Yamaha Throws Down, So We Do A Full Comparison

Didn't we just do this two months ago? Budget groove box dropped midweek, pretty stellar feature list for the price, sells out quickly, broken groove box video published within days. In November it was the KO II, this January it's the Yamaha Seqtrak.

It looks like Yamaha means to be a big player with this release. We do a deep feature comparison of the Seqtrak, KO II and OP Z. Three budget groove boxes roughly in the same price range with similar features and it looks like Yamaha has definitely stacked the deck.

Yamaha also appears to have done a really cool thing by providing Seqtrak units to very small channels in different parts of the world. Be sure to check out their videos/channels shown in the outro section.

...and yes, I did order a Seqtrak on release day.

Seqtrak App (Visualizer)

OP-Z Visualizer (Red Means Recording)

Ep 133 KO II

Seqtrak

OP-Z

Buy Me A Coffee

0:00 Intro
1:35 Comparison
1:19 Seqtrak vs KO II
3:05 Seqtrak vs OP-Z
5:11 Sold Out & Build Quality
6:32 Outro

[kaitlyn__L]

Yamaha definitely know how to build things. That’s why they’re so highly esteemed for their wind instruments and guitars. So I’d be surprised if the Seq wasn’t at least more solid and less flexy.

[DeathScyther]

Imagine making a comparison of video on hardware you do not own or use.

[izraelservantofalmightygod]

So glad seqtrak came out. Ep133 with it's 1fx per project was rather from a toys category. Yamaha is a real groovebox with a very intuitive interface.

[MyNameJeff..]

Dude, you have a great voice for narrating. I don’t know why I thought of the Sandlot while listening to this. This is a great comprehensive video, explaining the seqtrak. I pre ordered it, first piece of gear I ever pre ordered.

[pekkon]

Thanks! This video got a lot info!! I worry about build quality too, hope it will be solid

[MehmetKoseDev]

Just arrived today. I did well for waiting for the right device. Quality video.

[beatsofthings]

you can not really compare this 3 devices. The KO is designed as a sampler, not as a fully groovebox . It has no built in synthies, but it has the features a sampler should have (except resampling :-( ). It has beat slicing/chopping and time stretching. The sampling functionality of the seqtrek is very limited. Well, the KO should have some more memory.

[bonwowo]

hey one nuance in comparision makes a difference - ko2 has 99bars sequencer, no 99steps, so its much better detail about ko2. tbh my only concern ab seqtrak is number of 8 projects at the same time and 8bars long patterns. beside that its beaufiful thought machine

[DreamsofChange]

The OP-Z does have a variable step randomizer which can add similar elements to a song as the Seqtrak's step probability.

Also, I love the quick reference to Camera Conspiracies; another one of my favorite Youtube creators!

[amconsole]

I missed oit on the initial batch of K.O.II’s and by the time they were back in stock, some of the GAS sibsided and I realised I don’t particulary like the 12 pad layout and lack of a more conventional step sequencer, then there was fadergate and I remembered that TE still have not fixed OP-Z bending and double trig issues. I was still on the fence until Yamaha announced the Seqtrak. A much more conventional groovebox in a TE inspired shell. Ordered mine right away.

[Iggxzy]

I ordered one, I like the concept. Yamaha gives you everything you want from one device. You can attach a midi controller to it. Now I have a Syntakt which I'm looking to off load because its sound is so specific and I have great trouble making something that I like.

[edgeof]

Haven't used it myself, but I believe the OP-Z does have a probability mode as a step component parameter. A big plus with the Z is it has seemingly endless built-in variables that aren't necessarily obvious. Of course the not obvious part is kind of also kind of a minus.

[deyoungstar]

Yamaha isn't really known as a groove box manufacturer? What about the Yamaha portable sequencer QY-series that were first released in 1990? Those were arguably the first groove boxes. In the late '90s and early '00s with the RM1x and RS7000, they added knobs and a few "dance sound banks" but the sequencers were identical to the QY-series. With the QY series, SU10, RM1x, RS7000, DX200, AN200, and SU200 they have easily manufactured over 14 "groove boxes" aka portable workstations.

[danieljung]

Towards the end I thought I actually accidentally switched to watching Camera Conspiracy. 😆

[freezerman]

OPZ has many probability modes, they are included in the 'step components'. The form factor of OPZ is also quite unique, not for every use case of course, but the SeqTrak is pretty big in comparison. Not saying it beats the SeqTrak or whatever, just highlighting the point. The Sampler functions on the SeqTrak are quite limited, compared to the OPZ (which is also very limited but much less).

[gooneybird]

Opz was ahead of it’s time…it’s not fair to compare

[fongfeen]

op 1 has lots of weird shit that i love and i can't find anywhere else. its sequencer is great. you can record a differnent sound in each step and nudge it up down. It completely changes the sequence and can have really have great result. the punch effects are also decent. don't think i'd swap it for this

[foamdagr]

How are you getting on with the seqtrak build quality? Its the only thing holding me back

[DalePatch]

I might have to give a Seqtrak some consideration. Have been considering a KOII or Deluge Synthstrom to add samplinging into my setup. Any thoughts on Seqtrak vs SynthStrom?

[Tripwelleverday]

Ko 2 crushes it I can’t put mine down sent the Yamaha back after three days it was pos and only made “vanilla pos “ type beats