Clavia Nord Lead 2

Nord has the best interface. Editing couldn't be more simple!
Manual is good.

Nord Lead 2 has the worst keys/keyboard action i ever came across.
No effects, why $1300?
Midi capabilities are excellent and many!

Action is crap(subjective)
It tends to sound too metalic/cold/sterill for my taste.
I've only used it for a couple of pad sounds and various clicks/noises, one bass sound(none of preset basses satisfied me).

Well made... except keys(they move sideways), and crap paint, the blue paint started to come off after one year(no gigs).

This instrument can be great for some, but not for some :)
I sold it(to get an acoustic guitar) Now i only have Korg z1 and e-mu pk6. I'll be saving money for PolyEvolver or Virus TI, Nord can give a better first impression, but...
I do miss a couple of sounds from it, but i am ok with Pro53,Z1,pk6 and Absynth 3.

I've had a Nord for over 3 years, the presets are good.
Editing the patches is not as easy as you think, as with all analog or VA's you have to get to know how the controls interact, once you have sorted that out you will discover all sorts of interesting sounds. The manual is good and there are loads of patches on the Clavia web site even though I prefer to create my own.
Strangely I like working in the manual mode as the settings on the synth are all visible, if you know what I mean

Mine is the 16 voice version which is more than adequate for what I do.
This keyboard doesn't need effects to sound good but a cheap box will increase the sonic potential of your set up. It's kind of nice to be given the freedom to enhance the synth's sound using an effects you choose. The MIDI facilities are good.
I must admit I don't feel comfortable with the keyboard action, not quite firm enough for me.

This is were the Nord 2 really scores, when you hear the sounds in your mix they really sit well. I do like the way the sounds respond to velocity. You have to careful how you use the resonance parameter as the sound seems to thin out very quickly as you advance the control. Theres something about the sounds you get from this keyboard, it doesn't to my ear sound like anything else, you have to work with it and the results will not disappoint but will often suprise you.

It has never let me down but like all precision instruments you have to take care of it. Just because it is in a steel case doesn't mean you should thow it around.
I would like a spare but only because I could see myself using more than one of these.

Never needed to deal with them and hope I never will.

Will definitely keep this unit and replace if lost or stolen.

keyboard is shit, as you all know.
the rest is nice. LFO sync is missing. That's bad.

After owning a Nord Lead 2 for about 8 years it is time to clarify some things ...

1.

Is it only me who thinks that the filter with its resonance in this unit is more or less shit? Using 24 dB lowpass with any patch, turning reso up just half or even less of full amount thins the sound out and produces crap sounds for 90% of all cases. Do you experience the same or is it only on my unit? Reso is hardly usable in this machine, because it cuts in too heavily.

2.

Try to make a really punchy sound able to compete with analogue classics ... You cannot do it? Welcome in the club.

3. Take a Juno 6 for 15% of the value of a Nord and program
some simple patches. You are surprised? Well, your reaction is no surprise for me ...

potis start to get worse with the years

good synth, it was my first. But bad if its the only one.
You need more synths for real production, especially some
really analogue stuff. It sounds cool, but digital. Shit Resonance
as I mentioned before. You think I am a loser who doesn't know
how to use it. Then write a review.

Very intuitive, as long as you know your way around subtractive style synthesizers it's a walk in the park. There's virtually nothing hidden away in submenus, everything parameter is there to see and tweak at your lesiure. It's so much fun just to sit down and tweak the damn thing!

My only ease of use complaint is the lack of a large screen so you could name your patches, scrolling around patches (trying to find the one you want) is hard unless you have a very good memory. It would be cool to be able to name your patches intead of just referring to them as "2.19" etc, but hey you can't win them all can you.

The poly is 16, which isn't bad for a VA (especially one which came out in 97), compare it to the MS2000 which has 4! I still occasionally run out of voices, especially when doing thick pads with the unison on, it eats up the poly! It's not generally a problem though, I use the lead for bass&lead (i.e. monophonic) sounds most of the time, that's its forte IMO, but more on that later.
There are no effects, I'm sure everyone knows this now. I kinda wish there were some sometimes, especially reverb, but then again an in built reverb is likely to be quite low quality (very intensive on the processor) and would compromise the quality of the whole synth. The nord is good at what it does.
People who complain that there's no onboard FX, buy a rack processor like a lexicon or TCelectronic. This way you have a top notch synth and top notch effects instead of sub-standard alternatives.

The keyboard action is rubbish! Cheap plastic keys with a light springy feel to them, it's a bit of a shame on such a quality instrument Clavia decided to put such awful keys on. They are however made up for by the innovative pitch stick and mod-wheel. If it wasn't for these I wouldnt' say there was any point getting the keyboard version. The keys are also somewhat over-velocity sensitive, so not advised for playing reaslistic instrument sounds with, eg. as a midi controller for a piano patch.. the velocities become very erratic and unexpected

The patch memory is poor, only 40 slots. I bought PCM card (although they prove to be quite elusive!) and got an extra 300 (or so). Now I've got loads of space, but finding patches is a mission and a half due to lack of screen. I generally put all my basses/leads on 1-100, pads and keys 100-200 and everything else 200-300, you get used to it.

