with all the Bk9 talk lately it's interesting to compare...

In my opinion, the Roland BK-9 has a more "live" sound. It also sounds like a more serious instrument. In comparison, the Yamaha PSR-S950 sometimes sounds more "toyish". I base my opinion not only on the above video, but also on hands-on experience in stores.

I always thought I'd get either a Tyros or a PSR-S950. However, lately I've been hearing lots of online demos, and I'm not so sure anymore. Don't get me wrong, the PSR-S950 sounds good, even very good, depending on the voices and styles chosen. And the intros and endings are the best I've heard. The BK-9, however, has a certain "transparency" in its sound that I like very much. It reminds me of my Yamaha Motif XF6. You can hear each instrument very clearly, cleanly and distinctly.

There are other factors which, for me, are important, like better (and more) keys on the BK-9. The PSR-S950's keys give it a toyish feeling.

The acoustic guitars are not good and realistic on the BK-9, at least to my ears. Styles which contain them don't sound good. The BK-7m acoustic sounds are similar, unfortunately.

Right hand sounds may be better on the PSR-S950, except some of the SuperNatural sounds found on the BK-9.

Then, there's the matter of price. Retail prices are $1,900 for the PSR-S950, and $2,500 for the BK-9. Lately, the Bk-9 went down in price by $250, so that might lean in its favor.

On a personal note, I've also been comparing the Korg PA900. I like it, too. Hard to say which I'd prefer, without more time spent playing them in person. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated from those who've owned at least two of the above models.

Thank you, Donny, for starting this interesting thread.

P.S. Of course, there's also the new Ketron SD7 and the upcoming PSR-S970.....when will it end? I hope never!

having owned the BK-9 it my opinion that the Yamaha is much better .

i was not a big fan of the Bk - 9 I also owned a G-70 and can say that unit was much better then BK-9

from what I can hear from demos it looks like SD-7 better as well.

Mikem...your very welcome ......
I agree with some of your observations..as a S950 player/performer after 2 years I have made the unit "MY OWN" thru extensive tweaking to my liking & here lies the magic. And that goes with any arranger out on the market today....just auditioning it in a music store for a hour or so isn't going to cut it. You have to really dig in & give the unit hands on time something in the past I have faltered in doing myself, & maybe I should have kept o few of the KBs I sold without enough time or effort. But being a gigging musician doesn't give you the benefit and time to dill dally around in your living room. Its amazing I still have the S950 after 2 years, it's very reliable, sounds terrific, lightweight, great speakers. Of course there are features I don't like, such as VH2, small display with no tilt, MFD doesn't save all info eg: transpose, or song text size/font adjustments. But despite these downfalls with workarounds I make it work for me. each brand has its own plus & minuses...you as the player need to address "your needs" and see what you can live with & make you happy playing as new models will come out all the time in the future.

When I first sat down with my S950, I thought to myself, this thing is not going to do the job as well as my old PSR-3000. Then, after a couple hours of tweaking and tuning, I thought to myself "Damn, this thing really sounds great - much better than any keyboard I've owned in the past, and I've owned lots of them, too. The last Roland I owned was the G800. It was OK, but IMO, the Yammies beat that G800 by a mile. Never owned the G-70 - my back is shot to Hell now and there's no way I want to add to the pain with a keyboard with a cast iron case.

All the best,

Gary

Must say,

I spend a lot of time on my S950 lately & we've used it for all performances for more than three months now. I like the versatility in the different styles and there are many, many thousands to be had. Even most of the modified Tyros 5 styles sound fantastic on it. I only miss those live human voices, but nothing else.

I make my own multipads from styles & these make fore a huge improvement to many already very good sounding styles. I love to mix symphony with rock - beautiful!!!

Henni

There is no wrong decision. I've had 'em all. It just depends on how comfortable you are with the operating system, and if you are hearing what you want to hear!

We are all so different to each other that the very essence of the matter is not wich one might be better, but simply which one do I like better. I've learnt that the most obvious "bad" sound - to may ear - is "great" to someone else. So, the debate over this is useless, as are even the technical tests to prove one sound or instrument is "cleaner" or "clearer" than other. Frequencies and stuff.

The only thing that matters is what I find suitable for own preferences. And even this is not fixed, because we all like something, then next year we like something else and so on. How could we set what;s "the best" when our own taste and preference change rather dramatically sometimes!?



That being said, I think there are features that will separate some things from others. To me, BK-9 is more appealing (beside the sounds and styles) because it's 76 keybed, physical sliders, audio keys, build quality and weight. I like Pa900 too, for it's touchscreen, VH, DNC and onboard speakers. Yamaha I like for it's styles mainly, but in all other departments, I'd put it third in my preferences.

Of all of these three, right now, BK-9 it's priced best, in this part of the world. That is a factor too. A major one.

Wow! Thank you all for your opinions.

What Adimatis said is true about our changing tastes. Some things, like the physical construction of a keyboard is very easily seen, but for many things, like sound, it's more a matter of personal taste.

And Travelin'easy makes a very good point about customizing a keyboard, something you cannot do at a store. That's why others' opinions matter a lot, especially those who actually own the keyboard/s in question.

Great responses, all of you!

