Clavia Nord Electro 61

software version = 2.3 on the OG electro.(not electro II)

Presets sound good. Mine was downloaded with updates though - so I'm not sure WHICH presets they are. (Bought used)

Editing patches is easy. But its not a synth/workstation type board. So editing a patch is basicly adding effects. Most of this is on the front panel. No menus, sub menus. Easy to do in real time.
Manual - don't need it for your basics. Had to look up how to config the pedal, lower the keyclick volume on the B-3.And to learn about the filter settings for the clavinet. Clear manual.

Very easy to use. Everything you need is on the front panel clearly labeled. It???s a simple instrument.
Drawbars:Some pro's and cons to their Led -push-button method. Its hard to just reach up and smoosh in a bunch of drawbars. (I like to switch suddenly to a 888000000 but with the smooth morph. ).I imagine this will get easier after a while. But it IS quick to reach up and nudge a drawbar in our out by 1 quick tap. Its nice to access a preset and be able to change it immeadiatly. (You don't have to worry about the fact that your drawbar is in the wrong position after switching to a preset.) B-3 vets (I'm not one) will also miss having the seperate sets of drawbars for upper and lower manual. (a button is used to toggle upper and lower). I wasn't concerned with this when I got it. But its such a nice sounding b-3 clone I'll be using my 'lower manual' (via midi) more now. Some magazine reviews complained about not having a real screen. This doesn't bother me - except there's no way to name your stored patches.
A lot of it's Ease of Use is due to lack of features though.

Organ has full polyphony. Other sounds - I'm not sure. Hold down the sustain and arrpegio up the keys, and you'll drop notes. For my purposes I'm not worried.
I like it. Yay! Waterfall keys. Non-organ sounds require a soft touch. I've been gigging with synths instead of digital pianos with weighted keys anyway, so I'm used to not having the proper Electric Piano touch. If you want weighted keys you will be dissappointed(?)
Built in effects are exellent. Includes old school sounding chorus, phaser, flanger, wahs and autowahs, distortion.
Expansion:can download new sounds from web site. Haven't tried.
Midi is minimal. No pitchbends, After touch. You can Midi in a keyboard to make a 2 manual organ. (what else do you need from an Organ/Electric Piano clone?)Not sure how to score this one. It's not loaded with features - but this board shouldn't be. They lose a point for no reverb. THAT???S a pain in the butt. I'm trying to strip down my gear. . . And now I've got to add another piece for reverb!

Velocity response is nice. Because it???s a compromise between the super light action of hammond and sluggish action of the rhodes and such, the electric pianos require a softer touch than most keys. I always set my synths for a light touch too. So it works for me! (why work so hard when its not real action.)
Sounds: This is what this instrument is all about. The b-3 is HEAVEN!!!!!!!. Ok - to qualify - I haven't played on the real deal in years. But a/b it against recordings, and its dead on. Sweet leslie sim. The best chorus/vibrato I've heard. Keyclick sounds weird at the preset level. But lower this to a nearly subliminal level (or eq it out) and it sounds about right. I got this board because I heard someone playing one in a festival (complete with left hand bass) and it was hand's down the best clone I'd ever heard. To qualify some more: I haven't tried the competitor's latest versions of the clones that use modeling. But this beats ALL the sampled drawbar clones. None of the stores near me carry organ clones. So I went with this one when it showed up on Ebay.
Electric Pianos. They sound great. I don't know if they'd fool the vintage keyboard players. Not enough chime in the rhodes for me. (comparing to my Mark I 73 key) but still REALLY nice and I'm not even considering hauling the rhodes to a gig. the rhodes is the only vintage keyboard I have, so I may be just more critical of the nord copy because of that. Although I prefer the real Rhodes to Wurly, I like the Wurly sound better in the Nord. The wurly doesn't have the elusive metalic bite of the real deal (although I'm not familiar with the models to know which ones I'm comparing it too) but is still oh so sweet and fun to play. No annoying sample crossovers like my previous EP sounds.
Clav: nice and ultra funky. Don't think it would fool a clav player. But how often do you hear a raw clav? It doesn't have that harpsichord flavor quite.(like superstition )Then again - I haven't fooled much with the filters. So I may have to ammend this later. Usually the real clavs are loaded with effect. so put your wah, distortion, and/or phaser on - its is OH so groovy. Higher ground sound with autowah - and that herbie hancock 'wah-ka-ja-ka-wah-kah' stuff from those headhunter albums all easy to mimic. I've never even touched the real clav - so i'm not the best expert here.
Electric Grand. Mine doesn't have the sample in it. I could download it - but don't care to. I don't have a desire to mimic an electric grand.
Acoustic Grand:OK. A step up from my workstaion that's over 10 years old. Its not offensive, but lacks the complexity needed to make a good piano sound. I don't use piano sounds except when required. So I'm not to fussed. Not sure which sample I have.

Works with anything the b3, electric pianos, and such fit in with.
Built in effects are exellent.

Effects: Nice and phat and old-school sounding. Not as phat and liquidy as the old analog pedals. But then again, a LOT less noisy too. The distortion is better than I expected. I've never used the digital distortion in ANY of my keyboards before, but now I do. It sounds tube enough for me. But I use a rather subtle amount. That autowah sure is fun!
It reacts VERY nice to playing. Very easy to get lotsa expression. Looking forward to further developing my B-3 chops.
I'm going with 10. Even though NOTHING is really a 10. so 9.9

Too soon to tell.

Haven't dealt with company. Hope I don't have to - They are overseas

Oh yeah I'd get another one if lost.
I've been playing for about 25 years. Playing gigs with digital keyboards for 15. Current rig:Yamaha sy-85, this Nord now, played through a behringer xenyx1202 mixer (cheapest way to get reverb @ guitar center) and the keyboardist fave roland KC 500 keyboard amp. I've got a Rhodes 73 Stage Mark I (recording, home practicing only) Rhodes VK 1000 - (little known b-3 clone from the x-b2 days. Rhodes in name only. Its actually made by Roland. The Nord is to replace the VK-1000)
Love? - Sounds KILLER!. Its so small and light! Hate? - No reverb:that's a pain.
didn't compare to the latest generation of clones from hammond, roland, korg. It leaves the ones from a few years ago in the dust! I went with this one because I heard someone perform with one and I was consumed with organ envy. Also - I wanted one with a good electric piano sound, because I don't like the one in my SY-85. Because of other good reviews, I bought one off Ebay. For some reason - the stores around here don't carry the organ clones.
What would I add? I won't mention the reverb thing again here. (oops). A panel button to disable midi would be nice. So I could easily enable my other keyboard to work as a lower manual. Also - there's nothing for pedals. Not that I pedal-bass anyway - but I'd start learning. Jazz, Church Organ players need to consider this before buying!. (The 16' folds, no way to disable it)
Yeah it helps me make music. Haven't performed with it yet though???.
Just the keyboard I've been waiting for!

