Clavia Nord Lead

AS easy as it gets. I had to refer to the manual once for one page and and that was it. Everything else is on the front panel just turn the knob and see what happens.

It does a lot FM, RM, AM, HardSync, small Arp, SV Filter.

I especially like the Manual Mode when you press it the nord goes into an init state. This is great because I hate having to zero a synth patch before i can start doing my own thing.

Ever knob recives and transmits MIDI and this is a breeze to use..

no effects and the arp is limited

For what I want it does it everytime... great pads, leads, fx and hard sync sounds. The FM is very aggressive.

It has its own charecter thats goes beyond those synth it pretends to emulate. I would look it as either a piss poor va or a different type of synth all together. Some hear the sound as thin I hear it as biting.

It always sits comfortably in a mix... it just alwayas has the presence.

no problems yet and its an old unit.

no idea.

I'm happy

Excellent everything

A bit short on polyphony, cards are easy to use and cheap to get.

I do not know any better synth.

It is my second used NL and I am amazed looks and works like new.

Excellent fast email response

I had one sold it to get NL2. Did not like it that much, they changed the keys for standard like any asian made ones. NL3 is just overpriced. Seems to me instead of improvements they just cut the costs. The new functions, ... nothing exciting. So decided to get the Original it plays better, love these keys ( I do not care that they are not like all the others, since I am guitarist anyway, these are the fastest I ever tried, justfeel right to me) has this fancy look (from NL2 onwards they save on design). It is the real thing, classic, I may even get another one if I trace a mint condition one. You know Gibson cannot match the 50ties Les Paul till today, I think this is similar case, they will put all the "better" features but will it be better ?
Till NL I used keys for programming some chords, phrases, little solos etc, Clavia makes me feel like playing. I actually started practising the keys and improvise on it because the sounds inspire me. No other synth did it to me ever.

I'm sorry I don't know the software version I'm using.
I bought the nordlead used, already expanded to 12 voices and with a couple of pcmcia cards (clavia cards 2 & 3). Some presets are really cool, others not so useful but a good starting point for you to trim.
Editing them is as easy as 1 2 3, as you have a friendly interface with real time knobs, as old analog sinths. You only need the manual when coming to settings like master tuning the keyboard, setting midi channels and setting such things like vhat parameters have to be controlled by velocity, or setting stereo placement when layering. Not so difficult, anyway. The manual is quite complete and well done, I'd give it a 7 or 8.

with the expansion board this keyboard has a poliphony of 12 voices, otherwise only 4. The keyboard action is average, light keys with velocity but no aftertouch.
There's no built-in effect, but do you really need it? a chorus effect can be made using unison or fine-detuning an osc or so on, a reverb modifying the release in evelope... you've got a synth, not a guitar!
The expanded version uses pcmcia cards for data storage, a 64Kb card can hold 297 presets and 100 performances (each performance has 4 presets inside). Very useful, unfortunately quite difficult to find... You can use also a 2MB card or more, but the keyboard will use only 64kb so it's a waste of money.
Everything you do with the sinth will be sent through midi, either if you turn a knob or the mod wheel or pitch stick.
Through midi you can also play with aftertouch, not supported by the keyboard but supported by the sinth.
A quite useful thing is that the lfo2 can be used as an arpeggiator (only up/down or both, and from1 to 3 octaves range).
Oh, I was forgetting, you can put up to 4 patches layered and played together.

Here this sinth gives its best. The sound are excellent, you can play some really weird analog sounds and change them while playing, the controls are really sensitive.
Fat sounds, extreme leads, pads, strings, organs... all these kind of sounds can be easily made with it. Just don't expect to have some cold bells or metallic sounds, you can still have some but not so great (you aren't dealing with a ultra cold yamaha!!!). If you're looking for lead sounds, definitely buy this!

I think this tank is really reliable. The only thing I've got to point out, I've three keys not working. The previous owner sold me it as is. It sounds quite strange to me 'cause he said he used it only in studio and used it only as an expander, there are no scratches or so on so it sounds to me like a defective keyboard. Anyway I'm gonna have it repaired, and I'm sure it will be really reliable.
I'd probably use it on a gig without a backup.

