TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- Production Studio
-- Nord Lead II

Nord Lead II

anyone here owns an nordlead 2 ? I just wanted to exchange experience and see how good your trance patches sound ( mp3 sample )

Trancevision

i�m also interested in hearing some mp3 demos... i�m thinking about buying a nordlead...

by the way... what sounds better? should i buy a nordlead 2 or a roland jp 8080. i think the nordlead is more expensive, isnt it? but does it bring the better sound for trancemusic?

I have a Nord 2X rack, which is the updated version of the Nordlead 2. The synth is great - over 1000 patches, 60 percussion kits, and a lot of performances. The orignal NL2 didn't have anywhere as near factory presets, but did have a card slot (used for adding/storing patches).

The 2X excels at leads and sounds like that - there are plenty of pads, but becuase it is so agressive sounding, some pads will drill out your ears - if you want to. If you want a pad machine, buy Atmosphere as a soft synth - better than any hardware synth that I know of.

I don't have any patches to share - check out Clavia's web site for song demos.

the demos on the clavia site do not do the nord lead justice. you have to play it yourself and ideally (although not always possible) sit down and screw around with it for a few hours. i dont own any hardware synths but im saving up money and i do hope to buy a nord lead 2x as my first hardware synth. it does have a characteristically hard sound. with the distortion it can sometimes sound quite cold. but very very clean. actually, hard and clean sum up the nord quite nicely. theres no effects on it (apart from the distortion) so what you hear is the sound of the nord itself and its pretty amazing when you consider that. with subtle use of dedicated effects you can make a nord patch sound really quite nice. its a good alrounder in the sense that it can do basses, leads, pads, rhythyms, groove patterns and percussion pretty well. it does squelchy organic sounds really well which is probably why every psytrancer under the sun has one of these. the 24dB filter on the nord is quirky though so if you plan on using that with the resonance turned up it has this annoying habit of sounding very thin. the 2x rack is about �450 which is about the same as most jp's go for on ebay (although you can get lucky and find one for alot less). the lead 2x keyboard costs about �700 but its built like a brick shit house. made of metal. would make it good for gigging cuz ive wrecked cheapo plastic guitar FX pedals so easily.

depends on what kind of sound you want. most trance producers have a JP at some point and its hard to make supersaws with any other synth. there are people that just cant get enough of this sound. tbh i cant get enough of it either but the nord...the nord was just the most fun synth ive played. cant explain it really - its just fun to sit and twiddle - clavia have my respect for making an instrument thats fun to play cuz its so important you have fun when you are doing this stuff. some synths just confuse the living daylights out of me.

I have a Nord Rack 2. I'll post an audio sample of a saw lead later on. The synth sounds dry as it doesn't have effects but a few patches sounds like it has. It's a weird synth.

nord lead brings hard sound?
oh... i�m searching for a synth that makes softer sounds. i have a virus but i do not really like the sound.
thanks for the atmosphere tip. but it is software. sounds it like hardware? because the sounds from softsynths like pro53 or the v-station are terrible too in my oppinion.
hmm. jp or atmo... or both...


and now, back to topic: any mp3 samples?

I made some nice mp3 demos, but my webspace is full. If anyone can help me out [PM ], I 'll post some trancy sounds from the nord lead II


Trancevision

quote:

Originally posted by cole-hawk but it is software. sounds it like hardware? because

Atmosphere is actually samples hardware synths & it does sound fantastic! If you're after a 'softer' sound to complement the virus, have you checked out the Novation SuperNova?

I've mailed some mp3 demos to drift control. He offered some webspace .

I hope he'll upload those two files soon.

Trancevision

so here are the Nordlead II sounds

"These sounds are extreme tweaked, I used all my knowledge and tricks to
get these sounds, for me it was very hard to achieve"
//Trancevision

NORDLEADDEMO2EXTREMETWEAKED

I gotta send you the second file again...your mailbox size too small.

I have some other nice sounds still...

Trancevision

The 'Seven Cities' guitar was made on a nl2 I believe.

the one thing the Nord excells at is making pluked sounds...its seriously awsome for that...you have to know how to unleash the beast with the lead 2. I love using mine for screaming fx and guitars.

