Synthesiser Dave - Episode 3 - Korg Poly-800

[@waves7250]

Dave literally a synth wizard. He’s got so much knowledge it’s astonishing.

[@skyprop]

Love this guy!!!!! calls it as he sees it!!!!

[@Synthetech]

That's not the filter chip and that's not the chorus effect... Filter chip is towards the center, upper left. Chorus is on the Chorus Board.. the red PCB upper right. The Poly 800 may very well be a junky 80s synth, but the Hawk mod can make it a completely different animal and that NJM 2069 VCF chip can be quite the screamer or subsonic earth rattling filter ever!

[@deejaydubla]

It may be poorly engineered, but I like mine.

[@KurtFuller]

I didn´t know that Gandalf fix synths...

[@musicgearvideos909]

Can we please have more Synthesiser Dave episodes?

[@ElectronicSound]

We'll see what we can do ;)

[@organfairy]

It might be limited, but it served it's purpose as a budget synthesizer. I like the sound but I find the programming a bit tedious because it's all done with buttons. So I primarily use it as a preset keyboard - often together with a Wersi organ.

[@kiosko33hz]

Being a technician is one thing, being into synthesis is another. The fact that you might not know how to modulate a synth by digging deep into the parameters does not make the Poly 800 a horrible machine as you say. Many great songs came out of it and still are. The presets might not be spectacular, but then again it wasn´t the purpose. From there, and with work you can get fantastic sounds as demonstrated in many yt videos.

[@josephjewett2686]

You should do a bit with the hawk 800 kit for the poly 800. makes it much more functional.

[@marcbrasse747]

it's not THAT bad! At hte tiem it was a real price breakthrough for those with shallow pockets. Takign that into acoutn it does actually sound quite good. The only thing it will never be is a particularly expressive instrument. It's much better at soldiering on in the background.

[@schance1666]

"you can't save sounds via MIDI" - i don't believe that's true. I do believe I have a patch bank I saved using SoundQuest's MIDI Quest software (which is absolutely amazing). First synth i ever bought and still got it! looking forward to modding it :-) Thanks for the vid, definitely educational!

[@rot_studios]

MIDI Sysex supports saving and loading patches, my Yamaha PSS-680 does it that way. Of course the Poly800 came out in the first year MIDI existed, so such things were still a futuristic dream :)

[@cnfuzz]

If you did you had the mkII wich supports sysex

[@schance1666]

@@cnfuzz i admit its been a while. but the MK1 could save patches via cassette, so I'm not sure how Soundquest might have done it, but i could just swear I've got patches saved in there!!! i'll report back once i check. i def don't have the mkII. crazy how many poly users there are these days!

[@ChromosomeSyndicate]

@@schance1666and he was modified with a midi kit ?

[@schance1666]

@CollapseReport if I understand your question, no mods needed for saving sounds via midi. The mods I am talking about are for the filter, etc. Look up 'Moog Slayer mods korg pply 800'. Also look up Sys Ex dump, regarding saving your sounds via midi

[@MarkLoweLowebrau]

I never thought of playing it into a computer daw to save the patches..... so simple it's brilliant... trying it now. Thanks Synthesizer Dave! And I agree this synth is garbage but it's the most fun piece of garbage I've ever owned, prob why I still have it.

[@spazkong]

This is the man to find if your synth is broken by the sound of things. Where are you based Dave?

[@ivanski28]

I just repaired one of these, it luckily didn't have a lot wrong with it, I had to redo the coin cell modification and reload the factory sounds.

[@GER877]

Hola. Tengo un korg poly 800. Quería saber como calibrar los 3 potenciometros que están juntos en una placa aisladas. Ya que accidentalmente lo giré. Agradeceré su ayuda.

[@cabarecords8242]

Hello, how are you, I would like to ask you since I have a problem with my poly 800 with the tune at 440, the tuning is one and a half notes down, and I don't know how to take it to the global tuning 440, has this happened to you? you help me thank you.

[@richardelam3371]

I have a poly 800II that a mouse destroyed the back panel connections. by any chance could you tell me where I might find the boards to replace them or just scrap it?

[@captn_hanky]

God fixes synths now

[@jakobk5558]

is there any polyphonic synth under 300£ that could be a good alternative to a korg poly 800 apart of the yamaha dx series?

[@E_muziek]

Super video. His kung-fu is the best!

[@skyprop]

Give us a cost of Keyboard (Used) Vs. Cost of repairs

[@dazedoffpepe]

um um ummmm ummm ummm um umm um um ummm um um ummm ummmm um

[@j.dragon651]

Hello everyone. Sorry to come here with a problem right off the bat but I am between a rock and a hard place. I picked up a Poly 800 on the cheap, no sound. I was able to work up a voice from scratch and everything seems to be working correctly. Upon shutting her down, the voice I worked up was lost. So, okay, replace the internal battery backup. I open her up and I cannot find the battery. I go to a youtube video for battery replacement and find where the battery should be. Its not there. There is no battery symbol on the board like in the video. There is no evidence of a battery ever being desoldered? Okay, I download the service manual. No battery shown in the schematics or on the circuit board layout itself! No battery in the parts list so I am not even sure what battery it is supposed to take. I figured I would just check the schematic and see where to solder a battery holder in but that isn't happening. I couldn't see which traces to solder the battery holder to. They were either too fast or not close up enough for me to see. I owned one of these back in the eighties and it was fun to play with. I know everything is working and I don't want to junk this keyboard because I cannot find where to put the battery. Can anyone help here? Thanx in advance and for taking the time to read this. J.Dragon

[@jean-baptistebeltra249]

Hi , I recommend yo check this video Korg Poly 800 Battery replacement and factory reload Maybe you can find something interesting for you, it's just a simple battery 3 or 8 V in the middle of the main board.

[@edgeeffect]

Yeah.. the Poly-800 is ghastly! It looks like a Casio!

[@MarkLoweLowebrau]

And a casio is easier to edit!

[@modularcat5743]

I carried mine over 3 countries and 15 states. kept for decades hoping it would gain in value. Worst synth I have used. Sold for $150 could not care less its crap. Im frowning end to end hated mine. "its horrible" HOWEVER the Korg EX-8000 is awesome.

[@cnfuzz]

If human league used it it aint crap , its all over the crash album as well

[@tuff_lover]

s y n t h e s i S e r...took me awhile a realize that TYPO!

[@ElectronicSound]

Not a typo, old bean, British.

[@MrWombatty]

You've spelt 'realise' wrong!!!

[@marklowe3860]

300 - 400 pounds??? Damn, they're barely worth $250 CAD in North America.

[@rot_studios]

Lots of misinformation in this video, so I recommend not using this as a reference at all :) Dave is enjoyable to watch rant about stuff, as ever, though :P

[@scottstevenz8732]

lol yep poly 800 is shit

[@chieftp]

I would think that a poly 800 which has stopped working would be a good thing - you can throw it away and go buy a real synth.