I've got contacts to have it repaired, a friend of mine gave me a tecnician private number so I cannot talk about the whole company.
Good website, only it's difficult to find the nord lead 1 page but when you find it you've got lots of useful things (patches etc.)

I'd definitely buy another if stolen. Maybe nordlead 2 or 3 if I can (the 3 has free-run knobs with leds, really a great improvement as you can see the real parameters when recalling a patch) but anyway a nordlead.
Great sounds, great ease of use, nice design. only negative point, the knobs (see what I said about nordlead 3)
I really wish it had a vocoder like the novation supernova!!! and a bigger display with patch names!!
It really helps me making music, it's absolutely inspirating.

I am using the latest software version--the final version for the first generation nords, I'd guess. I have the expanded 12-voice version, and the presets are all easy to get to and easy to tweak. The Prophet5 and Hammond sounds are truly excellent, and there are some other interesting presets, however most presets are just starting points for you to jump off of--do not buy this synth unless you want to edit and create your own sounds. As for editing, this is as simple as possible--one button or knob for each feature, as it should be. No menus to scroll through and nothing to get confused about. This would certainly make an excellent tool for learning basic analog-style subtractive synthesis. The manual is adequate, if not particularly well-writen (but then I've never read a really eloquent manual). Certainly the manual gives everything one would need in order to get started. I really feel that this is one of the easiest synths to use that one could buy, certainly as easy as the old analog synths which it emulates.

12-voice polyphony may be small compared to the latest Virus, Q, or Supernova, but as this was the first VA, it's not bad (certainly very adequate when compared to the Prophet5, Junos, JXs and Obies). This is not a workstation, and should not be judged as such. The keyboard is very synthy feeling, and it really should have polyphonic aftertouch (as it does respond to aftertouch in midi). The modwheel and pitchbend stick are simply the best ever made. No effects, but then it really doesn't need any--maybe a touch of chorus as in the Junos, but the P5 and Minimoog didn't have effects, and that is what the nordlead is taking it's cue from. The PCMCIA slot is handy, and a very European solution to expandability. A disk drive would have been prefered. Everything sends midi controler data, and everything responds to midi, so it is well equiped in that sense. A small arpegiator, very basic and limited is all that there. It would be nice to have more, but again, this is not designed as a do-it-all synth.

The nord has a distinct and characteristic bite to it's sound, that really sets it apart from all other VAs. This synth really has a voice all it's own, and while it can make sounds in emulation of many vintage analogs (as I said the P5 patches are pretty much dead-on), it has a feeling all its own. Also, this is one of the most expressive and emotive of all synths, what with the wonderfull ability to assign velocity control to any feature via the morph system. The pitchbend and modwheel allow for the most natural and organic modulation of the sound that I have ever found, and the only thing that could make it better would be to also have the ribbon controler from the CS80 (or even the Kurzweil ribbon). The nord will work with any style of music, it truly depends on what you want to do with it. Funk basslines? Yes. Prog-rock? Definitely? New Age? Absolutely. Electronica? Undoubtedly. Some complain about the lack of effects, but I find the fact that the nordlead sound comes out pure to be a very nice feature. That way decent effects can be added to it as one wants, much better than having mediocre onboards clouding up the signal.

I have had no reliability issues and am pretty hard on synths. I have tried to break the pitchbend stick (the one feature that looks like it isn't made to military/NASA specs) and was unable to do so. I would have no fears about using it on a gig without backup, as it is just as solid as can be. Indeed, this could be the best made synth I have ever seen, what with all-metal casing, rubber knobs and actual buttons (not a membrane in sight).

I have asked Clavia questions and gotten very fast and friendly responses via email. I bought mine upgraded and it has had no repairs, so I cannot speak to those issues.

If it were lost or stolen, I would probably buy a Nordlead2 or even the 3. However, I have no intention of selling it and "trading up" to one of those. I have had this for about a year, and have been playing for three years. I own or have owned a Clavia Nord MicroModular, an Arp Pro-DGX, a Roland Juno6, a Roland Alpha-Juno1, an Ensoniq Fizmo, and an Ensoniq ASR-X. I would compare it to the JP-8000 and any old analog polysynth (prophets, obies, rolands). I chose the Nordlead for it's bite, it's unique sound and it's ease of use. I do wish it had more outs and the endless rotaries with led indicators of the Nordlead3, but for the most part am satisfied with it as is. Certainly this is my favorite piece of gear and the most expressive synth I have ever owned or played, it has helped me to find my musical voice.

