Features Increased memory capacity Front panel sports attractive red and gray color scheme Text printed on the front panel upper rim to indicate the position and function of the rear panel jacks 88 Weighted hammer-action keyboard with Aftertouch Lightweight - among the most portable controllers available Description Product Description Experience stunning acoustic grand samples, classic organs, electric pianos, Clavinet, synthesizers, and every effect you’re likely to want. A broad array of gorgeous classic sounds and effects that makes you glad you're a keyboard player. One dream, one package, one amazing instrument: the Nord Stage EX. Featuring the best of Clavia's award-winning technologies, the Nord Stage EX hosts three different instrument sections (organ, piano and synth) plus an extensive effects section. You can use two sounds of each section simultaneously--that's two organ manuals, two synths, and two pianos. These can be combined in any split or layered configuration you need for your performance. The Nord Stage EX is based on the classic Nord Stage, but the EX units have twice the internal memory capacity compared to the former models, for an increase from 128 to 256 MB. The increased memory allows users to add more pianos from the Nord Stage Piano Library and bring an even greater selection of these sounds to each and every performance. The Stage's user interface is designed from a basic concept: all vital functions are represented on the front panel, easy to access, and never further away than a press of a single button. After more than 20 years of experience in designing instruments to be used by professional musicians, Nord knows how important it is to help you focus on your performance, rather than struggle with the technology. Nord's patented Pitch Stick and Modulation Wheel are included for maximum musical expression. A top-of-the-line weighted hammer-action keyboard (medium-weighted keys on the Compact model) make you feel that the Stage's sound is balancing at the tip of your fingers, completely under your control. Nord's efficient Morph Grouping technique is also included, allowing you to assign sound and effects parameters to one physical controller. All together, the Nord Stage EX is a musical, reliable, efficient, and roadworthy companion that delivers results, and provides the means to express your passion for playing. Choose from three models: 88, 76, or Compact. The Stage EX offers three different organs in its Organ Section. View larger The Organ Section The Organ Section offers three different organs. The first is Nord's famous B3 Organ model, giving you the most accurate and pleasing B3 next to the real thing. It has true organ architecture, a complex digital model of the original chorus & vibrato scanner, simulation of the energy robbing and authentic tuning of the tone wheels, and modeling of the individual random contact bounces for each partial. Nord has also included 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 the preset. A commitment to authenticity is clear with 6 categories in the Piano Section. View larger Incorporating all the effects required to cover a musician's needs. View larger The Piano Section The Piano Section is organized in six categories: Grand Pianos, Upright Pianos, Electric Grand, Electric Pianos, Wurlitzer, and Clavinet/Harpsichords. Nord's 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 String Resonance feature reproduces the wonderful acoustics that occurs inside an acoustic grand or upright piano. The Nord Stage EX piano section is very flexible, allowing the user to replace any piano with other sounds from the Nord Piano Library free of charge. When played with the sustain pedal, the Stage EX’s pianos recreate the string resonance produced by the undampened acoustic piano strings, adding to the authenticity of the piano sounds by giving them natural body. A small, yet powerful Synth Section with big sound and few controls. View larger The Synth Section The Stage EX'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. Our response to that challenge is the Nord Stage EX'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. With the Unison knob you can fatten your sound for lush pads, thick comps, and fiery leads. Nord has 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. The Extern Section The Nord Stage EX wouldn't be a master keyboard if it couldn't control external devices with ease. The Extern Section is designed solely for this purpose, so that any MIDI-connected gear gets seamlessly integrated with the Stage EX’s built-in instruments. Zones, splits and layers are handled exactly as if the external equipment was a part of the Stage EX itself. All settings are saved together with a Program so advanced setups can be immediately recalled in real-time during a performance. You can even use the Extern Section to automatically transmit Bank Select and Program Change messages to your external units. Effects No sound is complete without the proper use of effects. The Nord Stage EX incorporates all the effects required t