Just got back from the Spine Doctor. Looks like I'm in for another cervical spine surgery. The worst part of this is I will no longer be able to safely carry around my Tyros 4 for my gigs. No, it is not for sale!. Darn, just sold my S950.

So here is my question to each of you. If you had to lighten your load for gigs which of these options would you consider and why?
Please, no pissing contests here. I need some serious advice.

1. Korg PA900
2. Korg PA600
3. Roland BK-9
4. Roland BK-5
5.. Dan's vArranger - which I do own.

Notice I did not include the Yamaha S950. When I had mine I really was not all that impressed with the overall sound as compared to my Tyros 4 and the audio styles were not all that useful in that they could not be saved to an external device.

Thanks guys in advance for you input.

Deane

For the money, your best choice is pa600.It does everything pa900 do.Only if you need more space for samples than pa900.
I really liked bk 5-9, the way they sound but everything else was too much for me, or not enough for me.

I needed to lighten my load, since I had chronic lower back pain, and chose the Pa900; my pain has largely gone!

Note that thePa900 has the voice processor which the Pa600 does not. I love the Korg songbook and custom list features for what I do, and I think the internal speakers are excellent (I think they are a notch up on the Pa600 but check with Tony). In smaller rooms it really is all you need. In larger settings I supplement it with an additional speaker.

vA2.....based on why I know so far...
All you need is a light MIDI kbd, a laptop or all in one.
Maybe a Korgcontrol 2 depending of which MIDI KBD you get.
Oh...If you get a Novation SL61 II...Dan's SW will even give feedback to switches/LEDs.

Should be a very light load.

I will know more once my Ketron SD-1000 gets here.

If you have not heard all the SD-1000 demos from Dan...they start here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNJyKyR-8v4

Just one idea for you.

I love the PA900. It has made my load considerably lighter.

I certainly appreciate the lighter weight and smaller footprint of the Pa900 ... and the board sounds GREAT - according to my wife and my customers - who are the most important judges - ...

If you don't need the on board VH, go with the Pa600 ...

I never had a chance to A/B the Pa600/Pa900, but the Pa900 speakers are good for small rooms ...

If it was me, and if I wanted to stay with Yamaha, I'd be looking at a PSR-S910...lots of styles available for it at PSR Tutorial, including those from CVP and Tyros2/3/4.

Like you, I found the S950's audio based styles a waste...same as Tyros5's. If I didn't have my Tyros4, I would have picked up an S910...even lighter than an S950 BTW.

If you want to buy new, the PSR-S750 is essentially an S910 minus the Vocal Harmony/Mic Input.

Our buddy Bernie (Bernie9) is using an S910 as a more lightweight alternative to his Audya, so perhaps he can fill you in a bit more.

I hope things go well with your back, Deane, I've had issues with mine (old Martial Arts injuries), although not as serious as yours.

In any case, regarding keyboards, you'll get good advice here.

Ian

Hi Deane,

Sorry to hear about your misfortune, hope things will work out well soon. As to your query, forget abour Roland, of all folks you should know that by now
I'd say it is a toss up between the PA900 and the PA600. I presume the PA600 is ligther, it is only half the price of the PA900, but then of course it cannot do all the tricks the PA900 can, as Don will confirm.
Good luck on both counts,

regards,
John

Varranger on a microsoft 3 tablet with the ultra light and cheap casio stagepiano which even works on batteries... You could even add an ultra light midi controller and a ketron sd1000 at no extra weight....


Maybe someone knows some ultra light speaker system for the ultimate ultralight setup..

It might be interesting to consider a Roland FA-06 together with Varranger or with a BK-7m. The FA-06 has a fantastic low weight of 5.7 kilograms! Or, better, a MoXF (7.2 kg) plus BK-7m. In both cases you get large complementary soundsets, more than one mid-range arranger would offer. (FA-06 with free EXP expansions offers different sounds compared to BK-7m). And the total weight remains lower than that of a PA-900 or BK-9 (BK-7m is only 1.7 kg). Disadvantages of BK-7m are quite weak acoustic guitars (also in styles) and lacking convenience when editing things.