I doubt very much if any arranger could sway me from the Tyros4, Diki. It suits my style of play and the music I enjoy performing. The Yamaha sound has always appealed to me, and that was the initial reason I chose to work for them. Of course, the very decent paycheck helped too...ha ha!

It is nice to see Roland offering 76-notes at a very reasonable price, although it does have it's minor compromises, especially coming from a G-70 with a much better action (with aftertouch) and an excellent touch-screen...the chord sequencer is a very cool addition, however, as well as the more manageable weight, so it should serve you very well, especially as you get older.

Man, I really appreciate today's lighter gear, even though I am still quite healthy...I suppose the "lazyitus" has crept in further than I want to admit.

I played a client's brand spanking new Clavinova CVP-609, and it incorporates a touch screen...it was okay, and I could very well get used to it, but I am secretly glad I bought the Tyros4 with it's regular screen. Touch screens, especially those well implemented, are the bee's knee's for some people, but I'm probably more old school and still prefer the more traditional physical buttons and sliders and a nice legible color screen, as on my T4.

The 609's weighted action was very nice (real wood) but I still prefer the semi-weighted action for arranger play.

Of course, if we all liked the same things, this forum wouldn't be so interesting, and it is always nice to check out other people's keyboard preferences, and arranger techniques.

The Tyros4 has three pedal inputs, and I may add another Roland sustain pedal (the one with the heel rest) for changing Leslie speeds or triggering delay effect variations...I like to keep things a certain way and relatively simple...I had to do that when doing clinics as there were times when I didn't bring my own demo keyboard, and some stores had very few accessories and I was lucky to get a sustain pedal...of course, now that has all changed and I can work out a set-up that gives me lots of control.

It's good to take a break from pro playing and sort of re-organize and re-evaluate what I want to do musically...of course, I still play several hours a day, which is as much therapy as it is in keeping my chops up to a decent level.

Hopefully I'll get an opportunity to try the BK-9...it appears to be a great value, and it really has no direct competition that I can think of, but I do want to actually spend a bit of time on one before I recommend it.

Ian