Who said touch screen is required for a great arranger? Yamaha didn't have this until the very latest generation, i.e., Genos. I don't think the Audya had a touch screen either. On many Ketron models the vocal harmony is optional.

The two things I wish the E-A7 had that it doesn't, are a 16-track sequencer (to ensure complete MIDI capture and quick editing), and maybe a chord looper- which would bring it near feature parity with the BK-9. I don't personally use the D-Beam or FC-7 (yet), so loss of those features isn't a big deal to me.

It's conceivable, although unlikely after 5 years, that Roland could bring out an E-A9 with these features. I don't mind the "Asia" designation. If making an instrument multi-cultural is what it takes for Roland to achieve its breakeven point, I'm fine with it. They even found a way to adapt the scale keyboard buttons to a "Western" purpose.

I'm afraid Roland's out of the arranger game for good. But if all I can scrounge years from now is an E-A7, that wouldn't be too terrible.