It's also got an arpeggiator, which is nice. It's meant to be quite basic, but I never use it except for quirky mario stylee computer arcade noises. Arpeggiators are for cissies really :p

THE SOUNDS! This is where the NL stands out. The Nord Leads are renowned for being a good quality synth. I bought one purely because of their reputation, they're a good safe buy if you want a synth, you really can't go wrong with them. I've played novation and korg VA's, they all sound thin and flat compared to the nord. On first listen alot of them sound ok because the sounds are caked with effects, but take them away and there's not much underneath... (wonderbra effect)
I don't care how much the nord manages to imitate an analogue synth, it's got it's own sound. It's got an extremely raw sound, very gritty. You can make some nice round basses and some screaming leads (literally!). I use it also to make quirky odball noises (watch your speakers though)
Add a reverb and it makes the pads sound nice too. It does some very rich warm sounding analogue style pads, but I wouldnt say much else. I can't get epic spacey type pads out of it, maybe i'm not trying hard enough...

Expressiveness: If you pretend the nasty keys don't exist, the NL is incredibly expressive for a synthesizer. I LOVE the pitch stick, a true innovation. They should put this on all synths when the patent runs out, it's just so much better than that horrible mechanical lever you get on most synths... It encourages you to play the synth like the instrument it is. Keyboardists are so lazy: they want vibrato? they assign the modwheel to an LFO and move the wheel. CHEAT! Well on the nord you can play your own vibrato, there's no "dead zone" in the middle of the stick. The stick's also a nice wood material (maybe to give the impression of a wooden fingerboard a la violin for when playing vibrato?) very nice

It's been okay to me. It's not very new anymore, about 8 years old now I think. It hasn't shut down on me or crashed before, although once it scrambled up some of my patches, although I turned the unit off/on again and it was all fine... something to do with the PCM card.
It's very ruggedly built, nice metal construction, although I'm scared of denting it.

never dealt with them

My favourite synth. nuff said. It's a real workhorse. I've heard the NL2 is the 'best' sound wise out of all the leads. The NL3 has an incredible interface, and I was tempted for a while, but apparently it's thinner than the lead 2.

Easy as.....couldnt be more easy to use!! you really have to be stupid to find any of the fucktions hard to use

well its hasn`t got alot of FXs really !! and that was the whole point of buying the nord really...i love that it doesnt have all the nomaly crapy FXs on it ...its all pure baby:) (i use all hardware Rack Fxs anyways so i never really find the use for them..

or though Vst`s do a damn nice job these days!!

i was thinking of buying the virus kc/microQ but i didnt cause almost all the persets had some kind of cheap Fx on them ...besides the virus filters just sound so digital( no need ) sry to say:)

and to all the people who go blah blah about the missing FXs/Features well i can see your point/but i dont use this for live gigs..only for studio use.... (but if you dont) well then i guess you just dont really use this beast in the same way as i do !!

......best sounding virtual analog sound around.........

no probs yet

never had to use!!

All in all i think this is a DAMN NICE SYNTH...but then again i can see why some people dont see that ...but for all you people who just want a pure sound that you can tweak the hell out of, with external Fxs or plug-ins Ect...( this is the synth for you )

Damn nice for making eletronik/Dark Trance/House/DNB.. Ect

I bought this Nord Lead 2x see, and since then my wife has come tither to the notion of synthesis. I told my wife that I could synthesizer the dinner, but she didnt believe me. The grapes and vegetables are so nice this time in the Swedish calender.

Very easy to use, maybe too easy but thats a good thing for country bumpkins like me.

I rate this section a realistic 9 out of 10

Now the features are what my wife keeps on about. When I told her I had a Red Nord being delivered....the silly las thought I said weve got a Ferrari F49 being delivered. I dont know how she came to this conclusion because I work in the local factory making screws for washing machines and other non branded house hold appliances. Well anyways this Nord 2 is veryh powerful. It has a nob for every function and it seems pretty well lubed for long term enjoyment. THe buttons are squigdy but pose no threat to my marriage.
ourf 10
I rate this section 8

Screams likea bastard.

good

good. The clavia people are still in business so they must be doing something right!

Perfect synth for Pro-s and newbies into sound design

Version 1.00. NordLead 2X.
Some presets are awesome - keepers, some truly awfull. Last four banks are waste of space imho. Editing is as easy as it gets. No menus, just hands-on control. All the controls are nicely laid out, especially left hand controls (mod-wheel, pitch stick, oct.up/down, patch select, slots,...)- you dont have to even move your arm. Perfect! The synthesis part of the front panel is layed out well, too.

