Well, here we go again. What is Roland thinking? I bought the BK-7M and it has really great sounds. Later I bought the BK-5 Keyboard thinking it would sound just like the BK-7M. Big disappointment - sent it back after only 4 days. Don't know why Roland doesn't jump back into the TOTL arranger market again.
Deane
Yeah, I wish they would make a TOTL as well... I think Diki sums it up quite well:
I think that Roland seem to have got a pretty good handle on the arranger market right now. Concentrate on the low to middle end of the market. While we make what SEEMS to be a fair amount of noise about the high end of the scale, we are but a TINY percentage of the market. And growing smaller every day.
You see, contrary to what impression you might get if you were deluded enough to think that SZ in any way represented the majority of arranger players, most people that buy an arranger do not immediately start obsessing over what the NEXT one might do. In fact, the vast majority of arrangers go to people without the skills (or desire!) to learn the capabilities, in full, of what they already got!
Think of them, in a way, as Granddad's 'home organ', sitting in the dusty living room... HE certainly didn't change organs every time a new one came out! They sit in the living room (or bedroom, or closet!) for YEARS..!
High end arranger sales are dropping like flies. People got a LOT more on their plate than what to waste their money on, these days. In the meantime, the low end arrangers have become SO MUCH better than they used to be, for anyone less than a professional or a VERY serious hobbyist (with deep pockets), they are all anyone could need!
Look at the low end that has come out lately. PA600, BK-7m/BK5... Arrangers down in that $1000 price range (still not chump change when you compare them to the über-cheapies down at Sears). They easily blow the TOTL from 10 years ago out of the water! It has gotten to the point that, unless you are a total arranger FREAK (or one of the many here that seem to think that a new arranger is the way to play better!), a $1000 arranger is all you will ever need.
So moving away from the VERY expensive TOTL arrangers, with their rapidly diminishing market (if you are the major supplier of arrangers to a small area, perhaps you haven't noticed this, but go talk to one of the smaller dealers!) and rapidly narrowing capabilities and sound with the BOTL seems to be a smart move.
The only REAL area left for improvement is what YOU play on them, not some bell and whistle. And, from so much of what I hear here, that's an untapped well of need! One that will not be met by buying a TOTL arranger!
