Being a beginner myself I have done both a NBv3 and a Spark 2. Didn't really think the Spark was that much more difficult, you just need to connect the true drive which took maybe 10min if u have the technique right. Both are good boards.
I find the NB to have slightly better sound crispness and volume. Clash sensing is better too. Spark 2 had some benefits over the NBv3 that have been evened out with NBV4 however. At this point the only real benefit to a Spark over nbv4 I think is the aux sound feature which actually is pretty neat. Current Vader build I'm doing is a nbv4 though.