I love the new Nord Stage 4. I have not bought a new hardware keyboard in years. The big red Nord Stage 4 is what I have been waiting for. I will be ordering one.

I have an NS3C which I always play in Song Mode. If I buy another keyboard it will be a Modx or Montage with its Live Sets and ability to connect a Mac or an IPad without the need of an audio interface.

Man I really can appreciate your informative view on this. You’ve determine to see and put yourself in this position gigwise to make the cash you need to pay for all you have. Best of both worlds all together…realizing you’d probably buy it only as collector or something.😂. I’ve gone from keyboards to VST life to getting sick of the whole set up process for vst’s on site. I-had rather unpack plug and play…especially not having to have my life living on the cusp on a DARN usb cable..that ain’t locked in necessarily. Gone from an xp 80, M1, YHMHA es 88(heavy) to KRONOS 88(HEAVY)😢 grew sick of that,..welcomed vst ipad laptop etc..plotting on first NORD & after this video I’m going with STAGE 3 still…thnkx

Darrick I am with you bud. I am done spending my hard earned bucks on hardware synths. I happened across some videos the other night and ended up with my mind blown. The advancements in the Ipad vst's themselves are absolutely incredible. I had no idea I was so far behind on current tech. I purchased VB3m and it is incredible for Hammond cloning. B3x sounded better but the price point is ridiculous. I think for me I will keep my 2 Kronos keys on top and bottom and either run an Ipad off of the top kronos or just use a separate midi controller off to the side. And in comparison, VST's are crazy cheap vs. hardware. And for the Ipad they are crazy cheap and very very good. I am following your lead into the new era. I will always have hardware on stage and if my Ipad croaks mid show I can simply turn up the hardware patch. No way will I be spending 5700 bucks for a red keyboard or any other keyboard for that matter. Cheers.

Mbp 16 inch M2 pro plus montage 7 with onboard usb audio intdrface or roland fantom is same price.Or add wave 2 to your setup

I do love your opinions.

For me I’m very much interested in the Yamaha CK88 that just came out. Any of the Stages are too heavy for me to gig lite, and I can’t stand some of the Electros actions (I also need 88 keys…). I think Yamaha is offering a really nice reface of the YC/CP with awesome functionality, at a light weight, and full 88 for $1599.

A note abt the NS4 extern section, yes you have to give up a layer of synth, but it also gives you the flexibility of potentially having 3 extern layers, as well as being able to choose how to utilize those 3 layers as synth or external section per patch. I’m confident that in practice this will be very useful.

@Notmehimorthem

Жыл бұрын

What are you giving up - since you can route one set of fx to multiple layers?

Hey! Thank you for this video. The Yamaha Montage M series just released, what would your pick be between Nord Stage 4 and Yamaha Montage m8x? Would love to know your thoughts! Thank you in advance

@darrickkeels6387

8 ай бұрын

The Nord Stage 4 and the Montage M are very different keyboards aimed at two different customers really. The goal of the Stage line is to provide musicians with a versatile live stage keyboard. It's all about providing a fast workflow with tons of hands on controls. For example adding reverb to any sound simple takes a button press and a turn of a knob. As a stage keyboard, they really focus on pianos, EPs, Organs, Clavinets, and a few essentials like strings, pads, etc. For its category the Stage 4 is extremely versatile and powerful. The Montage is a synthesizer. While, of course, it can be used on stage and thrives in that environment, it goes further. The Nord has a handful of effects and limited editing features. The Montage has over 100 different effects with massive in depth editing features that allow users to control the very oscillators of any sound. It's designed to be able to create any sound the user can imagine. It has thousands of sounds (versus hundreds in the Nord) and room for tons of samples. The routing and morphing features absolutely outpace the Nord by a wide margin. However, with all of that power comes complexity. The user must be prepared to do lots of menu diving, have an understanding of the components of compression, gates, filters, FM, etc. The keyboard is not going to teach the user what makeup gain is. Or teach a person how FM synthesis works as opposed to subtractive synthesis. Taking care of the signal flow of your oscillators to create something musical will require a steep learning curve for those who lack the overall technical skills. So, if a person wants a fast and easy to use live performance keyboard, the Nord is your clear choice. If you want the ultimate sound design monster with endless editing capabilities, the Montage is much more suited for that.

