Yamaha RM1x

Just to put things into perspective I am a guitarist/bassist who came to
the world of MIDI sequencing about 5 years ago and I judge my capabilities t
to be competent in this arena. However I am NOT an expert so I will
usually defer to others who claim to be unless ,of course, it is
obvious that they are talking garbage.
In any case my goal in purchasing the RM1X was to use it as a
hardware sequencer with other gear (planet phatt, and various
other drum machines). With this setup I'm able to put together
a sonf structure and record the audio into Cubase or perhaps
an analog 8 track. From there I add vocals and guitar parts.

I realize that the on board sounds are not fantastic but I did not
expect them to be. Nor should anyone who takes some time to research
the unit before buying it. For those who continue to complain,
whine, and moan about the on board sounds.. why did't you listen
to the online samples or go to the music store to check it out
before you bought it ?? Only the most ignorant of consumers would
buy something like this without taking some effort to check out
the sounds.

The goal of this unit is to be a good, solid hardware MIDI sequencer
and in that regard it largely succeeds especially when you consider
the cost. Its compact and it does't crash like my computer with cubase
does on a regular basis. I do use Cubase and ACID to process MIDI lines
I have created on the Rm1-X. This is a very good combination. I recognize
the strengths offerred by each environment.

keyboard is not really a keyboard - though you can play chords
if you wish but just get a cheap controller . plug it in and quit
bitching about the lack of a real keyboard.

The effects are okay - nothing stellar or spectacular though ,again,
I suggest that the RM1X is best used with other programs and module
sounds so I usually reserve the application of effects for when I am
manipulating the MIDI files elsewhere - like in Cubase. Still The
harmonize and bass-boost can make for some interesting sounds.
Hey.. You can ALWAYS sample these sounds on one of those cheap
phrase samplers and whack the sound to your heart's content.

The best way to assemble tunes is to create MIDI loops (drums,bass,
lead sounds) and put them on a pattern button and then come up with
variations and put them on other pattern buttons. Do this for bridges,
intros and endings and then its a snap to organize a song or explore
arrangement possibilities. Its dead easy....

As far as features such as quantize. Well its got that as well it
should. I tend to try to play parts in real time to keep the groove
a bit loose so I don't tend to make everything robotically rigid
but for dance styles you probably would. The arpeggiator could have
been better. Its adequate but not exactly fantastic.

The sounds are not very realistic but I did NOT
expect them to be. I KNEW this before I bought it. I assummed that
others did too but I see alot of people posting reviews in this forum
who , for some reason, were too lazy to check out the sounds before
they bought the unit. Either that or they expected them to mystically
change into some EMu-module overnight. I cannot honestly understand
why some of the people here complain about the sounds for the price.
Mind boggling... Use the RM1X with a cheap phrase sampler or a shareware
audio editing program like cool edit and you can make awesome sounds.
Quit whining and get to work....

I really believe that some of the harsher critics of the RM1X are
simply frustrated with their inability to come up with good tunes
but instead of being honest about it they want to slam the gear.
"I'm a pro, I invented MIDI, I've been gigging for 40 years,
I'm so good that record companies won't give me a contract cuz I
will dominate the world market. blah, blah.. and the Rm1X is for
beginners... blah,blah..." Yea. Right. Tell us what CDs you've
produced and we might believe you.

Good loops and sounds are based on the groove. A good musician can
get good loops assembled on almost anything. We ALL KNOW (or should)
that once you get the MIDI loop tight and grooving you can use it to
drive samplers or modules and it will sound killer... Seems that some
of these "pros" haven't figured that much out.

I have never had problems with the unit. It works well and has never
crashed once on me. Not once. I've driven other modules with no problem.
Never !! Compare this to my PC which crashes
at least once every cubase session.

I have never had to deal directly with Yamaha. I've never had any
problems with their equipment.

I don't know if I would buy it again since this field keeps changing.
The RS700 is sort of a RM1X with a sampler thrown in though I think that
you could buy a second hand RM1-X and a second hand sampler and have
the basis for a nice setup for less than the cost of a new RS700.

For me the RM1-X is a great tool.

No idea which os.....bought about 2 years ago.
Presets are fun for pissed and stoned mates to "remix" with.
editing patches is verrrrry easy.
The manual pretty much sucks if you have little experiance in midi.

