From sevush@rcn.com Tue Jun 25 07:16:43 2002
Subject:Nord Electro impressions

Stopped at my Guitar Center (Boston) and they had an Electro 73 setup. I've
been wanting to play this puppy for a while, so I spent some time with it. I
was fully expecting to melt my credit card and walk out with it - it's much
lighter than my Korg CX3 and it has more sounds, making it the perfect
practice/jam board.

As much as I wanted to love it, alas the chemistry was not there. After
figuring out how to jump banks and presets, I found it very easy to "edit"
sounds - you essentially toggle on/off sections of FX.

I was very surprised that the organ sounds did not give me the warm & fuzzy
feeling I get from my CX3. Partly the keyboard, partly the sound, it just
didn't "gush" Hammond for me - felt like I was playing a nice computer
emulation. Turning off the rotary effect is very sobering, it's as if they
went to "11" on keyclick through a Marshall stack. I *love* lots of
keyclick, but even for this click addict it was wayyy too much.

The other sounds were good, but that's the problem - they were just good,
not great. The overdrive and presence controls are great features and I wish
my other keyboards had them right at my fingertips. The delay section was
nice, the wah/ring mod section was interesting but not very practical and
where the hell is the reverb? NO REVERB? Maybe that's what was missing for
me in the "warmth" department.

The drawbars are a little odd, but easy to use. They respond quickly and
pressing several at once works, allowing you to pull "all stops out"
quickly.

I will stop by again, try headphones and play some more with it. For now, my
credit cards are safe.

For the record, current gear is Korg CX3, Yamaha S80 and S30 (the S30 is my
current jam/practice easy to haul board), Yamaha AN1x.

Dan Sevush