Product: Clavia Nord Stage 76
Price Paid: USD 2,580
Submitted
07/21/2006
at
10:54pm
by
Steve in VT
Ease of Use
:
10
Presets are OK. It's so easy to tweak, and the effects are great, that it begs you to make it sound the way you want. The manual was good to get the general approach, and to work through some of the the synth settings and tweaks. I'm using software V. 2.14, upgraded via midi with files off their website site, and with the improved piano they provided for download.
Features
:
10
Plenty of polyphony for actual live use. The effects are good to very good - Clavia listened to Electro owners and provided a usable reverb on this. Haven't quite figured out the compression yet, but it's there if I want to work on it. Flangers, phasers, ring mod, wah-wah, great leslie effect, and a nice delay are all on board. Looks like good controls for midi - it is multi-timbral, but I don't use it for that.
Expressiveness/Sounds
:
9
Newest piano, after a couple weeks of playing, really grows on me. It ddidn't sound as good as the Yamaha at first. Now it sounds more like a real piano than my P250 (that sounds too clean!). EP's are great. Clav is a little weak, though it's probably b/c of the weighted keys. Easy to change key strike dynamics, and very useful. Again, for live playing this is a great keyboard. I don't need many synth sounds, so I'm not sure how deep that is, but I can get decent strings and pads, a few good basses and pads. All I need.
Reliability
:
10
Built well. If it holds up like my Electro, it'll be great. I have used it on a couple gigs without backups, but with any electronic equipment, that makes me nervous!
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
I've had my Electro for years, and never required customer support.
Overall Rating
:
9
I was looking for that keyboard that would cover most of my needs in one
convenient, great sounding package. I play mostly piano, EP's and organ in blues and rock bands, and this is perfect. The organs sounds great, the EP's are wonderful and expressive, and they finally got it right with the upgraded grand. Overall, it sounds great, it's light, got nicely weighted keys that aren't too stiff to play organ, and it's laid out great for live playing. The 76 key is perfect for me - no need to lug around extras on an 88 when I'm playing in bands. If it were stolen, I'd order one up in a heartbeat. It ain't cheap, but it's got plenty of value.
