Clavia Nord Rack 2X

The manual is very good, explaining how everything works and the fundamentals of analogue synthesizers. I was able to download the manual from Clavia's website ahead of purchase, and was glad to get a nice A4 sized, spiral bound copy when I bought mine.

It's easy to edit patches, all the knobs are accessible on the front panel. If you've used analogue synthesizers before you won't have a problem at all.

I do have a few gripes with the 2x and they all fall into this category. Firstly, there is the matter of presets. There are well over a thousand (when performances are taken into account), and with just a three digit reference number on the front it is practically impossible to remember a patch you maybe liked a week ago and wish to recall. The manual contains a reference table with all the patches in, but they are in no logical order at all and quite a few of them are named in such a way that you can't tell whether it's a lead, pad, bass or whatever until you actually check it out. I appreciate that the three digit LEDs are to some extent a cost cutting measure, but there's no reason why the patch banks couldn't have made more sense i.e. 0-99 basses, 1.00-1.99 leads etc. At the very least, the table in the manual could have had an extra column to say what kind of a preset it was.

It's a lot trickier to operate the rack device than it appears the keyboard version would be, and in some ways I now wish I'd stumped up the extra money for that version instead of thinking I'd get the same results using my existing MIDI controller. Layering is more complicated and splitting the keyboard very difficult until I upgraded my sequencer and got the new functionality.

I've marked this section quite harshly on these two counts because they are still causing me a few problems in day-to-day use. I can't help but think how much more I would love this synth if these issues (esp the presets) were addressed. Presets all sound great, and there's an online community ready to help you out if you need it - even software editor for offline patch creation and backup.

Okay, bad points over - now time to talk about how great the 2x is!

All the features you'd expect from an analogue modelling synth, and not a lot extra. No effects - you're going to need them though, mine runs through Cubase. At the very least you're going to need a reverb, but it's amazing how doing this together with a delay on some of the leads can really bring it to life. Filter and amplifiers sections work great, the LFOs too. The modulation envelope is a great feature. I used the arpeggiator a lot at first, but this can be tricky to set up - I've been using the arpeggiator MIDI effect in Cubase 4 and find it makes life easier, plus this frees up the arpeggiator to act as LFO2.

Performance mode is a great addition - I don't see myself using this live, but it's the way to build up layers. Some of them are mind blowing!

Yep, almost top marks in this department. I'm a little dissapointed with the bass but I think this is as much to do with my own learning with this box than with the 2x itself, and I will get there in the end. You can get some really dirty sounds out of this synth, and it's pushing my creativity in directions I didn't think I'd go. Of course, all audio translates perfectly to my sequencer. I've got some great sounds out of it so far, and I think there's a long way to go from here.

The 2X contains some percussion sounds, but I've not had any use for them yet, I prefer to use Redrum and BFD for my percussion needs. I do like the idea of putting a track together using solely the 2X, and I think the presets are up to the job, just not as easy to use as what I've already got.

Built like a tank with a wonderful red case. Knobs feel fine, buttons are solid. Knocking a mark off for a couple of issues - VERY occasionally I've experienced some very strange sound glitching at things drifted out of tune or just suddenly went weird. Also I had a power problem a few nights ago where it wouldn't switch on properly. Both times I thought I was done for as I couldn't find the cause of the problem, and both times they cleared up as mysteriously as they arrived.

I haven't needed to get in touch with them for any reason. They have a great website with good information about their products which I was glad to read before I purchased and helped me make my decision.

I'm a reformed 90s Indie/Rock kid who's been into home recording for about 5 years, initially guitar based but now going into new sonic territories! I got into synths through the Subtractor in Reason 2.5, and wanted to go further into it and have a real breathing unit. It was a choice between this and a second hand Novation Supernova II. I think I made the right choice, my decision at the time was based on the fact that I could get this new, whereas the Novo was only available s/h and a few had reliability issues. Since I've bought it I've started to understand how loved these Nord units are, and there's some very cool videos on youtube of people getting a lot more out of these synths than I can at the moment, which is inspiring me to push harder (and is making up somewhat for the shortcomings I mentioned in the Ease of Use section.