I forget what the polythony is, but its not enough...oh, 64.
The keyboard is made of little plastic squares layed out in the style of a keyboard, which is cool...but, they lose response after a while and are shit for chords and intuitive drums.
It has no expansion abilities other than a nice flashy light thing.
The midi is cool insofar as you can record every effect into the sequencer, in realtime or with simple programming.
The sequencer is the reason i bought it..as an alternative to a soft system, and, it has been a good friend in the last coupla years...
It must be the simplist sequencer avaliable to man, with lots of crazy effects to manipulate the totally crap onboard sounds.
16 tracks is not enough, and the memory is totally small, resulting in clock slowdown at best and total collapse of song due to zero memory left more often.....you NEED a sampler with this, and it can control my Akai s2000 perfectly, even adding the play fx, which is great....i cannot get it to control cc on the s2000 though.
Good for minimal and hip hop sequencing.

The instruments should be treated as raw sound to tweak as much as possible if you want them to sound anything like professional.
I have used rm1x for minimal experimental electronica.
Onboard fx are of low quality soundwise, but so good at totally changing sound beyond recognition you have to love them (midi delay, harmonize, octaver are cool,nice variation fx, interesting filter and lfo, but, the "job" fx are really what i will miss from this machine.
The rm1x is about sitting down and getting into programming, not being Rick Wakeman.

Like i said the low memory lets it down, but, i have gigged the rm1x and it didnt let me down.

I ordered a floppy of new patterns and it never arrived.
Never any freebies either.

I would not buy another...it is a beginners all in one.
I have been playing music a while now....also own s2000, Folio notepad and stuff.....but am about to move onto a pro set-up.
I love the Job fx and realtime recording of fx.
I hate the low memory, 16 tracks, voices and master fx.
Compared to mc303, mc505......maybe mc505 is better!
I wish it had expandable memory, 48 tracks, more master fx options, the sounds of a trinity and jp8000, imported akai files, more filters and lfo's, no presets at all, pads like an mpc, 2 midi outs, midi thru, audio ins and it rolled spliffs.
It certainly has helped me baby!
The rmix is a fantastic entry level machine that will learn you how to sequence midi, edit sounds and use fx like a madman....eventually though, you will either need a soft sequencer and new sounds or an mpc2000xl and new sounds.

Fun to use, and extremely easy to learn. Manual is atrocious. It's a good thing this machine plays itself. It doesn't like to play with other gear(tempermental)

Crazy sequencer, bass boost is awesome. Arpegiator needs work.

Ok. I hate when people trash this machine. It does sound bad but compared to what???? You paid $500 bucks for it!!! For that price it sounds wicked, compared to other machines it's pretty lame. If this is your first box or synth, you will love this. if you're an expert user buying this then you need to revise your career.

Machine is rock solid

Pray your stuff doesn't break! Only Roland are worse! Take heed Yamaha...

It was a good buy and fun at the time. I've had it for awhile (2 years)I mainly bought it for the sequencer, but it was still a fun piece of gear! definately a good place to start if you're learning and some usable stuff for advanced users.

I got this as my first non-guitar, non-saxophone music product, and I had never used anything like it before. I was going to get a Korg Electribe because I've heard lots of good stuff about them and their simplicity of use, but the salesman was a huge fan of the RM1X and, incidentally, played almost the same sort of stuff I do, so he gave me a used one for $500.
Most of the presests suck; okay, let me rephrase that, the only time the presets are worth anything are when you're drunk and joking about how you could take tokyo by storm if you only had a record deal.
The manual is alternately informative and confusing, but that may just be me. I used it to figure out some basics and then struck out on my own. The quickstart guide at the Yamaha page is better if you want to just plug it in and start experimenting.

It's got a built in effects block that I never use, so I can't comment on it. Reverb and chorus are okay, I'm more used to using guitar variations thereof and so I find them frustrating a lot of the time.
It can accept 3.5 inch floppy disks for storage purposes, and I've seen a few websites online selling expansions for the sound banks so I take it you can add sounds if you have the know how or a credit card.
It has one midi in and one midi out; it'd be nice if there were two of each but you can't have em all I suppose. The keys are preesure sensitive, but I prefer to just leave the sensitivity off as for some reason, if you don't tap the bottom third of the key, it just plain won't pick it up. Kind of annoying.
The sequencer is awesome. I love the grid feature, you can pump out some really good techno and rap on it.

Some of the instruments are really good and some are pretty damn bad. The pianos aren't terrible but you're better off with a different machine if that's your focus.
The bass sounds are pretty good, generally speaking. I want to get a Korg Electribe A that I can use in conjunction with this, as those seem to churn out better low end, they're cheap, and the Yamaha more than picks up the slack.
YOu could use this for a lot of genres. I play rock and use this to put in a good backbeat, mostly. Think of the Moog in Blur's song Girls And Boys or the Roland in On Your Own, the backbeats off of Filter's Title Of Record, or anything by Static X, that's how this thing measures up. Not bad for $500.
I've got a side project with a couple friends of mine who are MC's and I've done some rap with this box, sometimes adding some live guitar or bass to finish it off. I've also done some cliche sounding house music with it, which a lot of people seem to like.
Switching between sections (cuing in breaks and such) you have to be sure to hit the bottom part of the pad or it won't pick up you intentions, and it can ruin a perfectly good jam.

