibell sounds like cheap garbage imo
but, a controller + Computer + kontakt is cheaper that the piano 3 :(
but, a Honda Civic + Garage + Fancy Alarm System is cheaper than a Rolls Royce :(
@@PianoManChuck 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Just get a good MacBook running Mainstage and a good midi controller and you’ll be good
Way too expensive