It doesn't really get any easier than this! Knobs everywhere!

I have an unexpanded Nord I, so it can run short on voices (hey, that's what my sampler is for, right?). Others have gone through the feature set. There are a couple of things I'd have liked though... I would have liked a dedicated ADSR-style pitch envelope generator (as found on Yamaha synths) as opposed to the limited 2-knob envelope generator, and and extra set of outs would've been nice too. I'm also not that thrilled about the 40-patch user-writable memory the unexpanded Nords have... For the amount of money this board costs, there should've been more. It is, however, easily expanded to 12 voices, and the expansion includes a PC-card slot for storing patches, which I will get at some point. I generically prefer floppies for patch storage, 'cause they're cheap, but I'll take the cards...

This is why one buys a Nord Lead: the sounds rule! So close to analog, your audience won't know the difference! This synth works great for techno, dance, industrial, and even classic rock for those classic leads and pads... Doesn't really need onboard FX, although I like to add FX to my synth sounds. That's where an extra set of outs would've been really great... I do a lot of live sequencing, so I'd like to route one set dry and one set to a processor. The Nord IIs have this, so apparently Clavia felt the same way.

It looks dependable. I got mine cheap 'cause the pitchstick and mod wheel didn't work. Armadillo Enterprises got back to me via e-mail a bit slowly about it, and it's difficult to find an authorized repair shop if you don't live in a big city. I'm giving it a 6 for sluggish support and lack of dealer/repair network, and for the fact that the stick and wheel failed in the first place.

See above - slow and difficult to find a repair shop.

If it were stolen, I'd probably get a lead II or Access Virus, but that doesn't reflect badly on the Nord I. I was in the process of saving for a Virus, but this deal came along and I jumped. Virus is a little more versatile, and Nord IIs have some of the gripes I listed fixed.

The reason one buys a Nord Lead is the KNOBS. I used to have a K2000 and I spent many late nights with the manual going through a maze of editing screens trying to get that techno bleep to soundjust right. Now, just a twirl of a couple of knobs (virtually all of which transmit MIDI data) and it's done. The Nord's operationis very intuitive; I have hardly used the manual.

The Nord Lead looks like something built by NASA in the 1960's. The case is sheet metal, the modulation wheel is stone, and the pitch stick has apparently been constructed from a wooden clothes peg.The knobs (all 26 of them) are concentrated on the left of thekeyboard. There are little LED's everywhere; when you turn it on, the Nord lights up like a Christmas tree! The only numerical display is a two-digit LED. The keyboard (only 4 octaves, that's,err, 49 keys I think) is springy but solid. There's velocity sensitivity but no aftertouch, which, having been brought up on apiano, I actually like, because I really don't want strange thingsto happen to my sound after I've played my note. Or at least if I did, I'd twist one of the knobs. You only get 4-voice polyphony onthe basic Nord Lead but for around $100 you can get an expansion card(easy to install) which gives 8 more voices, that's 12 in all. It says here I'm supposed to give a score for "features" which will berather misleadingly low - this isn't a workstation and it's not supposed to be - there's no on board effects, no sequencer (unless you count a rather basic arpeggiator), no floppy disk drive, and only2 outputs (configurable as two independent monos or one stereo).

This is a "virtual analog" instrument. Pretty much anything you'veever heard from that old wooden non-MIDI antique you sold for next tonothing in 1989 (now probably worth a small fortune) you can recreateon the Nord. Personally I bought it for bleepy techno applications,at which it excels. If (like me) you love to sweep that resonant filter back and forth as an alternative to learning how to play whatyour parents call "real music" then this is the keyboard for you. Ifyou want some samples (piano, gunshots, audience applause) don't buyit, because it doesn't have any. There is a very useful "morphing"feature which enables you to set up completely different sounds andthen "morph" continuously between them using the modulation wheel.Nice for getting those filter sweeps just right. If you get softwareversion 2 (the only version shipping now, I think), you get somenice analog drums (808/909ish sounds included) and some convincingdrawbar organ settings. Not that anyone buys a Nord for drawbarorgan settings.