I tote this thing with me everywhere in a big shoulderbag. It's been a few months and it's not failed me yet, save for the F1 swicth popping off during midday rush on the subway, but that's no biggie, it just slides back on.
I'd gig without a backup synth, since I have a band and we don't necessarily need this thing to tear up the floor.

I've never dealt with Yamaha but their website is pretty informative, plus there are a few dedicated forums that provide a wealth of knowledge.

If someone stole this I'd get another. Definitely worth the 500, no doubt about that. I like the fact that it has an actual display screen as opposed to just a numerical display and a few LED indicators, which most of it's rivals in cost have.
I've been playing the RM1X for a few months now, I've played alto sax for five years and guitar for two. I've got a hotrodded Epiphone SG, Gretsch Bo Diddley, Fender Tele '52 reissue and a 1967 Aria 12 string hollowbody in the guitar department, all of which are lefty converts played over a Vox AC30. For my sax, i have a cheap Vito student model, and for production I have a Mac G4 with a wealth of software & hardware.
I love the whole thing, though a couple times I've lost really good tracks because if, say, you have drum parts on tracks 1 & 2, and bass on track 9, then you put something on track 4 (skipping track 3) and then something else on any track but track 3, track 3 will mimic the last track you used (follow me here?). It's annoying as hell!!! The only times I've gotten pissed off at this thing have been over that. If you just remember that's an issue and try to remember not to do that, it's okay though.
I did comparison shopping for a YEAR, mostly because my girlfriend was pulling one of those damn "you have enough gear already" things and either blew my $$$ before I could get a chance or our cat got sick and needed meds. I was looking primarily at this or an Electribe, particularly the S model, or possibly one of the many Roland/Boss offerings. A couple friends had the Rolands and they all hated them, or loved them but then would confess that there were some serious limitations, and the Electribes seemed like they'd be great if I had the resources to buy all of them, but if I had that money, I'd probably get an Emu groovebox or just save for a full-blown synth.
It definitely is an integral part of our sound, and it'll remain as such for quite some time to come.

i found this unit fairly easy to use,within an hour i was programming drum patterns and making-up simple songs..sometimes i got a lil lost looking for where i wanted to go,but one you learn your way around the editors its pretty easy..

the rm1x midi capabilities are very cool..you can set it up to control just about everything on other boards when hooked-up to midi..i used it mostly for contolling my emu sampler..the rm1x internal sounds and effects are pretty poor..i always wondered why they used such poor sounds and effects in a sequencer that can do so many things..

the internal sounds are horrible...i would only recommend a beginner that has no other keyboards to use its internal sounds..adding effects help make some of the sounds a lil better but they still sound old school..i made a few drum beats with the internal sounds but they just didnt sound cool with its own sounds..its hard to get expressive with sounds you dislike..some of the fx sounds are very silly..i usually made bad horror soundtracks with it..

i wouldnt take this to play-out with...this unit gets a lot of midi errors and your songs will get all jumbled-up..not good at a live show,it could get a lil embarrasing!..this happend to me often..i also asked others about it, and theirs do it to..alot of times i get midi bleed through from midi channel to midi channel!..you end-up with outta time or poor sounding songs..and to top it all off,most of the keyboard buttons dont trigger correctly!!..after time the buttons get worn and they trigger poorly..resulting in - no triggering,trigger off time or double trigger when you just want it to do one note!..

never tried to get any....

if it were stolen im sure id never buy another one...i ended-up trading it for a oberheim matrix-6...i feel much better being rid of this unit..i lost money on the trade but i have a much more professional piece of gear now..i do my sequencing with cubase now..its much better to do on a computer anyhow..now i dont get headaches looking at the lcd display!...i think this unit is for beginners or someone that really neds a hardware sequencer..but now yamaha has a much better sequencer out..save your money for that one!...

