The QY700 is a high-end Sequencer Workstation released in the mid to late '90's. It's an all-in-one sequencer with a built-in synthesizer, effects, MIDI and tons of memory! The QY700 makes an excellent alternative to computer-based MIDI studios; the QY700 has the power to be the heart of your MIDI studio. Of course such boxes as the Yamaha RS-7000 have come along since the introduction of the QY700 that add more features and capabilities. But the QY700 is nostalgic and still powerful enough to hold up to today's standards!

At it's core, it is a programmable MIDI sequencer. It can store up to 110,000 notes, 48 Tracks (32 Linear, 16 Pattern) and 20 Songs. A built-in 3.5 inch disk drive provides external storage. The sequencer has 64 notes of polyphony which is usually more than enough. The sequencer allows recording in Step, Punch-In, and Realtime with overdubbing features. The tempo can range from 5 to 300 bpm and the Conductor Track is very flexible. Thankfully a fairly large 320 x 240 backlit LCD screen makes entry and editing very easy to see and use.

In addition to controlling your synths via MIDI, the QY700 has it's own Yamaha synth engine inside. Using AWM2 - Advanced Wave Memory - as well as Yamaha's XG format and good old General MIDI sounds, the QY700 has an ample selection of quality digital sounds ready to use! You get nearly 4,000 drums, bass, guitar, and synth sounds. There's even a library of Phrases like intro, fill and ending patterns that you can use. These phrases are highly tweakable and can be made all your own. There's also Chord memory and plenty of built-in effects to use on the internal sounds as well. The QY700 even has a pseudo 2-octave keyboard and assignable mini Pitch/Mod wheels, and programmable foot switches for start, stop, fill, etc. Additional MIDI I/O's and outputs would have been nice, but it's still a capable and musical sequencer.

Chris

February 8, 2011 @ 5:58 pm

Have had a Qy300 for 15 years and love it. Wish I had a QY700 too. Can any one tell me why songs created from patterns and then converted to .mid on the QY300 get a "jog" in them at the end of each bar when playing them back from a laptop to a generic sound module. I think it has something to do with the ABC - Auto Bass Chord - functionality. Thanks!

David

February 8, 2011 @ 4:58 am

Hi !
I've had a QY700 for many years too,and it was a fabulous machine!!
Does anybody of you guys who know how to convert MIDI songs in QY700 format to a Standar MIDI (I'm using Cubase 5 )
I have a lot of work done of that days and it would be great to recover it now,but I don't have the machine anymore,just keep the 3.5 disks...
Thanks !

deja vu

October 23, 2010 @ 7:10 am

Ive been using the QY700 for over 5 years in a live setup, running separate bass out and a click-track to drummer as well as running midi-clock and triggering external stuff. Ive never had a problem with polyphony. My only gripe is the max 110,000 note internal memory. The only way to 'extend' the memory is to use song mode exclusively and forget about pattern mode altogether. After you've transfered your stuff over to song mode delete ALL patterns, theyre using up internal memory. Its a laborious task converting your stuff from patterns to songs but believe me, its well worth it.

Zamise

October 7, 2010 @ 5:59 pm

@silent pair The QY-100 came out after the QY-700 and QY-70 which is why it has an a few updates on it like an SM slot. The 100 appears to still be in production too, surprisingly Yamaha advertises as its only sequencer product.

Alan

June 5, 2010 @ 6:40 am

Having seen Korg's iELECTRIBE, Yamaha should really go back to the QY700 and port the software to the iPad. The iPad's display is 10 times the resolution of the QY700's, so imagine how great the QY700's interface could look if it was cleaned up and enhanced?

You could dock the iPad into a Yamaha-approved hardware keyboard, to give the QY700 app a proper keyboard; something the QY700 never had itself (it had little rubber keys). It would be perfect.

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