When Nord released the Lead 4 in 2013, they made a deliberate choice to streamline rather than expand, positioning it as a spiritual successor to the beloved Lead 2 rather than a direct upgrade from the Lead 3. That decision proved smart, because what emerged was a synthesizer that trades some complexity for accessibility without sacrificing sonic depth or performance capability.
The Lead 4 is built around two oscillators per voice with 20-voice polyphony spread across four independent multitimbral slots, each with its own effects section and assignable audio output. Oscillator 1 offers both analog waveforms and 128 digital wavetables including formant waves, while Oscillator 2 provides analog waveforms plus filtered noise and can be detuned for richer textures. The filter section is where Nord really showed their hand with new analog-modeled ladder filters derived from classic synthesizers, available in 12, 24, and 48 dB low-pass configurations plus high-pass and band-pass modes. You get three ADSR envelopes, two LFO sections per slot with sync capabilities, and FM and hard/soft sync between oscillators for deeper sound design. The effects chain includes drive, compressor, comb filter, and selectable delay or reverb with three room algorithms.
The keyboard itself is a 49-key velocity-sensitive action with a stone modulation wheel, wooden pitch stick, and three Impulse Morph buttons for real-time parameter manipulation. The interface is refreshingly immediate with dedicated knobs for the essentials, and the four-slot architecture means you can layer sounds, split the keyboard, or run four independent arpeggios simultaneously. Each slot has its own arpeggiator with up, down, random, and new poly chord modes that can be synced to the master clock.
The community response has been consistently positive, with players praising the solid metal construction, clean punchy sound character especially with the new envelope behaviors, and the practical multitimbral workflow that lets you adjust all four layers at once. Some early adopters noted it offers less sound design complexity than the Lead 3, but most found that trade-off worthwhile for the improved filters, easier interface, and genuine musical results. The four assignable outputs and headphone jack make it equally at home in a studio or on stage.
