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Best Monitors for Nord Pianos
The distinctive red Nord Piano keyboards by Swedish company Clavia are seen in studios and stage setups around the world thanks to their vast sonic range in playing the distinctive sounds of different pianos. Here we share a list of the best Monitors for Nord Pianos to capture that sound. With a plethora of instruments and functions at their fingertips, Nord Piano players need precise sound and excellent amplification.
The acoustic piano samples on the keyboard are raw and unprocessed, making it challenging to amplify them properly. So if you’ve decided to take the plunge and spend thousands of dollars on the keyboard, you’ll need to know which are the best monitors to use whether on stage or in the studio.
If you are looking to score one of these distinctive pianos, you can find them here.
Here is our roundup of the five most suitable monitors for Nord Pianos.
Best Monitors for Nord Pianos – Comparison Table
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1. Neumann KH 120 A Monitors
The KH 120 A monitor from German studio microphone manufacturer Neumann is popular among Nord Piano players for the highly accurate sound it produces.
It delivers piano sounds with depth of clarity and richness along the frequency spectrum.
The KH 120 A model is designed to be used either as a near-field monitor for listening close up or as a rear loudspeaker in a larger sound system.
The 100MW bi-amplifier monitor is compact, so you’ll find it is better suited to recording in a small or medium-sized room.
The stylish aluminium enclosure reflects the quality of German engineering in the way it eliminates distortion.
What we like: The KH 120 A renders sounds in impressive detail for high-quality track mixing.
What we don’t like: The volume isn’t high enough for a larger space.
2. Focal Shape 65 Monitors
French acoustic equipment company Focal has excelled at developing drivers for speakers, which produce sound waves from electrical audio signals.
Installing those drivers in its own studio monitors makes for a product that beats out the competition in creating a wide and detailed sound for professional-level track mixing.
Be sure to select the high-end Shape range of monitors for your Nord Piano.
Focal’s more affordable Alpha range is known for creating distortion problems with piano sounds whereas the Shape produces detailed, natural output with pure piano as well as keyboard settings.
Focal has set the Shape 65 apart from other monitors aesthetically, giving it an elegant walnut brown finish.
The placement of the monitor in a room can make a substantial difference to the sound quality.
What we like: The broad soundscape for creating accurate mixes that translate well to other devices.
What we don’t like: Focal’s monitors go into automatic standby after 30 minutes if music is played at low volume.
3. Electro-Voice Powered Coaxial Monitors
Portable yet powerful, the mid-range PXM-12MP from American company Electro-Voice is well-suited to monitoring sound during live performances in small venues as well as studios.
The PXM-12MP translates piano sounds with accuracy, with an 800W amplifier that produces clarity and richness.
It performs well at the low end of the frequency range.
The PXM-12MP can be used individually rather than in a pair as with most monitors, offering the best bang for your buck, although you could use multiple units for performing with the Nord Piano at a larger event.
The monitor can be mounted on a stand to put it at ear level for the clearest sound.
What we like: The natural, high quality of piano sounds the PXM-12MP delivers.
What we don’t like: The monitor emits white noise when idle.
4. Nord Piano V2 Monitors
Nord Piano maker Clavia has branched out into the monitor game, selling its own version with bright red branding to accompany its keyboards.
The monitors come as a pair and are so compact they can be mounted directly onto the Nord Piano 4, Nord Grand, and Nord Stage 3 Rev B models.
The mounting brackets can alternatively attach the monitors to microphone stands.
The monitors are not powerful enough to be used in track mixing, but they are ideal for home use and can provide effective additional near-field monitoring in live performances where there are floor speakers on stage.
Produced by Audio Pro for Nord Piano, the monitors render piano sounds with the accuracy you’d expect of a tailor-made product.
What we like: These monitors are designed specifically for Nord Pianos.
What we don’t like: The monitors are too small to get the most out of the sound.
Our verdict
To get the best out of your Nord Piano you want to use studio monitors that reproduce rich piano sounds at high volume throughout the frequency spectrum.
The Neumann KH 120 A monitor creates the level of precise detail you need.
Alternatively, the Focal Shape range creates a wide soundscape for accurate track mixing that translates well to other devices.
If you’re looking for versatile monitors that you can take from the studio to a gig, the Electro-Voice ZXA1 and Yamaha DXR10 MkII are solid choices that are powerful enough to be used individually, although a pair will provide stereo audio to deliver the nuances of sound the Nord Piano offers.
While Nord Piano maker Clavia offers its own branded monitors that make for an aesthetically pleasing setup tailor-made to product accurate sound, they are less powerful than their larger counterparts.
Whatever your needs, these five studio monitors have got you covered. If you want to read further, here is a great article I wrote about taking care of your piano.