Were it lost or stolen I wouldn't buy the same unit again - I'd get a Nord Wave or possibly the Nord Modular G2. I don't think that says anything bad about the 2x, quite the opposite - I'm pleased enough with it to want to go higher up Clavia foodchain! I'd certainly get a full keyboard unit instead of a rack version.

Very easy to use. The presets are ok. But, they are just foundations for building on. More on that below! All are usable. There is a ton of sounds in here. Editing is a breeze and the manual is like Synths for Dummies! I might as well join the band wagon, the 3 digit LCD screen can be a pain. However, it is easier than the Novation A Station. You get use to it. I created my own spreadsheet to remember where my saved patches are.

The main feature is the tweaking capabilities. You can tweak just about everything to get the presise sound you want. There is no effects. However, it doesn't need them. Clavia put more into the sound itself. (My old Moogs didn't have any effects either) The performance mode allows you to combine presets (up to 4) to make for some real fat patches!

Here is where the NORD 2X shines. The presets are ok as mentioned above. But, once you start tweaking knobs you can create some very realistic analog sounds. Basses are huge. (don't listen to the negative reviews they are not taking the time to climb inside and explore) Pads are creamy. And, Brass patches are fat! I created numerous patches that represent analog synths of yesterday rather well. This Nord 2X sounds better than my Taurus II Bass Pedals. And, the MiniMoog leads are totally awesome.

No need for a backup. This thing will perform night after night.

Have not had to deal with them. I don't anticipate it either.

I love this thing. It has robbed me of sleep many nights just tweaking away at all the presets. There are a ton of useful sounds in here if you are willing to explore it. I looked at the Alesis ION but found the NORD to be as close to analog as you can get. I own a Korg Triton Classic, Korg X5D, Roland XV5050, Roland PK-5 midi pedals, Novation A Station and the Nord Rack 2X. If the Nord got stolen I would be at the store seconds afterwards to buy another. I gave the Nord 10's all around because it is that good. Get one and you know what I am talking about. Tweak away!

An absolute doddle to use day to day. The Nord has a knob or button for every feature you're likely to need in normal sound sculpting. There are some shift functions for some of the 'housekeeping' tasks, and the less common LFO and envelope features, which involves wrestling with the cryptic screen. That's my main gripe about the Nord 2 series - while Clavia's competition were endowing their gear with decent(ish) screens, even on cheaper units like the MS2000, the Nord is lumbered with a 3 digit LED display. That's fair enough on synths from the 80s, a)cos that's the best technology that was affordable, and b) cos there was sod all on those synths that you needed a screen for, but these days, on a synth like the 2x with hundreds of sounds, it's a bit of a bummer having to remember what sound is in which slot. If the Nord 2 had the same screen as the Nord 3, it would be a perfect interface. As it is, it gets a 9, a point knocked off for the screen.

To complain the Nord is feature light is to miss the point. While other manufacturers may add millions of features to their gear so the spec sheet looks better, their products are invariably cluttered to use. The Nord is minimalist and elegant. It knows what it does, and it does it pretty well - this is not the synth you turn to if you want mega modulations, or 60 different types of filter. For me, that's a point in its favour, as its immediacy is what makes me keep it. The 20 note poly is pretty respectale for a VA, and it's 4 part multi-timbral with 4 outputs - spot on! It gets a 9 here because again, the 3 digit LED screen is a fly in the ointment.

