Nord Electro 6D 73 73-key Keyboard Reviews

I absolutely love the waterfall keybed action on the Electro 6D. It's fast enough for organ and ePiano, but yet still has enough resistance and sensitivity for expressive piano playing too.

Prior to going with this model I tried out a YC73. They are both in a similar class sonically, so for me it came down to which keybed I preferred. The YC73 was fatiguing for anything non-piano. Several weeks later I'm still happy I switched to the Electro. Playing both models through my same monitors I found the Electro to be better sounding on epianos, which is my biggest use case.

I've been playing the piano my entire life and never purchased an electronic keyboard. I was pretty confused by all the different products that are out there.I really wanted a keyboard that I can play with headphones and not disturb the house. My main goals were: to have quality piano tones and the best possible B3 sound without buying a Hammond. Mission accomplished! There are a lot of buttons on all of these keyboards. I wish I understood what these buttons do. I am very impressed and believe the extra dollars spent, versus the competition, was a good move.

I fund the action to be a perfect compromise between a fully weighted hammer action and a light synth springy action - it's enough to remind the fingers of the weight and heft of the key but quick enough to allow very fast playing. The construction was flawless and the packing for shipping by Sweetwater made sure the piano arrived without damage. You can see the craftmanship going into the design and construction of this thing, it's simply beautiful to play.

I have a Kronos and two Hammond SK models, but the B3 sound from this Nord beats them all. It's not just me, my bandmates agree, it really has the soul of the original instrument. I'm still trying to figure out everything, but the USB connection to my laptop to organize timbres/patches is great. The touch is a little more firm than the Hammond, but with good, solid feel.

As a working musician for the past twenty years I have used a variety of rigs. Starting off with a a Hammond B3, Leslie 142, and a Yamaha S80. When it became impractical to use the B3 regularly I moved to a variety of VST plug-ins and a controller for my organ work, along with the S80. While I love the Yamaha for piano work, it's 60 plus pounds with case has become difficult to deal with now that I'm in my mid 60s. A couple of years back i tried a competitors less expensive "all in one" product for smaller gigs. However, the sound and overall product quality was disappointing.

The Nord 6D 73 key does everything I need and more! The semi weighted keyboard is a great balance between the piano and organ feel. The quality of the B3 modeling is truly amazing and the physical drawbars and waterfall keys feel comfortable and familiar from years of playing the Hammond. The pianos and EP's are quality patches and having access to the Nord sound libraries give it virtually endless possibilities.

Working every week, often multiple times, the Nord has become a practical one stop rig without compromising the quality of the sound. It's allowed me to go from a 500lb rig years ago, to 20 something pounds. There's a reason this little red beast has become a standard touring tool for keyboard players in the past decade, and it's worth every penny! Only wish I had picked it up sooner.

I purchased this Nord to replace one that I gifted to another musician. The sounds are amazing and the ability to layer the three sound engines together lends itself to unlimited sound sculpting possibilities.

I had several reasons for taking a chance on the Nord Electro 6D 73 and one wasn't the color. I tend to like black because practically everything in my house is black from my Yamaha Baby Grand to my desk and office chair and my kitchen in black stainless steel. So the Nord color scheme was totally out of character for me. I wanted something light weight in 73 keys, that would fit under my desk in less than a 5" height. I have a Kurzweil Forte which is a great sounding keyboard but that wouldn't fit and is heavy. I wanted something with great B3 sounds and the Nord has those. The waterfall keys on the 6D give a B3 feel for sliding up and down the keyboard without leaving you in pain. The draw bars on the 6D feel very much like my B3 did with little indents at each number although these did not align perfectly with the printed text. Another thing I wanted was the ability to totally customize what was on my keyboard and the Nord does this well. In fact there are many good pianos to choose from with the usual Steinways, Yamahas, and the unusual Bluthner, Bosendorfer Imperial, Kawai, and Fazioli. Many standard electric pianos are in the library too. The 6D is not a great piano platform but for live performance it can do just fine. There are Mellotron and Chamberlan sounds as well as many sampled instruments too. The nice thing about Nord is that the same sounds are available with different keyboard actions so if you need a more piano like action those available too. Their keyboards are all metal cases, except wood ends, yet are light weight. There is no mod wheel and pitch bend on the electro. Midi is limited too so be sure it will do what you need. It is very simple to setup and use. You can have organ, piano, and samples at once over two zones. The electro is not cheap but is of the highest quality and has excellent sounds.