I think you nailed the tradeoffs brilliantly. I was waiting for the Nord Stage 4 to be released but bought a Nord Stage 3 compact in fall 2022 for gigs. Now I'm hard-pressed to justify upgrading. I was hoping for a lot more internal memory or enough new features to justify purchasing it. Maybe the real play is to pick up a Nord Stage 3 88 used as there should be plenty on the market now.

One thing I really wish Nord would do is a desktop module of their Stage or even just the Wave 2 engine

Darrick, now that the synth section is far more robust than it used to be, would you say that the NS4 is more comparable to an all-in-one board like a Fantom, Montage, and Kronos than a Yamaha YC, etc???

@darrickkeels6387

Жыл бұрын

No I would say that. It’s still a “Stage Piano/Organ.” Yes, for a stage keyboard it has a very robust synth section but it’s still far more basic than the keyboards you named. For example the Montage has a SuperKnob which can control 64 parameters simultaneously. It has somewhere around 100 different effects to choose from rather than a handful like you find on the Nord. It has a fully function 8-Operator FM synthesis engine with about 88 algorithms. Every sound can be editing all the way down to the raw wave forms. It gives you 8 oscillators per part and 8 parts per performance. It has over 10,000 arpeggiator presets and allows you to create your own arps from scratch. It has a sequencer (although very basic). The Kronos, Fantom, Nautilus, etc all have samplers and sequencers onboard. They all have deep editing/tweaking parameters that far exceed the Nord Stage series. I believe the Fantoms allow you to have 32 individual, simultaneous LFO’s at once. But none of this makes them “better” just different. With all of that complexity comes lots of menu diving and some programming challenges for the user. They are all fine machines. But still very much in different categories.

Nope, I gave up! First the price is absolutely nuts and the sound is literally the same as the Stage 3 the only thing that has changed is the synth, Keybed and the drawbars I guess which I really don’t care about….I sold my Stage 3 (88) for a Roland A88 MK2 Midi Controller and a MacBook Pro M2. I’m done with Rompler hardware synths.

@Tweneboah

Жыл бұрын

Aye Tunewurld I saw your comment on John Mike's video on hardware synths a while back kzread.info/dash/bejne/q3l41q5_c8vXYtI.html . Seems you're all into soft synths now. Do you still use the Moog Sub 37? What VSTs/ soft synths do use the most? Also Rhodes / Piano?

@tuneunleashed

Жыл бұрын

@@TweneboahThe best answer to this is you can never get enough of Rhodes and Pianos to be honest.

I used to think just like you about getting Nords and how overpriced there were…until I got one and the rest is history. I had a MODX+ and started having hand pain from playing challenging octaves passages in the keyboard so I decided to get the best piano feel there is and this is where Nord came in. I think you forgot a huge factor which is the Triple Sensor Feel this keyboard has. I have the piano 5 and it is the same feel. The stage 3 and anything prior to that does not have this feel. I am happy with my purchase.

I was waiting for this video to drop. Darrick, how do you feel about the Yahama YC? It seems like a great alternative to the Nord Stage.

@darrickkeels6387

Жыл бұрын

It is indeed a great alternative to the Nord. The Nord does have a more robust synth section that allows for more on the fly tweaking of sounds. It also allows you to bring in your own multisamples with easy editing with the Sample Editor on your computer which is free from Nord. But if a person is just looking for a live playing keyboard to play piano, organ, EP, strings, pads, etc...well the YC is an excellent choice that can be purchased for way less than a Stage 4.

@jp4751

Жыл бұрын

​​@@darrickkeels6387 The YC intrigues me at times, and so does the Electro. It is kind of annoying that they don't give a pitch bend and mod wheel on the Electro considering the price😐

@darrickkeels6387

Жыл бұрын

@@jp4751 Agreed

Darrick, I have a question: Based on your knowledge of the available tech., do you think a company could make a 'dream' hardware synth if they WANTED to? Furthermore, why can't more storage space be put into a hardware synth, which is larger than a laptop - which has far more storage space, even if you get a cheap laptop?