Very easy to use. I've not got round to putting my own presets in and don't use the ones supplied, I just dial in the instruments and effects I feel like as I go which is quick and easy to do. Drawbars are a little fiddly for live use and Ioccationally catch the wrong buttons when playing live as they are really easy to push. But that's my fault, not the Nord's!

Features are good, plenty of good usable effects and all the instruments
I need and a couple more. I would like to have had reverb included also
but most amps have that anyway. Keys are really nice (although I'm no expert), they are great for fast funky organ but also expressive enough for subtle rhodes

Overall the sounds are good. The organ is the best, I'd give that a 9. Great Leslie, A really organic overall sound.

E.P's are good also, but to my ears lack the depth of my NI Electrik Piano. It does not bother me too much because the subtle differencies would be lost live anyway. I'd give the Rhodes and Wurly an 8.

Clav, okay, again not as good as the Native Instruments one but good enough live. Theres plenty of pickup positions to tweak the sound.
7/10 for these

Piano and Electric Stage Piano. Piano is okay in a mix but not great on its own. 6/10 for these.

I play mainly organ so overall I'll give 8.

So far so good. Looks funky and has nice wood at the side. Feels solid and well engineered.

Not contacted Clavia but the website looks good and you can update the sounds as new ones are released which is Handy.

This is damn funky KB that has most things I require. "proper drawbars" would be a good addition as would be reverb. Also pretty expensive but all Hammond clones tend to be.

The presets for electric piano are very good though they're a little heavy on the "distorted", overdriven Wurly and Rhodes. I find these of no use, so I edited them out.I am an old time Wurlitzer player (and owner) so I love their Wurlitzers. I've tweaked the vibrato and added just a spice of "tube overdrive" for the my ultimate Wurly.

Edting patches, by the way, is a breeze.

This is a "player's" keyboard. There is no sequencer. Someone who is a "button pusher" as opposed to a real player should get a synth that plays itself. I really appreciate this about the Nord Electro 2.

The action could be a little harder. It is much spongier than my real B-3 and it really does not compare to either of my Wurlitzers. When I first got the Nord, I hooked it to a keyboard controller I had and felt that it played better. Now, I've gotten used to it but still feel that the action is too soft and too spongy for electric piano.

Also, I know everyone has raved about the Leslie simulation. I feel this is really somewhat mediocre. I own two Korg CX-3's (circa 2002) and find their Leslie simulator much better. On fast, the Nord simuator makes you kind of nauseous. I am also quite put off by the lack of real drawbars. If you have a real B-3, as I do, then these buttons in lieu of real drawbars ARE a big deal to overcome.

In my opinion, the electric pianos are the best thing bout this keyboard. They're even better than the real thing!! Plus, you don't have to wind up in the orthopedic ward after lugging them around.

I like the organs in the Korg CX-3 (version 2, circa 2002) much better. I also own a Hammond B-3 and just find the Korg more like the real thing. But, that being said, there's a whole lot of room for other Hammond players'preferences and many people like the pure flute tones of the Nord when played through a real Leslie. To me, however, you buy an organ clone so you don't have to carry around a 122 anymore.

I'm sorry to say this, but the acoustic piano inside is terrible - tacky, tinny, and totally irritating. For loud rock, it would cut thru the mix, but for playing jazz, standards, or blues, it's just non-useable. When I need an acoustic sound I use the CP-70 (electric grand) which, though, it sounds unlike an acoustic can get by. Most of the time, if I need an acoustic piano, i use my Roland RD-700.

So far, the keyboard has been very reliable. I either use it with my Korg CX-3 or with my Roland RD-700 stage piano.

I contacted the factory about their use of an electric shaver cord instead of a normal 3-prong power cord because I needed a replacement. I had to go to Radio Shack to buy a replacement cord (I bought 3just in case).While the cords are available,I don't know why Nord decided to use such a weird power cable when they could have picked one that was interchangeable with every other keyboard.

I love playing the electric pianos on this keyboard. For me, they're it. The organs on the Korg CX-3 (post 2000 versions 1 or 2) are better as is the Leslie simulator. Plus the "feel" of the CX-3 is much more B-3 like.

The clavs on the Nord are excellent but that was never a real sell for me nor was it an instrument I liked very much in the 70's. I was and AM a Wurlitzer man and the Nord NAILS it and does a fine job on the Rhodes too. All this being said, Nord did a great job. No one can make perfect copies of ALL the electromechanical keyboards and put them in one product. With the exception of the acoustic pianos, which in my opinion are awful, every other instrument on the Nord Electro 2 is way more than adequate.

This keyboard is very easy to use. No menus to scroll through. You use knobs and buttons to adjust sounds and change settings. I am running v2.2 of the software which allows you to set the split point anywhere on the keyboard for the Hammond simulation. Even though it doesn't have drawbars its very easy to hold the buttons to increment/deincrement the drawbars.

Full polyphony. The action is a cross between a wurlitzer and hammond with waterfall keys. Its very easy to store presets and call them up on the fly no matter if your in organ or piano mode. You can midi another board and use it as the lower manual for the organ section.

The Organ is a 10. No doubt about it. The Leslie sim is incredible. Most sims don't model the leslie amp which really gives the leslie its warm throaty sound. Clavia modeled the 122 amp and the motion really sounds great. When you go from fast to stop in the sim, you can actually hear the horn stop in a different direction everytime. In my opinion they really did their homework on this Leslie simulation.
The clav is good and has all the filter and pickup combinations.
The wurly is great and you can dial in that classic wurly vibrato.
The Rhodes is good, although I don't use it that much.
The piano is ok, but I use this board for the organ mainly.

