Copied from the newest 4Sound catalogue. 4Sound is a large Danish music store. The major points from the text are:

Price: € 2100
76 keys
1700 sounds
22 SuperNatural sounds
70 drumsets
Virtual tone wheel organs
540 styles
1000 music assistants
5 MFX blocks
Mastering effects
Intuitive panel layout
Double LCD display
Professional 16-track sequencer
Rhythm composer
Microphone XLR input with dedicated reverb
Composite video out for song texts and images
Roland Wireless connect and iPad apps

Source: 4Sound Instrumental 09 2013

2,100 x 1.28 = $2,688.00

That's the Euro to Dollar rate. Yikes!

Don’t forget Denmark has a 25% VAT rate (Sales Tax) so you will need to remove this first and then convert to dollars, finally adding your local VAT (Sales Tax)

€2100 – 25% VAT = €1680

Conversion €1680 x 1.28 = $2150.40

Add your local tax to $2150.40 get a true conversion price

Bill

Ok, were is the SAMPLER? WHAT? no sampler? they are back to what? forward technology? or another ROMPLER?

It looks to me...that Roland is responding to most folks "wish list"...76 keys, good sounds and styles, lightweight, mic input......and price point..

Sure there are a few folks that would use a sampler...mostly for novelty sounds...rarely if ever do you find a user sample of any quality.....and with the pallette of sounds from the factory, most needs are covered...

Roland could have a BIG time winner, especially if they used the Juno Stage keybed..

I bought the Roland BK-3 and was extremely disappointed - returned it.
If I buy the BK-9 it will be from a store with a very liberal return policy.

Deane

We can add the assignable D beam to the list...


When I use the Prelude (with the band)...I have the drum roll on the D beam and when you release the D beam it has a kick drum and crash...very much an attention grabber...I really wish I had this on my G70 D beam option...but NO, I have to use a drum kit and play the roll and crash manually

If this option is on the BK9..it is another positive..

Well, I believe that Europe and the Middle East are the biggest buyers of arrangers and you have to have and make your own sounds,and not be satisfied with what the factory gives you,Roland super natural sounds and Yamaha Super Articulation sounds just don't take you to the next level or bring you back to the game of arrangers, for me although I have all the brands, KORG is on top followed by KETRON, everyone else is just reinventing the tire. KORG surely does give you a lot for the money just wish they had 1 gig sampler instead of 512 megs. We have 2013 and arrangers should go beyond sampling and audio drums should of been the norm and 15 gigs of sampling ram, I hope that Roland is listening? because for me they are a great company, but they dropped the ball when it comes to arrangers.
We constantly write about the same things over and over and every year the same at NAMM

I agree with you....I know that the sound library (Roland) does include many sounds from Europe and Middle East....can you give us examples of sounds that are still required...maybe they could be available on factory expansion cards..(of course the new line from Roland doesn't have access to cards)

I figured it would be around the $2599/$2699+ mark for a TOTL arranger. Compared to Audya, Tyros, PA3x this is a steal with all those features.!!

That's a HUGE gap in price to the next lower arranger. I'm not really sure what Roland are thinking here. A $1500 price hike for the next best arranger after the BK-5. Roland's last 76 MOTL arranger was in the $1800 range...

Admittedly, the last price structure was E50 for $1500 and E60 for $1800, with the E60 being little more than an E50 with 76 keys. Then the jump to the $3500 G70 (although street after the move to the MI division was usually closer to $3000), for which you got a HUGE increase in build and performance. Maybe I'm being unkind to the BK-9 initially, maybe all the new toys will make the $1500 price hike over the BK-5 worth it. But I can't help thinking that maybe $2000 tops (in the S950 ballpark) would have been a more palatable mark for the next level up in Roland Arranger technology.

Maybe they have a 61 BK-9 in the works to hit this demographic? That might be a good move.

But, despite my elation that MIDI recording, the Chord Sequencer and a decent B3 clone have returned to the line, I must confess, I cannot understand why the touch screen has been dropped. Particularly as Korg seem to have no issues using them even on their low end arrangers, let alone the TOTL...

The dual non-touch screens screams 'cheap', IMO. And makes a significant impediment to comparison to the G/E series.

Is the new BK9 display screen COLOR?

No.

What's the sales tax rate in the US, as only this has to be added to the $2150.40 price tag.

Bill

each State/City here in the USA has a different sales tax rate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_taxes_in_the_United_States

And most order on the internet, avoiding state sales tax in many states (though not all).

Sadly, the BK partner software only does mostly what you can get to from the front panel of the BK anyway. That and some typing help. This is NOT a substitute for a touch screen by ANY means.