@darrickkeels6387

Жыл бұрын

Yes, I believe they can. When the Korg Kronos launched in 2011 it was a revolutionary product way ahead of its time. It had 9 independent sound engines while most other keyboards had 1. It had the ability to stream sounds directly from an internal SSD. The German Grand in the Kronos was larger in size than the entire Wave ROMs of its competitors. It was the first keyboard "platform." Updates we enjoy today in our keyboards that add sounds, new workflows, features, etc. really started with the Kronos. It had a setlist feature when no one else had anything remotely close. It had a well implemented seamless sound transitions feature that is now pretty much the standard. They pushed the envelope. And Korg did it with technology that was already dated in 2011. It's really almost impossible to keep up with computer technology that get incremental updates every 6 months to a year. But Korg created a keyboard that had no real rivals. Yes there will always be people who prefer the sound or workflow of another keyboard. But when you remove personal preferences, nothing could actually stack up to what the Kronos offered. The MSRP in 2011 was $4750 for the 88 weighted keyboard. That would be nearly $6500 today in 2023. And people purchased them. In fact it was probably one of the most successful keyboards that Korg has ever made. It had a 10 year run. Many people still consider them the most powerful workstations out there today. People don't mind the price tag when they can see the value. I think the same thing can be done today if they use more modern parts internally. But it will take a fair amount of R&D to make sure it all works. Contrary to popular belief putting a computer inside of "keyboard" hardware and getting it to function like hardware is not an easy task. But Korg did it. I believe it can be done again. As far as memory is concerned, there are different types of memory. Nord gives its user 2GB of memory for their piano samples. The Fantom gives its musicians a total of 6GBs albeit broken up into three separate sections. My old 2012 MacBook Pro gave me 1000GBs of space. What's the deal? Well the Fantom, Nord, Montage, MODX, FA, Fantom-0 etc. do not have RAM. They have flash memory that operates as both storage and RAM. When you turn on a Nord, there is a very short bootup time. During that time all of the sounds the Nord has are made immediately available all the time. Every customized saved program is also immediately available. Hence, once the unit is on, there is no more load time between switching sounds. With the push of a button Reverb (or other effects) is instantly ready to go. A computer does not work like this. Files are stored in a hard drive. If you want to use one of those files, your computer loads the file into the RAM to make it available to you. Depending on the file size and speed of your computer this happens slow or fairly fast. When you are done using a file and close down a program the RAM is purged making room for the next file. So when I turn on a computer it loads the operating system. When I select a DAW it loads that file into the RAM. When I then pick a VST to play, it once again loads that file into the the RAM. When I want to switch sounds, it must load another sound into the RAM. In short all of my sounds are not instantly available all the time. And neither are my effects. The flash memory inside of a Nord is way more expensive the the cheap SSD's you see at your electronics store. One GB of Yamaha Motif flash memory sells for over $250 today. This type of flash memory (probably an SLC Flash) can handle more read/write cycles and operates much more reliably than consumer grade products. Most keyboards' hardware, like keys, buttons, sliders, screens, break before the memory goes bad. Computers become sluggish or simply give out long before the actual hardware does, especially in a desktop that sits in one spot. I purchased my Korg M50 13 years ago. It runs like the day I purchased it. I don't have a computer from 13 years ago. And IF I did it wouldn't run like the day I purchased it. This is largely due to the quality of the internal memory.

@akibe7608

Жыл бұрын

​@@darrickkeels6387 Darrick, that was a hell of a response. We need you to act as a liaison between us and those companies. I'm very serious. I understand how these companies are, and if you have no money in, you have no say so. What they fail to realize is, people with online platforms have influence nowadays. You can't tell me that these companies you critique don't cringe when they see your videos, because they know the potential there is to affect sales. People look to individuals like yourself for answers, when they have no opinion of their own. Or, in some cases, to validate a POV that they have. You have 8k+ subscribers. Let's just say that only 10 ten percent of your subscribers actually purchase. $4,000 x 800 = A lot of guacamole. As for your answer to my question, if we're supporting these flawed workstations/synths - I don't think any of the manufacturers are still making these workstations/synths in this day and age without satisfactory ROI - what do you think we'll do if they actually give us what we want? I understand I can't spend someone's money FOR THEM, but as you stated, Korg went all-in on the Kronos and did VERY well. I have to believe they have the confidence they will have brand loyalty for producing a monster like the Kronos, and that the support will be there if they decide to produce another game changing workstations/synth. Do you think Korg is thinking along those lines?

As much as I want to think of myself as a free-thinker, that bright red paint job has become quite hypnotic - because I suddenly want that Stage 4. As a board for pianos, organs, etc., I just don't think the Stage can be topped in the hardware market.