My RM1x came with version 1.12 of the OS. Since my intent for this box was to use it as my main sequencer, the free upgrade to v1.13 is a must. If you don't get this upgrade, everytime you press a transport button, it sends a program change. Also engaging the 'filter program change on MIDI out' doesn't work. I'm using an external rack-mount intelligent midi-merger to filter the program changes until my upgrades come in.
The presets are pretty good. Great if you're looking for sythesizer style sounds. It certainly doesn't replace a quality sampler, however. When I was reviewing this product, I couldn't believe how many negative comments there were regarding the sound quality. Sure, to a non-creative, impatient person with no patience I guess they're pretty lame. However, I bet that I could make the thing sound better than many more costly devices with just a little tweaking and careful recording techniques. In a phrase: is sounds fine.
You can edit the patches right from the box... no computer required.

The manual is ok. Some areas are a little shy of detail. It comes with a seperate manual written in languages other than english.

Sequencer: this thing really keeps the creativity level high. Very easy to get music into the box and make adjustments. This was the main reason why I bought it. I debated between the RM1x, the RS7000, and the QY700. For the price, you can't go wrong. And the built-in disk drive reads/writes IBM format.

The sequencer is great. I won't waste time repeating what others have already said on this. If you want a great sequencer, forget that expensive junk for the PC and get this baby.
One note: it claims to be MTC/MMC compatible. Here's the details: it won't generate MTC, only sync to it. It will output MMC only in song mode, not pattern mode. Also, I haven't found a way to change the frame rate (ie. 24fps, 30fps, 29.97fps, etc). I don't think you can do it.
The built in effects are not bad. Nothing you've never heard before though.

Not bad. But be prepared to get creative... it has a lot of potential.

Nice metal enclosure. The RS7000 costs over twice as much and it's all plastic. Like any equipment, if you're a careless and clumsy hoodlum, you'll have no problem breaking it. So be careful. The metal construction makes it more durable, not bullet-proof. I like the construction.
I've used it for extensive periods of time in the studio and it hasn't locked up on me.

Not sure yet. Let's see when I get my upgrade. Since the upgrade is free, Yamaha should post the ROM binary on their website so us engineers could burn our own ROM. Anybody want to send me the binary?
Don't cringe... sheesh, it's free for crying out loud. You can't use it on anything but an RM1x, which you have to buy from Yamaha.

Good value. If stolen, I would buy it again.. after, of course, exposing the thief to 200 dBspl 3kHz sine wave at a 2 ft distance for 1 hour and then yelling "Can you hear me now??"
If been playing/engineering with MIDI since 1985. Wrote one of the first FM synthesis generator/editors for the Ensoniq Mirage on a C64. Trust me, I've been around. I have a lot of other gear.
I did DETAILED comparison with the RS7000 (side-by-side). Very similar. RS7000 has basically same features, but a little easier to navigate through various functions: more menus. QY700 is great, too. Beautiful display. Had a hard time debating. They are very similar, function wise. I guess the knobs on the RM1x sold me. They're a great feature. Something to note: on the RS7000, you can make ANY knob control ANY MIDI controller value. The RM1x only controls PAN, VOLUME, REVERB, CHORUS, VARIATION, Q, FILTER, MIDI DELAY (internal), and a few other internal variables. I wish they'd change this to be like the RS7000. Simple software upgrade.
I got this thing to help me make music hello. If it didn't, I'd send it right back.
Personal note: make you're own music. Don't just settle for chopping up and gluing all these premade loops and press a button and say 'listen Mommy, to the cool music I made up.' All this fruity loop, and Acid nonsense has injured the creative talent of many people. Hey, if you want great music with one button? Buy a radio... much cheaper.

this is one of the easiest synths i have ever used. the presets are pretty lame but given the sounds on this thing i can understand.

the keys on this thing arnt pretty crappy. this isnt a real big deal however since a lot of sequencing is done in step/grid. speaking of which the grid recording is by the coolest recording on any sequencer i have used. very cool. no quantizing that i ever found. big minus. fx wise this box is decent. could use some more effects and more versatitly reguarding the fx inserts. on a better side the midi on this is a beast. it almost makes up for all the bad things about it. each of the rm1x's 16 tracks can be assigned its own midi channel in or out or both. this is an excellent box to use to control other machines via midi. specially live..with the muting and section changes real time with no delay. i also might add that while the sounds are often thin the cutoff on the rm1x is the best i have ever used. its very sensative giving you a better, bigger range.

lets put this simply..
-kicks - a few good sounding kicks most are pretty bad
-snares - mostly shitty
-cymbals - AWFUL. worst i have ever heard. mainly the open HH and crashes
-pads/strings - pretty bad here again. very thin sounding. almost useless
-fx - a stronger point in the box. some pretty good sounds here
-analogue/bass- very dissapointing. while there are a ton of analogish sounds they are 90% thin and crappy.
that covers most of the different sounds. again tweaking and effects can always improve any sound most of the time. but with what is given on the rm1x it might take hours..or a miracle.

no problems here. great live.

never needed

overall the rm1x is a GREAT sequencer/ midi master device. the internal sounds are far from good so be sure you have other instruments to pull sounds from. the 16 part multitimbralness is always great for that. im currently selling mine to get a nord lead 2 because i recently bought a karma.

