Roland BK-5 First Impressions...

Although I had tinkered for a short while with the BK-5 upon it's release months ago at Frans Studio I really didn't get chance to really dig into it a bit more that day to get a significant understanding of it's workings, I remember it sounding pretty good then. But Now I have it here & once again I am impressed with it. First off the keybed actually feels better then the PSR/S Series units giving a bit more resistance and more quality feel. Lightweight is an understatement, you can pick the unit up under your arm.
I went thru most of the factory styles, and RH sounds and honestly this is a very usable and quality sounding arranger KB out of the box. The OS is a bit different and mostly menu driven using the USB drive as it's storage, nice that it's on deck not in the rear, etc, but it's very functional once you get used to it. It looks good too (Black).
Drums sound excellent!! On-board speakers are not as good as the S950 but adequate enough for practice or monitoring. Bright clear display screen very legible. USB Audio player works flawlessly, easy access to songs or files. I'm still exploring the unit when I can between gigs and I'm sure to have more to discuss about it soon. Styles sound terrific on par with the BK-7m, Amazing sound at this price point,......
Overall I'm impressed with the BK-5 so far & can only imagine that the New BK-9 is even better with more features.
to be continued.....

Another thing that's nice is navigating around using the USB drive is pretty much "INSTANT" to get to use styles, mp3's, or what have you by just scrolling and hit enter,
I'm using a 32GB drive...!
It looks like the BK5 will be a great backup to my S910 so far.
next to set up some GIG performance play lists and one touch setups.

s910?
What don't I know??????

Donny has another senior moment

It's bad when the mind goes - I should know!

Sorry I meant S950 ..lol

Still curious why, if you need a 'backup' keyboard to your main arranger, you don't simply get ANOTHER S950..? Or, if money is the object, a used S910.

Maybe I'm confusing the term 'backup', but I am imagining that you are wanting something in case your S950 won't work..? Getting an arranger from a totally different manufacturer means you can't use your Songbook, your usual styles, your Performances, and basically puts you at square one so you need to try to look for alternatives, and program an entire evening's worth of Performances and Songbook entries from scratch.

Whereas another keyboard either identical or the previous one you had, all that work is done already, so when your main axe goes down, you pick up the spare and carry on like nothing happened.

It's the reason I have TWO G70's... I am not sure I would ever go out and but a Yamaha (or any other brand) as a 'backup'. I'd buy it if I wanted something ELSE, but I wouldn't call it a 'backup'.

I'm sorta guilty of that too, but in reality any of the top arrangers will work just fine. Knowing all the operating systems keeps us old guys' brains working I guess.
I don't even have a backup right now for the first time in many years. I COULD get through the night with the laptop if disaster strikes.
I'm pretty much content using the PA3x. It's arguably the most complete arranger as far as features, apart from maybe the Audya.
None of them are perfect, but all are pretty darn good.
A totl Roland or a new Yamaha (not just the same old semi-upgrades), would really get some attention, but those are way off, if they happen at all.
Sorry for rambling and diverting the thread.
DonM

In all honesty I could perform with pretty much any arranger KB on the market, having done so in the past and present it's no big deal.Cocky? no,Confident in my playing abilities? yes! A need to have two the same units? ridiculous IMO. I feel a players creativeness is more readily achieved using different instruments is challenging & adds to the Spice of Life for Live performance & recording. Each manufacturer offers us different and unique features that can be used in many ways.
Brand loyalty doesn't exist for myself, never did, the only constant thru my 47yrs of performing & #1 priority is playing & singing great music that my audiences can always enjoy.

Not to take anything away from Donny's playing and entertaining talent, remember he uses a lot of mp3's for backing, so the keyboard is not as important most of the time. A few go-to styles on any keyboard can get you thru any job. Lastly, is was a deal he couldn't pass up from friend Fran...

Wrong my friend, ......I use it ALL depending on the gig, 4hrs, 1 hr, 8 hr doubles, etc,..on a NH gig I "NEVER" use anything but live style play,.....styles all night many times or combined with mp3 backing tracks that I have created and recorded many on the arrangers or in combo with SMf files also, & multitracking too,.. DJ'ing also with no Kb at all sometimes too,...who cares? You gotta have it all and be a good singer too and be ready to use it at a moments notice...a one trick pony ain't gonna cut it in todays world of music.

I guess I'm old school. My backup for my PSR-3000 is an identical PSR--3000. If the keyboard were to drop dead on the job, which has never happened, I guess I could get by with the laptop.

Cheers,

Gary

Well....I learned a big lesson on eh BK 5 that was frustrating me regarding "SAVING MY PERFORMANCE LIST" after doing my edits, I step that simply I kept bypassing resulting in my song-list to disappear every-time I shut off the KB. I almost gave up until Fran & Diki got me back on course with the remedy to ALWAYS use the SAVE LIST function. Now I can easily create song lists for gigs and scroll right thru them and perform on stage with ease. let me also say that the BK series units have some terrific styles that are so useful for so many genres eg: "Survive Disco", Gold Foxtrot, "Franks Way", etc,....good stuff.

to be continued

This BK-5 really sounds good...but sadly I will have to let it go as the NEW BK-9 is in my sites very soon.

Price drop..

http://www.synthzone.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/364898#Post364898