The nicest part about it compared to my chopped M3 is I turn this board on and its on. No looking for loose solder joints or bad tubes. Although I had to return the first one because one of the keys would not sound in the piano mode. This board looked like it was dropped in transit or at musicians friend. This was muscians friend's fault.

I haven't dealt with them directly yet, but I hear Clavia is a small outfit which is good. I know they take pride in their work and its great to be able to download software updates so that the board is future-proof.

I would be devasted if it was stolen. I would definitely get a new one. All of my vintage boards stay at home now since I have everything I own under one arm. I own a wurly 140b, Rhodes Mark I 73 stage piano. A chopped Hammond M3 and a Leslie 145. My main gigging rig is the Nord run through the speakeasy into my 145. There is no A/B comparison with this combo in my opinion. The Leslie sim is great, but with a 145 and speakeasy preamp this thing has HUGE balls!

V2.1 Very intuitive, when I first saw it in a shop I dialed in the organ sound I wanted. Everything was logical to me. The standard organ presets are are a bit weird, but can be replaced very easily. The manual is very good. Even with info on the instruments that are modeled in the Electro.

I have never had problems vith polyphony with this board, not even the piano's. The built in effects are very usful especially for elpianos. The leslie effect is stunning.

The keyboard feel is exellent for an organplayer like me.

There is no reverb, witch is a bit odd, since the organ section is modeled after an A100 that have built in spring reverb.

The sounds can be upgraded from a computer with USB interface, but memory is limited.

MIDI is well implemented and about every thing is controllable or gives MIDI output.

The sound generator is not multi timbral, that is you can not play organ and a pianosound at the same time. This is the biggest drawback to me.

There are very limited funktions for master keyboard use. There is no support for bass pedals.

There is not many diffrent instrument sounds here, it is not the idea. What it does is give you the basic classic sounds with controls similar to that on the originals plus som effects. Everything except for the acoustic piano samples are really good. Since I am an old organplayer, I love the organ sound. The electricpianos and clavinet are a nice extra bonus, and are mutch better than in typical soundmodules and keyboards.

Never had a problem, though it is not gigtested.

I bought it with version 2.0, I upgraded it to 2.1 via my computer MIDI interface. No problem. I have not had any reason to deal with the company as such, but I like the way they do things.

If i'd lose it i would defenitly buy it again although the currency has made it more expensive. I have a Solton MS100 that works as "lower manual" and supply me with rythm and GM sounds for MIDI. I play through a small PA with a Behringer mixer with built in effects, an STK 2x100 watt amp and two two way 12" speakers.

I love the organ/leslie sound, the sounds I am least taken with are the acoustic pianos(I tried all), but I do not hate them.

I'm using the version 2.0 after updating my V.1.0 nord electro, which I could get much cheaper after the version 2 had been released. The new preset sounds that you can download from clavia's website sound much better than the standard V.1 sounds: "thumbs up" - now you really can play even the acoustic piano with your nord electro.
editing patches is: easy as pie! turn the knobs, push some buttons and if you want, save down your modified presets, there are six times eight banks to do so.
The manual that is delivered with V.1 does not help much any more, if you updated the software, so clavia offers an updated manual on it's website. It is clear, illustrated and not sophisticated.

Since the nord electro offers "full polyphony" it's guaranteed to be fun playing. The semi-weighted waterfall keys serve a smooth feeling, they softly feather back when released - perfect keyboard for sliding up and down!
the nord electro 61 provides following effects: flanger, chorus, phaser, wah-wah, distortion, ring-mod, leslie, pan, tremolo and some others. they can be selected via the "effects"-section, intensity can be changed via knobs. the only downside here: you can't combine some of the effects with each other.
the nord electro can be upgraded with new sounds and operating systems via Midi-Port or USB port.
The keys themselves are pressure sensitive, there is no on-board sequencer since the nord electro is designed as a retro-synth with old e-piano sounds and an organ section, so why should there be use of a sequencer?

In Version 2 the acoustic grand piano sound has been improved a lot, by the way, it could be better still, but you can still modify it with some equalizer functions. you can even hear the pianos "hammers strike" when pressing a key. the wurlizer, rhodes and clavinet sounds are very realistic, concerning attack and release of the keys as well. the organ section as well will not sound like a B3 but maybe better than some "organ crimes" that have been released by hammond-suzuki within the last years.
The nord electro especially works for Rock (yeah, distortion!), Jazz (Playing Weather Report will work!) and some Funk styles.
For me, the waterfall keyboard and the reaction of the sounds is that kind of feeling that i have been looking for so long.

Yes, you can depend on this instrument, I found no bugs, you simply turn it on or off and it will always be ready for you. There are no backups needed, while playing a gig with this keyboard you create your sound spontaneously on stage.

Clavia supports the customers by providing Updates of operating systems and sound on it's page www.clavia.se
I did not make experiences with a personal customer support, since this product is reliable.

I cannot imagine reselling this keyboard again, I fell in love with it since the first day I checked it out at the store. About a half a year ago I tried it for the first time, two months ago I finally bought it, because the Version 1 had been for sale a lot cheaper and you simply could upgrade it to a full Version 2.
I love it's red color! :-) There's nothing to hate about it.
Sometimes I wish it had a bigger key-range, but I could do all gigs with 61 keys as well.
With this instrument you can MAKE music.

Installed 2.0 just after I got it. Never had to look at the manual (apart from to learn how to unlock presets - what's the point of that Clavia?) Everything labelled clearly and makes sense. After years of Roland synths I'm flabbergasted I can buy this on a Friday and gig it on a Saturday. Updating and swapping sounds via a PC is foolproof and helps make my sizable investment futureproof.

Keyboard feels great for the pianos, I'm used to a synth 'board for organ so that seemed a bit strange to start with. Polyphony is so close to full that there are no problems with it live at all - haven't tried it with midi yet. The idea of downloading new sounds from the net for free is great - would be nice to have a short mp3 of what they sound like. And a new OS! This is the future, ladies and gents...

