Well, please remember I have zero experience with midi controllers and might not have mine setup properly but - after about 6 hours of playing with the Roland BK7m I am not very impressed. I have used head phones (very good ones) and my Bose L1 Compacts and the results are the same.

Basically, the volume levels of the solo voices is not well balanced in any of the styles. Compared to other arrangers I have owned which includes the E50, Korg's PA1X and PA2Xpro, my Tyros 3 and 4 the styles seem extremely thin. I have not come to a final conclusion because I need to learn more how to use the midi controller which is a Roland A-800Pro. But for now I would not use it on any of my gigs.

I do like the OS and it is not hard to learn and the layout of the unit is well thought out and easy to navigate.

By the way, I have thousands of Roland styles and the older styles seem to sound better than the preset styles - odd.

All for now - more later.
Hammer

Talking ... talking ... well ... not bad ... you would put normal style and sound demo mp3 format? Thanks ...

I think Roland missed a big opportunity in an otherwise scare arranger module market. As far as I know Ketron is the only other company that produces arranger modules and since they basically own the market they've taken it upon themselves to charge "through the nose" for their arranger module products needless to say. If Roland would have ponied up more R&D toward the BK7m and invested more expertise in the Style department they could have charged a couple grand ($2,000 or so) and released a product worthy of the Roland moniker. An excellent $2,000 arranger module would have been much preferred to the current and apparently mediocre BK7m needless to say. It seems lately Roland is concentrating on low-priced offerings that appeal to... not many. On the other hand, if they had released an excellent module at twice or three times the cost of the BK7m it would have enticed many more experienced users into purchasing one and they would have still been way ahead of the game price-wise, compared to the astronomically priced Ketrons. Even Roland apparently knew that the BK7m wasn't going to be a "winner" when their own demonstrator shoved it aside to gather dust at a recent music fest. Although, I do think the new Jupiter-80 is a fantastic product but of course it's a keyboard and not an arranger module.

All the best, Mike

This product is well worth the Roland name, and may be the best value in arrangers I've ever seen.
The sound is different from Yamaha, but I've found it to be outstanding in both sound and styles areas.
Mike, you are taking a statement Hammer made very early in his evaluation process and turning it into a dismissal of the entire product. He may well decide it's not for him, as he has with several other arrangers. That wouldn't mean it isn't a great value for others.
It may well turn out it isn't the solution for me either, but the jury is still out.
It's very easy to find a negative about anything. Look for some positives as well.

DonM

[quote=excellent would have been much preferred to the current and apparently mediocre BK7m needless to say. It seems lately Roland is concentrating on low-priced offerings that appeal to... not many. [/quote]

Mike, I think you are way off the mark with your negative comments regarding the BK-7m. I would not regard sounds like these as mediocre

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YhEVA7gLXU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKMjo4lZcAU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUXBq24irwA&feature=related

I will be receiving mine within a few days, can't wait

Just a question, Don.

In the on-line style demos of the BK-7m, the styles sound like they have more seperation and detail than Roland's other arrangers like the G-70 or E-80...even the E-50 or perhaps the Prelude GW-8...at least, to my ears.

I mentioned the E-50 because I know you use one, so now that you have both the BK-7m and the former, how do they compare in that area?

Are the BK-7m's styles more detailed (with better seperation) than the ones in your E-50 (especially similar or the same styles) or is the difference more or less negligible in real-life playing?

I'm tickled Roland made a module...they made some great ones in the past (RA-50/90/800), which I made good use of, and maybe this module is only the beginning of a line of progessively more powerful units?

Ian

Don....I suspect the BK7M IS a great "value" for the money, but I'm wondering if it's a box that's worth 1K, not just value for the money? You've played enough Ketrons to make a call on a "side by side." Do think the Roland sound in this module:

...matches the Ketron,
...is as good as a Ketron in a different way,
...not as good as a Ketron?

...just the sound quality itself, not the styles makeup, and...taking size and price out of the mix. Only the actual drum sounds.

I have spent a good deal of time with my BK-7m over the last two days and I am still having a problem with how the styles play when using the "split" mode. What I am doing is selecting a category and playing every style and every variation in that style. What I am experiencing is a lot of change in the balance between the UP1 parts and the style. Some of the styles are just fine but about half of them are not.

Again, it could be my controller, a Roland A-800Pro, or the way I have it setup. I have read and re-read both manuals and believe I am following directions well enough for things to work.

Right now I am not getting enough consistency between styles within any category to really make any kind of decision about the module. Perhaps someone here has some suggestion.

Now, if you use the module in full keyboard mode only things get better - but there are problems with getting the UP1 and UP1 voices setup if you choose to change them. I am still very much in a learning mode here but trying to be both honest and fair at the same time.

By the way, I don't sing so the instrumental aspects of any arranger are important to me.

Anyway, I'll sure let everyone know if it all works out - or not.

Hammer

I have no problem at all with the drum sounds. I feel they are better than just about all the others, except Ketron. Ketron's are real drums--it doesn't get any better than that.
I like the styles from both companies a lot.
The big difference is in features. Audya has built-in mic processing and vocal harmony. BK does not.
Audya has large screen that displays lyrics and text files. BK does not display text files and needs an external monitor for midi lyrics.
I haven't tried the recorder on BK, but it does have one.
BK weighs less and has a MUCH smaller footprint than the Audya module.
The BK has a wider variety of lead sounds and they sound extremely good. Better than Audya and better than all the Roland predecessors to my ears.
Ian, I agree with you that the styles sound more detailed and balanced. I think they have all been redone. Even the OTS are mostly different. I feel they are also e.q.d a little differently but I haven't really looked at that.
I was looking for something light in weight and easy and quick to set up. Not sure the BK is accomplishing that because I must carry a vocal harmonizer, laptop and external screen to get to everything that the Audya or Tyros 4 has in one package.
There's a lot to like about the BK7m though. I'm still weighing all the pluses and minuses. Or at least I will when I get a new one back from Roland.
If I decide against it, I will be able to save somebody who wants one a little money!
DonM

Deane, with all my Rolands, I have had to adjust some style volumes.
It only takes a second, using the Makeup tools. Click on Common and there will be a window showing the Style Volume. You can easily increase or decrease it and Save it so it will always be at the level you like.
DonM