It might be interesting to discuss why we decide to get a new arranger…

What flips the switch, what’s the trigger for making the change, what decides for you that it’s time to move on up (or sideways!) to the new model?

Can you think back to perhaps the last couple of times you got a different arranger, and find a common factor to what it was that made you spend your money?

My first arranger keyboard was a Tyros 2, and I liked it a lot, except the width. It was very hard to stack on a two keyboard stand, so I changed to a psr 950. When the sx900 came out, I had to have it for the chord looper function. It’s a great feature, now I would never buy an arranger keyboard without it. Total game changer!

I still have a Korg Havian, Korg Micro, and Ketron Audya. I’m not looking to change them,but I could get by just fine without them , even though they all serve unique purposes. The sx900 is my my most versatile tool.

Montunoman, I share your thoughts about the Sx900; I feel the same. I am going to add my KMA to the Sx900, I love some of the sounds.

Reasons for buying a new keyboard:
1-Owned every keyboard that Technics made from the Kn1000, to the Kn7000 --- and I was never disappointed.
2-I always bought the new flag model when I played out; I was being paid top dollar, why not.

3-I enjoy setting up a new keyboard --- it brings new interest.

4-I sold my Yamaha Tyros 3 to buy a Korg pa800; more drive.

5-I sold the Pa800 to buy a Korg pa4x ---- that was Don’s fault (smile) If I was still playing out I would have a Korgpa4x, or a Pa5x keyboard.

6-I bought the Yamaha Sx900 because it had many of the same features that the Kn7000 had. The Sx900 had less drive, but over all sound was richer.

7-And sometimes it’s BORDOM, BORDOM! BOORDOM!

There are many opinions out there, and that’s good.
John C.

For me, it was the improved sounds/voices, which were far more realistic than the prior models. There were a few OS updates that came with the upgrades, but nothing that I could not cope with or learn in a few weeks of exploring the keyboard. I managed to sell every one of the prior models within a few months of purchasing the upgrade. The only reason it took that long was that I wanted to be able to do the same things on the upgrade in the same time frame, before taking the newer board on the road.

Good topic, Diki,

Gary

As a light user of the style engine, style fatigue never really raised its head, but if a feature came out that seriously upped the ease of use live, that was a big factor for me. And if something utterly new came out sound wise, like a proper B3 sim or a huge increase in multi velocity sounds and articulated sounds (more expressive) that was often a trigger.

But all in all I tended to feel that it usually took a decade or so before I heard something that made changing mandatory. The only time I shortcut that was going from the G800 to the G1000, two very similar arrangers, but the G1000 had a SCSI disk and the 800 had floppies. No more loading anything on stage, it was all instant! Only had the 800 less than a year, but that one thing completely changed my live show.

The BK9’s audio stuff (live playing MP3’s and WAV’s), articulated guitars and vastly increased sound set and, I won’t deny it! drop in weight from 45lbs to 20lbs made that decision easy…

But I’m a bit surprised only one person copped to boredom as a factor..! I must confess, if I used the style section more, that would have been high on my list. The rate of high quality style creation had dried up to a trickle from the heyday of the 90’s, and while legacy style are sort of okay, they just never quite measure up to the best of the new ROM styles in any model. And consistency of backing, for me, is paramount, live. I want every backing to be equally inspiring…

Style fatigue is one of the reasons I’m so jazzed about Korg’s new ‘2 styles at once’ thing, as mixing and matching exponentially increases your high quality ROM style options!

I think I’m at the point that I may never upgrade again, the little BK9 rarely leaves me wanting, but you never know..! It’s getting about ten years old 😂

Im at a point where I see no need to change Arranger Keyboards. My main keyboards now are the Pa700 and Tyros 4. I have kept my older arrangers which I can go back to when I feel like it. But when only a small pecentage of functions sounds / styles are utilised by most players its like a dog chasing its tail.
How many people have got the latest model only to miss something thats only available in an older model.

I feel the same way about my BK-9 (I have two). Admittedly there are a few new things like clip launching audio (which I would use to be able to do Mark/Jump on audio backing tracks) and dual style engines, but they’re all other manufacturers as Roland left the building. There’s altogether too much I like of the Roland workflow, sound and weight!

Roland have rather taken the gearlust out of the picture by simply not making anything on the pro end of things any more. I can only dream about what they might be coming up with if they had kept going, but at least there!s no temptation..!

My only gearlust these days involves using iPads or computers to add capabilities the BK9 will never have, whether modeled instruments, or backing flexibility, or groovebox beats, etc.

I’m done!

I used to think I needed the latest TOTL keyboard, like the KN7000, the G70, Audya 76, and Hammond SK1. After all, my audience deserves the best, and a new keyboard would get me there; WRONG. It was partially true of new features and better navigation, but, I had work-arounds I could have used. It amounted to gear lust and I was playing 3 to 4 times a week, so why not. Never mind the untold thousands of dollars spent, rather the fact that I never learned the hidden gems of any. I was so busy playing that I would learn only the necessary goodies. That is all from a practical standpoint. The good part is the thrill of having a new toy that I could enjoy, if only superficially. I have since come to my senses and am learning the finer points of what I have. I will spent much time on one, to get it to a higher plateau, then, like finding a forgotten toy in the bottom of your toybox, go to another. The fact that I don't play out like before, is somewhat responsible for my reincarnation, but I am happy with it. After all, at 81 1/2 I can do whatever I want.

In an arranger, I didn't care as much about voices as I did styles. Because I didn't use many voices beyond keyboard-related voices and strings. Also, how live it all sounds. An intuitive interface and OS is also a major plus. Owner interest and participation online is also a plus.

I think it boils down to how much you are able to customise your arranger keyboards, in terms of how much you are able edit sounds, etc.

Rewind back to the early days of arrangers keyboards when you had a limited sound and style library, no means of adding new styles or even editing anything for that matter.

So you had to be creative with what resources you had in front of you.

We are really spoiled for choice today having access to 1000s of styles and sounds.