I like analog audio,he starts immediately...and dont talk!! Thats cool!!! Not everyone in the world can speak english!!!Thats just what we want see the knobs and hear rhe sounds!! Thanks Mr AA1!!
The Polysix was my very first synth - my parents bought one for me way back in 1983. I've rented other synths, but the Korg was the only synth with a kick-ass organ sound (at least the way I programmed it). Right about now, the battery is fried and the baby is in desperate need of a life extension. I'll never let her go - she got me through good times and bad. Thanks for the post.
@MARANTZamp Finally someone agreeing with me!!!! Back in the early 80s people kept asking me: when do you get a DX7? I hated it with a passion - and still do. I still have my Polysix (it's dead, needs repair) and the powerful Roland Jupiter 6 which I bought in 1983 (I opted against the DX7) and it syill works. The Polysix is single osc. and doesn'rt have the punch of a Prophet, Oberheim or Roland Jupiter 6 or 8, but it does its own neat stuff. Love it!
Yes, It was a budget synth... 1 VCO/voice, no sync, no ring mod, only 1 ADSR - BUT... it SOUNDS EXCELLENT! I underrated this synth for years - until we used it on some recordings! It's limited, but on the other side it has CHORD MEMORY, fat UNISONO mode, great ARPEGGIATOR, soft or bombastic chorus / ensemble! The oscillators never sound dead, their sound is always slightly detuned and are full of life - sometimes it sounds like an orchestra! I did not believe this, until I heard it.
We use a PolySix in my cover band. I got it for $40 at Goodwill. It had the memory batt problem and ate the traces to the CPU but I being handy with the sod iron fixed her right up and put her back on stage. Great Syth! Great demo!
Awesome ! I love your demonstrations ! Very knowledgeable you are and inspiring me to better my knowledge on most analog keyboards (Synthesizers) Thanks so much ! Greetings from: LA, California.
I had a Polysix in 1981 and I wore it out on stage, but that 6 note polyphony was tough! Some of the absolute best analog strings with the Ensemble mode! A solid keyboard for its time!
Back when I was in my 20's I loved listening to "ambient new age space music" (with drones, and rhythms and sounds that couldn't be duplicated by any other type of instrument) but I didn't have anywhere near as much to listen to as I do today. Because of this I couldn't imagine making anything out of what is heard here between 0:00 and 0:17, or some of the stuff between 5:50 and 6:20, or anything between 6:32 and 7:20.
@DJPeteJames Hi, the sound was recorded directly and was not treated with anything. The Polysix is not noiseless - also like a Juno-60 or a DX7. But the noise ratio is ok as you can hear. I don't know about the vco chips.
Cool! A really great sounding, simple and FUN synthesizer....then and even now. I think for the price back then ($1500?) it was the about best deal in town and weighed less with a lot of cool features. The Prophet 5 and OB8 were really great too and were the standard then:But they cost at least twice as much. So this one was a God-send to poor young musicians like me. I also liked Korg's Mono/Poly which was offered around the same time. Thx for the vid.
Oh Man!. My first synth was a Mini Moog but my first polyphonic synth was a PolySix. Loved that synth. I had all my stuff backed up to Cassette. Too funny. I ended up selling it and buying a Memory Moog. Thanks for the memories dude :)
That was the first polyphonic synth I owned. I only had a mini Moog and a B3 for years. Once I got a hold of this, I sold my moog for 50 bucks... (BIG MISTAKE)
You cannot be serious. Did you actually just write that? "They sound more alive and warm to me compared to their digital counterparts" LOL... Yes, those damn 'sterile' digital synths...You idiot.
+ John Thomas you must not own very many synths for you to say an asinine comment like you said. I have been playing for over 35 years. I own both analog and digital synths. There is no digital synth that can match the analog for that "alive" sound. They are also more warm (their pads). As for an idiot... I'll take it but you should really look in the mirror yourself. Or better yet, do more research
Sounds good, but I think that to pay 700-1000€ for this synth (even 1500 with the "Kiwisix" kit) is totally out of price... 500-600 (top) euros for an original one would be a reasonable price.
@Donal Finn no worries, you will not find one under $900 in working condition. Battery leaking is not an issue anymore, today we have brandnew replacement parts and Kiwisix as well
@subbahh When referring to synths, analog refers to a synth with voltage controlled oscillators or digitally controlled oscillators, although many purists do not define the latter as truly analog. The alternative would be a digital signal processing synth, which is essentially a computer recreating the functions of analog parts with a resolution of digital bits. The main difference is that analog systems deliver voltages to circuits and digital systems use strings of on or off values (1 or 0).
