I purchased 2 lexicon mpx 110's ,2 line 6 echo pro s , and a line 6 mod pro, so that I would have some fx's for the modular , yes it's worth it!

the nord modular with fx's is amazing. as I indicated earlier I use it for "outside" sound design and it is amazing.

building a mini moog with all the things the original was missing was alot of fun. I have designed patches for processing external sounds and it is very effective as a custom processor. this the synth I would replace if all my gear disappeared tomorrow. I am very happy with this unit and continue to find new and entertaining uses for it.

I have mixed feelings about my Nord Modular. I use it mainly for "digital" sounds, some kind of modular DX, were I combine FM, Additive, and traditional subtractive synthesis and step sequencing, etc. All this controlled with lots of knobs and morphing capabilities. On this it´s (almost) unbeatable. Everyone knows it´s strengths, so I´ll concentrate on the things that annoy me:

-FM oscillators have "round off" errors caused by fixed point dsp, that make the oscillators change it´s timbre even if you sync their phase with the keyboard gate out and set a fixed pitch and mod index. My DX100 is more precise than this thing!

-Aliasing. Oscillators have lot´s of aliasing, even though the internal resolution is 96kHz. Spectral Osc seems to have a lot less than the others, but again, they don´t sound as good. (IMHO)

-The Waveshaper is underdeveloped. Compare it with the one on VAZ Modular or even the MicroWave XT Wave Shaper filter.

-LFOs don´t sync to MIDI. Yeah, you can work it out, but I can´t understand why they never implemented.

-No sample memory. Lots of opportunities lost here, and it´s were Reaktor wins. Not only for sampling and delay (which would be great), but for Granular or Wavetable synthesis.

-"Analogue" modules don´t sound analogue at all. Well, this is subjective, but I like how they sound anyway.

-OS 4 was officially announced, but then cancelled. Clavia, as Waldorf, have problems delivering what they promise, as well as poor consumer support. When I bought mine in 1999, it came with OS 3.03 and never had an update since. The Editor have lost several features from OS2. OS 3 cannot read 2.1 and older files!!!! Some modules were never implemented, even though they were promised, like frequency shifter, etc. They never put online some sounds I posted that were clones of some famous DX100 factory patches.

Nord Modular G2 is about to come up... but always delays because Clavia have serious financial problems, as far as the mailing list is concerned. I wouldn´t buy a Nord product again because I feel my Modular is unfinished, and because they cancelled a promised update in favor of a new product, that was financially more convenient for them. I think they wont solve their financial problems with new products, but delivering what they promise. I wouldn´t buy a product from a boken company, either, and there are other options in software (Reaktor, Tassman, etc.).

If you want analogue, go analogue; if you want digital, go software.

I love this instrument, but it´s not the one that gave me the greatest satisfactions.

Cheers.

Javier.

Do you like computer programming? Then buy a NM.

Do you sometimes wonder if it's possible to actually synthesize the sound of goat's having sex in one keystroke? Buy a NM.

Is advanced calculas too easy for you? Buy a NM.

The only thing this beautiful workhorse CANNOT do is repeat phrases with full phonetic continuity...for that you need an fs1r I believe.

whether the swedish government still supporting islamic terorrists in aceh (indonesia)is another matters... i found that musical stuff made in sweden like Reason and electromachine.. is really good.

cheers Robert