Organ - 10 (leslie - 11! spot on!)
Wurli - 10
Rhodes - 10
Electric grand - 7 (never really use)
Clav - 8 better than in OS1 but still needs a lot of tweaking to get interesting. Pickup etc on 'presence' knobs does the job
Ac Piano - 6 (passable)

Effects in OS2 are warm and vintage sounding. Vibrato and leslie especially are stunning. Lives and breathes like a "proper musical intrument". Causes even seasoned jazzmen to turn round with a big grin on their face. Blues/Funk/Jazz/Rock/Soul/indie is where I use it and its perfect for that.

Dependable, solid, and now all I take to gigs other than the amp and some controller pedals.

No contact with clavia. Downloadable upgrades are great!

This will get a 10 by the time OS3 is out. Damn near perfect. I could have bough this or a car and I'm glad I made the right choice.

I have the Version 2.0 software, so some of this will differ from earlier reviews (and I'll try to cover the things they've fixed).

It's certainly easy to use, the presets are great. Editing patches is extremely easy. One really nice feature is that when you are saving a new patch, you can choose a memory location and check the patch that's already there before you overwrite it. I do miss the ability to name patches instead of just giving them letters and numbers (they go from A1 to D8).
The manual is very good.

Polyphony seems to have been fixed from v1.0. You have to try hard to make it 'note-rob', and it does it very musically.
Keyboard action is good, if not great. As others have said, a weighted action would be better for pianos, but it's surprisingly easy to get used to. It has the 'waterfall' front of a real Hammond, but I'd say to anyone who isn't used to this, it's no big deal. I'd been reading for years how you 'had to have this' for Hammond, but it makes no difference to me.
Built in effects are all good. The best thing about them is that they're all right there on the panel. So if you want to add some phase, distortion, whatever, just hit the button and dial it up. This is MUCH better than the pushbutton approach.
I haven't really explored the MIDI capabilities, but they seem fine on paper.

Here's where I give it near marks. All the sounds are the best I've ever played on a digital instrument.
I'll endorse everything that's been said about the Rhodes, Wurly and Hammond sounds. Version 2 software gives you control over Hammond keyclick. It also offers more Rhodes sounds, two different acoustic pianos and the awesome 'Mega Clavinet'.
Responsiveness to heavier playing is brilliant, though I notice the black keys play louder than the white keys.
The CP-80 electric grand is the ONLY sample version of this great instrument that sounds like the real thing. I have a feeling everyone says "who needs this' because they've never heard/played one that's any good. I love the sound of these pianos - and this board gets it (can't match the action though!).

It's well made and well set up internally for servicing (if it were ever needed). I'd say it's as reliable as any keyboard.

Incidentally, it's very easy to switch it from 120V to 230V operation: just open it up and flick a switch on the power supply board.

I bought mine secondhand from the US (I'm in Australia). An email to Clavia asking whether it could work on 230V got a prompt, friendly answer.
The free software upgrade is simply fabulous. The extra samples they give away are as good as any you'd pay for.

Overall, this instrument is everything I wanted: an incredibly light and compact, complete keyboard. All I need is the Electro, an amp and cables. If there's a PA, you don't even need the amp. No modules, no mixer, no outboard effects (and all the wall warts that seem to go with them). Just carry it under one arm, plug in and make music. If you want to vary the sound, just grab a knob or hit a button.
It's not a cheap instrument, but I think it's great value.

I use V1.1 and will upgrade soon (more about that later). It's even better than plug and play, just turn it on and the fun begins!

The Rhodes is my favourite, followed by the Hammond which, in combination with the virtual drawbars, is great and intuitive to play. The Wurli is a bit muddy but comes to life with a little EQ. The Clav is solid, but it lacks something in the adjustment department and the piano is good for those incognito-like songs.. I don't really use the Electric grand that much but it sounds solid.

The "preset" sounds are all there is, but you can store quite a few different settings, involving FX, drawbar settings etc. This is also very easy to do so thumbs up.

The manual is short and straightforward, in fact the Electro is so easy you hardly need a manual in the first place!

The polyphony for the organ is good, but i've noticed some voice theft when playing the piano sounds.. I saw Clavia have solved this problem with the v2.0 upgrade so I can't wait to have it done. Which brings me to the upgrade itself. It should be fairly easy but I haven't succeeded (yet) on my system..

As far as the keyboard itself concerned: it plays really fast and responsive, but the keys get stuck real quick if you happen to bump the Electro (not even hard) into something, even if it's in a suitcase..

The FX section is solid, it's too bad the distortion increases in small steps, especially in the 0-3 area.. I kind of miss a delay, which, in combination with the very useful tremolo and i.e. autowah could make things even better..

As for expansion: the Electro sports USB, which is a nice touch. Since the memory is all Flash and there is only room for 6 (granted, very good) piano sounds at a time this feels a bit limited.. But then again, when the sounds are this good, who needs anything else but the real things?

As for MIDI, i use another keyboard for that, i have the Electro for live purposes since my other keys are too heavy to carry around.

Like i wrote above, i love the Rhodes sound, it's very dynamic and it's almost like the real thing (i've played quite a few different Rhodes keys, 73s and 88s, i would've had one if i had the space).. The Hammond is also amazing! The first time my band heard this sound they could hardly believe that it was coming from this red killer machine..
And who wants to carry a Clavinet and a Wurlitzer along when you can have 'em in the same box? Fiddle with the EQ/presence and especially live no-one can tell the difference unless there are only vintage keyboardplayers/owners in the house..

Clavia have put a lot of efforts in the multi-samples for each key.. The lightest touch makes it sound sweet and if you slam the keys the Electro actually sounds like it's being abused! There is no (need for) aftertouch, or maybe on the Clavinet?

I can depend on my Electro for 95% of my time.. The other 5% i noticed a very strange bug which i hope Clavia will have sorted out with the V2.0 software: from time to time the Electro will "hang" and leave a single note ringing even after releasing the sustain pedal. Could it be the sample playback engine?

I have used it a several gigs, either as standalone or in combination with a Roland JV synth (Electro String Box anyone? Thought so!) and i don't think it will disappoint me, since the only appropriate backup would be another Electro i guess.. :-)

I have never dealt with the company directly, just brought it back to the store the first time my keys got stuck (see above!) and now i know how to "free" the keys myself..

As for the upgrade, i'll get it done this weekend and if it's really as good as i've read/heard then i'm in for something!

