Nord Stage Unofficial User Forum

Nord Stage 88 "classic" rev.c
Roland RD700sx
Yamaha DS-55
M-Audio Axiom 61
Wurlitzer 200a

2 - Roland EV-5
Behringer Xenyx 1204fx
Yamaha HS50M monitors

kagamul wrote:I once had a Kurzweil PC88 + Roland Fantom Rack but I sold both so that I could afford the Nord Stage.

Sounds like a brave decision to exchange an "all-in-two device" set-up into a NS. So how about the comparison of the action of the PC88 and the NS?? Cause I heard quite good things about the hammer action of the Kurzweil. While myself I have the COMPACT with Waterfall keys, I am thinking of getting a 76 or 88 for as an additional home keyboard if the action makes it worth the 3000 bucks.
And the Fantom Rack, never thought of using i with the Stage together?? J

Just got my Stage about a month ago,and still working it into my mix(Our band plays mostly classic rock and covers---LOUD )
My Stuff:
Nord Stage 76
Korg SG PROX
Korg Wavestation SR
korg X5DR
HP laptop running Atmosphere and Minimonsta in Forte as a host
Axiom 61
Mackie 1202 mixer (which I will replace with a mackie U420)
Traynor K4 (which I may replace)

Johannes wrote:

kagamul wrote:I once had a Kurzweil PC88 + Roland Fantom Rack but I sold both so that I could afford the Nord Stage.

Sounds like a brave decision to exchange an "all-in-two device" set-up into a NS. So how about the comparison of the action of the PC88 and the NS?? Cause I heard quite good things about the hammer action of the Kurzweil. While myself I have the COMPACT with Waterfall keys, I am thinking of getting a 76 or 88 for as an additional home keyboard if the action makes it worth the 3000 bucks.
And the Fantom Rack, never thought of using i with the Stage together?? J

Of course I thought about using the Fantom XR with my Stage, but I needed the money! ;o)

I used the Fantom as sampler to play back my piano samples. The Kurzweil piano sounds good and works well in the mix but it lacks the dirty upright character I need. I used the Rain Piano samples from Sampletekk with my Fantom. I programmed the patch and mapped the samples myself - took me forever. It sounded really great. But it took the Fantom over 10 minutes to load the samples each power-up. Thats not handy in a live situation.
I also needed a decent Wurlitzer. I had the precisionsound samples in the Fantom which increased the loading time further.
But then I got to play the Nord Stage in my local Music Store and realized that they put the Rain Piano in there!! The Wurly sounded great too! So I bought the NS and I don't regret it!

The Kurzweil action is OK. It is lighter than the Stage action. It is made by Fatar - TP-10. It's the same that Doepfer uses in their masterkeyboards. The NS 88 and 76 have the Fatar TP-40, I think. But this thing was heavy and I wanted a small, light keyboard to carry around. The only things I miss from the Kurz are the strings and the pipe organs. But I don't need them very often. Since I don't really like ANY of the plastic "hammer action" keys in today's (and past) keyboards - including the NS - I decided to buy the Compact. I really think it's not so bad playing piano on the waterfall keyboard (you need to get used to it, of course) and its lighter AND I am building a masterkeyboard with a real piano action anyway, but it'll take some time to get it finished. I have the action, but I still haven't decided which midi sensors to buy...

I miss the Fantoms sampling but I wouldn't buy another one because editing is a real pain and everything takes forever to load. I'm considering a dedicated sampler in the future but I'm going to post that in another thread.

Cheers,
Manuel

Nord Stage 88 Classic
Korg N364
Yamaha DX7
Roland SR-5

I use different combinations of the Stage with another keyboard, depending on what kind of band I play in.

kagamul wrote:I listened to a lot of speakers when I was looking for the right amplification...
I haven't heard the SRM-150 myself but from what I've heard they are veeery midrangy. I wouldn't buy them without trying.

If you don't need a strong bass - I love my Groovetubes SFX Spacestation - awesome stereo sound from just one cabinet!
If you need it louder, check out the Yamaha MSR 100 - I quite liked them. If your budget is big enough, check out the RCF! But they are bigger too...

I liked the idea of the SRM-150 as they are super-light, but I can imagine they wouldn't have a lot of bass response. I had a look at the Groovetube amp on their website, it looks pretty cool and weighs under 13kg! Need to find a shop in the UK where I can listen to it now...

cheesie_keys wrote:I liked the idea of the SRM-150 as they are super-light, but I can imagine they wouldn't have a lot of bass response. I had a look at the Groovetube amp on their website, it looks pretty cool and weighs under 13kg! Need to find a shop in the UK where I can listen to it now...

Some people do not like the Spacestation so you should definetley try it out first! Same goes for the Mackies, of course.
I couldn't find a shop near me to try it out, so I ordered it from an online store where I could return it if I didn't like it!
For me the Spacestation is perfect and it also performs extremely well in a mostly acoustic setup because the 300° sound projection.

As of the moment, I have:

Nord Stage 88,
Nord Compact (out for warranty repairs for too long);
Nord Wave,
Nord Lead 3,
Yamaha An1x and
Yamaha S80.

Will probably get rid of both Yammies and replace them with a motif XS rack, or a Korg M3 or something like it. No hurry though!

For gigging I use the NS 88 (or compact if I ever get it back) and another one of the boards as a second keyboard. I use a Traynor K4 amp and have a couple of Yamaha MSR100's and a Carvin PA system with Klipsch speakers. All in all, I am very satisfied with my set up.

aL

My current stage rig consists of:

Stage Classic 76 or Stage Compact (depending on the gig)
Nord C1
Roland XP (rack module)
Leslie 2101
JBL PRX-512M
Behringer RX 1202FX

I am EXTREMELY happy with the sound and portability of my current rig.

Stage 88
Prophet 08
Moog Little Phatty Tribute
a bunch of pedals
QSC GX5
2 JBL MRX512m

Stereyeryereo!!!