One of the few things I don't regret buying in life. I bought this to play synth at church, and piano at home. This replaced my baby grand at home, now I can peacefully play when everyone is sleeping.
I have to say I bought this keyboard (over a year ago) when it was $4,700, now its $5,300 if not more already. So good value retention fyi.
When comparing to other keyboards out there, why does this keyboard sit at the top in certain areas? This keyboard is focused mostly on live performances, it focuses on providing a medium to store sounds, and be able to switch to different sounds or modify current sounds. The beauty of this keyboard is that all of these actions can be done one the fly (that is why you see so many buttons on this thing). Obviously you will need to organize your sounds before doing something that crazy, preparation is needed to pull off something like that.
Need a little more reverb? you are one dial away. Need to modulate without changing your chords? hold transpose and turn dial (one hand). need to switch to second part of song? one button to your stored sound. need to decrease cutoff frequency so that you could make the synth mellow? one dial. The list goes on.
Pair this keyboard up with some high quality studio monitors at home (in my opinion: Yamaha HS7's or HS8's, don't get HS5's paired with a HS8S sub, there is a frequency drop out and it sounds bad), this will make your baby grand piano at home sound like absolute trash (I'm sorry, but that's just reality)
This keyboard does not have an option to record or loop, which is ok I guess (just need more stuff to make that happen). The stage 3 can be used as a midi controller or standalone. My take is that the stage 3 has enough sound samples for a standalone setup. If you want to do anything absolutely crazy, a midi-interface-laptop setup is the way to go. Then again, you could just buy a MIDI keyboard and the total hardware will cost you 10 times less, not the software though LOL.
The feel of these keys are like an in-between of an organ-piano-synth. If you want more piano-mechanical-feeling keys, go for the nord piano 5. To be honest, a nord piano 5 would have met my needs just fine.
The organ you have to know how to use to make it sound good, I left that section untouched for about a year before making any good use of it. A lot of synth effects I didn't really make use of (at least just yet) in our more-conservative church (we don't have drums).
I did get into a car accident with this piano, and it did get a little beat up (few broken but still functioning keys). Guys, get good cases, the gator g-tour 88 slim is perfect for this. The other gator 88 slim is good too. (76 slims are never in stock, I think they fit the 88 stage 3)
The stand I use is the official $300 one, very nice for portability, it fits into my case with the piano. The stand is at an awkward height, but ask anyone who has an angle grinder to make it the right height for you (take off rubber feet, cut, put them back on). That stand you will never regret for portability and clean-looking. it is a bit pricey, and it does take an additional 60sec to set up than typical stands.
This keyboard is pretty heavy (42lb), plus my tour case (54lb) and stand (4lb?). So it is 100lb total and it is a 2 person job to get up a long flight of stairs. Otherwise it is ok to carry on flat ground with wheels. I do have to take down a back seat to get it to fit into my small sedan.
Don't get me wrong this keyboard is the best in terms of sound, BUT, in church (or event), this keyboard will sound as good as your audio setup or audio engineer (sadly, whichever is worse). Sometimes you are trying to get a certain sound on your monitors at home and then the audio engineer goes and throws an eq and an effect on you when you are live. Make sure you have a premium gasket between your speakers and your keyboard (aka the audio engineer), else there is no use of having it in the first place.
And finally, if you do not have time to spend to play around, experiment, and get the sound you want. you will be only paying for 5% of the keyboard. Get ready to spend a LOT of time time figuring this thing out, the benefit is insane though.
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This Item  Nord Stage 3 88-Key Digital Piano with Fully Weighted Hammer Action Keybed |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | — | -17% $499.99 Typical: $599.99 | -6% $692.48 Typical: $735.58 | -33% $299.99 List: $449.99 | $1,799.99 | $289.99 |
| Delivery | — | Get it as soon as Thursday, Apr 25 | Get it as soon as Thursday, Apr 25 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, Apr 23 | Get it as soon as Friday, Apr 26 | Get it as soon as Thursday, Apr 25 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Sound quality | ||||||
| Volume control | ||||||
| For beginners | ||||||
| Value for money | ||||||
| Sold By | — | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Best Choice Products Inc | Amazon.com | GL0BAL INSTRUMENT |
| number of keys | 88 | 88 | 88 | 88 | 88 | 88 |
| power source | Usb | Corded Electric | Corded Electric | Corded Electric | Corded Electric | Corded Electric |
| connectivity tech | Interface | USB | USB | Auxiliary | Bluetooth, USB, Wi-Fi | Auxiliary |
| instrument | Digital Piano, Piano | Digital Piano | Digital Piano, Piano | Electronic keyboard, Digital Piano, Piano | Digital Piano | Digital Piano, Piano |
| style | 88-Key Fully Weighted Keybed | Digital Piano | Digital Piano | Digital | 165 | Modern |
| weight | 41 pounds | 24.47 pounds | 25.38 pounds | 56 pounds | 92.62 pounds | — |
Reviews with images
The Best Keyboard I've Ever Played
Just perfect all around, some of the one and two star reviews are pointless. It sounds amazing out of the box and is easy to use. Gorgeous sound and design, the best keyboard out there. Amazing synth section, electric pianos and organs are unmatched, and pianos sound great.
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2023
Style: 88-Key Fully Weighted KeybedVerified Purchase
Top reviews from other countries
Axx
Es un Nord, 100% Calidad , Robusto, Versatil
Reviewed in Mexico on January 22, 2020Style: 76-Key Hammer Action KeybedVerified Purchase
Axx
Reviewed in Mexico on January 22, 2020
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