Best PIANO sound -- Nord Piano 2 or Roland V-Piano

Anyone have any experience comparing the Acoustic Piano sound of the Nord Piano 2 and the Roland V-Piano? I briefly played the V but it had pretty crappy speakers hooked up and really couldn't get a feel for the piano sound as much as I'd like. I've heard the Nord Piano 2 has very large samples for the piano and of course the V is modeled but just wondering comparing just the sound of both acoustic pianos if the V is worth spending 3-4 grand more if only concerned about the sound.

I've owned V-Piano and Nord Piano. I no longer own the V. This is a decision you will have to make for yourself.

My opinions are well documented on here in previous posts but my opinions may have no relationship to yours or anyone else's. Ask the store to set the VP up with some better near-field monitors or better still, play both pianos with (the same pair of) really decent headphones - and then you will have a level playing field upon which to judge them.

Good luck,

Steve

Also, realize that the V-Piano was designed to work with four monitors, to get the optimal results. Not enough to simply hook up four monitors, though, since you also have to configure for them in the setup menu.

Just playing the main presets with headphones, I preferred the Nord. People have talked about the versatility or the Roland and how much can be adjusted to your tastes and so on, but I never had the chance to dive into it, so I can only talk about the out-of-the-box impression.

I've never played the Nord and sure would like to try it out. The piano sounds of the Nord do sound pretty great at least when hearing them on YouTube. Anything has to sound better than my Roland FP-4 but I do like the FP-4's light touch. I'd have to say though unlike a lot of folks here that my main desire is a great acoustic piano sound and the touch secondary.

Did you consider a VST piano?

Btcomm, I believe this is due to the fact that you get whatever action you purchase, but you can 'upgrade' the sound via software (as suggested by spanishbuddha above), so that's is why some of us tend to favor action over sound.

I have no idea what type of action is in the Nord, but from what I have heard on demos and posts, its sound is really the best 'on board' sound I have heard. The V-Piano, since its modeled, can actually be tweaked into different sounds, but there is a base 'tendency' that is characteristic of its sounds (from what I've heard), which you either love or don't .

Considering the amount you are talking about, its worth testing both with headphones and spending some time with them. Good luck with your choice.

Rafa.

I really like what I hear about the Nord but as you say I will have to test out both in more detail.

I do realize you can get much better sound from VST but I guess I'm a little lazy and don't want to deal with the computer set-up and the rest of it at this time. If all else fails, yeh I might end up with a VST piano.

Thanks for the advise guys -- much appreciated.

Your choice of course. But initially it seemed like you were considering spending an extra $3K-4K just to get better acoustic sound. For $1K you could buy a new computer and a far better sounding VST (IMO). I don't know what "deal with the computer set-up and the rest of it" means to you exactly, but I would consider that trivial effort.

I would say that both the Nord Piano and VPiano have a better feel than the FP4, including for people who specifically like a light touch.

Macy, my "deal with the computer set-up and the rest of it" is my limited space and my living arrangement at this time so I'll leave it at that and as for spending 3-4 grand extra for the V that was more of a thought and not really a reality. I have in the back of my mind been thinking the Nord sounded better at least from videos but haven't tried one out yet and was just asking players here who have more experience than me with both of these models. But like I said earlier, I may still some time in the near future consider a VST set-up.

anotherscott ------

Regarding the touch/action of the Nord, I'd love to try one out but can't seem to find one yet in my area. I like the action on the FP-4, not too heavy at all and not synth-like and hope when I do try out the Nord it has at least a little balanced weighted hammer action.

I think the Nord does sound better. It sounds more real and has some genuine variety in its piano sounds. There, I've said it! But it's not necessarily the better thing. The V-Piano's main weapon is its extraordinary dynamics and sense of nuance and far superior key action. But of course it is a product of very much higher price - so it should be better in every respect (which it isn't).

You might be very wise to wait until January and see what materialises at NAMM. If a very good quality controller keyboard should appear (let's imagine from Kawai) then the combination of that and some decent software running on a dedicated laptop will destroy the sounds in the Nord and V-Piano - all for a price comfortably below that of the V-Piano (in fact perhaps not that much more than the cost of the Nord Piano 2).

The Nord is trully a Hoot. Like a Porsche. Plug in some power and it does it all. Love that aftertouch! Contemporary music needs a "certain created" sound style that dedicated pianos can't produce. The action is what it needs to be for a stage board.
As for the V, now that is IMHO one of the finest DP out there. The action is close enough to a renner, so you can play it for the rest of your life and not feel the need to "upgrade".
Too many plunk a key and think: "is it live or Memorex?" These are both superb cutting edge boards that the music of the last 200 years can be played on without reservation.
Get both and never look back. They are cheaper than some living room furniture..

EssBrace ---

I definitely will wait and see -- thanks.

Yes precisely. The OP cares about the sound, but under what conditions? The action does not bring out the best under studio or even home conditions. I think someone else hooked up another better DP action to the NP, via midi, and was amazed.

To each his own. I think FP-4 is the a wonderful action. No bottoming out. I easily go from FP4 to my N2 without any loss of control. I think the Nord action blows and the V bottoms out too much.

If you ever do want to go that way and need/want to solve any space issues, a Mac Mini (7.7" x 7.7" x 1.4") and an iPad to act as the Mac Mini's wireless display, virtual keyboard, and virtual touchpad is a really ideal, incredibly tiny VST-host solution, and you can position the iPad on your keyboard to display your sheet music too. I'll never go back to using paper for music scores again.

Forgot about NAMM so soon! I wonder what will be arriving

Macy,

Which iOS app do you prefer for controlling the Mac Mini?

Regards,

Ben

I've been experimenting. I'm using Mocha VNC right now, and will try (Real) VNC Viewer soon. It really boils down to personal preference on how you like to make mouse movements and move around the Mac desktop on the iPad touchscreen. There are so many VNC iPad apps for controlling a Mac its almost ridiculous. I don't how to pick the "best" but I only want to use one that is pure VNC and works with the Mac built-in VNC Screen Sharing, i.e. not one that requires a proprietary server program to be loaded on the Mac.

BTW, I'm currently using an iMac for my pianos, but it's 2 years old so I'll be giving it to my grand-daughters and switching to the Mac Mini/iPad. I currently do all the piano iMac setup using VNC Screen Sharing from the Mac Pro in my den anyway and seldom use the keyboard sitting next to the iMac and only use its mouse to control the piano programs while I'm playing.

Thanks for sharing that. There is an unreasonable profusion of these VNC apps floating around.

The combination of Mini/iPad/software piano with the right keyboard is extremely appealing. I'm pretty certain that's the direction I want to go next. Looking forward to NAMM for some good news about MIDI controllers.

Regards,

B.