Roland BK9 vs BK5

[trebleclef]

Hello.

I play a Roland BK5, having come from a G1000 in the past. Although the BK5 sounds good, it doesn’t compare to the G1000 sound.

I would have loved a BK9 but budget doesn’t allow.

What is it that makes the high end keyboards sound richer than the mid range models, as I suspect the hardware is pretty much the same.

Is it sample quality, better fx, a combination of the two or a number of other factors.

Would putting the BK5 through a high quality reverb unit bring it anywhere near?

A lot of the sounds on the BK5 are good, some great, but the pianos in my opinion are poor. So I’ve also been thinking about a piano sound module or a separate synth but would rather have just the one keyboard if possible. I use the piano tone along with the accompaniments a lot so it’s important to me.

I have no problems with the accompaniments, I think they’re great. Just missing that rich sound and wondered if there was a way to get near to it with my BK5?

 

[Biggles]

I have never, ever seen any Roland arranger so zero experience of them.

Generally lower end have smaller sound samples so major difference there.

There will probably be compromises in the amp and onboard speakers between the two models.

Do have a look through the manual and see what adjustments are available, ie global EQ and adjustments to individual sounds like attack, decay, sustain and release.

If all else fails you could add a pair of monitor speakers and a parametric graphic equaliser.

As for additional sounds you can always connect up an iPad or computer and use an App like Ravenscroft

 

[trebleclef]

Thanks for your reply and the info.

I can’t understand why the old high end keyboards still sound better than the new mid range stuff.

I would’ve thought that storage for samples would be much cheaper today and therefore more room to store better samples.

I noticed a much more lush reverb on the higher end keyboards so maybe tweaking reverb can help.

I hate fiddling though. Just want to choose a style and play away…