Nord Modular vs modern vsti alternatives

[slugware]

Hello!

I am thinking about getting one of the Nord Modular synths, probably the rack version.
But then think how do contemporary software environments such as Reaktor, VCV or Bazille would hold up against it.
Is there any significant benefit in terms of sonics and sound design possibilities of NM over software?

[gentleclockdivider]

I have a nord modular g1 since the early days and also a long time reaktor user-builder .
The nord modular is one the finest pieces of hardware ever created .
It's great because it has that early clavia sound ( think nord lead 2 ) , everything is updated at 96KHZ , except logic and control ( 24Khz ) .
It's great for literally everything , drums , bass , vocoding, fm , filterbank etc..and no stress on the cpu , the vocoder sounds exceptional for only 12 bands )
Modern software modulars will have better analogue modelling algoritms compared to the modular but they are all cpu's hogs and mostly monophonic ..
There are two ways I approach the nord modular ,realtime tweaking with the editor open , or just loading some patches assigning cc's and closing the editor .
I have 2 slot's with nord lead 2 patch loaded , and another for pads and drumsounds .
I also created a microtonic clone and managed to squeeze out 2 parts into a single patch , so 8 parts in total , so I have my own hardware microtonic ...sounds fabulous .
It's a mighty piece of gear , go for it
Found some great videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muWuaZ8pmfM

[mjudge55]

Love my g1 and recently acquired a g2, even cooler. To me there’s nothing out there that hits all the notes nm does, although certainly there’s some great modular software. Sure wish there’d be a g3 but there’s zero chance.

[mjudge55]

I should’ve said there’s probably no sonic advantage to nm over software now, although it does have a sonic character it’s own that I like. The thing I like about nm is you can unplug the editor and play it as an instrument and integration in g2 is especially good. One thing to note is the editor and connection can be finicky unless you use an older computer, especially on the g2. Honestly it’s not a very practical solution but if you love what it does there’s no other game in town.

[Ah_Dziz]

I had a NM1 one for years. I bought a G2 during COVID and it's still as fun as anything around. It's a decent amount of money if you don't need it for live use or processing other hardware honestly but I like to have something up and running if my laptop were to crash on stage. The short answer is "no". There isn't really anything you'll be doing with the Nord that you couldn't be doing in your PC and there are many things you can do easily on a PC that the Nord won't ever do. It does do a few tricks as well as any plugin I've ever heard and some of it's more extreme modulation tricks are very difficult to reproduce in software including "state of the art modular plugins". This stuff ended up being possible in pure data or Reaktor running at higher sample rates, but I was amazed at how hard some of the sounds of the Nord were to remake on a computer.
I'm glad I have mine but I'm familiar with it and use it for what it's good at. I probably would never have spent the money on a G2 if I hadn't spent all those years with my G1 back when my studio was fully hardware based.

[gentleclockdivider]

There is also the chance that the usual suspects ( motorolla dsp emulator project ) will do the nord modular sooner or later ....and just like the virus and micro Q , the sound will be 1:1

[slugware]

Hey, folks
thank you all for taking time to reply!

I really like the weird quirky sounds the NM does. Basing my judgement only by ... videos on youtube... there are some really cool stuff it does ... those mushy percussive bits i haven't seen or heard in any other platform, but mind you i am not that experienced in modulars . I am playing sometimes with VCV rack and last week started with Pure Data and Automatonism,
and probably gonna look for NM module at some point

gentleclockdivider, the sounds i've tried to make in Microtonic years ago , i see are all possible to make on the NM , so i see your point there ..

Are the DSP563 team planning to do the NM too, that would be so cool ?

[zerocrossing]

Hello!

I am thinking about getting one of the Nord Modular synths, probably the rack version.
But then think how do contemporary software environments such as Reaktor, VCV or Bazille would hold up against it.

Modern software is significantly better in every way, IMO.

Is there any significant benefit in terms of sonics and sound design possibilities of NM over software?

No.

[gentleclockdivider]

Hello!

I am thinking about getting one of the Nord Modular synths, probably the rack version.
But then think how do contemporary software environments such as Reaktor, VCV or Bazille would hold up against it.

Modern software is significantly better in every way, IMO.

Is there any significant benefit in terms of sonics and sound design possibilities of NM over software?

No.

FOr real dude , post less
Why do you always feel the urge to comment when you don't even have first hands experience with the subject at hand ?
You do it every time , here , gearslutz etc.it really is next level trolling.
The nord modular has numerous advantages over a software modular .
Try one and then come back

[wintoid]

God is it really 25 years ago? I had a Nord Modular back when they came out, but sold all my equipment when we had kids. Nowadays I muck around with the various software modulars but still remember the Nord fondly. I felt they got the interface just right, at the time. And it sounded great to me.

[aMUSEd]

I still have a Nord Modular G2 and would not part with it, no plugin can replace it

[JerGoertz]

Found some great videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muWuaZ8pmfM

Into the Groove has the baddest bassline evah

[gentleclockdivider]

The guy does al kinds of covers , it really shows that the nord modular is capable of bread and butter synthie stuff .
It's really sad to see what clavia has become as a company , they were true trailblazers back then
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRRJJ9UkThU

[zerocrossing]

I still have a Nord Modular G2 and would not part with it, no plugin can replace it

What’s unique about it?

[Jeff McClintock]

Into the Groove has the baddest bassline evah

and you can dance... for inspiration.