If my Electro were stolen then i would rush to the store in August and get me an Electro 2.. I wouldn't just lose this thing that's for sure!

I've been playing the piano almost all my life, but only recently made the step to keyboardist which is a bigger difference than i first thought it was.. But it's fun, and the Electro contributes to it because with it, i can focus on playing and not pushing buttons and adjust parameter so and so..

I'd love to see/play an Electro that's multi-timbral thogh, i very much miss the possibility to play the Rhodes sound and the Hammond simultaneously (on seperated keyboards if you wish, like the upper/lower half in the Hammond section)..

My conclusion is that, even though i went well over my initial budget to buy this baby, i would be very sorry now if i wouldn't have done it!

I was fortunate to have the Clavia rep let me take this thing for a test run. I was on my way to rehersal when I got it so naturally I used it for the rehersal. I didn't have any problems getting it hooked up and working immediately. I am using version 1.0 and I could tell that there were some polyphony problems. I looked at the website later that night and Clavia said they were aware of them and were working on a solution. I trust them. I love my Nord Lead II. :)
The manual was simple. The keyboard is very easy to use and you only look at the manual if you come across something you don't understand.
The Rhodes is great.... Love it...
The Hammond is stunning...... Very good. I would pit it against the hammond XK-2 anyday.
The CP70/80 is cool, but I don't think that I would ever use it.
The piano sound is truly amazing for a throw in sound. I found myself using it alot.
The clav is a total waste of time. Sorry.... I have a D6 and this doesnt' come anywhere close to it. Sounds way to much like a DX7 clav tone in my opinion.

The action is fantastic. Its solid and fights you back like a rhodes. It takes a minute to get used to the face that the keys aren't as long from front to back as a normal keyboard, but after a couple minutes you don't even notice it. The effects are great. I would like to see a way to change the routing of the effects. The Leslie simulator is very nice, but I would like to have seen some speed change possibities. I thought that it sped up to fast. Midi is there, but I don't really think that anyone will use it. You start to think of this machine as a rhodes or a hammond..... they didn't have midi. I can't imagine not having the keyboard, so the rack version doesn't seem all that interesting.

Again the Rhodes, Hammond, and piano are spectacular....
The clav is not...
I would love to see them get a new clav patch in there and with the USB interface I think that they could.

It's Nord... !!!!! Put a bullet in it.... turn it on ... it still plays. It's built like a tank and the wood sides are ultra cool.
I played it on several occaions live and would have a problem taking it out on tour.

I haven't dealt with them on the Electro, but they have always been great about helping me with my Lead II.... I like the company alot.
And the rep is really nice too.... (thanx Chris !!!!!)

It is a very niche piece of gear. With ther other thing that are around it's price range I don't know what I would do in a buyers shoes. The Motif does a great rhodes and Clav and decent Organ sounds with a built in sampler and sequencer for about the same price, but it can't compete with the feel of this keyboard. You really have to want to replace your older electro - mechanical pieces to get this, but there is nothing else out there that does it as well as this.... (just have a cool clav sound as a backup)

I am using software 1.0.1, in which I haven't found any bugs yet. Maybe they're there, but they don't bother me. The Electro has the great approach of having every vital function represented by a front panel button or switch. It's very logical and easy to use. The "drawbars" are actually great, much better than they would seem to an organ player, used to the real thing... The manual is very clear and readable, but You really don't need it for basic patch editing. I only read it to learn more about MIDI implementation and such things.

The polyphony isn't the greatest; twentyfour notes (I think!) are possible at once, but Clavia claim that the new operative system will improve this vastly, and since they've never let me down before, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. The keyboard action is surprisingly good; it works great for B3 sounds right away, and after some practising I've found it to be very responsive for the other sounds too. The built-in effects are great reproductions of classic effects, and especially the "tube" overdrive makes me want to jump up and down, screaming with joy - and this I can say after hauling my mark II Rhodes with a Music Man 4x12 for the last seven years. My only wish is that the effects were not hard patched, but instead interchangeable, since the order of the effects greatly affects the sound. The MIDI capabilities are somewhat limited, but this is not a MIDI master controller; this is an instrument to be played. If You're a real MIDI-hookup-geek (like me!), You might want to check the upcoming rack version. There are no wheels, no arpeggiator and no other such things, but, like I said, this is not that type of board. The only major setback is the monotimbrality; it would be great to be able to combine, say, organ and clav.

The B3-emulation is the best I've heard. I recently did a recording with a two-guitar rock band that wanted some "fattening" (i.e. B3) on their tracks. On two of the tracks we used a rental C3 in great shape with a Leslie 145, and on the rest the Electro, and if I didn't know which tracks were wich, I couldn't tell you. Naturally, in a situation with the organ more up-front, you cant beat the real deal, but in a situation like this, well... The Rhodes sound is great, although I feel it sounds more like a mark II than the announced mark I. The prescence buttons work magic with the piano sounds, and when used with the distortion, you're in heaven. It takes about two seconds from "Still crazy after all these years" to "The happy people" to "Bitches Brew" and back. The Wurly is great, too, and it keeps me playing Donny Hathaway licks for far too long. The CP80 evokes the spirit of Hermeto Pascoal and Cesar Romero, and can easily be led into Peter Cetera-land. The Clav is very funky, with a character leaning more towards a harpsichord character than is usual on today's synths, but it sounds great. The wah sounds fantastic on the Clavinet, but it sounds more like a low-pass than a band-pass filter to me. I find the keyboard very responsive to my playing, and playing the Electro is a breeze.

It's a Clavia! I only have good experience from gigging with a Nord Lead 2 since 1997. It's never let me down, or even choked once, and I've put it through a lot...

When I got the unit, a key was cracked. They fixed it the next day. Always helpful, always there.

I realise this is almost getting silly, but I really think the Electro is THE piece of musical equipment to have if you need vintage electromechanical sounds (and who doesn't?). For me, the Electro has proven to be the holy grail of making music without breaking your back. I've used it in everything from free-form electronica to gospel, rock, blues, jazz, soul, MPB, and the list goes on. The rest of my setup consists of a Triton rack and a Nord Lead 2. The Triton is a great synth, too, and I gigged with it and the Nord for about a year and a half before checking the Electro out (along with all the other B3-wannabes). What differs the Electro from all other modelled and sample-playback versions of vintage keys, is that it doesn't feel like playing a sample or a model, but rather a real instrument. The areas where it differs from the original boards, mostly the clav, are the areas where it stands out as an instrument of it's own, and not merely an imposter. It makes music easier. And it's light-weight.