@TheMCMXXL it's not entirely true to say it has no LFO and no VCF EG. There *is* a single envelope generator, which can control the VCF and VCA. You can switch the VCA between envelope and gate mode (the latter opening the VCA when the key is down), and adjust the VCF EG modulation from "down" to "up" through zero. There is an LFO that can be switched between the VCO, VCF and VCA, and a separate LFO for the squarewave PWM.
@@AnalogAudio1 Not worth the effort and the money for me anymore. about 12 years ago I had it restored and I remember the nightmare.....I must admit I will miss one of the best sounding machines I ever owned.....
no, it has not! By the way, in this moment I really notice the absence of it :-) - because I didn't ever miss it... I look at the Polysix rather as a polyphonic instrument. Unisono is a nice extra - but at this mode you don't have much control over the sound (detune, several waveforms of voices). Portamento is important on monophonic synths - if I need a solo with portamento, I use one of my monophonics, like the Mono/Poly... Roland Juno-60 lacks portamento, too... (unlike the Juno-106)
of course it's an analog filter - built around a SSM filter chip. This filter chip was also used in other synths: PPG Wave, Prophet-5, Korg Mono/Poly... to name a few. Yes, the filters sound very good...
The PPG filter emulation in the Waldorf Q definitely has similar resonance timbres. It’s a pretty sound. Great Laser Resonance sounds, if anything, you have to be careful with possible distortion on the case of the Waldorf Q, ‘cause it’s obviously digital. But still impressive in 2020 the little aliasing and high end detail of the Q, released in 1999 IIRC. The Poly6 has def. a pretty sound of it’s own. Beautiful. This video and this channel are already a classic. Thanks for the effort.
SSM2044 is a nice filter (what you have in the Polysix, and what i have in a Kawai K3), but this is not the same as the legendary 2040 used in the early Prophets. Very different, some say. The discrete filters found in synths like OB-X or Jupiter 4 beats all these chips anyway :)
I had a polysix for almost 15 years. I bought it in 1988 when it was less than 7 years old and I was only 24 years old. I never really did anything with it and now seriously regret it. I had to get rid of it a few years ago because I let it sit for so long that the ni-cad battery leaked all over the motherboard. It wouldn't hold any voice memory after that. It's a shame I didn't have the stick-to-it-ive-ness to keep it running. I could be using it today to make something.
I was going to get this synth to replace my juno 106 but apparently all polysix eventually have a similar problem as well. Korg Polysix - the original NiCad battery leaks and causes catastrophic corrosion to circuit board. - Roland Juno 106 / MKS-7 / MKS-30 / HS-60 - the voice chips have an epoxy coating that eventually short the chips resulting in dead voices. I am beginning to wonder if there are ANY poly synthesizers without a built in defect that automatically ruins the synth...??? I am not talking about a synthesizer needing maintenance because of age but actual design flaws that guarantee a synth will go bad no matter how well you take care of it. Are there any pure analog poly synthesizers without serious built on design flaws?
+Brian Gordon Don't let that stop you for buying one. If you find an operative one.....GET IT. If the Battery wasn't replaced already, I could do that for you and give it a general cleaning. I would replace and relocate the battery to a place that if the new battery was to EVER leak. It wouldn't damage anything. This SHOULD have been done with any 6's out there that HAVE been already serviced!
It has sounded better on records? Well, I didn't play songs or something here - I just wanted to show some interesting sounds. This is a synth DEMO, not a performance. And believe me, I can appreciate this instrument, since I used it on many recordings.
Anybody ever have a problem with NO sound coming from the keys?? I opened it up and replaced the battery 10 years ago, and it never leaked....the old one. But there is no sound....and ideas? Nothing looks burned or corroded anywhere on the circuit boards.
One of the 80;s sounds synths, in the Juno 106-category of cheaper but good sounding polys. I think that the version of the polysix that is in Korg legacy pack is fantastic. Probably one of the best virtual instruments around. Not sure if it is consistent over the whole range though (most vst;s aren't). Of course you don't get the hands on experience as with the real thing, the knobs in 1920*1200 are just too small and then theres the thing with stepping when turning knobs(not smooth).
