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Audiophile « From the serious to the scene »
Published on 04/16/11 at 03:42Keyboard scene touched specialized heavy piano acoustic / electric, no superfluous sounds.
Monophonic. No pitch / mod etc. ... not a keyboard master.
The sounds are interchangeable in the northern draw up Piano Library, which is enriched constantly.
Fairly complete effect section with direct access to settings, ability to save presets.
Light enough: 18Kg, internal power included.
Comes complete with a triple pedal mute / sustenuto / sustain progressive, very stable but a little bulky for those who like to travel light.
In terms of shortcomings:
Effect "delay" would have been welcome
No possibility to record a gain in output presets (like electro), though useful in some configurations scene ...
UTILIZATION
Nice keyboard, better than the Nord Stage EX which is softer and "elastic". For pianists, there will be too "light" (not to work the piano). It's still a good compromise to the extent that it weighs 18kg. To find really should get better keyboards between 5 and 10kg heavier (like Roland RD700GX). The coupling keyboard / samples is excellent and allows a very good expression, with minimal adaptation time. The basic setting retains a high headroom, which is very significant. 4 velocity curves are available.
Access to the parameters, presets is a breeze, and the manual is almost superfluous.
SOUNDS
It's the whole point of the beast.
North was previously known for his electric piano sounds, but the acoustic pianos were not unanimous. North took a major leap forward with the "library V5. New pianos are sampled first class and they also caught up on the behavioral. The management of the sustain pedal is progressive and now allows the "repedaling" and the addition of sympathetic resonance improves the thickness of the sound and helps make it more alive.
These sounds of nature, less smooth than the sounds of pianos (Japanese) competitors, it will do what their interests for some, and may interfere with others.
Small comments on my favorite pianos:
Large: The Lady D, a Steinway D concert with its dense whose tone changes very well with the dynamics (it recognizes the Steinway). Very consistent. Its very suitable for classical and hiking.
The Grand Imperial, with its huge Bosendorfer and a very wide stereo perspective, with low ... of Bosendorfer. The XL version which has over sampled area provides a definite plus (try some type agreements clusters ...). More impressive than the Lady D, but perhaps a little less coherent in the upper midrange (slight lack of sustain).
The Studio Grand 2, a Yamaha C7 harmonized version of "soft", prior to the 2 other, less harmonically rich, remains an excellent choice "to do everything" when it comes to choosing a piano that takes "its place" in a group .
Uprights: Choice bloated in the library, typed from the very typical. Among the most successful, The Black Grand, a Petrof in its very "upright". Resonances and inharmonicity still very present on pianos law, "string resonance North" (simulated sympathetic resonance + resonance of the frame captured by the pedal down samples) by taking its full extent. The Queen Upright (a Bosendorfer) will be useful on most rock songs. Among the oldest samples, I keep a certain weakness for "Rain Piano" (from the library Sampletekk) for his temperament quite original.
Electric Piano: Great selection of Rhodes (6) of all models and different preparations, what really find happiness. The "new" Sparkletop 67 is very beautiful, perfect blend of sweetness and presence. One model Wurlitzer good once you start working with the effects. I suspect we prepare Northern others.
Clavinet: Possibility to select different pickups config. I'm not an expert but the sound is convincing, and with effect wha wha's foot.
Harpsichord: the choice again, experts appreciate, personally I do not use them.
All these sounds are replaceable in memory of 500MB, and one can choose between several versions or less demanding, but with the same number of layers:
XL (only Bosendorfer) 200MB! and a sampling almost note for note.
L: Less than XL box, with all the samples pedal up and pedal down
M: Compared to L, DOWN samples are present on only a little over 4 octaves (central part of the keyboard).
S: pedal up only (no resonance at all)
Let us add to this that the sounds can be output in mono, and they respond well to EQ, the sound engineers are usually happy to work with.
OVERALL OPINION
I use it for a month and I would not change for an internship ... 2!
I have long played on keyboards Roland (RD700SX), I came to North through the electro 3, which at one time lived with my other keyboards. Exit North piano and improvements related to the North piano library V5 made me really plunge.
I also tested the SV1, but I did not like the side too "sensitive" keyboard, with which you type too fast in too high velocities (I did not try to fix it either). Rhodes sounds and effects are very good but I like less than the acoustic piano.
There'sa lot next stage piano from all manufacturers. Some favor more synthetic and less samples, which gives very nice piano playing and often more "correct" the behavioral perspective and harmony, but sometimes lack personality. North remains very "sampled piano" with the benefits (more character, true sound library in which to choose the piano that match his needs) and disadvantages (its less smooth approximations of behavior)
Monophonic. No pitch / mod etc. ... not a keyboard master.