Absolute breeze to use but... I've been giging with mine and it is not easy to change settings or even get the right piano etc. in the dark!

I bought this for the organ sounds. i'm getting old and deseased and hump my old hammond about anymore. I find the organ sound a bit 'woody' especially through the band stereo PA. This can be compensated on the desk but if you use the on-board bass/treble or EQ it leaves the sound a bit 'thin'. The rhodes and wurley sound are great but I am still trying to get the hang of this touch sensitivity. I also use a trinity and i can adjust the sensitivity to my playing style (very light - see 'old hammond player')

My band is blues/jazz/anything goes. Organ sound are good after you tweek the presets. Shame about the colour!

Good so far.

had to wait a long time for delivery. I'm checking clavia web site for the long promised new piano sounds that keep slipping away. They are also promising a software upgrade with adjustable key click for the organ. I need this..

Great, but acoutic piano lets it down. If it aint good enough why put it there at all.

I'm using software version 1.0x, according to the manual that came with the Nord. The presets sound very nice and editing the patches is a breeze. On the Nord Electro it's all out there in front of you. Tweak a knob, push a button and you're on your way to getting a great sound. The manual is very straight forward -- the complete opposite of what one might expect from a Roland manual (My manual for the Roland JV90 was completely unreadable). It's easy to tell that the folks at Clavia really care not only about what they are making, but also about who is going to be using their product.

The keyboard action is beautiful. Built in effects include a wah wah which is pedal controlable, ring modulation, phaser, flanger and chorus. Also has overdrive, rotary speaker and treble and bass EQ. Not only are all of these easy to use, they sound great. It has velocity sensitive keys, midi in and out.

The organ section with its almost unlimited possibilities for sound structuring is awesome. The Piano section very nice. Give the Rhodes a ten, the Clavinet a ten, the Wurlitzer a ten, the electric grand a nine, the acoustic grand an eight, and the knowledge that Clavia continues to work on downloadable new patches for this section a ten plus. This board works well for all types of music. It makes you want to sit down and play more and more.

Clavia has a great reputation. It keeps getting better because of the care given to producing a solid reliable product. I most definitely would gig with this without a backup and I definitely will be doing so.

As I've indicated before, this is a company with a great reputation. Their website bears this out, as does their products that are out there being used in clubs and studios all over the world I expect nothing but the best from Clavia.
On the other hand, I had a Hell of a time dealing with Musician's Friend in getting delivery on this board. Their people were poorly informed, rude, untruthful and incompetent. What should have been a three-day delivery from time of order took 12 days and numerous phonecalls. I won't be dealing with them again.
Clavia, though is another story. I am so impressed with the Nord Electro, that I am considering buying another of their products.

I love this board. I looked at a lot of others, but they were either too big to lug around from gig to gig, or too cheesy despite their high price tags. The other keyboard in our studio is a PSR 9000 by Yamaha which is fine for studio, but pretty heavy to carry. One thing I like about this board is what it doesn't have. It doesn't have a lot of half-hearted attempts at making say a trumpet or a marimba. Basically this board says to me, "quit screwing around and make some real music." For me that's blues, jazz and rock. If this board was lost, I'd get another one, but I wouldn't order it from Musician's Friend.

incredible presets. the leslie sim is the best available and the rhodes is also amazing. patch editing is a breeze.

everything is perfect. some people complain that it needs reverb but i just use reverb on my amp and it works fine. its very very easy to use and clavia is coming up with new downloadable sounds later this year.

the best of everything. i really didn't need the electric grand but oh well, the rest is stellar.
organ- 10
rhodes- 10
wurlitzer- 9
clavinet-8
e. grand- 8
acoustic grand- 9

all i gotta say is trent reznor uses clavia products.

never dealt with it

best keyboard i own. the thing presents the best emulations of a b-3 and a rhodes i've ever heard (the rest are quite notable also). its small and very portable, tough as a rock as far as i can tell and is backed by an incredible company. definitely would take it over the hammond xk-2 or rolandvk-7 any day. the thing is just a piece of musical art.

Presets sounds are absolutely fantastic for the rhodes, wurlitzer and clav. It also feels like sitting at the cp-80 again! The acoustic piano is unplayable, hope there will be a better one in the future. Hammond with the leslie is fantastic, one of the best I played. Comparing it to my Rhodes Mark 1, it sounds weaker and hasn't got that bite in the sound but it's the closest "synthvariant" I ever played. Hammond click is a little bit to loud.

The keyboard light weight so from now on I wouldn't even consider bringing my rhodes anymore, just this red beauty and we're all set and go. And perhaps a guitar amp to get more bite.

Editing is a breeze, I started tweak immediately with distortion, tremolo, chorus and wah-wah. If the volume pedal is connected in hammond mode it's the swell pedal which is very accurate, and in piano mode controlling the wah!!!! great job - I'm gotta shake that booty. Presence and a small bass and treble knob is a good extra. the only thing I miss is a little reverb or delay, but that could be handled thorugh the guitar amp.

It emulates Rhodes,wurlitzer, clav, CP 80 hammond, it does what i says and does it good, one instrument at a time. The only thing I do miss is using both hammond and rhodes at the same time.

It will be possible to download sounds in the future an I'm waiting for more rhodes sounds like the mark1.

I will use this keyboard for gigging with my jazzband where there is no piano, I will also use it for rock, soul and funk gigs. It's so easy to carry along so I would depend on it only! A little delay and reverb would have been great. That click again in the hammond, I would have preffered to have it a bit lower in volume..

It will be my only gigging keyboard form now on!!!!

not

I would get a new one if it was stolen, perhaps the 73 key one. There is no competition. It's alone in it's class when it comes to portability/ sound. And it contains the only sounds i use for playing with bands. The only thing that is anoying is that I have also to bring my Yamaha P50m for the piano sound.

This product is so easy to use that anyone who understands the basic concept of the drawbar, the rotary speaker, and simple effects like chorus and autopan will be up and running in zero seconds flat. Simplicity is the name of the game here. Manual required only to understand the simple midi implementation.

