Clavia Nord Stage 88

(with no claim/opinion that my very subjective view is valid in any way) I'd like to hear from the very few of you out there that 1)bought a Yamaha S90 a year or two ago as your new primary gigging board 2)after really wanting to love the thing, to now use the fairest words you can muster: you weren't dissapointed -- you were horrified by the results: by an amazingly unusable piano, laughable organs, tragically honky brass. No help from the eq, no help by changes of venue, changes of amp and speaker, the thing was just terrible, nearly every patch annoyingly problematic/unplayable, weirdly resistant to real time tweaks too. Tantalizingly brilliant -- the best Rhodes ever done maybe --but that's all you can use it for, period...If you know that feeling and have played the Nord now, do you think I should buy one? Thanks

This keyboard is very logically laid out. I drove directly from the store to a gig and used it without looking at manual. There are about 100 predefined patches & synth voicings... editing, saving, layering, splitting, morphing and applying effects are trivial. The manual is well organized... a quick look at it and you find deeper details and appreciate the logic of this red beast.

The Stage has all the essential keyboard voices and effects rolled into one keyboard. Polyphony is 40 for piano... I have heard some artifacts goofing around, but not in 'real' playing. The keyboard action is brilliant, providing more control over the piano dynamics than I have experienced on an electronic instrument. In each patch, there are 2 complete sound sets of voicings that can combine organ, piano, synth, and effects. You can create some incredibly fat and expressive voices. This is a live performer's keyboard, not an audio workstation.

I love the expressive pianos (C7:10, Steinway:9, others:6)
The Wurlies & Rhodes are sweeter than Electro (and you get more of them). Clav is perhaps not quite as strong as Electo, but this is likely due to the action. Organs are at least as good as Electro (great). The Stage is most at home in a live band where it's clean sounds float above the mix (without pounding the crap out of the keys). This is by far the most expressive electronic keyboard I've played. There are a few clicks/pops when you switch sounds/effects while playing.

I hope...

Have not needed.

I know I could buy a few keyboards for this price that might combine to beat the Stage in some areas... but an important goal for me (and my back) is to get the most spontaneous, authentic, and expressive sound from the most portable and convenient rig. I've been playing piano for about 35 years, the Stage action compares well directly against the Steinway grand I learned on (recently completely rebuilt)... I also have Roland RD-700... the Stage is much more hands-on and expressive (but lacks 100's of sampled voices... 5 of which are useful). Compared to my Electro... the Stage is much, much more of everything and much more playable as a piano. This is a wonderful musical instrument for just about any style of live music.

Software version 1.14

Most presets are interesting and can be tweaked to suit your own taste. I started from the sample then tried different combinations of type and dynamic, EQ, amp sim, drive, rotor and FX to obtain the sound I want. For example, the standard Wurlie sound I use, I swap between the 1 and 2 dynamic (dependant on music) and a touch of vibrato which can be controlled with the mod wheel.
Editing the patches could not be simpler and is a joy to make changes with on-the-fly.
The manual is useful and well written.

Polyphony seems to be fine apart from when you go mental on the piano sounds (40?). Using the sustain pedal whilst trilling and rolling notes might cause a cut-off note here and there.
The action of the board is possibly the best I've played (I've used a Roland A-90 as a master till now) and is only topped by the real thing (I have a Wurlie EP200).

FX are good and sound better than any in-built FX I've ever heard. The drive in the amp sim section and the rotor are particularly good and can be used in some interesting combinations to create mad sounds.
I particularly like the Morph feature where you can assign the mod wheel, aftertouch and control ped to the rotory encoders, drawbars and rotor speed. Nice and easy to assign (can do it whilst playing) and even easier to clear (shift-relevant morphy assign button).

Clavia have and will continue to update the OS, samples and presets on their site. I have not yet updated or altered the samples as I have the most recent OS and samples. The process seems easy enough though. Download the files from the Clavia site, connect the Stage via USB (cable supplied). Transfer the files. Yer done.
I have not used it to control another source but I'm sure it would fine as a controller.
This is marketed/created as a performer's board, not a workstation. If you are expecting more complex features or functions, go elsewhere.

Nothing comes close, apart from the real thing obviously, to the samples on this board. My favourite samples are the Wurlie, Vox, Rhodes, Steinway piano, Hammond, Clav and Farfisa.
It works perfectly for the band I'm in (www.myspace.com/tommansiandtheicebreakers) and is perfect for blues, rock, funk, jazz etc. Its makes a great board to have at home and having a proper piano is not an option.
As I've stated previously, the inbuilt FX, amp sim, drive and rotor are amongst the best I've heard.
It has responsive action and it truly is a performer's board.

