Clavia Nord Electro 3 61

This keyboard has the traditional "Synth" style keys (not hammered or waterfall). Funny enough, this was the one thing I really did not like about this guy. It has several reproductions of vintage keyboard instruments including Rhodes, Whurlizter, Clavinet, B3, harpsichord, Acoustic pianos and a Sample section that lets you add samples from a huge library provided free by Clavia. These include other everything from keys to pads to leads to synthesizer souns etc..... It also offers some pretty sweet effects including phaser, chorus, flanger, trmelo, wah effects (including Auto), pan effects, amp simulation and even some rather full sounding Reverbs. Still no Delay though which is kind of a bummer. The Electro 3 has a host of knobs and switches to control these effects and instrument/sample selector but it does not have a Pitch or Modulation wheel. On one hand, this makes sense as the unit is designed to emulate real keyboard instruments that would not have such things, but on the other hand, it does offer use of samples, some of which are synth based, so you could argue it is needed as well. The unit is designed to connect to the computer through its usb port and swap out internally stored sound sets for new ones. This is the beauty of Nord for they continue to make and post new samples quite often and they are all fantastic. The Electro 3 unlike my Electro 2 Rack can access the new Piano Libraries as well, which are vastly better than the early ones. This unit offers Full polyphony.

UTILIZATION

The sounds are easily switched via the instrument selector button and the effects are the same each having their own knob (2 effects slots, 1 amp sim, 1 reverb). The organ section takes up about half of the overall Interface, and is very easy to use. Not only do you have control over individual tone bars, but you get visual feedback via the light "faders." This allows you to cycle through all the possible tone bars on the organ and have presets that are quickly and easily recalled and manipulated. I never read the manual as the only time I got to check this board out was at a music store.

SOUNDS

The samples in this board are very very realistic. Far better than most of the "high end" console digital pianos I've played. All the instrument samples sound even better than the Electro 2 series (which is hard to believe) and the Acoustic Piano's improvement is amazing. Piano Library 5 offers up some sweet upgrades to what I considered the weakest link in Nord's armor. The organ now has more realistic bleed through across tone bars/keys. The rhodes is darker and warmer which are the two characteristics I love about my Mark 1. I didn't notice any vast improvement on the whurly and the clavinet but in all honesty, they already were amazing. The sample section is cool, but I already have so many good synths to do that already that I think I would hardly use it. Each of the instrument samples stay true to the expressiveness that you would get on the real thing. The piano, again, was quite an improvement offering much more subtle control allowing you to go from intense to feather soft. The effects are quite nice which is to be expected from nord. The reverbs are on par with my TC Helicon Voiceworks which was nice. The amp simulations are awesome for recording. I can't say I like them live, but that could be partly due to my PA. I prefer to just run a buss channel to my Fender Twin so I can switch the audio from the PA to the Twin when I want that sound. The sounds are equally all amazing, it really just depends on what instrument you feel like playing. I can't say that I hate any sound that comes out of this keyboard.

OVERALL OPINION

What I like most about this board is it offers amazing sound quality in such a light little package. I decided to get the Electro 2 Rack for now and save up for the Nord Piano as the keys on the Electro 3 are still not good enough for me. They work as an organ and synth keyboard really well, but I need weighted keys on my Piano patches, and that's what I want the most. If I had the disposable cash though, I would definitely buy one of these for all those occasions that you wish you had something small to bring to a practice or writing session instead of dragging huge 88 key keyboards around. I was playing on a floor model that was going for $1400. It is a lot of money to spend, and in all honesty, I would save up and get the Nord Piano 88. Although, if you absolutely need an organ setup (Nord Piano does not have this) then this might be the better option. In the end, $1400 was too much for me right now. The new sample library makes this board one of the best sounding digital instruments I have ever heard. The body is also built out of wood and metal. The buttons and knobs and such are plastic but feel really solid, even on this floor model that has probably been played by a thousands. I have been using the Electro 2 since shortly after playing this and I find that unit stands up pretty close to this guy (except Acoustic Piano patches) so it will do for now.

61 keys, was going well for me at my level pianos (with change of octaves possible)
many sounds has any kind (brass, pianos, synths ...)
missing a small pitch bend wheel, shame.
software to grate sounds
four parts, pianos, organs, synths and samples of other organs of bing bing Annes style mellotron (the mellotron too nice) and the party organization of the sounds of the three banks cited before.

UTILIZATION

config trs simple,
edition no sound, just type additions effects reverb, chorus, flanger.
The manual looks damn good (I fly for some points where I calais) but not in French, sniff.

SOUNDS

Sounds, not better hardware up Submitted, just to watch the concerts and missions tl red ladies are everywhere!

