Nord Modular G3

eisblau · Joined: Jul 13, 2008 Posts: 4 Location: Vienna / Austria

I heard (could also be a rumour) the main reason for stopping the G2 hardware and not developing it any further (than a rack called engine) was they couldn't afford the special LED-encoders any more, which were essential for the modular concept. So a G3 will not happen unless this problem is reasonably solved. A work around may be a touch screen based G3 hardware, like it was done by Arturia. But I have to confess in this regard, that the G2 sounds way better to my ears than the Origin and is way more fun to operate.

BobTheDog · Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 7:53 am Post subject:

Argosound · Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 8:04 am Post subject:

i feel bobthedog is right, for i don't know the origin, but the moog modular v2,
with which i was making a lot before my g2 came, which took me more time to make it sound as fat as the arturia sounded "right out of the box".

but besides, since having the g2 i never used the moog again;-)

Tim Kleinert · Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 8:21 am Post subject:

dorremifasol · Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 8:24 am Post subject:

v-un-v · Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 8:47 am Post subject:

eisblau · Joined: Jul 13, 2008 Posts: 4 Location: Vienna / Austria

kcinsu · Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:42 am Post subject:

I know why they stopped making the hardware... But why not make it soft? The demo is halfway there!

I haven't found anything that beats a nord modular in software, so they'd own that market...

cappy2112 · Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 10:42 am Post subject:

[quote="v-un-v"]

trotz · Joined: Aug 06, 2007 Posts: 83 Location: mallorca

kcinsu · Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:22 am Post subject:

Reaktor is nothing like the nord. I've had this convo with many people who say "just use reaktor". The modular is musical in it's approach, you can start patching and instantly make something. With reaktor you have to switch views and change the panel layout, and deal with unintuitive signals etc. The nord is a modular synth, and reaktor is a tool kit for designing fixed architecture synthesizers. Theres a huge difference (to me at least).

Antimon · Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:31 am Post subject:

Antimon · Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:36 am Post subject:

BTW I heard straight from the horse's mouth, when I applied for a job at Clavia ages ago, that the LED ring/LCD combo was a major hassle in the G2's construction, and it was a large part of manufacturing cost. I'm guessing that this can be justified in the Stage, since they sell more of it and the total price is higher.

I agree that they probably didn't stop making it because of the LED rings though.

trotz · Joined: Aug 06, 2007 Posts: 83 Location: mallorca

trotz · Joined: Aug 06, 2007 Posts: 83 Location: mallorca

hurolura · Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 12:33 pm Post subject:

Ok, so the ledring is that complicated to build and cost that much ...

But then, why is it possible to build a BCR 2000 providing 32 ledrings encoders for less than 150 € street price ?

I assume there is a quantity effect on that part versus swedish in-house build.
Regarding ledrings, they do exist as pre-made assembly from Lumex.

The Berhinger solution on its side is using standard leds and would need some build time optimisation to find some clever tool to speed up the assembly.

But this is true that providing a ledring encoder still is more expensive than a simple poti (Nord Lead 2 versus Nord Lead 3).

In such a context, the Arturia Origin attempt is great.
These people dared to launch a hardware product while they were mainly a software team. From what they say on this topic they didn't actually realize in what type of mad project they stepped in but they did it.

The result is still promising and could just have the same future as the Virus TI (continuous sell by providing continuous update/upgrade, additionnal features).

John Bowen Solaris will provide another approach to modular synth based on what he already experiments with his Scope DSP plug-ins which already provided various choice of oscillators and filter with advanced mod matrix features organized in a more selct source from dest rather than full mod matrix maner.

As the first units are being build now maybe some of you synth freeks who spared for the G3 could have a closer look at the SOLARIS.

As already mentionned, my personnal choice has just been the Xite-1 but I am already a Scope fan for 5 years now and I still find the sound provided by this technology more to my taste than what is provided by other VA gears.

My first modular synth was a micro-modular which I found great as I couldn't afford something more expensive at that time. I had a lot of fun with it but was often limited by the available polyphony provided. I sold it last december as a G2 Engine had provided me an upgrade to it and I had to find money for the Xite-1 (actually I also had to sell quite a bunch of other gears to afford he Xite-1).

So if you like the modular approach, pay attention to the SonicCore solution if PC host is OK for you.

If you like direct usability without the need for a computer, the available candidates are John Bowen Solaris or Arturia Origin ... or both Very Happy

The mixed way provided by the Clavia mod still is not offered but nobody knows what these gears would provide in the future ...

Tim Kleinert · Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 1:30 pm Post subject:

hurolura · Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 3:48 pm Post subject:

I agree, building condition (and maybe more important, volume of production) are not the same.

My intention was not to compare such pricing of BCR 2000 and any of the Clavia ledrings populated musical instrument.

I just find this strange to give this ledrings cost as an explanation for abandonning production of the device.

The keyboard, DSP board part, DAC converter and housing have probably a much more important part in the whole cost than the choice between a limited set of ledrings encoder and more important set of potis.

jksuperstar · Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 7:05 pm Post subject:

The clavia assembly line probably had a real tough time maintaining their own standards and minimizing build times. The longer someone is working on something, the more it costs.

Either way, if you loved something, but your job, your family, and your career depended on the selling of something, which never sold enough to pay for itself, then you'd probably search for money elsewhere. So I can't fault clavia at all. Who knows, maybe the G3 is a slow-cooking side project that might see light someday. Don't expect its release every year just to be disappointed.

Anyone else fall for an Sonic|Core XITE yet? Wink

Tim Kleinert · Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:10 pm Post subject:

v-un-v · Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:25 am Post subject:

cappy2112 · Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 9:57 am Post subject:

hurolura · Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 10:42 am Post subject:

Let's try to estimate how it sold:

http://electro-music.com/forum/post-327192.html#327192

93 owner for the G1 here among ore than 16 000 members ...

Would the G2 Poll provide higher figures ?

cappy2112 · Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 10:54 am Post subject: