It`s surprising that the price has depreciated this fast. I heard live performances where this keyboard is used in both arranger mode and for solo tones in a band. Truly amazing rhythms and tones. Perhaps Roland should have put a touch screen OS instead of the current one on Bk-9.

And ofcourse, keyboard manufacturers want us to buy both(their WS and arrangers) but as mentioned earlier, its no rocket science but just a strategy they adopt to mint money. Things like budget, market segmentation, economies of scale, return on investment are all business concepts that prevents such crossovers. It`s cutting a lot of corners when business interferes too much with art.

If the manufacturers really stood for their taglines or vision, none of them would be in the business anymore

Having a single keyboard with features of both would actually help any of the manufacturers atleast till the time others start to do the same thing. It should be great for the players too to switch to different modes when they want too. For manufacturers it would be far more easier to expand and incorporate things via software rather than spend on hardware; which I believe will be the direction they will be taking.

Let`s hope Roland continues to come up with good arrangers like they have done in the past