Interesting developments these days or so it seems.....
Yamaha PSR950/750, Roland BK9 and the new Korg PA900, all virtually in the same price bracket.
Having owned the PA800 for a couple of years now and prior to that the PA500 and PA80 I do not find a direct urge to jump on the bandwagon and get the PA900. It sounds great like most stuff these days but as with the new PA3X requires a tremendous amount of tweaking and what's more you can hardly fall back on all my previous hard labour of programming and tweaking as practice has shown most of my resources for the other PA arrangers do not fit in well with the latest Korg range.Added to that as someone noticed here on the form there are no really novelties, it is basically a scaled down PA3X with less trimmings and options,but with built in speakers. And yes of course sonically here and there an upgrade compared to the PA2x/ PA800.
With currently in my possession the Korg PA800, Yammie PSR750 and Roland G70 I think it is unlikely I will get any of the latest boards.And it is far from me to pass judgement other than saying that all of these new motl arranger keyboards are a terrific buy. Seeing that they are all priced the same I predict that commercially speaking Roland is, once more, going to be the loser here. However have you realised that for the price of ONE Yamaha Tyros 4 with speakers etc. or ONE PA3X with 76 keys and speakerbar you can now actually buy TWO of the newest keyboards ? And better still, If you go for the BK9 and would be satisfied with a brand new PSR750 ( not all that much inferior to the PSR950) and and a brand new Korg PA600 (with lots of goodies of the PA900) you could actually get THREE of the new boards for the price of one tyros or pa3x!! Just something to think about really...............

regards,
John

John,
keyboard players in general have this addiction to also buy the latest and greatest and then that is a big form of compulsive buying to feel better until it wears off, I don't think that most of the players here have utilized their keyboard to their fullest and although many advancements in technology have made better equipment I feel we are getting fed the same rehash, the wheel gets re-invented every three years and I really don't see anything that you can say WOW! the companies that made the best boards are out of business that were way ahead of everyone else. The only other reason that you would buy a keyboard these days is because of aging keyboards that eventually need to be replaced, that would be the most logical reason to buy a keyboard.

R.I.P. technics ... the LEADER of its time ...

True. The last time I said WOW was the first time I heard a Korg PA80. Since then I play Korg. No need for other brands. Until something else make me say WOW again I stick with Korg.

... my technics kn1000 made me say WOW as did my kn6000 ... the Pa600 made me say WOW because I was amazed at the size, styles, sounds - except the sax - and PRICE ...

That's why I like my sd2. Ketron alto & tenor saxes are top notch.

I say WOW!!! every time I switch on my Audya...

Henni

And we are all happy for you my friend. I can only concur with all that has been said here in response to my posting. Very few people here on the site would have to start from scratch and like you said it is an itching that has to be met very often.
I for starters will not exchange my PA800 for the PA900 ,but then I have the luxury of the additional PSR750 and the recently acquired G70 of which I still am not sure whether to keep or not. The remark about the Ketron SD module is a valid one all the more so as its follow-up, the Ketron SD1000 module is hitting the streets as we speak. ( 450 euros in Europe).
However bearing in mind the streetprices of the three totl arrangers (including the audya) I would venture to say that the following combinations are among the winners. If you consider buying a totl keyboard you might get the PA900 + PSR950 for approx. the same amount of money. If you have to stick to a tight budget I think PA600+PSR750 (at half the price of the first combination) is an absolute winner. Just my pick. And as mentioned most folks do not explore to the full the potential of their keyboards. I have now had the Roland G70 for 10 days and have been in touch with several G70 gurus,but although they do know a lot more about it than I do I have not come across any software so far that is very worthwile a reason for me to foster doubt as to whether to hang on to it. Mind you I am not talking styles. Styles galore for the Rolands as for any other brand. No, I would like as yet to receive a set of registrations ( user programs in Roland language) that could set my heart on fire. Similar to the way I programmed registrations ( performances in Korg language) for the PA arranger keyboards. Seems like most Roland players do not get beyond the surface of minor tweakings of volumes and a bit of reverbs here and there. Is there no one out there who could offer me an impressive set of registrations ?
Sorry I am drifting off topic there, my own topic of all things !!!

regards
John

Sometimes, even if there is no WOW factor, one will do get a new piece of gear for various reasons. Many because they just can. I think the point is you have to decide which one can be skipped and which one you need to buy.

Like me, I would like to get the Pa900, for these reasons:
- I now have a Pa50, so I've skipped Pa500, Pa800 and Pa600 (the big guys I don't think is a wise investment for me)
- it WILL be a serious upgrade from all points of view
- after how many years, I will have the latest in the line... Just a nice feeling.

And about WOW... What exactly would that need to be? We have sooo many great options, unconceivable 10 years ago, that nothing will excite us anymore. In a sense it's sad. On the other hand, the technology development will always make us feel bad two months after we've got "the best". Just a matter of progress I guess. So, I am not even looking so much for WOW, but rather for upgrades that makes sense - from the logical perspective.

As far as I'm concerned, while there are 'wow!' moments within an arranger in the odd style, performance or sound, none of them are just flat out perfect... for me!

And, to be honest, that makes me glad. I'm not exactly trying to sound the same as everybody else. I'm just looking for the easiest way to make any arranger mine. All of them nowadays are adequate. Most of them have all the editing tools you need to make an arranger shine. And ALL of them need you to use those editing tools! As far as I am concerned, they ALL need a lot of tweaking.

For starters, I'm the kind of player that wants to play as much of it myself as possible. Some arrangers' styles are too busy to leave enough room for me to do my thing. Great for those that want most of it done for them. But that's not me! Then I'm looking for something that convinces me there's a drummer next to me.

But as long as a FEW of the styles are outstanding, I know they ALL can be, with work! But the arranger where they all are hasn't been made, yet.

So, a lot of my decision making revolves around how easy it is to do the majority of tweaks. I know I'm going to be doing it a lot! John, I think a lot of the Roland stuff is individual. I doubt much of my stuff would be of use to you. And, to be honest, I worked long and hard to sound like this. Why do I want to make everybody else sound like me?

Even if they wanted to!