@darrickkeels6387

Жыл бұрын

I think the Stage 4 is an excellent instrument, especially for those who really like the Nord architecture. The additional effects really gives it some interesting capabilities as well as having immediate access to all layers.

@Darrick Keels I ended up buying this: Apple 2023 MacBook Pro Laptop M2 Max chip with 12‑core CPU and 30‑core GPU: 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR Display, 32GB Unified Memory, 1TB SSD Storage. Works with iPhone/iPad; Space Gray. It's on the way as I type this. -------- I'm purely a keyboardist. Out of curiosity, just in terms of plugin usage in a live setting, what would it take to realistically stress my laptop to the point of glitching or, God forbid, crash?

@darrickkeels6387

Жыл бұрын

That's a tough question to answer because so much will depend on your settings. But I have seen multiple tests in which the M1 or M2 was running well over 100 simultaneous plugins without a hiccup. One test I saw got to 150 instances of Omnisphere and everything played back flawlessly. In short, these computers are some of the most powerful computers on the market for music production. They are exponentially more powerful than any "workstation" or hardware synth a person could own. I don't think in a live gig people need to run 150 simultaneously plugins. If you are running backing tracks, most of that should be converted to audio tracks. Audio tracks take very little power to run. I'm sure running 500 purely audio tracks simultaneously would be no problem for your computer. Now, if you are running large symphonic libraries I've seen things start to break up round 85-90 simultaneous libraries running at the same time. But nobody "performs" that way. Composer who do make orchestral arrangements and need over 100 tracks, need to be using an M1 Ultra with 128GB of Unified Memory. Problem solved.

@akibe7608

Жыл бұрын

@@darrickkeels6387 I'm looking at MK Sensation Extreme by Jamal Hartwell and Peculiar Sounds by Doobie Powell, because they are tailored for what I do. However, there are endless amount of VSTs an I'm a LITTLE overwhelmed by all of the options. So many of the soft synths are demo'd by guys who just like playing the most far-out, Star Trek sounds and that's not my cup of tea. As someone who seems to have a similar musical background to me, what VSTs do you recommend??

One huge factor (for me) to avoid NS4 is YT instructional vids are prolific with NS3. I rely heavily on quick how-to instructions from my fav Nord nerds. 😊

@darrickkeels6387

Жыл бұрын

MyKeysToMusic, Marc Larchelle's channel will have instructions I am sure. He already ordered his.

The pianos can be layered too which is a significant upgrade. You can create your own piano sound.

@darrickkeels6387

Жыл бұрын

Pianos can be layered on the Nord Stage 3 as well. Does the Stage 4 offer something additional in that regard?

@jasonlibs

Жыл бұрын

@@darrickkeels6387 You can layer multiple piano sounds on the stage 3 ? I may be mistake, but I thought the stage 3 only had one piano engine.

I believe that Song mode was fully replaced by the new Patches functionality available now also for Organ and Piano. It means that now you save patches for each sound.. and then you will create a Program to replace the “song mode”.

@darrickkeels6387

Жыл бұрын

As long as the musician can access the patches very quickly with the touch of a button that will be fine. If they have to scroll, Song Mode will be missed.

@giacomorml

Жыл бұрын

@@darrickkeels6387 to use song mode in NS3 you need to prepare in advance the program to be included in a list (song mode list). It is the same with the patches and the programs in NS4, as now patches include the FX chains

@darrickkeels6387

Жыл бұрын

Yes I understand how it works on the NS3. You also get 5 song parts inside of every song. So with the press of one button I can switch between 5 different programs. So in essence I can have just two "songs" but have access to 10 programs really quickly. I am wondering without Song Mode will I be able to access so many different programs with a touch of a button.

@giacomorml

Жыл бұрын

@@darrickkeels6387 with NS3, you cannot build a preset for piano or organ. That is the reason why you need to build a program to recall a special sound of piano or organ or combination of them, in Song mode. Now with NS4 you build programs just to access to some combinations of presets quickly. For this reason, a program could be now be considered as an entry in the song mode.

@hannuheikkala9222

Жыл бұрын

Songmode is best tool for live use in NS3. Love it. Thats really big mistake with NS4. In NS4 you have to first save every song part sounds with a song name in it. Think that you are in gig and singer wants before gig change those songs in different order and maybe sing few other songs. With NS4 you need to go on stage one hour before others come to change every program and part in right order. I dont see that NS4 is made for live and cover musicians gigs. In jam sessions it will be killer but on the road with bands not. I would choose NS3 for those gigs. Ofcourse you can use NS4 in live mode to fast change those 8 parts and that will be the case for me. I have all ready NS4 so I cant go back.