Polyphony is 20 voices. Enough even for layered unison patches. Keyboard action is not the best not the worst either. It's just that it's a bit cheap feeling when you play patches that use velocity. Effects??? Effects??? NO! Thank GOD! The only thing that Nord needs is a touch of good quality vintage delay and that's it. Well, ofcourse EQing and some compression, because the sound is totaly DRY, but WHAT A DRY SOUND! The oscilators are very punchy, sharp, present...unlike on any other synth I've played. But more on this later.... No sequencer, just a simple arpeggiator and that's fine. But it sure would kick a** with Doepfer stepsequencer!

Oh yeah! This INSTRUMENT is very expressive. You can assign velocity to all continuous parameters. The same with mod-wheel and expression pedal. Great! There are no realistic sounds except some great hammond emulations. It's all about synthetic sounds that just jump out of speakers, have a beautifull sparkling high end when you boost the resonance just a bit,....and have a really sharp and many times metallic quality. It can be tamed, don't worry :) In fact it can sound VERY 70's mellow. Aliasing is extremely low, almost non-existant, and oscilators sound very clean. The quality of the raw sound is incredible! The only a bit week point are basses as it lacks low end (but ofcourse this is raw sound and you can add some low end via external processing). FM is very musical and easy to use. You can get great DX like sounds in few minutes. Syncable noise really does the job at harsh, cutting FM leads and FX. But the best part are leads, electric harpiscords, PWM pads, STRINGS!, and all kinds of nasty, shimmering, plucky kind of things,...YEAH!!!! I even emulate Commodore 64 on this thing! Not to mention oldskool arpeggiated triangle blips,... Just put it through a quality EQ and a bit of delay and you can get tremendous results.

My unit has a problem with mod-wheel. Sometimes when I select a patch it sounds as if mod-wheel has been turned up, but it hasn't been. I wrote clavia and they said it's a hardware problem and it is very easy to fix it, so I'll probalby take it to the dealer and they'll fix it. I haven't found any software bugs, yet. And I've used it extensively for 2 weeks. The build quality is superb, so I WOULD gig without backup.

Great. Responded in 1 day. Very friendly also.

Lost? Stolen? I really hope not! I bought it as my last and only synth. I intend to use it for at least 3 years in future. In past I've used:
Korg Poly 800
Roland Alpha Juno 1
Akai S3000
Roland JX-305
Elektron SIDSTATION
Roland JX-8P
Yamaha SY-1
Yamaha TG-77
Quasimidi SIRIUS
Oberheim OB-12
Kawai XD-5
also lots of softsynths.

This is the best synth to date if we speak of overall useability and sound.

Go and check it out!

Version 1.06. Editing can hardly be easier.No need for software editor.
Manual is very good.

Polyphony is 12, which is enough for me. Keyboard is ok, not the best, but not too bad. Very midi capabile, all knobs trasmit midi, i use it to even control other synths.

Sounds great! Simply the best for lead, pads, basses, noises, clicks and i like the percussion kits a lot. No effecs, although delay can be achived with the arrpeggiator, and chorus like sound with unison. No VA sounds this good dry. Mod wheel and pitch stick are great, placed so that they can be manipulated at the same time, very expressive.

I've had it for about 4 years with no problems.
I see it on stage all the time, so many people gig with it.

Clavia has a lot of patches on their web site.

It was priced a little high when i bought it, but other synths just didn't turn me on as much. I was looking at jp8000, ms2000, and NL2, and i made up my mind as soon as i tried Nord Lead 2, i liked it even better then more expansive Virus, Novation and ob12. All i wished for NL2 - NL3 has now, but i can't afford Nord 3, so i'm keeping mine.

Easy, just like the old analogs, and fun..

Nice features, and the layout, the color, the keys implore you to play the damn thing, use it..

Very warm, analogish sounds, despite the silly rhetoric and criticism just for criticism's sake sake from some reviewers. Nothing other than Waldorf matches it for sound quality amongst the current crop-Roland's are too plastic/lite, the Novation's have the cheese factor, etc. No, the Nord has the pro sound - not quite the weight of the analogs, but lots of character and immenently inspirational for bass, chords, leads..

Very good for today, right there with the Waldorfs.

if you have trouble using this synth, you need to find a different hobby.

crappy keyboard. no aftertouch. no release velocity.
horrid little display. no fx. limited modualtion routings.
40 user slots. pcmia card sucks.

to be fair, there are some things i liked - feels sturdy, liked the size and feel of the knobs (some think they're too small), also liked the pitch stick and mod wheel. morph function is cool if you don't use extremely different parameter settings.

along with yamaha's AN system, i think the nord has the best raw, unprocessed sound.
you only run into trouble when trying to do pads because of the limited routings.
an extra oscillator would help, along with being able to use aftertouch.

no problems in the time i had it.

never had to use.

i used this board as a partial trade for a virus c keyboard.
despite its shortcomings, i am considering getting a 2X rack (i have absolutely no use for those keys).
however, it's a tough call between the nord and the alesis ion.
i like the sound of the nord better, but when it comes to features (except for polyphony), the ion absolutely blows the nord out of the water.
still deciding.