A $600 peripheral to substitute for a touch screen that USED to be fine for a $1300 arranger (albeit B&W)?

Tell me the sense in THAT?

After seeing the picture and features I find the BK 9 not so interesting any more. But maby the sound is OK.

Well, the BK drums did pretty well in our drum track shoot out, particularly at the price point those BK3 and BK5 units come in at.

Overall, unless you are already dead set against Roland no matter what, it might well be worth waiting until the demos come out...

For a sub-$1000 unit, I am pretty impressed with the sound of my BK-7m. It compares quite favorably with my G70 (which was $2500 more expensive!) at many things. Sure, the BK3/5/9 aren't built as well as the G70, but sheesh! They sound pretty damn good for the price point (BK9 opinion to come!).

Yes the BK-5 and BK 7m sound very good and I have always said that. And the BK 9 will sound great no doubt about that, but if he costs really about 2000 Euro I expect more. For example a decent touch screen and a sample load option like the new PSR's and PA600

Now if I want one I have to buy also a Ipad to use the free apps and have a touch screen.

No touch screen on a PSR...

And sample import on the PSR is entirely ONLY Yamaha proprietary format. They either put out a Pack of the sounds you want (best of luck), or you might as well not have one.

For $1500 or more LESS than a G70 was, I think the BK9 feature set doesn't look too bad. I agree, disappointing that there's no touch screen, but apparently, Yamaha users seem OK with that!

Yeah I tend to agree with you on this Diki. It may not be for me, but it (the BK9) certainly is a decent offering from Roland...I still think around $2800 retail is a bit "up there", but that's just me.

April 4th is the unveiling according to http://www.rolandconnect.com Hopefully the polyphony will be greater than 128 but I kind of doubt it. FWIW, Casio just came out with a $1,299 ($999 street) keyboard (PX-5S) with 256 note polyphony. Casio has recently produced some amazing keyboards. But I digress.

Roland is back and that's a good thing. The new BK could possibly be a TOTL offering depending on several factors. If it has top of the line sounds then they're off to a good start. But no color LCD screen(s) is a huge oversight in my opinion. It has a mic input with reverb control but there is no mention of a harmonizer. It can play .mp3 but the Yammie S-950 can play both .mp3 and .wav and the Yammie is $800 less if the price of the new BK is correct. Plus the Yammie has a harmonizer. Although the mic-preamp on the PSR-S950 is a huge disappointment if you ask me.

76 keys is a bonus but we'll have to see if it has after-touch. There are some promising signs such as real draw-bars but I'm somewhat skeptical because of the oversight and omissions e.g. no color LCD, no harmonizer?? and no sampler possibly either. The price point makes it high-end in that regard but until we know more it could end up being a mid-range board depending on the features, sounds and functions. If it turns out to be a mid-range board at a high-end price then a lot of consumers will likely pass on it. I know, I know. Don't put the cart before the horse. We'll know in a few hours what's what. In the meantime it's kind of exhilarating to realize Roland is finally getting serious about higher-end arranger products again.

All the best, Mike

This is MOTL... Still no TOTL.

Basically, if Yamaha wouldn't be so stupid and put out a 76 S950, that would be the BK9's competition, not the T4.

TOTL is just that, the highest priced item in the lineup & at this time is the BK-9 holds that title in Roland's arranger KB category I would say..

We tend to use TOTL, MOTL and BOTL as comparison figures of speech rather than be pedantic in their use strictly in the context of the product lineup of that specific manufacturer, Donny.

I don't seem to recall anyone using the term TOTL for the BK-5, despite that being its literal place before the BK9 came out.

Mind you, Roland themselves use the term 'Flagship' for the BK9. Not exactly encouraging, if you (like me) are actually wishing for a REAL TOTL arranger.

To be fair, it IS real enough, just not with features and tools or hardware that some of us would like

It's a 76 note S950..!

It can't be compared to a PA3x or a T4 or even a G70. It lacks considerably compared to any of them (and is quite a bit less expensive). If it were $5000, I'd have to agree. At $2500 (and price likely to fall quickly... I was noting sub-$1000 BK-7m's within days of its release) it's firmly in what everyone ELSE calls the MOTL bracket. Remember, list on an S950 is $2500. Street more like $1900. That's an AWFUL lot closer than the jump to the $5000 TOTL T4.

TOTL is a FEATURE comparison word. The BK9 compares to none of those.

It's a VERY good MOTL arranger. But TOTL? ...Please!

Maybe we need new descriptors? BOTTOTL (bottom of the top of the line)? UMOTL (upper middle of the line)? SITOTLBIR (says it's top of the line but isn't really!)?

LOL