The sounds are interchangeable in the northern draw up Piano Library, which is enriched constantly.
Fairly complete effect section with direct access to settings, ability to save presets.
Light enough: 18Kg, internal power included.
Comes complete with a triple pedal mute / sustenuto / sustain progressive, very stable but a little bulky for those who like to travel light.
In terms of shortcomings:
Effect "delay" would have been welcome
No possibility to record a gain in output presets (like electro), though useful in some configurations scene ...
UTILIZATION
Nice keyboard, better than the Nord Stage EX which is softer and "elastic". For pianists, there will be too "light" (not to work the piano). It's still a good compromise to the extent that it weighs 18kg. To find really should get better keyboards between 5 and 10kg heavier (like Roland RD700GX). The coupling keyboard / samples is excellent and allows a very good expression, with minimal adaptation time. The basic setting retains a high headroom, which is very significant. 4 velocity curves are available.
Access to the parameters, presets is a breeze, and the manual is almost superfluous.
SOUNDS
It's the whole point of the beast.
North was previously known for his electric piano sounds, but the acoustic pianos were not unanimous. North took a major leap forward with the "library V5. New pianos are sampled first class and they also caught up on the behavioral. The management of the sustain pedal is progressive and now allows the "repedaling" and the addition of sympathetic resonance improves the thickness of the sound and helps make it more alive.
These sounds of nature, less smooth than the sounds of pianos (Japanese) competitors, it will do what their interests for some, and may interfere with others.
Small comments on my favorite pianos:
Large: The Lady D, a Steinway D concert with its dense whose tone changes very well with the dynamics (it recognizes the Steinway). Very consistent. Its very suitable for classical and hiking.
The Grand Imperial, with its huge Bosendorfer and a very wide stereo perspective, with low ... of Bosendorfer. The XL version which has over sampled area provides a definite plus (try some type agreements clusters ...). More impressive than the Lady D, but perhaps a little less coherent in the upper midrange (slight lack of sustain).
The Studio Grand 2, a Yamaha C7 harmonized version of "soft", prior to the 2 other, less harmonically rich, remains an excellent choice "to do everything" when it comes to choosing a piano that takes "its place" in a group .
Uprights: Choice bloated in the library, typed from the very typical. Among the most successful, The Black Grand, a Petrof in its very "upright". Resonances and inharmonicity still very present on pianos law, "string resonance North" (simulated sympathetic resonance + resonance of the frame captured by the pedal down samples) by taking its full extent. The Queen Upright (a Bosendorfer) will be useful on most rock songs. Among the oldest samples, I keep a certain weakness for "Rain Piano" (from the library Sampletekk) for his temperament quite original.
Electric Piano: Great selection of Rhodes (6) of all models and different preparations, what really find happiness. The "new" Sparkletop 67 is very beautiful, perfect blend of sweetness and presence. One model Wurlitzer good once you start working with the effects. I suspect we prepare Northern others.
Clavinet: Possibility to select different pickups config. I'm not an expert but the sound is convincing, and with effect wha wha's foot.
Harpsichord: the choice again, experts appreciate, personally I do not use them.
All these sounds are replaceable in memory of 500MB, and one can choose between several versions or less demanding, but with the same number of layers:
XL (only Bosendorfer) 200MB! and a sampling almost note for note.
L: Less than XL box, with all the samples pedal up and pedal down
M: Compared to L, DOWN samples are present on only a little over 4 octaves (central part of the keyboard).
S: pedal up only (no resonance at all)
Let us add to this that the sounds can be output in mono, and they respond well to EQ, the sound engineers are usually happy to work with.
OVERALL OPINION
I use it for a month and I would not change for an internship ... 2!
I have long played on keyboards Roland (RD700SX), I came to North through the electro 3, which at one time lived with my other keyboards. Exit North piano and improvements related to the North piano library V5 made me really plunge.
I also tested the SV1, but I did not like the side too "sensitive" keyboard, with which you type too fast in too high velocities (I did not try to fix it either). Rhodes sounds and effects are very good but I like less than the acoustic piano.
There'sa lot next stage piano from all manufacturers. Some favor more synthetic and less samples, which gives very nice piano playing and often more "correct" the behavioral perspective and harmony, but sometimes lack personality. North remains very "sampled piano" with the benefits (more character, true sound library in which to choose the piano that match his needs) and disadvantages (its less smooth approximations of behavior)