Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Nord electro 3 HP or Stage ex 76?

Hey guys,

hope you all had a nice christmas!
I'm going to buy myself a christmas present, but can't decide: the electro 3 HP or the stage ex 76..
they're both for sale at approx. 2000 euro's.
I already have a Roland RD700NX, but I want a lighter board, easier to carry, more non-AP playing.
The electro is lighter (11kg) than the stage (16,5kg), but doesn't have a synth section..
I don't have any experience with Nord keyboards, so advice is welcome! (other suggestions also welcome)

Thanks in advance,
Julian

Bear in mind that the Electro is mono-timbral, whereas the Stage allows samples and organs to be split/combined etc.

The Stage is arguably the more flexible board - if they're available for the same price, I'd probably go for it.

By the way, you may wish to ask this question over on the Nord User Forum, assuming you haven't done so already.

Cheers,
James
x

Remember, though, that he's talking about a Stage EX, so there is no access to the sample library.

Anyway, Julian, here's a summary of the key differences:

Organ: E3HP has better sounding organ than Stage EX, but if you must play organ from a weighted action, the Stage EX is much better for that than the E3HP.

Piano: E3HP has Long Release, Stage EX has more sophisticated string resonance. Personally, I think the Long Release makes the bigger difference. The Stage EX has a quicker, more responsive action.

Other sounds: E3HP has access to the extensive Nord Sample Library, as well as allowing you to load custom samples of your own, but it has no synth functions of its own. Stage EX has a built in knobby VA synth, but no user sample or Nord Sample library functionality.

Other Stage EX advantages: Good control of external devices over MIDI (for incorporating additional sounds from another keyboard, sound module, computer, or iPad). Ability to split and layer sounds, instead of only being able to play one at a time. Pitch bend and modulation controllers, and aftertouch (all of which are naturally more useful on the Stage than the Electro, between the Stage's built in synth and ability to easily control external sound sources).

And of course, the weight difference is pretty significant, that favors the E3HP.

Ah, good point about the lack of sample functionality - that rather hampers the Stage EX's layering/split capability.

Julian, what kind of music will you be playing? Do your require the synth capabilities of the Stage EX?

Don't forget that the Electro can take advantage of the significant sample library, which includes an extensive range of classic/vintage synth patches. Okay, they're not as flexible without the proper tone controls, mod wheel or pitch bend etc. but still pretty significant.

Cheers,
James
x

Thanks guys, very helpful!
I will use it for groovy jazz/funky gigs.
I'm not a real synth guy (yet), but it could be useful in the future..
I think though that the sample library will be sufficient, I'll listen to some of the demo's on Clavia's website.
So the stage has a better action..
I'll try both in the shop, for now the electro seems to suit my needs best. 11kg with hammer action is unrivaled as far as I know. Nice to be able to bring it to rehearsals in a back-pack!
Cheers,
Julian

I'd probably go for the Electro 3HP in your situation (as I did myself). I love the sample library and it makes more sense for me than a synth section. Also, the sample library offers a lot of synth sounds (but not a lot of typical synth features, of course, not even mod wheels).

The light weight of the NE3HP is just fantastic. The action is OK for piano playing (provided 73 keys are enough for you), very good for Rhodes etc., not so good for certain organ techniques, as anotherscott pointed out above.

So I bought the electro today! happy about my choice so far..
thanks for the help!

Congrats!