hey guys,

i am thinking of buying a mid-end arranger (<$1000). i was curious if roland exr-s series is a good option to consider against a korg PA50 or yamaha psr-1500. if not, in what features does roland lag behind? (or any other model from roland in this price range)

There is plenty of discussion about pa50 vs psr-1500 on this forum, but nobody discusses roland exr-s series much. any input will be appreciated. Thanks!

A few things about myself. I'm a serious hobbyist. I just play for myself ... no gigging, no singing. So stand-alone playing experience is what matters most to me. I don't like to hook up my keyboard to a PC, so lots of cool styles and accompaniments will be a big plus (which I beleive roland offers). And although i mostly play western style tracks, i may be interested in oriental stuff since i'm from South Asia (thinking about EXR-40 OR too).

Be aware that oriental stuff of EXR-40 OR is more arabic oriented than asian; maybe GW-7 has a sound set more suited to your area, but has no speakers on board and no scale-tune switches.

Hi, in MY opinion, for the price range I think a better choice it could be either the Korg PA50 or the Yamaha PSR.
And as far it goes user styles availability, you will find more more Yamaha, Korg, Ketron( yes Ketron has more styles)....and then the Roland...(from internet) either form user groups, commercial sellers, and very little support from Roland in this area.
The Key Word is User Friendly interface, the other brands are more accesible or more intuitive as far is my own opinion, sound are ok, the ones that have speakers built in, the sound quality is not there....I like the GW7, aldo, it does not have built in speakers, it is user friendly, but it lacks of storage, only through USB transfers for styles or SMFs.

sound wise/band situation- pa 50,versatility wise (for arranger/styles),psr 1500.