I think for most now, hardware boards are a hard sell. I have mine because I have collected and purchased over the years, but unless you really need them for live, hard to beat a controller and vsts for studio or home playing. I like hardware and grew up on it, but some of it's selling points/"feel" I think is a little overstated. All that "I want the hands on feel" gets old when you have to deal with all the extra cable routing, patchbays, mixers, midi connections, etc. So much easier to put together in the box vs dealing with making multiple passes to your daw to track out.😅

I agree with you and not only disappointed in the Stage 4, but even thinking of getting rid of my Nord Stage 3. I agree the Stage 4 is more of a upDATE not an upGRADE it should of been called something like Stage 3 v2 or something like that. It mainly is a interface change and some new routing of the effects. The Stage 4 the organ and piano are the same except for the interface. The effects section routing change because of change from panel concept to layer concept. The synth is really only thing that change and not that much. Biggest let down no new or even refreshed sounds. Nord sound library is the big attraction, but other than a couple new sounds hasn't changed and it needs work especially on the EP's. For me I'm thinking of either moving to a Yamaha CP or maybe YC, or going software based. I got one of the Macbook Air M2 and looking at building that out using Mainstage or ??? I'm already running my Keyscape on it and it's nice so why not grow it when I need to. Maybe you can do a video on your Mainstage setup sometime. Thanks for all the great videos Darrick.

@darrickkeels6387

Жыл бұрын

Thank you Toortog! I definitely have videos coming on my software/hardware setups.

@tuneunleashed

Жыл бұрын

Dude…just go software..just do it! You would not need to worry on sticking to a below average library. With software depending on the power of your computer it’s limitless. In need of new sounds? Check! No need to wait for a manufacture’s update after months or years…you do your own in an instant. It’s the best I have not regret selling my Stage 3 well I’m lying just a tiny bit but afterwards I completely forgot about my Stage 3. The only thing that’s worth it as hardware synths. Having a Nord doesn’t hurt either if you play a lot in a live setting but I’m good with MainStage though nowadays. My computer is powerful enough and won’t crash.

Do you have a video on the Kurzweil 2700?

@darrickkeels6387

Жыл бұрын

No. I never purchased one. I find the interface to feel way too much like the 90’s and a lot of the sounds sounds dated to me. If I was primarily playing 60’s, 70’s and 80’s covers that would be okay. But that is not my primary line of work. But it is a very powerful keyboard with great build quality. Their VAST sound design architecture is really powerful. Probably the most powerful hardware synth engine in the hardware domain.

I had ordered a Stage 3 last year, but waiting more than 6 months for it, I canceled the order. I think the S3 would definitely suffice more than enough for what it is, but I also didn't want to shell out that much Money for a Model thats been out for 6 years, immediately losing its value after a model upgrade.- Honestly i hate that nord is giving new features at the cost of taking away features that wouldn't have hurt to keep, just to keep their incremental upgrade selling thing going. It just leaves damn sour aftertaste, knowing that you have to make sacrifices for things you could have done before, especially after shelling out this much money. Nonetheless I decided to go for a S4 for value purposes. Also i had a Piano5 and the new FX Reverb algorithms were something for me I'd like have and be able to morph. Also the Note priority thing on the synth that has been missing since the lead 3 release for more than 20 years is now back on the S4, was a feature that tipped me over.

Hi Darrick I have one and it is a fab love the independent effects but miss the song mode, the Nord stage 4 sample library sounds better. I have a MacBook Pro m1 but I love hardware keys, I have loads of soft synths but they don’t do it for me live. But agree with all your points good video. I have a fantom which I love also but the polyphony issue in 2023 what’s that about.

@darrickkeels6387

Жыл бұрын

Yeah the polyphony issue with the Fantom is a real demerit.

@tuneunleashed

Жыл бұрын

It doesn’t sound better lol they’re the same sounds! The NS4 uses a Nord C2D engine which is also in the NS3 and the C2D is almost 11 years old. The pianos are the same and the synth is what makes a huge difference which I could care less cause there is Omnisphere for a cheaper price.

