Kawai QY-EXe

I have a QY-80EXe, software version 1.30.
This 32 track sequencer is quite versatile. Real-time recording is a piece of cake, but step editing is somewhat painful.
There are 2 manuals: on for the "old QY-80", and an add-on for the "EX" versions.
It is weird to see that some functionnalities have disappeared on the new version !
The manuals are pretty thick, with a lot of detailed information. They include tutorials so that you can get started very quickly.
I think they are not exhaustive though, I could not find all the answers I was looking for, but in a general manner the manuals are quite good and clear, with a
lot of illustrations.

The QY-80 as few buttons so one has to go through a lot of button pushing to go to the desired function. In spite of this, it is very straight forward to go from one function to another.

The sequencer has 32 tracks (2 midi outs). The channel can be set for each track. The MIDI events you play on your controller are not "rechannelized" so it must be able to send on 16 channel if you don't want to go through too much configuration switching during your recording session.
I may remember the maxium polyphony for each track is 64.
The QY-80 can record several tracks at a time, but I have not tried it yet. It features "Motifs", which are actually "patterns". The tracks are not "pattern oriented". you can just put motifs and use the rest of the track as you want.
Please note that it is not possible to have several motifs playing at the same time on the same track. For instance if you have a motif for the kick drum and one for the hit-hat, you cannot have them play on the same track at the same time. You must use 2 different tracks for that (but you've got 32 so that's not a problem).

The QY-80EXe has a metronome, it's a built-in beep which volume you can't control, but there is an audio output for it so you can send it to your mixer.
You cannot modify the brightness of the display, but the default setting is fine I think.
The QY-80EXe has a disk-driver. ATTENTION: it reads double-sided (720Kb) 3"1/2 disks, and not high-density (1.44MB) floppies ! I was very surprise by that, as more as nowadays these 720Kb disks are hard to find.

It can read midifiles (0/1) and save them. The memory is around 100,000 notes which is quite enough. You can store 10 songs, and possibly chain them.

The expressiveness is quite standard. The bender values range from -128 to +127 the granularity is not as good as MIDI can support it .
you can record any kind of midi message, and "event-edit" them (although it's a little bit a hassle).
The resolution is 96cpq. The sequencer can be synchronized externally by another MIDI device or even a tape.

If you want to use this sequencer for real time, well it's very intuitive, very easy of use. Just push rec, select a track, play, and there you go.
You can parametrize quantization, change velocity etc on what you have recorded rather easily.

Well I have had this gear for 4 days and it's not broken yet ;)
The buttons are made of hard plastic, but they are not too difficult to push. The alpha-dial is great. you can feel the "tick" when incrementing or decrementing something.
It sounds to me that the case is quite robust, everything is made of hard plastic or metal.

I delt with the sale representatives of Kawai because I could not find a shop retailing their products.
I went on their web site and sent an e-mail before lunch. I had lunch and when I was back there was a reply in my mailbox, giving me the address of Kawai retailers in my area.
The sale representative gave me all the information I needed very quickly.

If I had it stolen or lost, I would definitely buy another one. I think the QY-80EXe, although far from being perfect, is a great value compared to the Yamaha QY-70 and the Roland MC-xxx., or the Alesis MMT-8
The QY-70 is more expensive, its display is not backlit, and has not floppy disk drive.
The MC-50mkII is much more expensive and has less tracks. I thinks this one is simply outdated.
The MMT-8 is pattern oriented, which is bad for you if you don't make pattern-oriented music.
The Roland MC-80. Let's bet serious, who wants to spend more than $1,000 for the $1,400-worth-XP-60's sequencer ?

The first sequencer I used was Steinberg's Pro-24 on Atari ST, then Cubase (on Atari too). I liked them but I spend all my days with a computer so when I'm home I need a break :)
I also used the Korg M-1's sequencer (not great) and the Roland MV-30 (I loved this one).

What I love about the QY-80EXe is that it is small, and it does not look like a computer. It has no ventilation fan so it does not make noise at all (unlike a PC for instance). With it you can do pattern-oriented music or 'regular' music.
You have a lot of tracks and although the resolution (96cpq) is not as good as it gets it does the job.
What I don't like is the event editor, which is a hassle to use. Also, it cannot read 1.44MB floppy disks which is a shame in the year 2000.

My conclusion: this may not be the best sequencer ever, but for less than $400 you can't beat it. It's versatile, easy of use (for the real-time recording), the manual is clear and include tutorials, and it can store the dumps of your synthesizers on floppy disks.
You don't have all the functions you may dream of (after using Cubase one can very easily get frustrated) but with a little bit of tweackling you always get what you want.
If you don't want to use a computer for sequencing and you don't want to spend too much money for a sequencer, the QY-80EXe is for you. Definitely.