TOY

Don't understand the current interest in an "older" MOTR arranger. If you didn't like the BK9 or the EA7 what draws you to this.

Bill old doesn't mean not good... Ask Fran..
Just sayin..

Dave I disagree. I owned one briefly. Much better than any low-priced Yamaha or older Casio. Yamahas can't even play slash chords, and the keybeds on the Casio's are rubbish.

Overall not as good as the solid MOTL E-50 / E-60 which preceded it. Loss of the touch screen and a buggy, clunky Style Composer are the reason I held onto my E-50 and let this one go.

Maybe not even as good as the entry-level Prelude as a lightweight compact arranger. The Prelude had a 16-track sequencer that the BK-5 lacks, although the BK-5 has a better menu system and IMO better controls for real-time arranger play.

Not as good as the E-A7 either. Only one screen on the BK-5 vs. two on the E-A7. Also, the BK-5 lacks the EA's multipads, sampling, or deep sound editing if you're into that kind of thing. (I'm not.)

My take is that it's ok as a pure arranger in a lightweight package. Downmarket in sound and features from the BK-9, and now eclipsed by the newer E-A7, I've seen these go for less than $400 used. At that price I heartily recommend it as a first board for a beginner.

I agree says the guy who still likes his BK9
. I was just thinking you've already reviewed this model. A friend here used in for his duo doing bass/keys/drums. Sounded great. He moved to Yamaha be cause he liked the drums more.
Old can definitely be good

I had of bk5 many moons ago also..

It just felt cheap in my hands. Didn't hold my interest at all when I played one .... long a go.

How do you compare it to your EA7?

The EA7 feels really good. I just don't like the overall sound, and the limited tone editing. So many sounds can't be modified at all. If I didn't have the SX - I'd play the EA because of features, and size

I found the EA7 editing pretty deep to tweak all perimeters.......
maybe I am missing something. ?

If you're referring to the E-A7 I find this surprising Dave. Pages 29-33 of the Reference Manual imply that you can do a lot more sound editing on the E-A7 than you could on any previous Roland arranger.

I'm not into sampling or creating my own sounds. But with that kind of editing ability and so many base samples to choose from, I would think that the E-A7 is pretty good in this regard.

The E-A7 has a lot of editing capabilities.. as deep as anyone and yes much more than previous Roland arrangers.

The one thing that maybe Dave doesn't understand , They reserve the primary tones to edit and if a tone is a variation of the primary ..you should use that primary to begin edits..When it says you can't edit the tone, that is what it refers to.

Dollar for dollar ..E_A7 is the best arranger on the market.. There is a learning curve , and most folks won't learn..

EA7 for me was another Love/hate relationship..
but overall more love then hate.

There were at least 4 or 5 tones I tried to modify and got the message "This tone cannot be edited"
I actually understand that.