Yamaha QX1 & QX3 sequencers | What are the differences?
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- Опубликовано: 24 май 2023
- Yamaha QX1 from 1984 and the QX3 from 1987. Both flagship midi sequencers of the 80s. Very advanced and very cumbersome to use, unless you put in the work and get muscle memory going.
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From purely a looks POV the QX3 is killing it. Love the look of it and out of the entire QX range, it seems to have the best specifications on balance.
4:20 Except for the looks? WOOT! The QX3 is the GOAT, it is the design porn of Yamaha to the extreme. Especially with the mandatory RX5 next to it. Forget steel plate and clunky side panels.... We want Knightrider techno looks with pastel coloured buttons!
The QX3 is by far the best of the two, but the QX1 is the icon, the beacon and what's desirable in terms of design.
I am a fan of sequencers and it strikes me that for some years now, a distinction has been made between "sequencer" and "midi recorders". To be a sequencer it seems you have to be limited to patterns of 32, 64 and 128 steps, and midi recorders don't have patterns of pre-defined duration. At one time "midi recorders" ruled the world, but apparently they fell somewhat out of favor with DAWs. I'm glad that recently the concept of the "midi recorder" is coming back, hopefully so, so that the musicians of the new generations can make music that is more structured and not so repetitive.
Totally with you on that one, I use a QX5 to compose and I wouldn't swap it for a pattern-based sequencer for the world. I only wish had a bit more memory, one day maybe I will get myself a QX3.
What am I missing , finding it hard to see the appeal of these old sequencers!
These were very powerful machines at the time. I only use hardware sequencers so it's nice to watch a video on the both of them. I have never owned a QX but last month I used my QY-700 for the first time. Until then it had been idle. I love the big screen, midi connectivity and clever user interface. It is much easier to operate than a Roland MC.
Really - the QX1 suffered from an absence of punch cards, reel to reel backup and a lady with a beehive and pencil skirt to operate.
We bought the QX1 when the Roland MC500 was released. The QX1 retailed at £2000 but because the MC500 was only £499 Yamaha price-matched the QX1 to stay in the market. A brilliant machine. New Order had one.
My old QX1 gathers dust these days, and operations are somewhat arcane... but it can't be beaten for feeling like you're about to blow up a planet. Yamaha really mastered the look back in the day!
Lol it does look like the death star laser bay console
Sorcerer, Exit, and Thief LPs in the background. Thanks for showing some love for old school TD!
Great group and releases. :)
I never saw or used these back in the day; nice to see them compared. I've never liked the move from all-metal chassis to plastic housing, even when plastics were relatively new.
Yamaha plastic is very hard. :P
I loved my MC50 mkii that rules 90 and 2000's early
I started out with an Alesis MMt-8 but did not like the feel of real-tine 96 ppqn clock. Enter the QX-5 with its 384 ppqn clock and the resulting music went from lifeless real-time patterns that needed to be quantized , to real-time patterns that didn't have to be quantized and sounded alive. Afterwards, I thought of getting a QX-3, but saw that the clock was set at 96 ppqn... The QX-1, which, like the QX-5, was also at 384 ppqn was the "only" other solution, but was too hard for me to get one back then.
It's great that you have come back to this topic and the direct comparison between the two models is very handy!
Thanks!
I was so broke in 87 I had to use my Yamaha RX-17 drum machine as a sequencer for my Yamaha DX100. great days when I got my Roland D-20 in 89.
A lot of people did that one. Actually you can come up with really interesting results using that method!
@@lundsweden Yeah, it's is amazing what you can do when you have to think outside the box. Take it for granted these days with all singing and dancing DAWS etc but back then it was a lot harder to get good results.
My first hardware sequencer was the one built into the Yamaha SY85 sequencer. I found the Yamaha sequencers, in general, were pretty easy to use. I've been toying with getting one of their stand alone sequencers to drive my 80/90s classic rig with. I don't know why, but I feel like the QY10 could be fun (of course, I may also just be a techno-masochist). I'll have to dig into the QX series as possible drivers as well.
