I think the odds of Roland coming out with a new arranger to supersede the EA7 are basically nil. It’s already over six YEARS. If they had any interest in the segment at all, they’d have already made one.

Actually, the dual screen works quite well, albeit a bit small. But after the big touch screen of the G70, I thought I’d never like the BK-9’s dual, but having lyrics on one screen and registration selection on the other works out very well in a live situation. No current arranger with a touch screen let’s you pick and choose what gets displayed, it’s all preset screens, so all in all it’s a bit of a push.

I rather wish my BK-9 had that army of little buttons surrounding the screens. It works rather well, and kept Yamaha players happy for decades before they went touch screen.

If fear of a new model is what’s keeping you from picking up a nice cheap used EA7, forget it. Roland are FINISHED with arrangers, at least pro ones. They’ll still make hobbyist ones at the low end, they really don’t need to innovate there. But Yamaha and Korg are so far ahead in market share, it would take a massive reinvestment to put themselves back in the game.

I think it’s safe to say the EA7 was the last serious arranger Roland will make, and quite honestly, given a choice between a used EA7 and a used BK-9, I would recommend the BK-9 every time…