Build Quality

The Rm1x was made in Japan. All sides are made of metal. The potentiometers and encoders are soldered directly onto the PCB, with no metal reinforcing bracket. These units have a common problem where the switches stop working, or require considerable pressure to work, due to the age of these units. This can make your Rm1x frustrating to use. The switches are replaceable, if you can desolder and solder. Once the switches are replaced, these are otherwise solid units overall, and are a pleasure to use. There is also a software bug with external MIDI equipment that has a workaround, and this bug can be fixed with a chip with the latest OS. 

User Interface

The Rm1x is considered by many to be an excellent sequencer. You get a relatively large screen for a sequencer from this time period. The backlit LCD is also bigger than many of today's new sequencers. The switches require only light pressure to activate. The knobs are made of hard plastic, and the encoder knobs could have been better. I replaced all my stock knobs with rubberized knobs.

The Rm1x can switch through multiple "style slots" very quickly, and there is no loading procedure, for "styles slots" stored internally. Everything you do is automatically saved, and the undo function goes back one step back only. Loading from a floppy disk usually only takes 1 second.

A style consists of 16 sections which you can switch while the unit is playing. 1 section contains 16 MIDI channels. A section is composed of multiple phrases, which are assigned to a MIDI channel. A phrase is used throughout the same style. This means that if section A and section D use phrase 002, any changes you make to phrase 002 affect both sections A and D.

The mute memory function is great for live performances.

The Rm1x offers multiple recording modes, but you cannot record while the unit is playing. You have to stop the Rm1x before you can record. The Rm1x offers a recording mode that works similar to a TR-909. In real-time recording mode, quantization does not happen automatically, you have to perform a quantize job after recording.

The job menu offers a long list of tasks the Rm1x can do, and the jobs it can do are powerful. The Rm1x is capable of using patterns that are up to 256 measures long. That's longer than what most new modern sequencers can do (many new modern sequencers are limited to 4 measures max)! I don't understand modern hardware sequencers that can only store loops of 4 measures max, Yamaha was able to surpass this limitation over 20 years ago.

The Rm1x also features 8 control knobs that can be programmed to do whatever you like, and the default setup allows you to do lots of MIDI tricks.

There are menus, but you have access to many functions on the control panel.

The Rm1x can also work as a MIDI data filer for your synths.

Overall, the Rm1x is an powerful sequencer, even when compared to most modern hardware sequencers.

Sound

The Rm1x also contains its own ROM sounds and tone generator. The sound is best described as lo-fi, low-resolution, very 90s. I find the drums to be fine, but many of the sounds are not inspiring to me, and are too limiting. The sounds can be improved by adding internal EQ and effects, but you can't use independent effects and EQ settings for each MIDI channel. Although not the best sounding, this doesn't mean you can't make a excellent full track with it.

The Rm1x cannot sample audio. The Yamaha RS7000 has many of the same features of a Rm1x, plus sampling. A Yamaha A3000, A4000, or A5000 sampler works great with the Rm1x. Combining a Rm1x with a sampler can give you more capabilities than a Yamaha RS7000 alone!

The internal metronome click is well done, and the click stands out, even in busier recordings.

Conclusion

You want a Yamaha Rm1x for its top-notch MIDI sequencer, not for its sound. If you are in the market for a Rm1x, watch out for units that still have the original switches, as the originals have a tendency to go bad. Once the switches are replaced, they make really good sequencers that you may not want to ever sell.

PROS

• Durable/solid metal enclosure

• Awesome sequencer

• Floppy drive for extra storage

• Good user interface, once learned

CONS

• Internal sounds and efffects can sound Lo-fi and 80s/90s

• No sampling, it's a rompler with a superb sequencer

• Cannot record while playing

• Cannot use a different set of effects for each track