Actually, the Piano, Electric Piano and B3 organ are VASTLY improved on the BK-9! If you thought they were good before, oh my! You have a pleasant surprise in store. And there are about 600+ more sounds in the BK-9 than in the BK-5 and about 17 more kits.

It isn't simply a beefed up BK-5. It's quite a different beast.

TBH, after several weeks on the BK-9, I am getting used to the screens. Most of what you need to access on a gig is easy to set up on the 4 switches by the bend lever and the FC-7 as far as functions go, and numeric and Favorite sounds, styles and Performances make quick recall if you are doing free panel. Mind you, who is still doing things that way? Set up the Performances into Songbook style, and things are easy to run.

And the FULL Performance editor and other handy iPad apps is starting to make the touch screen not as big an issue as it was when first released. As usual, Roland tend to let something out into the wild before it is quite finished, but the new OS and the BK-9 Performance editor has narrowed the gap to my G70 considerably. I'm going to be testing the BK-9 editor on a borrowed iPad soon, and I'll let you know it it can substitute for the touch screen.

Don't forget, a BK-9 and an iPad is STILL quite a bit cheaper than the G70 was..!

Damn it Diki, shut up. You're getting me interested in that stupid thing.
DonM

Those are reasons enough for me to be glad I got the 900! Thanx, George!

Hi,

from whatever videos i have seen, the BK 9 is far more superior to S750 or 900. It is the best arranger for a solo-player/recordist, given its 76 keys, and 3 RTs.
i have checked the schedule witb Roland's biggest distributor in India, and the sad news is that i need to wait till October to put a hand on it. Whereas the 900 is already available for import on a "pre-payment" basis.

Now THERE's an opinion for ya. As a player who sings, having NO SPEAKERS is a huge drawback for me, so it's not the best for me. I often set up in restricted spaces, and the 76 keys are usually a pain, so there's another reason that the BK9 is not the best choice for me. I PREFER 61 keys ... it's not a compromise - it's a choice.

Some of us need to stop making blanket statements like our friend hakurup did in this post. Let's be objective. Saying things like "far more superior" is a term that should be prefaced with "FOR MY NEEDS ..."


I'll try my best to stay subjective too.

regards,
John

You might've seen some videos I haven't...
But wait, I DID seen them all!


BK9 is superior, if you need 76 keys.
BK9 is inferior if you need a harmonizer, touch screen and sampler.

The rest (sounds, styles, functions) are rather subjective issues.

But certainly is not FAR superior in any regards. Not to Pa900 that is.

For some reason, I can not edit the previous post.
I just wanted to add that of course the audio loops is a great advantage for BK-9.
And one more Off Topic, I really like what this guy is going: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW0hNpMZahs

Overall, unless you are willing to pay $1500+ more than the BK-9, it seems the harmonizer is a moot issue. If I need one for the BK-9, I can buy a FAR superior external VH for FAR less than that! So far, from UD's demos, it seems the built in VH has some serious issues, and you may need an external VH even though you paid for the internal one!

And, for solo or duo work, the touch screen is also a non-issue. Who on earth doesn't set everything up in advance for stuff like that? My primary beef with having no touch screen is that I do a lot of live band pickup work, and seldom have an opportunity to set up Performances in advance, so calling everything on the fly is important. But it looks like the BK-9 Performance editor iPad app may allow me to do even that soon, and make the need for a touch screen even less.

Also, TBH, the only real need for a sampler is if some of the internal voices suck so bad you need to put something better in! Haven't so far come across anything I can't live with... And I'm VERY picky!

I agree that everything is subjective as to sound, but I think that the areas you think the PA900 has an edge aren't quite as big as you think.