Our friend Espen doesn't' chose between "style and practical use", he has both! 😀
Cool video!
Cheers!
Really been enjoying your channel, Espen. Cheers!
I never really used hardware sequencers. Except for a Korg SQD1 and Roland MC 202. I jumped straight from 4 track to computer based MIDI sequencers in the early-mid-ish 80s. I tried a few, but eventually chose Music-X on the Commodore Amiga. I actually bought the software before the computer. It was being shown at a trade show in Earls Court and I was so blown away I pre-orderd it there and then.
Now, I would really like a hardware sequencer for live work. I love the aesthetic of the recent RetroKits MMT8 clone. I also like the look of these Yamahas. I think I'd have a bit of trouble initially with the workflow but it would pay off in the end.
Thanks for another really useful video, Mr. Kraft!
Nice Video as always. 👍
I didn't realize the QX1 was so much larger than the QX3. The 5" floppy drive pushed me away from the QX1. The thing I like least about the QX3 is the attached power cable (common in those days). But it's hard to beat the slick look of a QX3 sitting next to an RX5, with maybe a KM802 alongside! VERY 1980s look.
Thanks again Espen for another great informative video. I have a QX3 and I was always wondering if I should try a QX1. Now I know not to bother.
Cheers man! The QX3 is all you need. But the QX1 is cool though, if you collect. ;-)
I had the QX21 back in 88 Now there is a beast. 😂😂
QX3 LCD screen reminds me of KORG M1 synth’s sequencer recording mode, they looked so similar. Probably KORG reused codes from Yamaha sequencer..
I think Korg did have their own sequencer and the M1 actually was conceptually thought of to be a part of a multi device series including drum computers sequencers and the M1.
Wasn't Korg part of Yamaha at that point, and wasn't the M1 making it possible to get back on their own again? I think many boards of the early eighties also shared keybeds.
I'll stick to my QY700 thanks. 😀
Hi, Espen, do you have by chance a factory service disk with the test program? Routines 8 to 12 are not in the ROM and have to be loaded. Let me know please.
Wow. The QX1 is a monster by comparison.
QY300 is a different beast as it gives you an onboard MU-series soundset, a comprehensive sequencer and Band-in-a-Box-ish style patterns to use, which will respond to the chords you are playing on your keyboard. I use mine to play my other synths along with me when I'm practicing. Here's an old Yamaha video manual for the nostalgic. Very 90's! ruclips.net/video/SsR2UX3axNM/видео.html Not as stylish as the QX though.
As you said it was hella cool looking together with the TX816 and their Mother keyboard. Think for practical use, the later MC models from Roland even not perfect either was much better products. I always found hardware sequencers tedious and limited tho sine none of them was able to be expanded with a hard drive. I remember I had a Quasimidi Styledrive which was a combo of a midi arranger and song player, and playing disc jockey with 720 diskettes got old soon and it took quite a toll on the disk drives over time. Not that it was any better carrying around an ST and SM124 monitor
Great video. I am currently using a TX16W(of course with Typhoon and FlashFloppy) together with a Beatstep Pro as my main "drum machine". I wonder if the QX3 would be a good solution for my polyphonic sequencing needs.
Thanks! I like the TX16W too. ;-)
It feels like there should be something between the QX3 and the QX5, which had a *much* more budget feel.
I used the QX3 for 5 years, until I got a 486 PC in 1994.
What happened to the QX-3 demo?
It's gone.
Is there anyone out there who has successfully installed a Gotek USB floppy emulator on either model? I know that with the QX3 there's a modification that needs to be made to get the emulator to work...thoughts and/or opinions?
I have a video showing exactly that, on the QX1.
I prefer practical table-top synths instead of great looking 19" rack modules
(No, actually I don't 🤣)
I really wish Yamaha and Roland got back into the Hardware sequencer business and NOT by releasing "step" sequencers...
They're not going to beat a Cirklon though.
Lol?
Oranges and apples mate.
Isn't the Cirklon a glorified step-sequencer?
I am chunky fat.