Although I'm not into modules I still can see why this BK7m is very popular as it sounds really good and with your choice of KB controller can be a very versatile piece of gear to do many tasks. No wonder Don M loves it!

Its a great little box I feel is overlooked because its not considered TOTL. I think for most players its all you need but that will get me killed on this forum HA!
For example:
Saw a great , and I mean a very, very entertaining tight group on our trip to South Carolina last week. All older (at least 60) three piece. Bass, Guitar, Female on Keys (used sparingly ) and a very simple drum machine. I couldn't see what it was but all they did was kick in a basic beat in and do a bunch of dance tunes over it. All sang lead and did some nice harmonies. Only once did I detect a bit of a sequence for a Lady Antebelum tune. Three hour gig, no breaks, and the dance floor was never empty.
Made me stop and appreciate what a lot of talent and a little bit of technology can do.
Also talked to a bar/restaurant owner who hired a two piece and when they came in and just sang over Mp3's he let them finish the night and told them he'd never have them back. Gotta love it !!!!

You can definitely hear how some of the styles or OTS's are drowned in reverb, but once you dial a lot of that out, it's a pretty decent unit. I'm enjoying mine.

Diki, is it better sounding than the G70 or my ears don't work?
I hear a lot of "sizzle" (is that the word?) not present in the G70, which sounds maybe "muddier" lacking high freqs compared to this.

I tried the BK7-m when it first came out and.......I didn't like it. But these styles sound great....I'm very impressed. Roland always did have practical, working styles. I must have missed something in my first go-around.

Now the big-band styles are really laid out well, so my questions are:

How are the rest of the styles, particularly the Latin?
and......
in real life, how does the actual sound quality compare to the PA3x and the Tyros?

If you scroll down you'll see the latin demos and also the others. Keep in mind though that we are only listening to the intros. I've heard many great sounding intros or endings on different instruments and when you get to the variations it can be a big letdown. I suggest going to youtube and listening to some songs played/recorded direct to see what you think then


Of course there is no substitute for trying one in person.

http://www.youtube.com/user/RDantasKEYS/videos

Mark
I've spent countless hours tweaking the stock BK7M styles and am very happy with the results. Out of the box its a very good unit but I think you need to work with it and adjust it to your taste.
If the stock BK7M doesn't have all the styles you need I'm sure you know there are many collections of additional styles available. I've imported a few from my G1000 that I liked and others from CDs and after some time editing and changing instruments they work well. Biggest con is the Data Wheel. Really slows down the tweaking. Just last night I spent 1.5 hrs. redoing an old R&B style but I was very happy with the final result. I'm getting an IPAD soon.

I think the quality and variety of styles is the strength of the BK7m. It also has good lead sounds, at least the ones I use.
Drums and bass, in my opinion, are better than Tyros and PA3X.
Biggest drawback is access to controls. Many things are hidden in menus.
Also, it does not display text files for lyrics, and lyrics imbedded in midi files are only displayed on external screen.
I have 50 commands I can call up from my controller keyboard though, including direct access to endings, intros, variations, break/mute, sounds, performances, etc. You can do things via controller that you can't do directly on the module, such as one button push for, for example, intro 2, or ending 3. Two pushes are necessary on the module.
If you want to put in the homework, it makes a really good arranger.
DonM

Don, I pretty much agree with your comments..

I chose the BK5 over the BK7m, because of the lyric read on the internal screen...and also better access to controls...

I had to give up the "cover" feature, but do not miss it..it was too hard to use this feature live...whereas the G70 was a breeze live..

As Bill mentioned ..when you do some homework...it can kick butt..
Personally I think the drums beat Yamaha and Korg....This is the strenght of the BK....and also the media play from USB device...