I've only had it for a few weeks, done 2 or 3 gigs with it and it is fine so far (so I would hope!). If anything goes wrong I will repost.
A back-up would be nice but then I would be carrying around over #4000 worth of equipment to every gig. Not going to happen unless my band makes it big and we get a team of roadies. Not likely to happen.
I bought this board as a replacement to taking my Wurlie and Vox to gigs. For this alone, it is invaluable.

I sent an email to Clavia after I bought the board asking why they have no product registration service, or why they had not included the legs or bag in the package. They sent a prompt polite reply back.
No upgrades or replacements so far. So good.

I think Clavia could have included at least either the legs (about #70) or the gig bag (about #165) on an item with this kind of price tag. However, this is my only serious complaint. If lost or broken, I would replace asap (or the insurance would replace it!).
I've been playing since my childhood and I've played several pianos (grands, baby grands, uprights). I moved onto keyboards in my teens and I played the Roland A-90, D-50, XP-10, Yamaha CSx1, MicroKorg, Korg Triton. I started playing the original Wurlitzer EP200 in my 20s and purchased my own this year. I also have a Vox Continental which is fantastic to play.
This board is perfect for the gigging musician who uses these vintage boards and cannot afford (physically or mentally) to cart them around to gigs.

Also, its not a boring piece of grey/black plastic/metal. ITS RED! Looks great on stage and attracts the women like shiny things attract magpies.

V 1.4
Presets are usefull but you can tweak for better sounds
Editing is very easy
Manual is helpfull

Polyphony is ok, Synths. a little under the expected Standarts in this days.
Key-action is very good for all Stuff not to light not to hatd
no expansions needed
very easy to use

This Rocks completly!!!
Organs very good!
Pianos very good!
E-Pianos very good!
Synths usefull
Effects are very good and easy tweakable!
Very good in every Situation you can split/layer add effects...
Velocity and Aftertouch are good balanced.
Good for playing Organs on weighted keys.

Best Key i ever played! This is a Dream for Live-playing!
Most gigs i play only with the NS88!!! It rocks!!!
The origin Softbag is very very good and has wheels on it to carry it easy.

Very friendly and fast E-Mail-Support!
Upgrades are online and i hope more Sound-patchs and Samples coming soon.

Playing over 25 Years i dreamed from a key like this.
I wood buy it 1 Minute later when it was stolen, can't live whitout!
Thanks to the amazing Clavia Team!!!

Arne

Very easy to use. Almost all parameters are controled by switches and knobs. For me the presets sounds are not as good as the instruments REALLY sounds. But it's very easy to create the sound the way you like it. You don't need the manual - it's foolproof...! No comparision to 'standard' keyboards e.g. Yamaha or Roland.

It is called "stage" and thats its strength. I miss less features till now. Maybe a more flexible EQ, reverb and Leslie - e.g. programmable rise & fall time between low and high speed.

Rhodes are extraordinary good. Yamaha C7 sample is very good and natural, the rest of acoustic pianos are a matter of taste. For me, they are ok. but some kind of special.

Organ is very good - as expected from the electro. Synth is ok, but nothing special. As a source for pads and layering sounds ok. also for bass sounds.

Wurlitzer is very good, CP80 and Clavinets are not in my interest, cause I did not like these kind of sounds at all...

Till now, no Problems. But after a view weeks and about five gigs I can really not evaluate this.

They react very promptly to mails.

I would buy it again! No question! A few days ago I played with a very good female singer and percussionist a "acoustic" session. It was a dream - warm, dynamic and realistic sound.

Software v1.14

The presets are good, but because this keyboard is so easy to configure, you will more than likely be changing them to suit your needs. I haven't looked through the manual at all, there has been no need

The keyboard action is very good. Some might find the hammer action a little light, but as you are just as likely to use this for hammond and rhodes, the keyboard is very usable. The layout of this keyboard has really been thought through. The organ, piano, synth and effects sections are clearly defined and you find yourself layering sounds for lead breaks and unlayering in real time. I have been waiting for this keyboard for 20 years. It reminds me of the of my Juno 106 in layout terms(will be with me to the grave - I love that keyboard). All the live controls are there with very little need to page through any menus.

Pianos:
Yamaha and Steinway grands - V.Good
Upright pianos - Good
CP80 Electric Grand - V.Good
Rhodes MK1 OK, MKII OK, MKV V.Good
Clavs - Not bad
Wurl - V.Good
Synth - Very good Pads

I have to say there are still a couple of velocity issues with the yamaha grand, but I'm sure Clavia will resolve these soon. It's more down to the samples I think, but these are minor.

Effects are stunningly easy to use and add as you play, add a tremlow to wurly or rhodes while you are playing and increase how wet the effect is real time, bla bla.

Aftertouch is OK with soem nice, "note off" sound on the pianos and rhodes.

This is my second, the first one came out of the box from new with a key stuck half way down. My dealer swapped it over for me - no probs, but this did take 2 weeks. I would always take an additional keyboard to gigs as we are dealing with electronics here - right? Unless you are on tour abroad, of course.