OVERALL OPINION

1.5 months of use,
not touch the piano but enjoyable trs,
I had a technics, a Korg SP 250, a MAUDIO, sound level, the NE3 has the same engine as its big brother the Nord Stage 2 is well above, there's no picture!
I love it ... the memory, it is a bit limited to put patches of sound, but hey, now I think I found my recipe, a couple of pianos, three four bass, one or two leads, Melotron two three two three votes, not counting the fifty organ sounds of the day ', a will, a password, you just spend time sorting all banks sounds on the site of the North.

A versatile keyboard with 61 keys that mimics (very accurately for that matter) various sounds.

The sounds available:
Piano, Rhodes, Wurlitzers, Clavinet and harpsichords, three jazz organs large and varied (Hammond B3, Farfisa and Vox Continental), and a customizable set of samples via computer (USB connector).

Indeed a section:
Parametric EQ bass / medium / high, an effect first block with a choice of a tremolo, a pan, a wha-wha and a ring modulator, a second block with a flanger effect, a phaser and a chorus, simulation amp / compressor with 4 kinds of speakers (small / JC / Twin Reverb / Leslie) and a compressor.
Best of all, a reverb section with 5 different rooms (room, soft internship, internship, soft lobby and hall) ...
For the two blocks of effects, there is a button to adjust the intensity or frequency of the effect, and each effect has three levels deep.
As for amp simulation section, we slightly adjust the gain of the amplifier assumed (which can be used to make a small overdirve)

Controls:
There are only two types of controls: buttons for selecting and knobs for fine adjustments (the famous philosophy of "one share = one button", the whole is decorated with lots of LEDs, the which we have never lost. In fact not once I asked myself the question "do I turned this thing?"
The control part is divided into three sections: section one organ and piano (you can select one or the other by pressing a button) and the effect section.
The organ section consists of the choice of the organ, drawbars to change the sound, an effects section for each organ of origin, control of the rotary (Leslie), the control imposed on B3 and a few button for the "splittage keyboard" ...
The piano section comprises a choice of grand pianos, upright pianos, of Rhodes, the Wurlitzers, the Clavinet / Harpsichords and Samples.
For the clavinet, possibility to set filters and microphones used (table or easel, mix in and mix phase reversal) as the model of D6 in Honner.
Side samples, possibility of on / off velocity, attack time setting (normal or long), four types of "release" (no, short, long and very long).
A very interesting feature: an octave shifter that can add / remove up to 3 octaves to the original note.
Finally, a menu system to settle business type MIDI / sound / connections ...

Connectors:
Comprehensive (I think) ...
For sound, a headphone jack (stereo 6.35), two line-level outputs non-balanced form of mono jacks 6.35.
You can select what to send on each channel (stereo / piano and organ on one side to the other ...) via the menu system, it is very convenient for the mix!
An input monitoring (small stereo jack) sent to the headset only (practical work accompaniments).
Three pedal inputs: a sustain pedal, a pedal to turn on / off rotary and an expresion pedal to the volume of samples, the swelling of the organ and a two-wha-wha. Possibility of using a large number of pedal (pedal type configured in the system menu) with the expression pedals to choose between Roland, Fatar, Yamaha and Ernie Ball.
Finally, there is a connection MIDI in / out (among other things allows you to connect a second keyboard for the organ) and a USB port to connect to the computer ...

Sound management of the computer:
With a little software, you can easily import a variety of sounds (especially for samples but also for the piano!) Sample Library from the North, comprehensive and Nord Piano Library, also provided enough (both libraries are available for free download Clavia on the site).



UTILIZATION

As previously stated, we are in the "one share = one button" with a lot of LED and more.
Regarding the manual, it is quite lite but I think it is more than enough.
One small problem though, for some functions, you must use the "Shift". It is not always practical in the middle of a concert.
Another downside, some options available in the menu system would have deserved a dedicated button (I refer specifically to the function implementation ...)
Otherwise I find this very good keyboard (in addition to many things are configurable for everlasting chipoteurs).
Side buttons, I love the feel (it is very organ). Some lacks the same view but at worst can still connect another keyboard.
Know that there is a heavy version key for those who prefer (it is still slightly more expensive!).

SOUNDS

Here I have used.
The pianos of the lib is really bluffing (and keyboard reproduces very well). A small mansion for the Yamaha C7 close enough to reality (even if below) and the Queen at Bösendorfer also quite impressive.
For Rhodes, it's really not bad but I would have liked a little more bright ... though with the equalizer, you can get globally what we want.
The clavinet is really fantastic (at the same time I never touched real clavinet unlike other instruments set so I'm not sure my opinion means a lot to this point) and the harpsichord is not bad (mostly French 8 &#39 .
For samples, some sounds are really good (the string orchestra, for example), the other blah ... After that depends on your taste ...
For organs, I am satisfied. Being a big fan of The Doors, was used in the famous Vox Light my Fire!
The Hammond (with or without rotary) is really great (I fell in love

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for quite me. What repelled me in my choice was the price (almost € 2,000 is not nothing). Finally I do not regret that choice at all and I would do it blindfolded even under torture! XD