Hey addicts,

I'm getting a little bored with my current hardware synth collection - it happens about once/year. Anyway, I'm considering getting rid of my Novation Supernova I and Nord 2X (both are rack versions) and replacing the two with a Nord 3 (rack). The idea here is that I want to free up some space and I honestly don't use the two synths that much in my productions - I use my Virus TI much more often, so one more analogue-style hardware synth that complements the Virus and my Roland JV1080 nicely would be good.

The problem I'm having is that it's impossible to find a NL3 to check out before I buy one, because they're out of production. I've tinkered with them at Guitar Center in the past, but I always thought that they were missing that raw aggressive character that the NL1/2/2X have and of course it's really hard to judge a synth by playing its presets in a music store. But, lately I'm hearing some fantastic productions done with the NL3, so it's got me thinking about it.

Has anybody here owned both the NL2/2X and NL3 and, if so, what are your thoughts on the differences, strengths, and weaknesses of the two? I'm especially interested in getting your input on the programmability of the NL3 vs the NL2/2X. Also, are there any issues (LEDs, durability, OS stability) of the NL3 that I should be aware of? BTW, this would be for studio use only.

FWIW - I produce a pretty wide variety of electronica ranging from trance/house to triphop to chillout/ambient and occasionally collaborate with others on pop/rock, RnB, etc.

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Sonar Platinum | Ableton Live 9 | Logic Pro X | Access Virus TI2 Keyboard | Kurzweil PC3X | Nord Lead 4R | NI Maschine

I've had a Nord Lead 1 and Nord Lead 3.

I believe the most significant differences are that, in addition to what the Nord Lead 2x has, the nord lead 3 also has :

* Variable unison and stack (fucking AWESOME) - I wish every synth had the stack feature

* An awesome FM section -- best I've ever heard from on a VA

* More filter types

* More voices

* An awesome interface - the best, most intuitive and easy to navigate interface I've ever used on a hardware synth

The NL3 is definitely my favorite VA right after the Virus TI.. and I've owned just about every popular VA synth on the market (except for a Waldorf)

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And I can sell you my NL3 rack which is mint for $1200 canadian plus you pay shipping.. Anyways... I have few offers already on craig list... but i don't mind selling it to fellow tranceaddict.

i got 1000€ for my Nord Rack 3 abit more than i bought it for 2 years ago. great synth but i think 2X looks cooler and seems to have better DACS, better presets etc from the samples ive heard. it also has drummaps for those who needs that.

I can't help with the comparison - I've only ever had an NL3. But no stability issues with it at all, the LEDs all work fine, it feels like a sturdy enough synth (but then again, it's just sitting in my studio, so not much can happen to it). It has a nice, defined "clean" sound to it...probably partly because it doesn't have all those onboard effects such as reverbs, delays and so on. It just sounds great straight up. It's one of my top synths.

Thanks for all the info so far guys - it's been very helpful. For those of you that have a NL3, one follow-up question: is the Nord patch manager/librarian any good, or is it better to use sysex or a third-party librarian?

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Originally posted by DJDIRTY ...I can sell you my NL3 rack which is mint for $1200 canadian..

Hmmmm...let's see...U.S. $ in the crapper...that translates to, what, about $8000 USD? Thanks, I'll definitely keep it in mind, but I already made an offer on one - if it falls through, I may contact you.

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what i would do if i was u is read the reviews about it on sonicstate http://www.sonicstate.com/synth/cfman.cfm?manid=10

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Originally posted by atxbigballer1 what i would do if i was u is read the reviews about it on sonicstate http://www.sonicstate.com/synth/cfman.cfm?manid=10

Thanks - that's a good suggestion. I've read those and the Harmony Central reviews and, while they were pretty helpful, none of them really addressed some of my specific questions regarding the difference b/t the NL2/X and NL3. Also, I know a bit about many of the people on this forum and I've heard their tunes, so their opinions give me a much better perspective and context to make my decision. When guys like alonzo and derail speak highly of the NL3, that gives me a lot of confidence that I'm making the right decision.

(of course, OTOH, when guys like palm and DJDIRTY tell me that they sold/are selling theirs, it makes me wonder why)

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Sonar Platinum | Ableton Live 9 | Logic Pro X | Access Virus TI2 Keyboard | Kurzweil PC3X | Nord Lead 4R | NI Maschine

Thanks for the kind words, Cryophonik!

As with all synths, some will suit a particular person's style well, some won't. I know there are producers who get much more substantial use out of some of the synths I have and don't use that often (but I'm not at the stage yet where I'll know I won't use them in the future - I know I'll be involved in different projects, different styles, so will need different textures).

I love the NL3's character and use it extensively, mainly for basses and leads at this stage (it has a nice clean "direct" sound). I bought Alanzo's soundset as well as Manuel Schleiss' soundset. Unless you want to create your sounds from the ground up, I'd recommend grabbing those soundsets - they'll give you a much better feel for how good the NL3 is for trance sounds, as opposed to the factory sound banks.

The vengeance website has a sound demo for Manuel's soundset, which may give you a feel for the synth. But yeah - it's frustrating, not being able to try out things - I just read the user reviews on harmonycentral, see how they describe the sound, whether they compare it to other synths. Once you have enough synths you get a decent impression of what to expect - not the same as trying it out though...

quote:

Originally posted by derail II bought Alanzo's soundset as well as Manuel Schleiss' soundset. Unless you want to create your sounds from the ground up, I'd recommend grabbing those soundsets - they'll give you a much better feel for how good the NL3 is for trance sounds, as opposed to the factory sound banks. The vengeance website has a sound demo for Manuel's soundset, which may give you a feel for the synth.

Thanks again, derail. Good suggestion on the Vengeance demo - I've actually got several of Manuel's soundsets (Virus, Supernova, and Vanguard). He does good work and does a good job of exploring each synth's capabilities. I want the N3 primarily for programming my own sounds, but I do a fair amount of preset-tweaking as well, so I'll definitely look into Alanzo's and Manuel's soundsets - good starting points.

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I have Manuel's sounds through a number of my synths, but I haven't picked up the Supernova one for my SNII yet - but I'm thinking it may well be worth it, since my SNII is sadly underutilised currently. I listened to the sound demo and it sounded to me like he's trying to create his sound on a machine which may not be that suitable for it.

Obviously, I'd be delighted to hear I'm wrong. I've been meaning to get it for a while, but I've always held off. What are your impressions, which sounds (basses, pads, leads) do you think are the strongest in the soundset?

I'd say the basses in the Vengeance Novation set sound the best, followed by the pikes/plucks and leads. Some nice arps, too. The basses are really nice, actually. The pads, effects, and drums/percussion sounds are so-so for the most part, but I don't recall there being that many of them. I'm wondering if the soundset would sound different on your SNII than it does on my SNI.

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Sonar Platinum | Ableton Live 9 | Logic Pro X | Access Virus TI2 Keyboard | Kurzweil PC3X | Nord Lead 4R | NI Maschine