Have you taken a look at what you HAVE to have in external software to get an S900 etc. up to these levels, too? Jørgen would be a rich man if he actually charged for all the essentials you HAVE to have!

Personally (no offense if you still work in the keyboard) I haven't used an onboard sequencer in over 15 years. Even the best of them pale next to Cubase...

And Roland sticking them in the WS division just goes to show what a 'negative' to the average keyboard buyer the word 'arranger' really is. It's got nothing to do with it's capabilities, which are still on a par or exceed others in the same price bracket...

With all do respect Diki..., I think you don't realize how many people STILL USE the internal sequencers on their keyboards. Hop over to a major workstation forum and have a look how many people STILL rely on those internal sequencers.

Sure software is great and you can do a lot with it.., but not everyone wants to fire up a computer everytime they want to lay down some tracks.

Again.., you've been using the software for so long now that anytime this subject comes up you approach it like software's the only thing out there. Keep in mind Diki.., that just because YOU have been using it for so long doesn't mean a full featured sequencer in a keyboard is useless to others.

But just because some people still walk around, doesn't mean it's not faster and easier to drive!

The thing is, does a major manufacturer, once they see that software has FAR outpaced what they can do easily internally, do they give up and just leave a quick fix internal with playback related features (playlists, mark/jump, lyric display capabilities, etc.), or do they pull R&D money away from other, also very important aspects that do NOT have software equivalents, and use it to make a poor (compared to software), but more fully featured internal?

Nowadays, most arrangers use USB for communication.. ergo the manufacturers already assume most of us have a computer. Even an old Atari blows away any hardware sequencer... at some point, you just have to acknowledge that the horse and buggy is old fashioned, no matter how many cling stubbornly to the past.

Where are all the knobs synths used to have? Where is all the tuning drift (and opportunity for great sounds that would sometimes produce)? Where's my chord sequencer? Why doesn't my Nord Electro weigh 300 lbs.?

Things change. At least be grateful that a BETTER way to do things exists (not so my chord sequencer!). Let's be realistic. What would you like DROPPED, so that a better (but not as good as software) sequencer could be added? Because there is no free ride. Either the price gets raised, or something gets dropped...

Maybe LFO editing?