Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I sold my Electro 2 so I could partially buy the latest model. After using it a few weeks it's clear how much better it could have been. Here are the good and bad:
Good:
- New sounds including Vox Continental, Farfisa, harpsichords and samples.
- Better Hammond organ sound.
- Better piano sounds but they take up a lot of memory and do not have keyboard resonance features of the Nord Stage EX.
- Sample software allows you to create your own sounds, organize your patches and is easy to use.
- More built-in effects including reverb, compression and 3 different amplifier distortions.
- USB (not MIDI) interface to download patches.
Bad:
- Limiting up/down buttons plus A/B patch selector makes it difficult to get to the sounds you want quickly. The Electro 2 had 8 buttons plus bank up/down which is more useable.
- Unergonomic button layout makes navigation difficult. For example, the shift button is too far from the organ presets making it impossible to play and switch presets at the same time.
- Lack of effect amount knobs as on the Electro 2. You are stuck with toggling through only 3 preset amount settings.
- Ring modulation should not be an oscillator like tremelo. The Electro 2 is correct.
- New Vox and Farfisa sounds aren't that accurate.
- Expression pedal always effects organ volume so there is no way to do Wah-Wah organ.
- Only 64 MB of onboard sample library memory means you'll be limited to how many sounds you can use at a time.
- Sample software is limiting and doesn't allow for more than one sample per key, assigning polyphony, glide (portamento) or other patch functions.
- No pitch wheel. Nord provides many synthesizer samples but, there's no way to control them. The Electro 3 cannot receive pitch bend MIDI commands from another keyboard either.
- No modulation wheel. Why bother having any synthesizer sounds without modulation.
- Same non-weighted keyboard feels junky.
- Expensive.
[DW]
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Nord Electro 3, 61-Key Electronic Stage Piano and Organ, (AMS-NE361)With the introduction of the Nord Electro 3, the legacy of the original Electro and the knowhow that have shaped some of the other Nord models have been combined. The Electro 3 features a new organ section, a new piano section, new effects and a new exciting feature that allows the Electro 3 to use any samples from the Nord Sample library. This is the performance keyboard that sets a new standard based on its impressive sound quality.Right from the start, the Electro 3 is loaded with a great selection of pianos. There are three acoustic grands (two Yamaha* C7s and one Steinway* D) and two electric grands. Electric piano aficionados will love the tine-based types; a Mk I, a Suitcase Mk I, a Mk II and a Mk V all with their unique and distinctive personalities. A great Wurlitzer* A200 is of course present, as is the mighty Clavinet* D6. The Clavinet type also includes the Harpsichords. There is a French harpsichord in the factory sound bank, and more to come in the Nord Piano Library download area. Each and every one of these pianos can be replaced if you wish.Not only loaded with great piano sounds, the Electro 3 also sports some great samples to add flavor to your sonic arsenal. You'll find some of the classic Mellotron sounds, a selection of strings, a celeste, a vibraphone and many others. You can add virtually any sound you want to the Nord Electro 3. Sounds that we offer for free are from the Mellotron Library or any other instrument from the expanding and extensive Nord Sample Library, which is the same format as the Nord Wave uses. The Organ Section of the Electro 3 has the best emulation of the soul of a B3 available so far.The attention to minute details is stunning, the Electro 3 is even equipped with four selectable tonewheel modes, that stretches from a clean sound to battered unit with the most dramatic setting; vintage 3. This setting even produces a sound in the background of its own, even if you don't touch any keys.Every function in a B3 has been considered and examined in great detail, to make the Electro 3 as true to the original sound as possible. There are key clicks derived from the original busbar behavior and the energy robbing that produces the gentle compression when you do that massive palm smear across the keyboard. To get the response right, we have included the option to trigger the organ sounds at the very top of a key's range, making it react just as fast as the original. And sometimes we couldn't resist adding functions that went a bit further, like the option to either include or exclude the 9th drawbar when Percussion was activated.The Farfisa* and Vox* models are just as impressive as the B3. The massive savage sound created by their 12-top oscillator frequency-divider designs is of course also a nosample zone in the Electro 3; you have the same behavior and unique response from our models as in the original instruments.Using the Organ Split mode, you can play two different organ registrations in a dual manual fashion, one sound on either side of a user definable keyboard split point. Connect a second MIDI keyboard to the Electro 3, to use the organ split functionality, but in a true, dual manual setup. The Nord Electro 3 is also equipped with a great selection of high quality effects including a lush sounding reverb with five different algorithms. There is also a selection of tremolo, panning, wah-wah, phaser, flanger and chorus effects, and a ring modulator.And, those of you who are picky about the rotary behaviors will be pleased to find several user adjustable settings like speed and acceleration times for both treble and bass rotors. These options, as well as all the other System, MIDI and Sound Menu functions are written on the right side of the panel, a great help for all those moments when the manual decided to stay at home.The Electro 3 comes in two different sizes. The 61 and the 73 have the same type of semi-weighted keyboard with the waterfall profile. This is a great set of keys to play organ and pianos with.
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