@Keyboardnut99

Жыл бұрын

@@tuneunleashed Agreed piano and organ is the same the sample library sounds better read what I said!

Notfor me, I don't think. It's a lot of money to spend on kind of a bread and butter keyboard :) it does sound awesome though :) If I was a gigging musician it'd be a different story, but for my studio stuff I can get my sounds from the synths and VST's I already have.

I might buy a used one in a year or 2 for half the price of a new one. I've had 6 Nords (currently have 5) and bought all of them used, but in like new condition (my C2 has a couple very light dings on the end cheeks.) no way I'd buy a new one - them mugs in expensiver than a muffugga. used ones play and sound the same as a new one.

How were you able to learn so much detail about stage 4?

@darrickkeels6387

Жыл бұрын

I read the manual. It's on the Nord Website lol!

@thepianocoverman1800

Жыл бұрын

@@darrickkeels6387 Ha Ha

*I'm going to wait for the Nord Electro 7D and upgrade my 6D. If it's worth the upgrade, ofcourse.*

@akibe7608

Жыл бұрын

Ha. Lorded Lux is actually nice on keys. Here I was thinking you were only good at trolling battle rap fans.

@Dadee3

Жыл бұрын

@@akibe7608 *Lol! Bless king!*

I played the Nord Stage 4. I was very impressed, the touch is very good. It's a powerful machine and the default White piano is very decent. The organ is good. My one dissapointment is that there is no 11 pin out for a real Leslie - I know of noone that has done rthis - please tell me if you have succeeded. Most pro players will use a real Leslie. The Killer feature is the way the board is laid out. It's very clear and intuitive once you get over a small hump. The touch is better than the Nord 3. I will buy.

@antgeeze7129

Ай бұрын

May as well go for that Nord organ as well🎉

Never got into VST's - but, with the ability to tweak/edit on high end synths/workstations- and I know you can tweak and deeply edit on VST's - are VSTs really THAT much better than say the Korg Kronos, which allows for extremely deep editing? It seems you should be able to get whatever sound quality you want from some of these higher end boards.

@darrickkeels6387

Жыл бұрын

The Korg Kronos is an excellent keyboard with some of the deepest editing capabilities out there in the hardware world. The AL-1 sound engine gives you 2 oscillators, a sub oscillator, 2 multi-function filters, 5 envelope generators, and four LFO's per oscillator. In the hands of a skilled sound designer the possibilities are vast. But compare one instance of the AL-1 engine to one instance of Omnisphere 2.5 and beyond and it's not even close. Omnisphere gives you 64 LFOs, 64 filters versus 2, 96 envelope generators versus 5, and 160 oscillators...PER NOTE. That's 14,080 simultaneous oscillators using a standard 88-note range. Omnisphere is 60 GB in size. That one VST is larger in size than the entire Kronos sound library. It comes with over 14,000 presets to get you started. Spitfire Audio Symphonic Strings requires 200GB. That is just strings. Nothing else. There is just so much more to work with in terms of articulations like legato, portamento, glissando, trills, scoops, falls, etc. These are sampled directly from actual instruments using 8 different mic positions and on and on. No hardware keyboard has the room for the uncompressed files these VSTs come with or the necessary processing power to even process that much data.

@akibe7608

Жыл бұрын

@@darrickkeels6387 Two more things: 1). Do you have CashApp? I like to show appreciation when people help the way you've been helping lately. 2. I've seen Trillian, Keyscape, and Omnisphere demonstrated, and all are very interesting, to say the least. That being said, I've heard processing can become quite sluggish when using VSTs. Is it possible to run two of those three, or even all three VSTs mentioned, without having to get a state of the art laptop?