I love the features of this device. The drawbar control is fabulous. The effects are highly usable and sound remarkably like the classic effects they emulate. (The woman below who asks which one is the mutron must be deaf in one ear). The rotary speaker is the best emulation you will ever hear, period, in any form. The mechanical feel (and even the look!) of the keyboard makes this a truly SUPERB musical instrument.

There are some very features that are missing though, as pointed out by other reviewers, most notably a wave-shape control for the panner (badly needs square shape!). A way to control the key click level for the organ would be nice (a VGA "attack" control would do...). I am also surprised that there is not at least a basic reverb or delay effect either; this would have been *really* nice to have and would truly have made this a free-standing masterpiece. Maybe something like this can still be added by software updates???

Likewise, the reviewer who asked for a sample playback mode which extends the range of the original instruments is not too far off-base. It would be nice to have as an option, especially in the lower registers. I've grown accustomed to all those cheesy wannabe rhodes sounds in this regard, and find myself reaching for a low low Eb too much...

The sounds are awesome and the expressive qualities are many. The sampled pianos cross beautifully between velocity levels. The history of Clavia as a generous provider of updates (Nord, dDrum, etc.) indicates that this synth will only improve with age! There has NEVER been a better unit to do what the electro does. Even though I was somewhat involved in its development as an outsider I was truly taken aback by the amazing quality that Clavia have managed to squeeze into this FANTASTIC SOUNDING package.

C'mon folks. This ain't yo mammy's casio. Clavia gear is built to LAST LAST LAST. Road worthy and endurance tested. Any electro will outlive the machines it emulates by decades.

Never needed it for the Electro, but while I was waiting for it and watching it grow, I exchanged emails with some very very personable and professional members of the Clavia team. You are in good hands with these people, to be sure. Honest, hard working, trustworthy, and obviously brilliant.

Within weeks of having this unit, I am hooked. I can sit and listen to the Rhodes for hours. It is truly lovely. The Wurlitzer makes every other imitator hang their head. The clav is so funky I can't sit still. The CP-80 is a one-of-a-kind wonder (even Elton John will want one). The Hammond. Aahhh the hammond. Say goodbye to sampled leslie with all its bizarre and bad sounding ideosyncracies. When I close my eyes I am standing next to the real thing. I can feel the air on my face as the Leslie starts to spin.

In just the same way that lovers of the vintage analog synths have latched on to the virtual analogs like the Nord, THE AFFICIONADO OF THE PIANOS AND ORGANS OF THE CLASSIC ERA (60s, 70s, even 80s) MUST BUY THE ELECTRO! ! ! ! ! ! ! Worth every penny and more for what the retail price asks. (and beats the pants off any softsynth emulation too if you're really a player!)

(I am "reviewing" this instrument as someone who has chosen NOT to buy one. Based upon what I am seeing here, I may be expressing a dissenting opinion! I played the instrument on two occassions, for approximately 2 hours total, at a music store.) The layout, and the
liberal provision of knobs as opposed to menus, make the Electro seem very "user-friendly" to me. The small size and weight are fantastic!

The "portable 'vintage' keyboard" concept is brilliant! Exactly what "we" need! BUT: I did not like the keyboard action/feel when I was playing piano or electric piano - I would say it feels too "shallow". I was disappointed that the design prohibits simultaneous organ and piano layering - I need that. According to the manual, the Organ Mode won't transmit velocity data - so one can't really MIDI it to a piano module in that Mode. The Electro 61 runs out of bass notes on piano left-hand work, even in "Octave Shift". The effects are pretty good, but I had hoped the Leslie simulator would represent a leap over previous attempts by others - for me, it did not. (Give me more "amplitude modulation" please!). I don't think I like the "tone wheel stealth" feature of the organ - I never noticed my B3 doing that! (Unless it's quite subtle). A dedicated organ output would be good, for Leslie connection (even if 1/4") - not provided (yet). The sweeping "Presence" (EQ) knob is great!

I like the organ sounds, except for the "tone stealth" thing, and the merely-OK Leslie simulation (but I tend to use real Leslies anyway, unless/until some genius gives us a breakthrough in simulation). The organ exhibited no phasing problems when it tried it through a rotating (Pro3) device - good! I liked the Piano and the Clav, and the effects. For Rhodes, I prefer something more like a Roland MKS20 - brighter, "harder", response cleaned up a bit and more uniform, not as funky/clunky-sounding - but hey, I may be a heretic!

Again, I do not own this instrument, because of my less-than-ecstatic response to trying it, so I can offer no opinion here.

My contact at Armadillo was very patient in letting me ask questions and bring up "concerns" about possibly buying an Electro, but I don't know how much of my feedback was passed on; and there were no real answers to the "hard questions", so I am unsure whether our e-mail correspondence was of much consequence. Nice guy, though. (Thanks, JC !)

Once more, I chose not to buy the Electro, but I hope you will publish my "dissenting opinion" anyway, for the sake of fairness. I think the Electro is pretty cool, but for me it lacks a lot of things I need in a "portablized", downsized rig. I believe this type of product is badly needed, but could be better executed!

I believe that the Ease of use category has met its match. There has never been a product which is so clearly laid out and downright functional. It took me all of zero seconds to understand every function of the box... ok ok... it took like three seconds to get past "memory protect" but EVERYTHING is right with this kit if you have the foggiest idea what the basic reason for its existence is.