Yeah, brother, the NLII is no joke. Some of the sounds you can create sound very real.

plus its got one of the best pitch bend wheels ever...err...I mean pitch stick....sorta stick like device, type...whatever...its awsome. Don;t be fooled though..when I first got my Lead I didn't like it too much until I seriously started to play with it, in depth. If your looking for poopersaws and sweet pads grab a JP or a Virus..me I would grab a Virus.

Wow...nord lead really sounds hot in that sample

being able to have full control of the layers is awsome for pads. You can set envelopes to have one layer come in, then another after a bit and then another modulated or whatever and then set them to release seperatly ect....it's a piece of cake to use and it sounds great. I recommend it : )

'Don;t be fooled though..when I first got my Lead I didn't like it too much until I seriously started to play with it, in depth. If your looking for poopersaws and sweet pads grab a JP or a Virus..me I would grab a Virus.'

i know exactly what you mean. people play on a nord and think 'ok cool - its nice.' then they play on a virus with dsp effects on every preset and they go 'wow! screw the nord - i want one of these babies'

nord doesnt have effects, it makes gorgeous sounds on just the filter. with dedicated effects you can make it scream. plus the most fun you can get out of a nord is to sit and twiddle. its just fun. thats why i still play my guitar. and its surprising how many synths are really so frustratingly laid out and designed that its hard to anything on them quickly.

Exactly, you can even have a fake delay effect by playing around. It really is a different breed. When I got it and played with the factory sounds, I almost threw it against the wall...they don't show not even 1% of it's power. Now, some factory patches sound very good like real instruments. I'm going to play with my Nord Rack II right now.

I tried... and failed...

Well... I really tried liking the NL2... I couldn't.

I tried the classic and also the new NL2x - neither one did it for me. The 2x actually sounded too harsh on the ears. No matter what I tried, it sounded too thin or too scratchy or too squealish.

I liked the ease of operation but soundwise, I just couldn't extract what I wanted out of it. I had some nice bases but it was just too digital.

Now, if you want a really lush synth that won't break your bank - go for AN1X. Not that many patches but is just an amazing swiss army of synths. I really have to get my shit together and post some samples, you folks need an eye, ehrr, I mean ear opening experience.

Re: I tried... and failed...

quote:

Originally posted by CynepMeH Well... I really tried liking the NL2... I couldn't. I tried the classic and also the new NL2x - neither one did it for me. The 2x actually sounded too harsh on the ears. No matter what I tried, it sounded too thin or too scratchy or too squealish. I liked the ease of operation but soundwise, I just couldn't extract what I wanted out of it. I had some nice bases but it was just too digital. Now, if you want a really lush synth that won't break your bank - go for AN1X. Not that many patches but is just an amazing swiss army of synths. I really have to get my shit together and post some samples, you folks need an eye, ehrr, I mean ear opening experience.

1. Yes, I felt the same way about the nord lead 2 / rack. It sounds indeed very harsh and digital and still with lots of tweaking and playing around with it I am not totally satisfied now. The Unisone function is nt as good as on Nord Lead III, which makes it sometimes difficult to get really wide, phat and huge sounds. But as time goes by I really suceeded in getting some good results.

2. Please post samples of the AN1X, I am very curious about that. And btw. do you know if the ANX200 is similar to the AN1x ?

Trancevision

I think that for me I like to pass my Lead 2 through my K-Station filters...it tends to smooth out the roughness of the lead. i do love teh harshness though. I think a good tool to be used with a Lead 2 would have to be a Mooger Fooger filter. Thats my next purchase. It really is a good synth once you get down and dirty with it. It took me awhile but I love it now.

If you wanna hear some An1x sounds just listen to the Soundset from
vengeance music..

Check out the Cosmic X Soundset for Yamaha CS6x & AN1x Board.


LINK

I persuaded Manuel into releasing a soundset for the AN1x but he told me he would if he had an AN1x.

The soundset he mae is for the CS6x with the AN1x plg-in board. The synth is a totally different architecture from the AN1x and therefore, not backwards compatible.

Please God, let Manuel either get one for cheap or misteriously find one in his studio in the morning.

Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright © 2000-2021, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.