Yamaha QX7

Digital sequence recorder

Yamaha QX7 midi sequencer
Buy one (8 on sale)

1985 (Jan.)
Initially sold for ¥78,000

Digital sequencers started to appear as experimental devices with analog output in the early 80s, but Roland was the first to release a MIDI equipped unit to the consumer market in 1984 starting the MSQ line. Yamaha followed the next year, launching the QX7 together with the TX7.

Compared to the QX1 that was already available for the studio market, this box is a lot more affordable, doesn't require a lot of space and most importantly its only focus is being a sequencer. Software sequencers were already available for computers back then, but they of course needed a full computer with a MIDI interface.

Real-time or step time recording, over-dubbing, trackdown, insertion and chaining capability provided sophisticated sequencing potential. The interface was extremely cut down compared to more expensive model, but this 2 tracks sequencer still provided considerable MIDI sequencing versatility and performance.

Yamaha QX7 in a System 7 stack
Yamaha QX7 in a System 7 stack
Group shot with the TX7 from Electronics & Music Maker, April 1985
Group shot with the TX7 from Electronics & Music Maker, April 1985

Buy a used
Yamaha QX7

Yamaha QX7 MIDI Digital Sequencer Recorder w Manual / Working

Buy used Yamaha QX7 MIDI Digital Sequencer Recorder w Manual / Working
$49.99
Open Ebay

Used Yamaha QX7 Rackmount

Buy used Used Yamaha QX7 Rackmount
$54.99
Open Reverb

Yamaha QX7 Digital Sequence Recorder

Buy used Yamaha QX7 Digital Sequence Recorder
$79.00
Open Reverb

If you're looking to buy a used Yamaha QX7,
check out these listings pulled daily from Ebay and Reverb.

See more (8 on sale)
Links to Ebay and Reverb are affiliate links: which means I receive a small percentage of the revenue made from purchasing products through these links. This really helps to maintain the website.