Korg Poly-800 II Polyphonic Synthesizer
K
o
r
g
P
o
l
y
-
8
0
0
I
I
P
o
l
y
p
h
o
n
i
c
S
y
n
t
h
e
s
i
z
e
r

The instrument

The Korg Poly-800 is a hybrid analog/digital polyphonic synthesizer produced between 1983 and 1987. Its architecture and affordable price are direct indicators of an era where previously complex and expensive polyphonic synthesizers became accessible to the general public, thanks to the development of digital technologies offering more features with fewer electronic components.
In 1986, Korg introduced the Poly-800 II, an updated version that swapped the original's chorus effect for a digital delay with adjustable modulation, as well as a new colour scheme. The Poly-800 II also incorporated MIDI System Exclusive (SysEx) functionality, a programmable equalizer with high/low settings, program backups via MIDI in conjunction with the existing cassette interface, and expanded the sequencer's memory capacity to 1000 events. (Source: Wikipedia)

Details

The Poly-800 II is an update of the Poly-800, in particular an adaptation to the new MIDI standard. The Poly-800 is a lightweight instrument that can operate on power or battery and can easily be transformed into a keytar. It also has a 24dB per octave low-pass filter and a sequencer. However, it offers eight voices of polyphony, three envelope generators, a 49-key keyboard, a modulation joystick, and 64 preset sounds. Over fifty parameters of these different sounds can be modified by selecting the programs presented on the right of the control panel. This flexibility and versatility come at the cost of less intuitive use, as the parameters cannot be directly manipulated via potentiometers and direct buttons as on classic analog synthesizers.