@darrickkeels6387

Жыл бұрын

There is a channel out there by a man named Mark Ellis. He created a song with 23 tracks. It contained a Prophet V plugin by Arturia, 2 DX7 plugins by Arturia, 4 instances of Omnisphere, 2 Native Instruments Massive X plugins, a Korg Poly Six and some other instruments. On top of that, he had a bunch of 3rd party effects plugins with reverbs, compressors, tape delay, SSL channel strips etc. His song played back absolutely fine and nothing even slowed down. He then kept duplicating the tracks with the plugins and effects. He got to 231 tracks and the computer still handled it. He was using a base model M2 Pro MAC Mini that costs around $1500 with 16GB of RAM. I've seen other videos in which composers were using large orchestral plugins and they were able to get somewhere between 80-100 tracks before the computer finally crashed. Now, a Mac Mini is by no means a "super computer." But it is fairly powerful. Some guys run into issues when using plugins because they are taking a fairly inexpensive laptop, designed for office work and internet browsing, and then they attempted to run Keyscapes and Omnisphere simultaneously using a RAM that is a bit slow, a slower processor etc. People always say the VST route is cheaper than hardware. Buy a cheap MIDI controller, cheap laptop, and a few plugins and you are off to the races. The soft synth route is like anything else. You get what you pay for. A "cheap" MIDI controller will not feel like a Korg Kronos, Roland Fantom, or Kurzweil 2700 in the build quality department. A cheap laptop will struggle as you start adding 3rd party effects, instrument plugins, and playing lots of notes at the same time. But it can handle some basic stuff with no issues. But certain plugins will make it choke, so you will have to be mindful of that. When I buy a laptop (or desktop) for music production, I treat it like an instrument. I buy high quality powerful stuff just like I buy high quality hardware gear. I have no problem paying $3000 for a laptop that runs quietly in the studio and on stage and ultimately can handle whatever musical task I throw at it without struggling. I want the internals to be high quality so I won't have a reliability problem. My flagship hardware keyboards cost more than my computers. And my computers are many magnitudes more powerful than the hardware. Hardware has some major strengths but it certainly loses in the power department. And yes I do have a cashapp. $Darrickkeels. If you decide to donate I would greatly appreciate it! In fact I just appreciate being able to talk to people that share my same interests.

@akibe7608

Жыл бұрын

@@darrickkeels6387 I've never been a 'tech' guy; all of my focus went into developing my skill as a player. Now, I feel like I've really limited myself by not getting into the technical side, and I've always obsessed with sound quality, and exploring the depths of that. I've heard about VSTs for forever and a day, but didn't like how inorganic it seemed with the laptop and the generic looking midi controller. I recently dropped a lot of money on a Roland Fantom 7, and I really like it a lot - especially coming from a Juno DS88 - but it's been nagging at me that I've only scratched the surface of sound quality and sound design by not getting into VSTs.

@darrickkeels6387

Жыл бұрын

@@akibe7608 The Fantom is actually a very powerful machine. In fact, all of the flagship workstation/synthesizer from the major manufacturers are very powerful. You can literally bring in whatever sound you want into the Zencore system and use it as a partial (oscillator).The MOD Matrix is outstanding, the filters, though they eat up polyphony, are truly class leading. It's not quite as accurate as their Analog Circuit Behavior Modeling (TR8, 909, System 8 etc) but ACB is extremely power hungry and takes loads of processing power. It’s not really a practical method of synthesis for a workstation. As you dive deep into the oscillator types like the Virtual Analog category, you will get SAW, Square, Triangle, Sine, Juno, etc. You get a wide variety of filter, filter envelop, amp envelop etc parameters to choose from. You can easily layers PCM oscillators with VA or SuperSAW or whatever you want. In short, there is a whole lot to work with. Most people will not go that deep into the sound design parameters. What I really like about the Fantom is that it strikes a good balance between power and ease of use. The user interface is well done and pretty modern especially compared to Korg, Kurzweil, and Yamaha. The Kronos is very powerful with its nine engines, but they truly all work very differently. The complete manual that I have for that keyboard 1170 pages. There were many days and nights I spent trying to figure out how to do something with lots of frustration. The end result was very good but getting there often took the fun out of making music. What I am trying to say is, don’t feel like you NEED to use software. Many people feel more connected to their art when they use dedicated hardware. My most “fun” keyboard to play is my Nord Stage 3. I love designing synth sounds on it and turning knobs on the fly. I just can’t get enough of the physical drawbars when playing organ or adding compression by hitting a button and turning a knob. But in many respects, it is my least powerful keyboard. The basic arpeggiator is like a toy compared to my Yamaha Montage. The sound design parameters are no match for my other workstations and synthesizers. But I get great sounds from it that work very well in a live context.

Definitely not. I think it's amazing we are still talking about memory in hardware keyboards, and these companies still put the bare minimum memory in there. And those Nord libraries need to be seriously updated. Nord has gotten lazy, and that red color is a nightmare.

id never buy a nord they so over priced and old tech

No, I don't think so. I really like my Korg Kronos. To me, it's not worth the cost.

