Anyone have any experiences with the following (and your opinions):

pick one (3 for $1.....4 for nothing):

Roland BK-7m module
Roland Integra-7
new Casio portable pianos
dating a busty blonde

I don't like the styles on my PA3x. I DO like the styles on the BK-7m but I'm not sure of the sound quality...can't find them in the stores. I'm considering MIDI-ing it to the Korg and using those styles.

Roland BK-7m

The Roland Integra-7 sounds darn good. And the things you can do with it! Again I'm thinking of a MIDI connection and using those sounds. Heck, I can't even get a good flute or piano on the PA3x.

Roland Integra-7

The new line of Casio pianos....I took a couple of hours and played a few of them in Sam Ash. They all sounded good....especially the home model with built-in speakers. Nice keyboard feel too.

Busty blonde....I looked all over Ebay and can't find one! Should I call Gary?

Mark

The BK7m has been discontinued by Roland but essentially gives you all the BK instrument sounds and styles, with an easy to setup Midi function. (It’s been very popular with those wishing to add new styles and sound flexibility)

The Integra is more of the sound section of a Roland Workstation in a box and includes so called super natural sounds which add sound modelling to improve realism, however it is more of a pain to setup with the limited Midi specs of most arrangers. (Korg is pretty good in this respect though)

As you seem to dislike a lot of the PA3x sounds and styles it may be cheaper to just trade it in for an instrument from another manufacture, or if you wish to stay with Korg have a look at the PA4x which is a big jump up in quality from the PA3x.

I have compared the TOTL arrangers from Yamaha and Korg fairly recently and unless your into ensemble or classic organ sounds then the PA4x is tops for realism (When compared to real instruments and players) with the T5 some way behind. (However the T6 can’t be too far away which will probably upset the mix once again)

Hope this helps

Bill

You probably don't need any of these.
Pa3x has a sampler and you can get pretty much any sound you want. You just have to research it little bit.

The BK-7m has a lot of good sounds, AFAK mostly identical to the E-80, about 1,100 tones altogether. Its pianos are really good! Strings and acoustic guitars are not its strength, the acoustic guitars in the styles lack realism. There are some really good saxophones. Nevertheless, the BK-9 offers substantially more (better string sections from SRX 4, supernatural acoustic strumming guitar etc.). How the BK-7m sounds compare to PA-3X, I can't say explicitly.

Regarding the Integra, besides the 256 (!) SuperNatural sounds, which are NOT spectacular in all cases (artificial vibrato etc.) and don't cover any section sounds (except string section), the orchestral sounds I particularly rate best are those from the expansions SRX 04 and 10 (all 12 SRX are included, but only up to 4 can be used at the same time).
The Integra always works in "Studio Set" mode, i.e. you have 16 parts, which you can assign to theoretically up to 16 keyboard zones or 16 midi channels. So in that way it is easy to combine it with an arranger via midi - only there is the restriction that you can only call up 64 different studio sets (=registrations), the Integra has no more storage locations for studio sets. Workarounds for this restriction are iPAD apps, controllers or patch bays which can store different midi sets to address different midi channels with the push of a button, or send midi patch change messages.

Go find a busty blonde that plays a Yamaha ..

I have a BK7M and its now a backup for my BK9. I'm very happy with it. Great pianos and strings, drums and bass are excellent too. I tend to choose a few sounds and work with them so I don't need hundreds. Very easy to set up. Prices on the used market are holding .
Privia Pianos .I have the 350. Keyboard feel and Piano sonds are excellent. Some other outstanding tones also. Rhythms are just OK and usable. Have it midied to the BK7M so I don't use those at all.
BTW I'm selling it at a good price if your interested. I want to get a cabinet model for the house.

The casio piano's styles are below pa3x in my opinion...

The integra 7 has the best sounds of Roland, all in one box...

The BK7m has some nice styles, yet in my opinion, the pa3x sounds better...




May i ask what part of the Korg styles you dont like, they are very very tweakble? Why keep the pa3x, if you dont like the styles?

In the end i would go for the integra 7, and use that in combination with the Korg styles...





Outside of your box, did you consider adding Varranger in combination with a windows tablet? It playes all the styles of Roland, Korg, Ketron and Yamaha.. Espescially with the upcomming soundupdate... There is just no multipads with Varranger..

