Nord Stage 4 vs. Yamaha YC88 - Grand Piano Sound Comparison

Which has better grand piano sounds? The Nord Stage 4 or the Yamaha YC series? In this video I play the different grand piano sounds on both these amazing keyboards and give you a comparison of the differences. Both the Nord Stage 4 and the Yamaha YC88 are filled with great sounds and both have great action for playing pianos.

The Nord Stage 4 to me tends to be a little warmer and intimate sounding while the Yamaha YC is brighter and has more bite to the sounds. Both can be adjusted of course and depending on your situation, you might prefer one over the other. For me I prefer the Nord, but the Yamaha is still a solid stage piano!

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Thanks for watching and comment below with any questions you have and I will answer them as soon as I can!

[thenetworkmystery]

I'm a Yamaha owner (CP88), I was considering getting a Nord, but the not-so-great action was a deal-breaker. I have to say, Nords have their place, especially when you need organs and synths (I don't, I just need the piano), but the CP88 (which has the same sounds/action as the YC) really holds its own. I've played many Nords, and they sound great, and I agree with other commenters that the string resonance and overall nuances are more realistic, but I don't think anyone's likely to notice that in a performance setting. Also, I think comparing White Grand to the CFX isn't fair; instead, Douglas should've used Hamburg Grand on the Yamaha. Hamburg Grand has key noises in the sample, and with a bit of EQing, it sounds pretty close to White Grand. I think I personally made a good decision to go with the Yamaha rather than the Nord. Anyway, there's my two cents.

[richardpenrose]

Both of these boards sound great. When I was in the market to buy a new live setup I tried the Nord Stage 3, Yamaha CP88 and Yamaha YC. I preferred quite a few of the sounds, action and workflow of the Yamaha. Also, having a built in audio interface is a massive plus as you can add tons of additional sounds from a phone/tablet/laptop and record both the audio and midi direct into a DAW with a single cable!
I ended up going for both a Yamaha CP88 and Yamaha YC61 that cost me less than the Nord and also included cases!!
Regarding the piano sounds I prefer certain aspects of the Yamaha pianos over the Nords and some aspects of the Nords over the Yamaha. The Yamaha pianos have a nice clarity and sparkle that really cut through a mix. By default, they sound thinner in certain areas than the Nord but this can easily be dialed in as demonstrated in this video by adjusting the Tone and Filter. I also find a little compression and choosing a denser reverb can also add to this. However, the main feature I miss with the Yamaha piano sounds is true sympathetic resonance! I would also love to have adjustable pedal, hammer and key release samples. A lot of these features exist in some of Yamaha's other pianos including the cheaper P-515 so I'm really hoping this will make it into the CP and YC boards in a future firmware update. This would really hake the Yamaha piano sounds to another level in my opinion and would give the Yamaha piano sounds a the edge over the Nords.

[Echochamber]

Mix the CFX with the Hamberg, damper res up and a little reverb. Tried this last night and it makes a wonderful piano.

[rickyshinobi]

I get it. I need to practice. LOL. I just purchased the YC88 for the church, and the keyboard player is so excited!

[bobyharyanto]

Nord is nice, but Yamaha sounds more wide and upfront which I actually like. Yamaha + Nord = Wide + Upfront + Warm (Of course, you can tweak each of the EQs to make it more suitable for your contextual needs)

[AG-cglk]

Yamaha action is better. Also, I have always found Nord sounds fall down on realism in the DS part of the envelope. Hold a piano note on the Nord and hear the clinical sound of a looping sample as it decays. Not so much with the YC.

[synthartist]

I like the Nord white grand. Slightly more body, slightly brighter, slightly more color. I need to get one.

[martinjoneback]

Hi. I bougt the NS4 73.
Pianos sounds great……in my headphones and my monitor at home/studio.
But on gigs I play lot of rock/blues Delbert McClinton-like, and suddely I notis that NS4 dont cut through.
Maybe you get a better compare on stage? 😀😀.
I will see if I can borrow a YC73 somewere to compare on a gig.
Great video

[Paris]

Hey Douglas. Great playing. I just purchased the YC88 (came in Tuesday). Where can I download more piano sounds (if possible)?