If I give less than a ten in any category, this would have to be it. In balance with a primary focus on LESS IS MORE, its awesome sound comes with a rather limited feature set. Here are some of the limitations:

? none of the instruments can respond to pitch bend
? save/compare mode doesn't seem to let you toggle between the edited sound and the sound in memory (memory only)
? there is only very limited control of the mod fx (rate/depth) - one of the the phasers badly needs a MANUAL or FREQUENCY control, and phase control (0?-180?) would be nice (needed for the chorus too)
? Likewise, there are controls not happening on the autowah that would make it much more personable. As is, it's pretty sterile-- misses the point, even
? Is that autowah polyphonic? I think it does not respond well to the mono sum of the output.
? Agreed, the original Hammond had no on/off setting for key click, but this would be one area where the servant could have become the master. Add it in a later OS release, Clavia!
? Likewise, the original leslie had limited controls, but take a clue from admittedly weak later day emulations and provide some functions that midi might make possible: there's no adjustment possible to top and bottom speeds, no in between rates when linked to a midi cc (fast OR slow), and no way to toy with the mic position on the cabinet. Pity, cause it sounds so damn good you'll just want to sit around and play one chord for the rest of your life.
? There's no shape control for the autopan or tremelo effects. I want SQUARE or TRIANGLE.
? I would gladly pay extra for even a meager reverb. For this price, I'd have hoped for one already. Nothing, Dry-ola
? OK. I know. I'm asking for a lot... but even cheesy sample stretching would have been better than reaching for an out of range note and getting nothing but silence: in its portrayal of the original electromechanical instruments, the electro ONLY allows you to play notes from the original ranges of those instruments. The Pianos knock off without the bogus botom we all got addicted to while making due with half-rate Roland, Korg, Alesis, and Kurzweil EPs.
? Funny that although the factory sounds are purported to be replaceable, their names are permanently written onto the face panel
? I kind of wish for some internal modulation routing options-- the controller assignments are all fixed, but boy, would it be nice to be able to control this leslie's speed with aftertouch or what?
? I agree with the previous reviewers who state that the EPs are cool through the Leslie, and that the organ is weird without it, but a MIX function to let some of the dry sound through would have been better
? The ring mod frequency should be controllable like the wah from an expression pedal.

The sounds are stellar. Even to a flaw. If the real CP80 sounded lame in the lower registers so does this one. Is is me or do I hear multisample crossover points? You won't find a better digital Leslie on earth today. The Rhodes barks and the Wurlie punctuates and the whole experience just makes you want to stay touching the thing forever. The acoustic piano is far from rich, and the velocity crossovers too limited, but it really cuts through and I prefer it even to the Roland "best digital piano we ever made" SRX-02 board. I'm hoping for another Rhodes, even grimier--'73 stage through a Twin--coming soon. And I really enjoy the CP80 through the chorus. The clav is the weakest of a strong bunch: doesn't bite back, and you can't get any key-off clicks, harmonic effects, or feedback. A muted clav would be nice to have too!!!

Rhodes: 10
Wurli: 9
Clav: 7
CP80: 8
Acoustic Piano: 7
Organ: 10

If you read my FEATURES review, you'll know I have some gripes with the effects. There's not enough control, and the emulations are perhaps too true to 70s technology. I would have expected an MXR or a Mutron phaser character-- Hey clavia: go listen to "Gaucho" and revisit one of your Phasers. "I'm Not In Love" is another good model-- left and right out of sync bi-phasing man! It's the height of Rhodes FX. 2 Flangers? Why why why??????

If its Clavia, it has got ta be good.

Clavia is near the top in this category.

Because almost everything I'm asking for can be addressed with software, this kit still deserves a high high rating. There is literally no better modern tool imaginable for the purpose than the Clavia electro. But I suggest, clavia, that the combination of the SHIFT button and your existing knob layout can be a saving grace. Get to work on that Phaser, Give us a better way to tone down the key click, open up some possibilities with new multisamples, tap into some of what might happen with those reserved midi control numbers you've put aside, and my lord you'll have done the impossible.

Before encountering the Electro for myself, I read the reviews below (including the one for the 73), and thought to myself, how could it be THAT good? These guys might be on the Clavia payroll! Now, having auditioned it and bought it (those two events occurring within about 10 minutes of each other), I have to say that, while I think some of the praise in those reviews is a little over the top, I'm ready to believe they came by their enthusiasm honestly.

Yes, its easy to use. The learning-to-fun ratio is extremely favorable. The layout is designed for real time tweaking, as it should be. That is completely within the spirit of electro-mechanical emulation. Once you get used to it, its a real pleasure to start making changes on the fly.

I love that there is no wall wart.

I'll try not to repeat what other reviewers have said concerning features. An important thing to note is that it is not multi-timbral. You can't play organ and epiano simultaneously (though switching between them is as easy as hitting a button). This might be seen as a drawback. It might also be seen as a reason to buy two Electro's.

The primary reason for my owning this is for the piano sounds, so that's what I've paid most attention to so far. There are five sounds (with more to come via downloads), all of which can be run through the effects section. Plenty of memory (for my purposes) to store sounds in particular configurations. There are two effects sections, one for chorus/phaser/flanger, another for tremelo/pan/wah/ring mod. A "presence" adjustment. A 2-band EQ. And a leslie simulator (another review says you can put epiano through this. I haven't tried that yet). Distortion.

The organ can be split into two manuals. Drawbars are adjusted through the funky two-button system, which is fairly easy to use but you can be sure the intuitive "grab and pull" motions you've learned from playing a real Hammond will not transfer over!

The action is nice. The keys are large and unencumbered by front ledges, so you can palm them "like butter." The action is semi-weighted, but very light. This works well enough for organ, but for epiano sounds it is problematic for me, because I can't really use the technique I would on my rhodes. Since, as I said, I use this keyboard primarily for piano (aout 95% rhodes), this presents something of a dilema. The solution, for me, is to trigger piano sounds from my weighted-action keyboard. I then turn the local control off on the Electro and use it to send midi note values to other modules. This works out very nicely. In fact, I'm finding I can get more dynamic range by playing the weighted action keyboard than from the Electro keyboard (more crunch when playing hard). That's a bit surprising, but its not a bad thing. All that said, its not an extreme hardship to play rhodes sounds on the Electro keyboard. Its just not optimal. But the touch sensivity of the Electro is nicely calibrated to these sounds, so I find I can get enough expression from it. Its nice to be able to travel light with just the Electro if I feel like it.

All in all, its a great set of features, very well suited for the purposes of this board.

This here is the good part. I've long been searching for the holy grail of a useable electronic rhodes emulation, and so I've heard everything. There are some other "useable" emulations out there, some of them perhaps capable of fooling the casual listener, but this is the by far the best I've heard. Soundwise, the key to the expressiveness of a rhodes is in the subtle gradations of tone as you vary the attack. Up till now, as far as I'm aware, keyboard-makers have emulated this by layering 2 or sometimes 3 samples. I can't tell how many samples are layered