Yep...that wasn't a demo Roland would be proud of...I'm sure the BK-5 sounds a heck of a lot better than what was heard in that obviously amateur video.

Ian

Just get the Prelude

I remember the Pa3x having very dismal opening demos when it was offered....but that turned out to be wrong as we all know it sounds really good now..so maybe the same thing is happening here with this demo? I hope so.....
at this point the Yamaha Psr650 sounds so much better.

Am I the only one who thinks this, but is there that big a shortage of arranger players who can pull off a decent demo of these new instruments?

Yes, Yamaha is lucky with Peter, Martin, Glynn and Michele, but surely there are other arranger players available with enough talent to demo the Korgs and the Rolands without making these great instruments sound second rate.

Ian

I agree.....its rediculous to showoff for the first time a companies product with someone who has no clue how to demonstrate it....I don't get it?
First impressions are everything. I was actually thinking of buying one....but after seeing this I'm not so sure now..

My thoughts . . .
I suspect, its not only the camera phone video, but
that we're merely hearing the BK-5 thru its built in speakers.
I will reserve my judgement about the sound until I hear a demo
digitally recorded directly from the keyboards audio outputs,
as this is the same negative press the TOTL Korg PA3X
got when only heard thru its optional & rather pricy auxlllary speakers,
Considering that fact, "relatively speaking" of course,
the BK-5's built in ones don't really sound so terrible.

Scott

I hope your right Scott.....meanwhile I'm lovin the KMA also as you & Fran are too...definitely one of the best arranger deals on the market!!

FWIW, I'm pretty certain that video sound is down to two things.

One, as already mentioned, it's a camera phone, and

Two, there's probably no tweaking been done on that keyboard - no matter how good any keyboard sounds OOTB, they all benefit from some amount of tweaking.

Plus, while I can see the intent of demonstrating it using its own speakers is to attract the 'home buyer' - I hate that term - anyone who would be using it on stage most probably wouldn't be relying on its built-in speakers, anyway.

Roland has been making quality gear for long enough that I can't believe they'd put out anything that initially sounds as substandard as that.

Scott, I too feel that it doesn't sound all that bad. The drum and bass was really good to my amateur ears. I found another demo showcasing some balkan sounds .. I think :
Bk-5 demo
But one thing they should have added is a full blown sequencer; that would really distinguish it from the bk-7m feature wise. This will help in selling both the 7m and the 5 of course to different user segments. Bk 7m is a lot of value for money especially for those wanting to play right out of the box(quite literally without the need for sequencing.
Won't be surprised if a Bk-9 (76 key) totl comes up some time later this year.

Hi Jez, thanks for that Bk-5 song link.
While on the Sound Cloud link you gave,
I found another tune, recorded on the BK7M by the same artist.
Equally Impressive vocal & keyboard performance and Roland sound of the
Classic Jim Morrison and the Doors tune:
Riders On The Storm

btw: I'm a big fan of Sound Cloud for disovering new artists and sharing music.
I have it installed both on my desktop as well as here on my iPad.