Hi all,

I am Interested in looking at the BK5 as a light-weight easy-to-take around Arranger.

I used to own a Roland GW-8 and wasnt very impressed with the acoustic sounds such as brass / sax / acoustic Guitar.

what sound engine does the BK5 use?? is it the actual E80 sound engine or is the the Roland Fantom G engine like the GW8??

Also - the fact that it is compatible with G70, E80 and other ROland keyboard style files - does this mean it is seamless playback? or do they need to be extensively modified?

Does the BK5 have the guitar mode or strumming guitars with fret slides / body taps etc that the G70 and E80 has?

does the BK 5 have the same keybed as any other Roland Keyboards / synths??

how easy is it to mute and un mute style parts in realtime while playing and controlling a style with the left hand?

What kind of sound editing level does it have?

Can drum kits be edited / customised?

Thanks!!

Nick

Nick I had the BK7-M and a GW8 and the bass sounds are about the same. Average to bad. Same with the guitars, especially electrics.

The BK's are supposedly loosely based on the Fantom (although much smaller and compressed ROM samples)) and the GW7 based on the Sonic Cell, again with a smaller size sample ROM. And no expansion card option.

Doesn't really matter as I remember a LOT of the same sounds on the SC88-Pro ...actually some as I recall, sounded better on the SC88.

FWIW if the sound engine doesn't cut it for me then I usually do not bother with the rest...

With the PA3 I have now accepted compromise. Not as good as the Yamaha Motif XF when it comes to B+B (not even the Kronos can match the Motif's on that score)...but way better than anything on a Roland, and apart from S.A. the Yamaha too.

The module was a real p.i.t.a. for any sort of real time mixing control, ore any control for that matter dunno about the keyboard version....

As for the other questions, no exp with doing that so no comment...

jm2c

Dennis

Thanks Dennis,

I too own a PA 3X and I'm absolutely loving it! I have never once missed or looked back at the Tyros 4 that I owned for a short while
I am also very excited about the new OS update which is due very soon now too gotta love the Korg "free" stuff - interested to see what kind of sounds / styles and features they add!

The BK5 seems very appealing to me because it is so light, cheap and just a different flavour to the korg. I like alternating between keyboards depending on my mood of the month lol.

thanks for your input - i was never satisfied with the GW-8 or Fantom G but hoping the BK5 lives up to what i have been reading on various forums the passed few days.

Cheers!
Nick

cool...remember though m8, I daresay no-one (or very few at any rate) here has experienced the Motif XS/XF sound engine as we have...

Once bitten by those sounds it is tough to use anything else. But yeah the PA3 goes close

Dennis - buy a MOX6
I did - they are CHEAP.

IT has the EXACT same sounds / arps and editing features and performance play back as the Motif XS.

AND...

Dedciated Octave / Transpose / Layer Buttons that Motif XS and XF do not have

What are the keys like?

very close to Motif and Tyros. surprisingly good.

Quieter and smoother than Roland Juno keys

FAR better than PSR keys

Better than PA 800 keys

Cool thanks Nick I might investigate further....

Only half the polyphony, tho... 64 voices might not cut it for some of those nice groove/arp presets and play a bunch live on the top...

Yeah I did see that Diki...and I agree it does make a difference, especially with the 8 element voices.

I did some checking around and they are still not cheap enough to add to the PA3....but as I said the PA has been working out okay as a really good compromise since I have come to terms with the fact that the two WS's I like - Kronos and Motif XF, will never come with an arranger engine...

Dennis