NOTE: This review relates to 1st hand experience (Although some time ago) as well as the videos.

Watched the video directly on YouTube, and also took the opportunity to watch the BK9, PA900 comparison video which was done at the same time, both of which were quite reasonable compared to some demos. (Most manufactures demos use recording and mastering equipment beyond what most users will have, thus it sounds better than in the real world and hence it’s always best to use them as a rough guide only)

Sounds:
Like most Yamaha arrangers the sounds ranged from passable to overblown, (Individually some of the voices sounded better than the real instrument, which as I require realism has always been a no-no for me) but they were well balanced, however the BK9 was a different story, in that the voices sound like real instruments with no artificial flavourings, thus are much more satisfying then what the S950 can provide.

Styles:
This was a big surprise (I have always rated Yamaha styles as poor, boring, repetitive and un-realistic, with Roland being top notch) as the 950 left the BK9 for dead, (They were literally awful and an embarrassment to the Roland name) and while the 950 still had Yamaha traits they were so much better balanced and real sounding, it’s surprising that the instruments are from the same vintage.

Operation:
The longer keyboard, sliders and knobs were great positives for the BK9; however the rest looked like an ergonomic disaster, designed by an engineer rather than a musician. The 950 was much more logical although spread out a bit wide, with some controls such as OTS set towards the extremes rather than the middle ground.

Conclusion:
Swings and roundabouts really as both had there good points, but neither stood out as being anything special.

To add the cat among the pigeons:
I mentioned earlier that I had also viewed the PA900, BK9 demo, and I have to say it was a bit of an embarrassment, as the PA900s performance was so far ahead of the BK9. S950 in most respects, that it was quite amazing; its only slip up was the panel layout, which was the most illogical of any board out there, but did have the advantage of a touch screen which earned it bonus points.

Conclusion:
For me personally a no brainer really, the PA900 is the one to beat in that price bracket, with the BK9 and S950 falling well short of consideration.

Bill

Bill, that's exactly what I decided.
I've been quite happy with the PA900.

I like the bk9 better, it should have been a hit for that price, tough they made some failures, the double screen was misunderstood and it should have been a single bigger screen, and it should have had the even better ekybed of the G70. I dont think the bk9 is that far behind the totl arrangers of other brands at all... Tough a Fa06 combined with Varranger2 offers more for less money..

The psr s950 is not bad, and will do the job,,, but its so many miles behind the tyros 5, and the upcomming 970 will not make the distance much smaller.. Where the psr s950/970 misses all those great things i like most aboit my T5, 76keys, UI, sa2 sounds, effects, ensemble, the church and theatre and euro organ, the huge flash memmory for user sounds..

Just listen to the Yamaha B3 and realise how far it is from the real thing..




The pa900 in my opinion is as close to the top model, as an arranger can be, and has almost all the same great sounds as a pa3x, its a wise choice if you only need 61 keys..

I was wondering if it's possible to do the following:

Let's say I buy a Korg PA900 (or any other arranger, for that matter) and I use it for its styles, but replace some of the Korg's sounds by the ones in my Motif XF's. For example, I choose a style, let's say Bossa Nova, but instead of having the guitar sound and bass sounds from the Korg play, I switch them with those of the Motif's?

Do you think it would work?

Why not just MIDI both keyboards?

Thanks, Donny, that's exactly what I thought I would need to do, but I was just wondering if it was possible.

Sure you can do it...opne you MIDI both and get them talking to each other it will work fine... many players use a two KB setup just that way for the same reasons....

http://www.synthzone.com/forum/ubbthread..._Tyr#Post388554

Thank you, Donny! That's good news!

Another way to go would be using the Motif & vArranger program..

http://www.varranger.com/

Yes, that would be another way to do it, Donny, with the advantage that the sounds would come from the TOTL Motif. However, I resist using software. I just don't have the brains for it. Besides, I would have to buy a computer. I simply prefer to sit at a keyboard and make music. Call me old fashioned (well, at 53, I guess I am old!).

Hi Mike

While it will be relatively easy to connect to your Motif via Midi, arrangers tend to have limited Midi control features, (Yamaha being particularly poor) although the Korg are normally quite comprehensive.

Fortunately the Motif has excellent Midi capabilities, (Another advantage a Workstation has over an arranger) so you will be able to boost the arranger Midi features by doing a lot of mixing/switching work via the Motif.

Not sure how well you are up with Midi; however here is a tutorial to get you going,

Happy experimenting

Bill

All The arranger needs to be able to do for this purpose is to show on which channels the various style parts are sent out and to mute them internally. The Roland BK-7m can do this. In the Motif, you just have to prepare a Performance ( or it's rather called 'song' there with some of its 16 parts being matched to The respective midi channels. That should be all..

Thank you, Abacus, and Rosetree! This opens up a lot of possibilities.

Midi is something that I will need to look into, as I'm quite inexperienced in this area.

Looking forward to getting an arranger one day, and perhaps an Integra-7, too. It all depends on my financial situation.

If only Roland would turn the Integra-7 into an arranger keyboard! This would take care of great acoustic, orchestral and choir sounds, plus an arranger, with keys!

Thanks again to all who responded!