DISC Nord Stage EX 88 Stage Piano

Full Description

NEW FEATURES IN STAGE EX

The Stage EX stems directly from the Nord Stage, but have gone through a major hardware change and also received a cosmetic makeover. The new features are:

• Increased memory capacity for the piano samples. The EX units have twice the internal memory capacity compared to the former models, an increase from 128 to 256 MB.
• The front panel sports a new color scheme.
• The Stage EX 88 and Stage EX 76 models have text printed on the front panel upper rim to indicate the position and function of the rear panel jacks. (The NS Compact EX will not have these labels, there isn't room on the panel on this unit.)

MAIN FEATURES

• Organ section with faithful emulations of 3 Classic models.
• Piano section with 6 selectable categories.
• Synth section generating Subtractive, FM and Wavetable synthesis.
• External section making the Nord Stage serve as a master keyboard.
• Effects section adding comprehensive effects to your performance.

THE ORGAN SECTION

The Organ Section offers three different organs. Of course, we included our famous B3 Organ model, giving you the most accurate and pleasing B3 next to the real thing. The B3 Organ offers many innovative solutions to mimic the typical B3 sound, such as:

• A true organ architecture, based on digital models of 91 tonewheels, thus always giving full polyphony and overtones with natural warmness.
• A complex digital model of the original chorus & vibrato scanner.
• Modeling of the individual random contact bounces for each partial.
• Emulation of the unique frequency characteristics of the built-in preamplifier, forming the "body" of the B3 sound.
• Simulation of the energy robbing on the tonewheels that results in the typical compressed B3 sound.
• Authentic tuning of the tone wheels according to the original B3 design.
• True B3 swell-pedal characteristics. We also created carefully modeled emulations of two of the most famous transistor organs from the 1960s, the Vox Continental and the Farfisa Compact.

"Draw buttons" and LED bar graphs have replaced the original mechanical drawbars. This gives you the advantage of always having the correct drawbar settings after changing preset.

THE PIANO SECTION

The Piano Section includes six main sound groups: Grand Pianos, Upright Pianos, Electric Grand, Electric Pianos, Wurlitzer, and Clavinet. Our commitment to authenticity is manifest in these pianos? subtle nuances throughout the whole dynamic range. The source instruments are recorded at multiple velocity levels, providing the most accurate and expressive pianos ever made for a digital keyboard. The key-releases were also sampled, creating the real sound of dampers returning when the keys are lifted.

The Acoustic Pianos are also recorded with sustain pedal down. When played with the sustain pedal, the Stage?s pianos recreate the sympathetic string resonance produced by acoustic piano strings. This adds to the authenticity of the piano sounds by giving them natural body.The Clavinet has an equalizer of its own, which mimics the original D6 tone tabs, and also includes the four Clavinet pickup selections.

Pianos come in many varieties, and while a Steinway sounds great, it might not be the sound you need at the moment. The piano section is very flexible, allowing the user to replace any piano with other sounds from Clavias library of Piano samples free of charge. Use the Nord Stage's USB port and the Nord Stage Manager to swap sounds quickly from your Mac or PC.

THE SYNTH SECTION

Don't let the panel fool you; the Stage's Synth Section is a wolf in sheep?s clothing - small, but with a big sound.

After more than 10 years of designing synthesizers, we accepted a new challenge - designing a powerful synth with a few controls that would equal the quick and easy manipulation of the Organ and Piano sections. After all, why should you have to be an expert programmer to create lively and nuanced synth patches?

Our response to that challenge is the Nord Stage's "power mini synth". The Synth was created on a multi-oscillator concept involving up to 9 oscillators per voice in different algorithms, all controlled from one button and one knob:

• Classic Analog Synthesis with dual saw, hard sync, and pulse wave modulation.
• Three-operator FM Synthesis with 32 different modulation frequencies.
• Wavetable Synthesis with 32 waveforms, a first for a Clavia synth. With the Unison knob you can fatten your sound for lush pads, thick comps, and fiery leads. We?ve included a 12/24 dB LowPass Filter with resonance, an Amp envelope, a Modulation envelope, an LFO, and a two band equalizer. Three different Synth banks are provided - Synth, Pad, and Bass - for the creation and storage of your own patches, and each bank holds up to 100 sound programs.

SPECIFICATIONS

COMMON PARAMETERS

• Level Control
• Zone (split assignment) Control

INSTRUMENT EFFECTS

• Unit One: Ring Modulator, Tremolo, Pan, Wah 1, Wah 2, AutoWah
• Unit Two: 2 Flangers, 2 Phasers, 2 Choruses Delay - includes Ping Pong and Tap-Tempo Function
• Amplifier/Speaker Simulation: 3 types of Speaker simulations, 3-band Equalizer and Overdrive
• Rotary Speaker: selectable Speed and Overdrive

MASTER EFFECTS

• Compressor
• Reverb - 5 Algorithms

KEYBOARD

• 88/76-models: Hammer Action Weighted Keys
• Compact-model: Medium Weighted Keys
• Aftertouch
• Supports 3 split zones with visual LED indication

CONNECTIONS

• 4 Assignable Audio Outputs
• Stereo Headphone Output
• Sustain Pedal
• Rotor Pedal
• Organ Swell Pedal
• Control Pedal

MIDI In
MIDI Out
USB

INCLUDED ACCESSORIES

• Owner's Manual
• Sustain Pedal
• Power Cord
• Nord CD/DVD-ROM
• USB Cord

DIMENSIONS - 1297 mm (51"), 121 mm (4.5"), 334 mm (13")

WEIGHT - 18,5 kg (41lb)