I've not dealt with clavia yet so I have no opinion

If it were lost or stolen, I'd buy the same again. It's expensive, but no that expensive. with the quality of the piano, rhodes and hammond, it justifies the price in my opinion. I've been playing for 20 years since the early days of synths and I have been looking for a keyboard like this all that time. I'd looked at the RD-700 and others similar, but nothing gave what I wanted. Here was my brief:

A weighted keyboard - but still light to carry
Very good piano, rhodes and hammond
Flexible while palying live
Ability to split the keys easily
Cheap as chips!

Well the clavia fitted all these except the last!

See my previous review for Clavia NS-88.

See my previous review for Clavia NS-88.

See my previous review for Clavia NS-88.

In addition to my previous review it's worth mentioning that I have had direct email contact with Clavia about the software bugs in the first OS version of the Nord Stage.

Clavia let me know that the first machines that left the Clavia manufacturing line indeed have some (minor?) software bugs.

According to Clavia, all known bugs have been adressed and these bugs will be solved in the next OS-version, which will be available online within an few weeks.

Too bad that the machines left the factory with these bugs, but (resulting from my experiences with Nord Electro) I have complete confidence that the next OS-version will have solved all bugs I encountered.

I have had fast (within 24-hour), personal, response to my email concerning the bugs, so that is (relatively) fast and thus a good thing!

See my previous review for Clavia NS-88.

I have the "1.0.0.0" version of this machine, I believe; one of the very first.
Presets sounds great, although sometimes a bit different than what I got used to with the Electro.
The piano sounds have made HUGE progress, compared to the Electro. All sounds are very realistic. Synth-section is very usefull!

The Nord Stage is very easy to use, just like all other Clavia stuff.
I just opened the manual for some minor things I wanted to be shure of, but it hardly isn't nescesarry to use, because almost everything can be tweaked, edited, ect. realtime on the board. No need to get into menu's and so on.

Synthesizer-polyphony is somewhat limited. All other sounds have no problems. Using the synth as 'string-pad' underneath a complex piano-part could lead to some string-notes cutting off when exceeding the polyphony.

Built in effects are great. Phases, flanger etc. are all more or less like the Electro, but the extra added delay's, reverb and amp simulators are realy a PLUS! Great to use with synthesizer sounds and so on, but why would one use a reverb on a stage-instrument when you are playing with a band in a room with the room's real acoustics and reverb?? Mmmm, Clavia listened well to all those Electro-users missing the reverb.

I expected more out of the COMPRESSION-effect. Thought it would spice up and equal up my sounds and playing, but it doesn't. The only thing to adjust is 'amount' and that is just not enough, resulting in a over-noticable compression.

MIDI seems to have some bugs. DOnt' know what it is, but it sometimes reacts slow and I have been using the onboard 'Panic'-button too much!

Further, no sequencers, no drums etc. GREAT, just the way I like it. Don't need that stuff in a live performance.

THe split-capabilities of the NOrD STAGE are superb.
The Stage has completely replaced my 'Yamaha Motif+Nord Electro'-setup, thus having only to carry one keyboard, without missing any real important sounds. U need good rhodes? It's there. Need good B3? It's there. Need good synths? It's there. Need to use it all at the same time? No problem, it's there and all combinable.
For instance: one performance setup can play simoultaneously rhodes, clavinet, organ, another organ, synth-strings and synthlead. No problem. This is a big PLUS compared to the Electro.

Need I say more? Check out the Electro-reviews to know more about the keyboard-sounds, but keep in mind that Clavia finally have some GREAT piano sounds on board with the STage. Superb and realistic. All other sounds are very good.

In a live setup all sounds are equal punchy and realy stand out in the mix. Even better than what the Electro did.

All effects and sounds can be 'morphed' real time, using pedals, knobs etc. giving a flexible feel.

Aftertouch, pitch bend, keyboard feel are great! A little heavy for the B3-and D6-players I guess, but velocities of sounds can be easily adjusted (live as well) making up for the weighted keys.
For use with piano and rhodes sounds the weighted keyboard is superb.

I have had some little problems storing sounds. Next to that midi is working somewhat strange.
Furhtermore, when you put 'memory protect to "on", then switch off the instrument, switch on again, then suddenly the protect is "Off". These kind of little software bugs were in the first version of the Electro as well, so I presume Clavia will fix them in the next software version, which will be downloadable form their site in the future. Should be ok, and poses no real big problems.

The instrument is solid. I rely on it completely.

Don't know. Never had any problems with other Clavia gear.

Upgrades are usually good (see Nord Electro)

It's a bloody expensive machine, but hey, a Ferrari is expensive as well, and you love when when you have it.

I did compare to other piano's, but the STage-features work best for me, as a live-player looking for solid, authentic sounds.