I think its very easy to use, if you try the presets and
play with the knobs. The sequencer is great! Not like the
Roland-sequencer. Very good display, and very intuitive.

32 voice polyphony, I think thats enough for one box.
You have 16 tracks. I use always some tracks to sequence
my other gear. It works great with the Roland Alpha Juno 1
and also with the Korg Electribe EA-1. MIDI works great!
The effects are also good. You have reverb, flanger, and also
distortion and wah-wah,... The only thing i dont like is, that
you only can use one variation effect per pattern. You can
use reverb, flanger and one variation effect. If you like on
another track another variation effect, you have no possibility.
The next problem is, that you only have one audio-output.
2 Mono 1/4". (==> Stereo or mono if you only use the left.)
You also have a 3,5" floppydrive, like in the PC. You can download
songs from the net. Thats cool!

The sounds... thats the biggest problem with this box. The basses
aren't bad, but the bassdrums and the snares really sucks! I make
my bassdrum with the Korg Electribe ER-1. There is only one snare
on the RM1x I really like. There are also not much hihat's, so you
must always use the same. But you can pan them, filter them, effect
them,... thats not too bad.
But... THE BASSDRUMS REALLY SUCK!!!

It's not plastic, the knobs are good. I used it for one
year, without making a backup. I never had problems with it.

Never had a problem with the box. The manual is'nt bad.

If it where stolen, I would cry for my songs if I hadn't any
backup. I would buy it again, but not new from the shop!
Used you pay the half price.
I would wish that it has 2 or more audio outputs and a Midi-
through, and also a Mixer like the MC-505.
I also have the MC-303. The drumsounds are better from the Roland,
but the RM1x definitly is the better box. I think she's also better
then the MC-505.

Easy to get started on, but really takes a while to learn all the in's and out's of this baby. Lots of knobs and mute buttons make it really fun for live stuff.

Better polyphony than the competition easily.
Effects are pretty decent. Wish it had multiple audio outputs rather than just the left (mono) and right. Completely MIDI controllable, you can make this sequencer do about anything. This hardware sequencer is the best out there for the price, hands down. The keys are cheesey you will need a midi controller keyboard.

Anyone who says that the instruments are just crap has obviously not invested enough time with them. Theres so much tweaking that can be done you can make them sound like anything. Mess with the LFO/attack/decay/release/cutoff/resonance/etc. Get creative. Still they could be better and an extra sound module or synth or sampler is a nice companion.

This thing is built like a blue tank.
I specifically bought it to gig live and not have to rely on some crappy PC to do sequencing. I trust it completely.

Well the fact that Yamaha has decent support is already way beyond most stupid manufacturers. Though if you buy this baby used and try to upgrade it they will charge you for the OS upgrade. Buy new and its free (better keey the receipt, they're nazis about this stuff).

Its a vital piece of my kit. If you need a reliable kick butt sequencer for live work, this is your baby. The sounds are good for dance/industrial/house/ambient but you will want more eventually.
For all those brainiacs that say that software is better they are missing one major thing. This machine is geared specifically towards making music. I use software sequencers too (for the final mix) but its too easy to get thrown in a million directions with them. The way Yamaha has focused creation of beats into this machine while still allowing you to create completely original tracks under limitless conditions is simply awesome. I like it so much I'll be starting a fan/info site for it. Check out www.rm1x.org in the near future.

If you delve into it for about a week, you'll have this thing figured out. I was making crap patterns after a day. They get better with time.

Only 32 polyphony. It has one of those tiny little keyboards which means it is not pressure sensitive. Buy a cheap midi keyboard to control it. The sequencer is the strongest feature.

This thing has horrible sounds. It is best used for dance-type music, especially if you want to sound incredibly dated.

It is very dependable. I would use it without a backup.

Never had to deal with them.

If this unit were lost or stolen, I would replace it with a computer program. I personally feel that it is worth the price, but this thing is just not my style. The sounds are too light. The effects are good, but they do not work for me. I own a Roland Jx-305 keyboard. It has been discontinued due to the fact that it was not as popular as the MC-xxx series that it was modeled after. I like it better than the Rm1x, though. Computers are the best things to go for now. I've been using Fruity Loops and sound forge 5.0 for a few months, and those two put together are more than enough for me. I am making better music with those two programs than I could ever dream of with the Rm1x.