Just traded my NS3compact on some other keyboard
and replaced it with my trusty Electro 6 73. For
Classic rock/prog/jazz any genre this will competes
just fine with the NS3compact. The 3 has a lot of
fluff that nice but not really necessary. The E6/73
relatively the same. Get a good second tier you
are home free.

I love this new keyboard! It is amazingly versatile. This is my first experience with a Nord instrument. I thought i would need the IQ or a rocket scientist to learn how to use it, and that the learning curve would be long and steep. Not so. It did take some time to learn my way around this keyboard, but it is so worth it! The variety of sounds and moods and combinations is staggering. Action of the keys is a delight. I look forward to many years of fun playing my Nord Electro 6D 73 at home, at jams, and on gigs. It takes my musicianship to a new level.

This is a truly powerful and versatile stage piano. It"s difficult to look at it as JUST an organ, because it is absolutely packed to the gills with useful features. Everything about Nord instruments, from the hardware to the excellent acoustic and electric piano samples, gives me more than enough performance in a super portable package. The Electro 6D 73 is the first keyboard I"ve owned without a fully weighted action. Yes, you will get more out of the acoustic pianos with a weighted action, HOWEVER, with Nord"s excellent samples, the XL size files and some creativity, I don"t think I would trade this. This comes from a piano player who never thought semi weighted, sub 88 keybeds were useable. Add in the Organ, Synth and everything else...this is the new workhouse for me. I find myself drawn back to it. Thanks, Sweetwater, for always looking out for me.

I unboxed this machine at a sound check for a gig, set it up and played it for five minutes. Read the manual for one minute, then did a show. So easy to use and the sounds OMG!!!

Some instruments require no introduction, and the Nord is one such instrument. I immediately saw where my money was going. The samples are extraordinary across the board. I was particularly surprised by how much I use and love the organ sounds with the real draw bars. The panels can take some navigating, but once I established a workflow, the sky was the limit.

It's an expensive buy, and there's no denying it. Whether or not it's worth it will depend on your needs. If you want access to a phenomenal sample library regardless of which model you buy, Nord is the brand for you. If you are a more specialized musician, a Nord might be overkill. If you know you only need sensational piano sounds and nothing else, there's probably no reason to explore less expensive options.

I am absolutely blown away by this machine! I have owned and played Electro's since the 2. Every model, it seems, that they listen to more and more of what we ask for, and this is the best version I have played so far. It's basically a "mini" Stage. To be able to use all (3) sound engines at the same time is what we've been wanting for a long time. The controls are easy to use and right where you want them. They have updated the memory for each section which means more sounds and larger samples. There are lots of little things here and there that just make tweaking the sounds so much easier. The only reason I can't give a 5 star is because I wish Nord would include a gig bag at this price. Also, there are some things with the sounds that could be better. Maybe they will release another update and fix those. But all in all, I am so happy with this.