The Nord certainly looks like I could stand on it (and maybe even jumpup and down a few times) without any ill-effects. More than can be said for some of its competition. Solid sheet metal. The Volvo of the keyboard world (after all, it comes from Sweden). The pitch stick however feels like it could break off at any time - probablyan illusion - it hasn't yet, anyway. I have heard rumors of pitchstick problems, but they may be largely fiction.

I haven't had need of customer support yet; the manual (although sometimes written in Swedish English, as opposed to Japanese English)is very clear. Clavia maintain a small but useful web site, where,if you have an optional S-RAM card, you can download several hundredsounds.

For my kind of dance/techno music, this is definitely the keyboardto get. Competitors are the Roland JP-8000 (unlike the Nord, thishas onboard effects and, partly because of this, doesn't sound quite so "raw", whether this is a good or a bad thing depends on your taste), the Yamaha AN1x (slightly cheaper) and the Korg Prophecy (monophonic and not quite so technoey). If you need lots of analogsounds at the same time, bear in mind that the Nord can do 4 ("4-voicemultitimbrality"), the Roland and the Yamaha 2, and of course theKorg only 1. If you are rich and patient, you might want to waitfor the Nord Lead 2 or the Korg Z1 to arrive; both these promiseincreased polyphony and cooler features in general.

Excellent. The presets will get anyone going immediately. Where it really shines over similar virtual synths (from Korg and others) are the KNOBS. You think you could live without them and just use midi controllers to modify (in real-time) the patches, but as soon as you start tweaking, you'll never want to go back to any other digital synth. The only draw- back (and this actually suits the retro-analog facade) is the cryptic 2-digit LED interface for changing system-level settings. Fortunately, the manual is quite good and explains everything coherently. For changing/modifying sound in real-time, jumping in and getting your feet wet without much effort, this rates a 10. For making system-level changes (like syncing an LFO to MIDI clock) this rates an 8, only because the manual is good. Average: 9

Considering the cost of an actual analog synth with 12 voices (I have the expanded version -- which is a _MUST_), I think the features are pretty impressive. With version 2.x software, you even get some decent analog drum sets. For details on its features, it's probably better to see Clavia's web site. The keyboard (49 keys) action is adequate, and the pitch stick is great, making it one of the most musical instruments I own. Again, the knobs make all the difference.

Awesome. Fully automatable through a sequencer. You can record knob changes to a sequencer for ultimate expressiveness. The sounds are simply incredible -- for its type of sound. Having the expanded polyphony will make a big difference, and in Unison mode with quad-layered patches, you can't get ritcher analog (-like) sounds. Virtual analog synthesis at its best. Several competitors do have built-in effects, but this one shortcoming can _easily_ be remedied with an outboard FX unit (that will sound better anyway).

So far so good. Rock solid sheet metal case. However, I have heard stories of pitch-stick woes, although I haven't personally had a problem.

Unknown. But their web-site is fairly good and offers an extra 300-or-so patches for free... They have improved their software significantly with this last release, and their manual is very good. For what little I can tell, I'd rate them very high, except I haven't had direct contact with them. Hope I never will.

Worth the money. I think that even though the nature of technology implies that the three Motorola 56002 DSP chips in my Nord Lead will be obsolete in two or three years, the quality of the analog model Clavia has created will endure. The price for the internal hardware will undoubtedly go down, and the virtual algorithms could probably be implemented in software on a regular computer system in the near future (just look at what Steinberg has done with their VST software), but there is no software, no great computer interface, no hi-rez LCD screen that could possibly replace the utility of the _knobs_, which give this keyboard a life of its own. It was a _classic_ the second they dreamt up the idea, and _definately_ worth the money. Long after the engineers of the future sneer at the few simple microchips that generate the wonderful sound of this keyboard, musicians will _still_ be able to create great, creative analog sounds with it. By the way, I don't work for them... if you're wondering.