A) BK7m is still available new and use in every music store.. Also Roland has some in stock themselves

b) i think Yamaha's Tyros 6 is still two years away, this got confirmed by Michel Voncken when i asked him when to expect T6, yamaha is stretching the time between updates. Motif is a good excample of this..

I loved the styles and sounds on BK7m. Just a lot of peripheral gear needed for a one-man show.

I agree Don....funny how Roland has all the pieces but has yet to put together a TOTl arranger kb since the G70...unless they know the other big companies Y&K have that all locked up and they are trying to find a little niche and that too bad. Roland lost alot of arranger KB fans and from what Ive seen the BK9 doesn't even come close to the others in many ways...but what do I know?

Mark,

If you like the styles, then you'll like the quality of the BK7m. Excellent purity and clarity of the sounds/patches. Here's an old sample of where I hooked it up to my Korg Kronos:

https://youtu.be/jkxpeT7L5Lo

The only reason I sold my BK7m is because, as you can see from the music video, my hands had to do too many acrobatics to manage both the rhythm box and the keys. That's why I'm getting the Pa4x 76, for better usability experience by having all the variation/fill/etc buttons exactly where they are most handy for me. I know I could get a multi pedal to launch switches but I like direct access on the board best. I also make custom backing patterns using Logic Pro X Virtual Drummer. I plan to import them into the new Pa4x when I get familiar with it.
Hal

A lot of the "many ways" are things that are nice but not totally necessary. If it makes the player happy thats great but for the regular audience, and thats the few situations where you can play and arranger for an audience, I don't think most of the extras matter.
As for the home players the more toys the better.

They all have.. Even Casio does...

Personally i still think the G70 is still an awesome board, having 6 main parts, so sweet..


Imagine A Roland arranger with an Integra 7, acb technollogy, nice touchscreen, some sampling ram, 16 multipads...

Actually the extras are what matter most to me. All the newer arrangers sound good. It's all about having everything under control as easily as possible. Controls over changing things in real time, adjusting levels, reacting to audiences...much more.

let's hope the manufacturers are READING these needs over and over again and implement them in future models ASAP

Thanks for the great input everyone. You have me almost drooling over new equipment.....haven’t bought any since the PA3x.

I’m glad to hear all the positive feedback about the BK-7m and the Integra. I didn’t know they were both discontinued. I did some more research on my own about both units and what you fellows wrote here begs me to take the next step.

Unfortunately, the curse of the missing instruments rears it’s ugly head again. The stores don’t have them on demo, and not even in local stock. They have to be ordered. The only good news was from Guitar Center. They said you can still order either one, sight unseen, try it for (I think) 90 days and return it for a full refund if you don’t like it, no questions asked.

I also called the East Coast master……Frank V. He has an Integra and we discussed the Ketrons. Our conversation turned to: “you’ll probably get better backup service” with AJ then you would with Korg or Tyros. Never thought about it that way.

I’m going to put any decisions on hold until after NAMM. Perhaps I’ll be surprised with something suitable for me. And, if not, prices on what’s out there now might come down a bit.

I can’t say the PA3x styles are bad. Many units have been sold, so they can’t be “bad.” They’re just bad for me! Many are not authentic enough, boring, uncreative, repetitive on each variation, etc. But I listened to quite a few styles on the 4x and Korg seems to have cleaned up their act regards the styles. I could buy into them.

I probably will sell the PA3x. As I say, it’s a great unit, particularly the semi-weighted keyboard, and the versatility of the software. Just not right for me. I’ve been playing arranger keyboards for about 40 years now right from the embryonic stage of the first Maestro. They were incredible in those days and I still have all my early Roland styles (and arranger keyboards) from 30 years ago.

Hal.....that’s real nice playing you did with that tune. The Kronos sound fits you to a T, and you worked the “breaks” very nicely on that style....which you can tell listening closely that it belongs to Roland.

I’m going to raid my bank account and go to Frank’s place again, when he’s got everything there on the floor at once that I can try (except for the "busty blonde.)" Frank knows almost everything about anything he sells so he’s a great person to walk you through it all.

MARK