I'm trying my best to balance the good news with the bad..!

Naturally, it's easiest to focus on what were the best things in my G70, and instantly notice their loss. But there are many things already in the BK-9 which outperform the G70 I have noticed. The sound IS fuller, particularly in the bass section (I needed an SRX board before my G70 became acceptable in that area), the drums are massively improved (over what was good in the first place!), the SuperNatural stuff is very clever, easily recognizing legato from detached, without turning the voice into a monophonic instrument (which I believe SA2 does to the horns), and the trick acoustic guitar, able to tell the difference between single line playing (including the use of hammer on's and off's that are tied to how you play, not how HARD you play) and chords, which it alternately up and down strokes (and you have a parameter to adjust the speed of the strums) is something I've never come across on ANYTHING before!

The subtle resonance on the SN pianos is nice if you are playing solo, the selection of synth sounds and pads is immense... possible enough to do away with needing a VA if you aren't going to do a lot of knob twiddling (sounds kinda dirty, LOL), having the USB port hidden away is reassuring (I get paranoid about the idea of whacking an exposed stick in the heat of performance!), and of course, the CS makes fully using all these voices (including plenty of bending) a snap, live.

The return of the MIDI sequencer is another HUGE plus, as I tend to do a lot of pre-production and SMF preparation by recording a 'capture' of the tune using the arranger, then import to my DAW and lose the repetitive stuff, put in voice leading basslines etc., and edit the fills a bit so they all aren't identical. And so far, I have never seen a USB transfer to record on a PC that keeps the timing as tight as the internal ones do.

Don't get me wrong. I am massively impressed with the BK-9 so far. But the loss of live ease of use has dampened my joy a hair, particularly as I would have LOVED to go out and gig live using that Hammond sound!

I guess nothing is ever perfect!