Because it has been tremendously busy lately, so I didn't have any time to share my impressions from listening to the warmed Nord. Meanwhile, it has over 600 hours in stock and I can't hear any further progressive changes in sound.
I can start with the fact that Nord stays. What impressed me the most was the amazing differentiation of the instruments. The differences are given in the palm of your hand, if I had to show kids differences in sound, flute, saxophone (and individual types of saxophones among themselves), oboe, classical guitar with nylon, metal strings etc. Nord would be an ideal tool. The difference in this aspect, in resolution, richness of micro information, sound purity, control over the sound in relation to Sim is huge. Listening to all jazz, rock and electronic music recordings with added inclusions played on classical instruments, I am still impressed with their sound compared to any other synthetic / electronic part (instruments, sounds). Nord differentiates these sounds remarkably, showing the differences at a glance, and these instruments come out extremely naturally / truly with all the richness of reverbs.
Many people focus on the bass, its descent and control when writing about Nord. Yes it is spectacular but it is not that Nord is just super bass and nothing more. The bass is well controlled, regardless of the speed and density of the instruments, be it 2 Cellos Celloverse (The Trooper - Overture) or Symphony No. 5 by Beethoven under Reiner from the Chicago Symphony. However, I was more impressed by the resolution, clarity and timbre differentiation, which is why all natural instruments and human voices sound so wildly. Thanks to this purity and excellent articulation, we get a huge amount of flavors, plankton and detail stitched on discs in the background, which greatly increases the impression of event realism. The vocals beautifully capture the emotional elements that the artist tried to depict as well as the specific character of the artist's voice. A nice example is, for example, the Toy album by the band Yellow, listen to the duo (Malia and Boris Blank) in Starlight Scene (or the voice of Fifi Rong in Kiss the Cloud). Thanks to this, the understanding of the sung text is simply improved.
Of course, electronic music is also great, I was happy to return to the albums of J.M.Jarre, my favorite Tangerine Dream or Vollenweider or Klaus Schulze. Here, juicy deep and well-controlled bass helps, but above all the indicator of listening pleasure is the quality of the recording. With such precision, unfortunately you can immediately hear something being kicked. It is enough, however, that it was medium decently recorded and it's ok, it applies to all kinds of music. For example, DeMono from the Golden Collection sounds very good, as well as the double album Maanam - Love Is Wonderful (Mental Cut - also listens with pleasure
- some polish records).
There was a question whether listen to the Nord is not tired in the long run. After proper heating, nothing like that happens. The last element that changed was the opening of the treble and with it the final smoothing of the sound. generally, Nord is neutral, has a flesh, does not embellish or round anything, do not improve the sound of the system with it to make it nicer, warmer or more pleasant (like e.g. McIntosh tube preamps will work). Nord will show you how your system sounds, but it is not thin or dry by itself, it does not brighten the system. It is very sensitive to the power cable, which I wrote about earlier, and it can be a surprising experience how very much you can model its sound by choosing different power cords. I tested 4 and each clearly influenced the presentation, so much that it makes matter with which it is combined. It can also be a reason for which a given sound may simply not be approached by someone. I will only add that my Pre (ARC Ref.5) is not beautifying or rounding. ARc is rather cool, resolving and precise. The elements that soften my habits can be only columns for me and maybe IC XLO Limited. No less resultant of the system allows for long relaxed listening sessions, adorned with lots of detail in the background
It seems to me that if you put this sound in a box with the logo of a recognized manufacturer, the price would go up at least several times. This sound at the price offered by Nord is absolutely an opportunity. The last thing I can think about is the lifetime of Ncore modules. Sim, like McIntosch, is built like a tank and rather guarantees longevity. I don't know what to expect from Ncors, although Nord itself looks solid, but I'll find out for myself. For my part, I can only recommend your own listening session.
opcorn:
