The Usual Suspects NKS

Nord Lead 1 vs Nord Lead 2 (not 2X!)

By David Hobson from "Synthesizer Freaks" Facebook group, 2011

"Worked for Sam Ash Music off and on from 1994 to 1998 in Lyndhurst, Ohio (I would take long sabbaticals.) I bought my Nord Lead 1 there at a discount since I was the keyboard department answer man (Warren Harris, aka 'Hanna' and I were the Keyboard department team for a space.)

When the Nord Lead 2 hit the market two years later we both sat down in the mixer/monitor booth and listened to the Nord Lead 2.

Warren and I looked at each other and wondered what the heck happened to the sound that people were calling 'magical' in electronic music/keyboard magazines!

Warren suggested we call Clavia in Sweden, and so I did; and back then you could call just about anyone and even speak to the designers... unbelievable, right? Wrong. It was common place seeing that we had a direct line to most synth companies at that time. I still have that old book of numbers.

I called Clavia and my call did not go to some receptionist, but directly to Hans Nordelius... *as I recall*; because I could not make out how he pronounced his name. Regardless, the guy was definitely in charge, and was either Hans Nordelius or Mikael Carlsson. You see, at that time there was no enormous, impenetrable Clavia fortress.

I identified myself and my store and he asked me how the sales were going at Sam Ash. I then immediately asked him about the Nord 1, and the Nord 2; and what the heck happened to the sound.

He very nicely explained that there was a substantial and necessary change to the audio engine in the Nord Lead 2 because Peter 'Pelle' Jubel left Clavia to start up what became Propellerheads, and they could not use most of his audio engine designs due to 'licensing', in his words.

Not only this, but Peter 'Pelle' Jubel and the other two team members which comprised the design team of Reason went on to win the 2002 MIPA because of Peter Jubel's groundbreaking processing design work which he took with him even before the Nord Lead 1 was released in 1995. Actually, he designed the audio engine and almost everything board-level back in late 92 according to the recollection of person on the other end of the phone.

Now, people have been going back and forth since then about the DAC's, and the so-called OP amp differences for years (lol), and things most people don't care about... all of this talk without actually pushing for more information. And I began to question myself AND my memory of my phone call to Clavia in 1997 knowing that synth pros like Mark Vail did not really get into detail about these things. So...

I phoned Sweden almost exactly a month ago at 5am EST (USA time) and spoke with Johan Eckerblad, the hardware service manager at Clavia for the past 7 years. He not only confirmed everything I remembered from 1995, but he also gave me more insight into what is important to people like Johan, me, and individuals who live for the minutia of synthesizers.

Johan Eckerblad informed me that several individuals had called him from time to time from the States and Europe about this very topic, and that they had a Nord Lead 1 in the Clavia studio that he did a careful analysis of against the sound of the other Nord Leads relevant to the Nord Lead family in question. Johan did not hesitate to explain the very different audio engine designs of the Nord Lead 1 and the consecutive Nord Leads.

We then spoke about board-level repair issues seeing that I've been trying to obtain a service manual (schematics) for the Nord Lead 1 for years; and now I am studying analog and digital circuit repair, and will be studying in New York beginning in May. I own a Nord Lead 1, and I want to repair Nords when I begin to take on more work. Unfortunately, Johan informed me there was no service manual, but that I would have to call him for real-time troubleshooting if and when I needed to repair a Nord Lead 1. He also recommended a nice fellow in California who has to do the same; Call Johan for board level repair questions.

So not only are the DACs different in the Nord 1, but the whole sound engine is different! …plus a few other bits I’d rather let people find out for themselves.

If anyone wishes to dispute these facts, just pick up the phone, call Sweden, and ask to speak with Johan Eckerblad in Hardware. The Phone number to Clavia is on their website. (Make sure to tell them you are a technician…the woman on the phone is very strict…)"