Why Are Microphones So Expensive?
Microphones are important for producing high quality and loud audio.
When you use a microphone, there are many factors that make it better and worse than other microphones.
When you see good quality microphones, a question arises in your mind that is “Why are microphones so expensive?”
Well, not all microphones are expensive.
There are many cheap microphones in the market.
Just like any other product, microphones also come in a wide range of variety and different price points.
The price of the microphone depends upon its features.
If you buy a cheap microphone, it will do the work it should do but not as effectively as an expensive microphone.
With that being said, there are many cheap microphones in the market that work well too.
Let’s find out the real reasons behind the price points of microphones!
Build-Quality Of Microphones
You must have seen a lot of microphones in your daily life.
Most of the microphones are made up of metal but some knock offs of branded microphones aren’t built this way.
Knock off microphones or generally cheap microphones are sometimes made up of plastic and other such material.
This way, their durability decreases.
Basically, metal is more expensive than plastic.
Therefore, branded microphones made up of metal are more expensive than the ones made up of plastic.
The build-quality of a microphone matters a lot especially if you use them for professional work.
Strict Standards
Expensive and branded microphones stick to stick standards.
If you buy a branded microphone, use it, throw it away after some years and again buy the same microphone, you will notice that everything in the microphone is the same as the previous one.
The build-quality, the sound quality, the features, everything is the same.
Whereas, cheap microphones keep changing their shape, size, color, quality, etc in order to stand out and to keep in contact with the new trend.
For professional use, the consistency in the quality of sound is important which can be attained by buying the same microphone.
And same microphone can only be found in a brand.
Moreover, cheap microphones might improve their quality with time but the factor of consistency can’t be attained.
Although this isn’t always the case but most of the time it happens this way.
Size And Shape Of The Microphones
There are so many different sized microphones in the market.
Just like sizes, there are many shapes and types of microphones.
Every microphone is built in a different way.
Some might have better metal used, some might have more features, some might have better sound quality.
The size and type of the microphone matters a lot.
You can’t expect a clip on a small-sized microphone to work just like an old school handheld microphone.
For professional use, bigger and better quality microphones are preferred.
Construction Of Microphones
Let me recall what microphones actually do.
Microphones get sound waves from the environment and convert them into digital signals in order to amplify your voice.
All this might sound easy but you can’t make a microphone easily at all.
Constructing a microphone is a tricky job as it is technically an electronic device.
Cheap microphones just help you get the job done whereas expensive microphones make sure that the job is done accurately and amazingly.
For such purposes, a lot of efforts are put in engineering and constructing a microphone.
Moreover, good microphones are tested again and again to make sure they are good.
All these efforts and hard work asks for a lot of money.
Features Of Microphones
There are many features in a microphone.
Some of them are present in all such as a polar pattern.
Polar Pattern
A polar pattern just becomes better and better in different microphones such as cardioid polar pattern, super cardioid polar pattern and omnidirectional polar pattern.
The presence of these features matter a lot.
If you want a super cardioid polar pattern then you have to pay more.
A super cardioid polar pattern picks up audio only from one source.
This means that the audio coming from other sources is ignored.
This feature particularly requires a lot of attention while constructing.
Dynamic Range
Dynamic Range is one of the features that distinguishes between a cheap and an expensive microphone.
By dynamic range, a microphone recognizes the maximum output signal.
A cheap microphone lacks such high features. If you pay more, you get better features.
Frequency Response
Greater frequency response means that your microphone is better.
The more the response the better your microphone.
So, while purchasing a microphone, people tend to buy ones that have greater frequency response.
To induce greater frequency response such as from 20Hz to 20kHz (which can typically be heard by human ear), a lot of effort and high technology is required.
The better the technology, the pricier it gets.
Accessories
Many microphones don’t have any accessories with them.
But to use one, you need accessories.
If you want a professional audio output then you also need a professional microphone set.
Professional microphone sets usually have different accessories that help you use them conveniently.
When you get one thing, it’s cheap but when you get a lot of things, it is obviously going to cost a lot.
If you buy a microphone with no accessories, you have to buy them separately which can cost you a lot as well.
Therefore, microphones that come with accessories are expensive.
Conclusion
Now you know why microphones are so expensive.
You can buy cheap ones as well but they might be not as good as expensive ones.
However, this is not always the case.
Sometimes, cheap microphones work better than expensive ones.
But you have to find such microphones.
You can find the best microphone with the lowest price possible by researching a lot and trying out different microphones.
Otherwise, use your trusted and reliable microphone for your big day.
Spending a little money on a microphone that works for a long time isn’t a bad deal.
So choose your microphones wisely!