Nope .... To many people pressed over one keyboard... No personality in gospel anymore. Be a leader not a gear follower. My thing is ..Come up with your own gear path. I like you because you can tell you have your own musical personality. respect bro

@darrickkeels6387

Жыл бұрын

Always been that way lol! Nord is simply the new "Motif." 😂

@Dadee3

Жыл бұрын

*This is an instrument, not a clothing brand. You'd willingly pay for a keyboard you're not interested in just to "stand out" and be different? 😂 😂 😂 🤦‍♂️*

@tuneunleashed

Жыл бұрын

@@darrickkeels6387Played a Yamaha Motif XF8 in church for the New year at some random church…boy I can’t believe this was the board I wanted back in 2010. It is absolutely terrible when you compare it to the keyboards today by a landslide omg. Sounds like something made in the 70s.

@darrickkeels6387

Жыл бұрын

@@tuneunleashed That's what people who only play old keyboards often fail to realize. Technology has come a long way, especially in the soft synth department.

@briann5001

Жыл бұрын

​@@Dadee3 everyone here is saying they would not pay for a new nord stage 4

For me that kind of money, they should’ve gave you more memory

Personally, I dont own a Nord but ... The current price is appx $5700.00 by the time you tax it your over 6K. In my opinion...... WAY WAY OVERPRICED. I think they will see sales decline on this unit. Its basically double most other boards. Crazy Number.

No audio over usb for that price....nope...

It's basically the same conversation for iPhone 13 users skipping the iPhone 14 due to lack of upgrades.

@darrickkeels6387

Жыл бұрын

At least with the iPhone it isn't 6 years between upgrades. They didn't even add the ability to transmit audio via USB. These are standard features on Flagships nowadays.

@tuneunleashed

Жыл бұрын

Still on my 12 lol

No, no, and no! It is an over-priced keyboard, I was able to get the Nord Stage for Kontakt ! I have never been impressed with the pianos there, okay. I think the Ravenscroft275, PTEQ, and C7 are just Better!

@darrickkeels6387

Жыл бұрын

Lol! So "overpriced" means that something costs more than it is worth. Worth refers to a products value. What is valuable to one person is not to another. It's really a personal thing. How much is chocolate worth? It largely depends on who you ask and how much they like chocolate. A business determines their pricing on their costs and how much the market is willing to pay for their product. If enough people see enough value in Nords and keep buying them, then they are not "overpriced" just because there are cheaper options out there. I understand you can get Nord's sounds via software. But Nord essentially gives its sounds away. They are free. Anyone can go on Nord's website and download their sounds for free. All of them. Now, you won't be able to play them unless you have their hardware😂. The workflow of the Nord is what people value. And its workflow is truly unique. Well Yamaha has copied it with their CP, YC, and CK keyboards 😂. But even those lack the "synth section" knob per function workflow. But if Yamaha, a company worth $36 billion, is copying a company that does less than $7 million per year, that says something about the small company. It means they are taking marketshare from the big companies because they found a way to provide a value that the other companies haven't. A Roland Fantom would cost $10,000 IF Roland thought people value it that much. But most people don't. Is the Nord Stage 4 overpriced to me? Yes. But that is because of my personal situation. Whether or not it is overpriced from a market standpoint...well we will have to wait and see.

@88mokeyz8k

Жыл бұрын

@@darrickkeels6387 So True DK! I do like the B3. I just picked up the PK 25 B3 organ pedals from a Pastor who cleaned out a church with a Neo Ventilator for free. The pedal needs an expression pedal replaced. That NV gives those organs super power s. Thanks for sharing BE Bless 🙌

No..I will. not buy the Stage 4

Hi bro

Played the NS3 extensively, and I dislike everything about it. I think it has the worst UI and layout I've ever seen on a keyboard, e.g. the arpeggiator button placed down where it is easily triggered by mistake, the 'panel A/panel B' system that makes it hard to control multiple things at once, the digital rotary knobs that can jump from 0 to 100 with one small twist, the tiny screen, the skinny hard-to-reach mod wheel, the very stiff pitch bend, etc etc etc. I dislike the NS3 so much that I've sworn off the brand entirely. Never buying a Nord. Ever. I have no idea why they're so popular.

@darrickkeels6387

Жыл бұрын

Yeah every keyboard is not for everyone. People normally love Nords or hate them.