Put simply, it sounds like a Nord. It is not the fattest, or the bassiest synth. It won't blow your mind with super complex modulated madness, and it won't even give you a finished sound right out of the box, unless you don't use effects. The Nord has a very clean sound to it, though it can get dirtied up. Perhaps crisp is a better word. Bass wise it lacks a lot, but they are called Nord *Leads* after all! Pretty versatile, though a tad on the vanilla side. It will sit well in a mix, but even unison doesn't give it the balls to take on most of my other synths. It's nice to have the Nord around though - I use it to fill in gaps round other synths - it's very suited to a supporting role. For that, I'll give it an 8.

Built like a tank out of metal. You could murder someone with it. You wouldn't even have to worry about bloodstains... I don't know why some people have singled out the knobs as a weakpoint, they seem very firm to me... I prefer them to the ones on the Virus C - they feel more solid to me, and there's a nice resistance to them. Very tactile. No wallwart either, so thumbs up!

Never dealt with them, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt to even up the overall score!

I've used quite a few other VAs, and actually, many of them I thought sounded better than the Nord. I have a Waldorf Q which totally obliterates the Nord. It's solid and gutwrenching as a bass synth, evil and screaming as a lead synth, and complex and kidney shrivelling as an FX synth. Not the easiest to get lush pads from though. The only problem is the knobs are pretty unreliable (I had a Q Rack with the same problem), so it's a frustration to program. It's getting sold, though I've added a Waldorf XTk which still provides that quality Waldorf sound - again, a much bigger, richer sound than the Nord. I also briefly owned a Virus C. That was a decent bit of kit too, though it was mainly effects. The interface wasn't up to the standards of the Nord, though the trade off was that it could do a lot more. If I had to choose only one synth out of the Nord and the Virus, I'd have to go with the Virus. If you're looking for the Virus sound on a budget, you'd do well to check out the Albino VST by Rob Papen - sounds very similar, which is another reason I wasn't too upset to let the Virus go.+ I also own an Andromeda, which is the main reason the Virus went, and the Nord is only used as a supporting synth. I dunno if it's due to it being analogue, or whether the A6 is just a particularly great sounding synth, but I've not yet found anything to measure up to it. It's truly phenominal. I keep the Nord because it's much easier to whip up a quick sound on it - in fact these days I often don't bother with saving sounds, as it's easier to patch up whatever sound I want on the spot than mess round with that irritating screen trying to remember where I saved that patch I made last time! The Andy provides the warmth and solidity soundwise, and the Nord complements it nicely with a crisper, more cutting sound. I also had a Novation KS4, which would make a great partner to the Nord, as it's a soft, warm sounding affair with very nice effects - the exact opposite of the Nord! Again, the KS4 is quite a limited synth, with a fantastic layout - well worth considering if you're in the market for a VA. I had a JP8000 as well, which is another niche sound. It got sold to fund other gear in the end. The Nord is definately smoother sounding than the JP8000, and while it lacks the cheesy Euro-trance supersaw, I'd still thake the Nord over the JP as it's much more solidly built and sounds more substantial. That said, the JP8000 has better bass, though it's still not great. I also have a vintage Roland SH1, which has a suprisingly similar vibe to the Nord - both are very hands on instruments that respond beatifully to being tweaked. The SH1 is richer sounding, and bassier than the Nord, but the Nord is obviously much more feature packed.

That's my impression of where this piee of kit sits in the synth world. It's not for everyone, as it fills a pretty specific gap. It would drive me mad if it was my only synth, but I reckon I could manage with it. I was originally going to get the Nord 3, mainly for the interface with the LED knobs, but it's nowhere near as immediate as the Nord 2, and I saw this cheapish in a local music store, so it was an impulse buy.

If it was lost or stolen, I think I'd buy something else with the money. Probably a MonoEvolver keyboard, or maybe a Juno106. Or it might go towards my Jupiter 8 fund. It's nice to have it around, but really I could get along fine without it.

Other synths I own: Andromeda, V-Synth, Waldorf Microwave XTk, Kurzweil K2500XS, Korg Triton Pro, Roland SH1, Waldorf Q (for now, maybe I'll pick up a MicroQ rack sometime), Polyvoks (incoming), Akai MPC3000.

