Anyone use a Yamaha QY100?

[J.T.]

Thinking of buying one for a practice unit. Looking at this or a boss dr880. anyone use one?

[Funky Monkey]

QY20 user for years. Love it. Haven't jumped to the 100 because of the size (QY20 is the size of a VHS tape.) Got it for the same reason as you, but it turned out that it helped immensely with songwriting, too. I'm not saying either is "better" but I prefer the QY interface over the Boss stuff (but that's probably just because I got used to the Yamaha first and can navigate very quickly with it.) The sounds are dated, but I'm not demo'ing with it. Just a practice tool and to quickly tap in song ideas.

[J.T.]

Thanks for the input? i am new to sequencers in general. Are there any equivalent type newer units i should look at as well that might have better sounds ?

[Funky Monkey]

The only other thing I would consider would be a full-blown workstation, specifically a Roland Xa for my preferences there. As convenient as a portable sequencer is, it is easy to get frustrated with the limitations (especially the small "keyboard".) One of the first things you'll want to get to "upgrade" QY is a multi-octave MIDI Keyboard controller. Once you start getting into decent ones that will last, you might as well just get an Xa workstation (or Yamaha, Korg, Alesis, whatever.) I've got a lot of first-hand experience with a friend's X6, but it has a bunch of stuff I'll never use. I've recently seen the Xa for $949 (Musician's Friend I think.)

[J.T.]

Thanks again!