Hi!! In spite of lack of bend and pitch in my new 6D - I was aware of it! - I'd rather point, besides this negative one, good positive ones: 1) All timbres sound well thought (not outstanding as in my old EX5 - electric pianos or emulations), but hearing through stereo in theater speakers gives me impression of new miking techniques in recording their sounds! 2) Reasonable keys feel (not identical to a weighted PX-5S, but still almost like a Hammond; 3) In many keyboards we have excess of bad timbres, but in 6D all of them are useful, generally speaking (always might choose a new free sound to replace!); 3) Basses in Hammond is thoroughly heavy since first sub notes! 4) Distortion and Leslie have few parameters, but sound OK; 5) Junction of 3 types of timbres is totally useful (all that we always were asking for, no??); 6) Easiness on many live controls; 7) 8 live memories to get your life better; 8) Light weight to transport; 8) General construction seems robust. Again with negatives: 1) Lack of bend or pitch, where, as an example, we can undoubtedly live with it acquiring a little Rise 25! 2) Very, very disappointingly costly (as with Macs, brand determine this!); 3) Roughness of Hammond timbres, differently of my old Mojo; 4) Headphones lack of deepness in effects and timbres, sometimes, but, willingly, mainly with proper eq on-fly, we correct this bad impression; 5) Not really true edition of sounds, unhappily, mainly considering its flagship astronomical price. As you might think of it, with half these bucks you could acquire exceptional Motifs or Kronos, used or not. Kind of actually choosing or not spending this amount in a red fashion keyboard!!

I love everything about my Electro 6 except the keys are too hard to press.

I own a Yamaha CP-73. I was looking to buy another stage piano that has a real piano action but didn't want to just buy another Yamaha as in the CP-88 because I figured the Nord would have good piano's but just different. But listening to the Ac Pianos there was always this midrange that I felt I needed to take out to get it to sound like a real piano. I could get it close but never all the way there. The Nord was better sounding in the higher range though. I also checked its velocity range compared to the Yamaha. The Yamaha has a much wider range which is closer to a real piano. The Nord lacked this range which then in turn leaves me without as much expression in my playing. (maybe the Nord Piano 3, 4 and 5 are different I don't know) The Nord just didn't stand up to the Yamaha with Acoustic Piano or the electric pianos in sound and expression. I didn't check out the organs because I rarely play organ.

I own a Nord Electro 4D and 5D. The 5D was a huge leap forward. I just purchased the 6D thinking it was another leap forward. Although I recognize the leap forward controls for this are a little funky. I own a Stage 2 and 3. The stage pianos are so easy to get around on compared to the Eletro 6. Keybed is great, workmanship is great, but the layout leaves me wanting to use the 5D more than the 6D. I am going to invest some time and have an open mind learning the 6D.

Piano sounds weak , organ ok , some good synth sounds , light weight easy to use
Lacks quality sound overall

Some good, some bad, some MOR. The organ sounds, primarily the B-3, and its Leslie modeler are very good, however chorus/vibrato section (as it applies to B-3) is unimpressive. The percussion section is average. The Farfisa and VOX are a bit on the lifeless side, and their 2 pipe organs are terrible, not at all on par with the ones in there C2-D model. The pianos and electric pianos are very good: lots of presets,and they respond well to the FX sections, however some of the E.pianos have anemic attack in certain zones. Clavinets were VERY disappointing . I have better home-made samples I made with a D6 and a Roland S-770 sampler. There is very little timbre control over them, again, the attack and decay is wrong on certain presets and certain zones. Then there are a huge amount of synth sounds, along with standard instrument like brass, strings, vibes, basses, and synth sounds. Brass is basic and will get you thru the wedding gig, the strings are harsh. The synths sounds are acceptable but very limited editing, but thats not really a criticism because this really isn't a synth. The Electro is very well built, easy to read display, VERY lightweight. Jacks are well labeled, keyboard action is very fast which suits organ and clav playing, yet still resistant enough for solid piano work. The FX sections and reverbs are above average. Overall, the sound borders on being low-rent: Its very mid-rangy, though not digitally brittle and a lot of the patches have EQ settings applied that I don't agree with. Navigating the instrument quickly with confidence will take a little time as it has some indigenous quirks. I don't know if this would be my 1st choice in the studio, but it should would work well-enough in most live-gig situations.