[danielcolfer]

The full grand sound on the motif series works great in many live settings. My s90 es still sounds incredible. The CFX sample is sub par compared to the full grand or s700 sample in the s90 es. The Nord sounds great too. The royal grand 3D sounds great. The white grand and Italian grand works well in many situations as well. In church I use the full grand sound on the moxf8 and it’s dynamic range is very natural sounding. I can play it soft with lots of body or strike it hard for great expression. The Nord to me lacks the dynamic range but excels in other areas. Hard to say what’s better.

[Resounded]

I like the nord stage 4 sound better.. Both sound great but, I love the way the nord stage 4 is designed better overall . I may be biased because I am a nord stage 4 owner.

[DojoOfCool]

You said it the Yamaha sounds in general are geared towards live and group sounds, they are meant to cut though in the mix. Also the tail on the notes on they YC is a bit shorter than the Nord. Many Gospel and other similar musicians shorten the tail of notes (on modeled pianos) so fast playing has more definition. The Yamahas like their acoustic pianos are used in the studio a lot because they have a good sound to take the typical processing done in the studio. Nords ( have a Stage 3) are fuller and would be better for solo piano work. As you noted the YC sounded better at the extreme low and highs, the Nords start sounding stretched at the extremes unless using the XL size samples. Long run both offer a lot of EQ and other options to dial in a sound that works for you.

On my Stage 3 I mainly use the Studio Grand 2 sample that I believe is a Yamaha C7. Occasional I do use the White Grand. The Studio Grand 2 for me has the well defined shorter tail note I like.

[davlippo]

I've not played the 3 sensor YC88 but the YC73 needs to be adjusted using curves and levels. The Osmose revealed a big problem on the YC73. If you adjust it more samples seem to kick in or become apparent. Maybe the 88 works correctly but MIDI an Osmose with continuous sensor or infinite sensor and the YC improves dramatically. It gives you infinite control. Probably the only way to accurately A/B them is using an identical controller. This removes any variables. The key action and settings can seriously change the performance and sound. For example the CK and YC playing the same Yamaha pianos/samples sound completely different. Key action and response and settings can change the results considerably.

[Mista_Bigz]

Fair analysis! Thank you! 5 minutes in and I thought you had a little bias toward the Nord, which you in the end admitted it so it's cool. Listening with my studio Headphones the Yamaha sounds like its panned L/R while the Nord sounds more centered... wondered if the 2 pianos got the same EQ. Personally I'm into Yamaha's - this part of the world Nord are still new and few. The ultimate comparison for me would be where you gather a few Nord & Yamaha enthusiasts, blindfold them, then play select sounds from both pianos and let the musicians chose which sounds best. They results are always inconclusive ...

[torbenanschau]

That was a really good comparison. There is something special about the Nord pianos compared to all other brands. It somehow sounds way more like a real piano. I don't know the exact reason, sample size are sometimes bigger on the competition but it doesn't matter. For me, only Nord captures more than a glimpse of that livelihood you experience on the real pianos. In your example I got a clue it's something about how the sound is ending when or before you lift of the keys. They tones have something like a resonance at the end of the sound, especially without the sustain pressed. Almost as if slightly detuning. The Yamaha doesn't do that and hence it always sounds more sterile, sometimes even synthetic to me. On the other hand, Yamaha also has some special characteristics on their real pianos, be it Upright or grand. More metallic, more sharp than let's say a Kawai, Schimmel or even Steinway. I'm not particular fond of the Yamaha pianos and gravitate more to other brands. But they have their fans and probably that's why their stage pianos are liked as well.

[alextzmn]

I own Roland RD 700, owned RD 2000, played Nord piano, tried SP88 and came conclusion that accoustic piano sound of RD 700 is winning.

[richardemerson]

I find that the S700 preset sounds nicer than the CFX on the YC/CP

[DavidIzquierdoAzzouz]

Nord guys have mastered piano sampling, not sure what they do but they let their pianos sound real and present, it's a shame there's no sound module as stand-alone option, everything else on the Nord is replaceable by other keyboards nowadays

[Dadee]

*I feel like the Velvet Grand sample on the Nord has more of an Upright quality. I sometimes wonder if Nord made a mistake and included that sample in the Grand Piano section by mistake 😂*

[WorshipLifeGuitar]

Awesome Video brother!Would you Please Please Please do an EP, FM pianos comparison between them. I'm on the fence on which one to get. 🙏