Overall, I rate this a 7 when compared to other gear, though it could be just what you need to plug a gap in your setup!

Probably the main reason for buying this instrument is the ease of use. No menu diving, what you see is what you get/hear. Manual very clear, it does even include a synthesis tutorial. Probably one of the best synths to learn synthesis.

Polyphony 20 voices. Enought for this kind of synth.
Pity the arpeggiator needs an external midi clock to synchronize the arpeggiator.

This is where it shines: crystal clear rich detailed (a lot of adjectives I know) sounds from deep basses to harsh digital noises.
The preset performances include some convinving Prophet emulations. No effects on board but thanks to it pristine sound hardly needed.

Only used in studio. No problem sofar (after 10 months).

Has not been necessary yet.

Nice addition to my rig consisiting of a digital piano and workstation. Indespensable if you need pristine sounds cutting through which are not possible or not as immediate with workstations.
Anything I wish it had ? Sure, a BPM function for the arp. This would be a perfect 10.

Easy and inspiring, much like analog synths..

The warmest of the VAs, definitely the closest to analog in this regard. Only Waldorf compares re: pro quality and inspiration amongst the current crop. Rolands? Plastic sound in comparison, Novation cheesy, Virus good but not quite..This can do analog AND digital sounds, though it's forte is excellent approximations of analog. Those who make silly and negative comments just to appear knowledgeable have to learn to program..

At the top of the current offerings-this and my Waldorf complement one another very well with their comparable yet different pro quality sounds, and offer contrast and variety to my analogs.

Easy overall, but first you have to learn some button combinations that are nedeed to access some functions.
Presets show very wide sound spectrum, but nothing else. All are simple straight lead-type sound with short attack and short release, some fxs, bells and pads. Manual is short and well-written.

The only 3 reasons I do not give it 1, is that it has few features that separate it from 1970's synths - 1) MIDI (whoa! thank you Clavia, very generous of you!), 2) feature called morphing (in simple word - by moving mod.wheel you can jump from unmodified sound to the same but completely modified (by knobs and parameters) sound 3) 1000 presets, 400 of which are rewritable.
Although it has arp, it doesn't have internal clock visually adjustable by bpm, so you can't use it without ext. midi-clock syncronising device. Everything else is as ordinary as it could be. Traditional waveforms, 2 oscs... 2 lfos... filter, some fm... that's it. Very nice buttons - so easy to press, but very tight knobs - they do not turn that easy! I don't think you could turn it from dead left to deadright in 0,1 sec w/o risking to break it!

Very thin, primitive and limited sound. The only thing that saves it from getting something like 3 or 4 is the character everyone aware of. Yes, that's the reason to get Nord. That edgy, cutting, bright and very juicy, yet delicate sound. I wonder if there is some kind of sophisticated EQ in the output section that makes that sound? Sometimes you have to remind yourself that there is no reverb in this unit - so smooth and natural the tails are! I think it's the most suitable for cutting dx-type basses, leads, and some simplistic additional sounds. Pads are nothing more than pathetic (even in unison mode), trance riffs are not possible too (no fatness at all!), but still it produces very clear, accurate and pleasure-to-mix sounds. Since I have other synths for fat sounds (Virus C and JP8080), I appreciate Nords sounds very much. That's why I give it higher mark. It desparately needs FX, though, and better it would be hi-end one!

It's pretty cheap and gives you real pro sounds (no wonder it's in every pro studio). It can't do much, but what it does - it does in a great way. I woudn't ever recommend it as a stand-alone synth, you'd be very dissapointed in it, buy it only it you have other VA synths, more versatile in their nature. I also have Virus C, JP8080 (both good for main/lead dance sounds) Supernova II (good for unique sounds and fxs), so Nord fits well in my setup and gives another dimention of synthetic sounds, especially it fills the lack of those dance dx-type basses.