Clavia Nord Rack 2

Ease of use!? It does not get any easier than this! Knobs were created by man to be put on a synth such as this.. I like instruments that are so easy to use that you don't need to look at the manual. Although it has to be said that the manual is very well written (Unlike the Roland manuals of old!) Ease of use also means more time making music (Or just weird noises!) and no time wasted flicking through seemingly endless menu/edit pages. I'd give it 11 out of 10 if I could!

I have the Rack version, so naturally I can't comment on the keyboard action. But this aside.. The Nord Rack 2 has all the features you could realistically want. 16 note polyphony is not as much as a more regular synth or sampler, but it's still pretty good compared with many alternative "Virtual analog" synth's too. There are no effects apart from a simple echo, But anyone wanting to buy a synth of this stature is almost certain to already have an effects unit or two. Besides.. Built in effects just complicate things and would ruin the simplicity of this synth.
Although this synth has no sequencer, it does have a reasonable Arpegiator. It's pretty basic and not quite as good the arpegiator found on say, the Waldorf Pulse. But it still sounds pretty impressive when in use. I've not tried synching the arpgiator to a Midi clock yet (Again this is something that works well on the Waldorf Pulse) And a look in the manual confirms that this can be done. However... As far as I can tell, It is not possible to "Hard sync" the arpegiator, it is only possible to trigger the arpgiator at certain clocked intervals, so you still need to set the rate knob as close to the correct tempo as possible. This is one of my few minor gripes!
Midi capabilities as much as expected.. All knobs send and recieve midi controller data, so all your real time tweakings can be recorded into whatever sequencer you happen to favour. And it will be faithfully replayed back into your Nord, so should sound just as good as when you originally played it.

With it's ease of use and excellent controllability.. This is one very expressive instrument! All those knobs mean that there is little excuse for a dull sound. It's very easy to be sceptical about the fact that this is actually a digital synth.. But it's does do an extremely good impression of an Analog synth. And obviously being digital.. It has virtually none of the drawbacks of a genuine analog synth. Yet with the Nord 2, you get the best of both worlds, If you want grainy, dirty digital sounds.. You can have those just as easily as a nice fat analog bass sound. The built in Ring Modulation and FM should provide enough digital colouration to anyone thats missing thier old DX7! or any other old digital synth of similar vintage. Personally, I think the only clue that gives the game away that it's not actually an analog synth, is the envelopes.. Although very good, It's when you cut a note off that you sometimes notice a "Digitalness" to the sound. But in reality, you would never notice this when the Nord was being used in a mix thats busy with other instruments.
The standard sounds that come with the Nord are pretty good and are a good showcase for what you can do with this instrument. And of course if you don't like what you hear, then it's very easy to tweak a sound till it's more to your liking. But if your super lazy, it's possible to expand on the sounds via the built in PCMCIA slot. But when it's so easy to create and tailor your own sounds.. Why would you want to import a load of someone elses!? However, the PCMCIA slot is still handy for people that want to back up thier patches etc.
The really good thing about the Nord 2, is that it is what you make it. You want warm & smooth? It can do that.. You want thin, sharp and gritty? you can have that too! This instrument is all about making YOUR OWN sounds. It can do almost anything, thats if you can play it well enough..

I've had the occasional stuck note and the odd warble emerge.. But I highly suspect this is not due to any problem with the Nord. Much mure likely that it's the computer/ Midi interface. Unlike most synth's, the Nord Rack 2 has a "Panic" feature.. So should you get any eroneous/ unintended noises emerge, you just press Shift/mod wheel & Panic/distortion (It's only 2 buttons)
If I was such a fantastic musician (I can dream!) then I would gladly take the Nord to a gig. I'm sure it would go the distance. And that nice red metal case should make this instrument pretty robust.

Not had to use it. And I doubt I ever will! If you need help to use a Nord 2, then you really do need help!

This instrument is certainly worth what I paid for it. They used to cost around #1300 here when they first came out. So #770 new is a bargain I recon! Cost aside.. This really is a great and very creative instrument. Perhaps a 3rd oscillator would have been nice, but this is a minor grumble. My other slight grumble being the arpegiator which I talked about earlier. Some people might also grumble about the fact that the Nord 2 does not have a "Proper" display, But it really does not need it. Over the last few years I have learnt that synths don't need LCD's the size of football fields to be useable. Some of my favorite machines that I use in my own studio have little or no display.
Ultimately though, this is a truely great sounding instrument. It's a breeze to use and program. And now thats it's been around a while, It's cheaper too! Yet it can still cut it with the newer, more modern alternatives. In fact.. I like it so much that I doubt I'll be using my Marion ProSynth any more.. Any offers!?

Have just purchased a Nord Rack2 on the 23/1/99, straight from the box, this synth was a breeze to use, everything is laid out on the front panel, so no multiple menus....the presets were awesome and within 10 mins of owning it I have procuded a lead sound to die for. The manual is easy to follow and presented well, but if you have an idea on how to program an analogue synth. you will only use it for reference.

The rack2 is 16 note polyphony with 4 part multi-timbral, with this power you can produce some excellent drum/bass/pad/lead songs and still have the rest of your gear doing nothing. There is no effects on this instrument which I think is a good thing as built in effects are usually basic and poor sounding on a lot of instruments, so using an external fx unit is a better option anyway.

The Sounds, what can I say that has'nt already been said! This thing can sound like all the big analogue names, oberheim, SQC, PPG,MOOG etc and the lead sounds are very very expressive, especially with some guitar fx thrown on top. Quality is superb.

The Rack is built like a tank, its an all metal monster!!!!!! Well suited for life on the road...Top marks..

Not needed to contact anybody, although early days. The Clavia web resources are good for support / advice, As is the various other sites based on clavia products.

The only word I can think of is AWESOME, an instrument to last a life time and an excellent partner for that sterile sample based setups. I thought of buying a JP8000, Z1, Supernova..none of them sounded as good to my ears than the Nord Rack2.The price was a steal at #700 which is well under half price of the original #1650. If you are looking for an inspirational instrument, and are fed up of samples, this Red Wonder will get you in the mood...