Is there any input jacks on synths like this. I know pete townshend would run an electric organ thru an old synth rack module and get an organ sound with the different filters and stuff from a synth. is there any way to do something like that on a synth like this?
Ring mod triangle? Any number of VA's could duplicate it - It does sound a bit "logan's run" to me, but that's the era. At the time (c. 1981) you had several great synths, each with its own character, available. P5, Oberheim's Matrix series, Roland's analog stuff, etc. Each took a different path, depending on the price point the mfnc. wanted to hit.
Wow, yours is in awesome shape. The battery leaked on mine, so the waveforms, effects, octaves, and the attenuator don't work at all, filter only barely works, and someone (ok, me when I was like 12) messed up the tuning of the voicing. In other words, playing it sounds a bit like an elephant death cry.
I like analog audio,he starts immediately...and dont talk!! Thats cool!!! Not everyone in the world can speak english!!!Thats just what we want see the knobs and hear rhe sounds!! Thanks Mr AA1!!
+jeff „jeffbwack“ wackenthal you're welcome! :-)
The Polysix was my very first synth - my parents bought one for me way back in 1983. I've rented other synths, but the Korg was the only synth with a kick-ass organ sound (at least the way I programmed it). Right about now, the battery is fried and the baby is in desperate need of a life extension. I'll never let her go - she got me through good times and bad. Thanks for the post.
@MARANTZamp Finally someone agreeing with me!!!! Back in the early 80s people kept asking me: when do you get a DX7? I hated it with a passion - and still do. I still have my Polysix (it's dead, needs repair) and the powerful Roland Jupiter 6 which I bought in 1983 (I opted against the DX7) and it syill works. The Polysix is single osc. and doesn'rt have the punch of a Prophet, Oberheim or Roland Jupiter 6 or 8, but it does its own neat stuff. Love it!
Love this! Some of these sounds i'm almost sure I heard either in TV or in music in the 1980s!
Nice to hear that, thanks!
Some of us understand and appreciate what you're doing here. The sound is wonderful. Thanks so much!
Yes, It was a budget synth...
1 VCO/voice, no sync, no ring mod, only 1 ADSR -
BUT...
it SOUNDS EXCELLENT!
I underrated this synth for years - until we used it on some recordings!
It's limited, but on the other side it has CHORD MEMORY, fat UNISONO mode, great ARPEGGIATOR, soft or bombastic chorus / ensemble! The oscillators never sound dead, their sound is always slightly detuned and are full of life - sometimes it sounds like an orchestra!
I did not believe this, until I heard it.
We use a PolySix in my cover band. I got it for $40 at Goodwill. It had the memory batt problem and ate the traces to the CPU but I being handy with the sod iron fixed her right up and put her back on stage. Great Syth! Great demo!
FM synths aren't the only synths that can make bell sounds. Even the Minimoog can do that.
What a great all, round display of what this thing can do! Thank you!
this synth is on my hit list... gotta have one
Awesome ! I love your demonstrations ! Very knowledgeable you are and inspiring me to better my knowledge on most analog keyboards (Synthesizers) Thanks so much ! Greetings from: LA, California.
thanks! You're welcome! Greetings back from Germany
I had a Polysix in 1981 and I wore it out on stage, but that 6 note polyphony was tough! Some of the absolute best analog strings with the Ensemble mode! A solid keyboard for its time!
This was my first synth! I traded two garbage belt driven turn tables at a pawn shop for it in 2004 😆
Back when I was in my 20's I loved listening to "ambient new age space music" (with drones, and rhythms and sounds that couldn't be duplicated by any other type of instrument) but I didn't have anywhere near as much to listen to as I do today. Because of this I couldn't imagine making anything out of what is heard here between 0:00 and 0:17, or some of the stuff between 5:50 and 6:20, or anything between 6:32 and 7:20.
1:43-1:45 is one of the most incredible sound/tone I have ever heard.
This is an exquisite demo , thank you!
Excellent demo! I've always wanted one of these. Someday soon!
My first poly synth.
I used to have one years ago, but I was forced to trade it in when it started flaking out and I had a gig coming up. I've missed it ever since!!
thanks for the demo. what an amazing synth!
I miss this one most of all. I WILL own one again. Best synth for the money.
To all polysix owners: open the synth and check/move the battery!
Can you play without the battery?
This was used to be my first synthesizer.. but then it was a broken poly61...
i'm really suprised of the sounds you're pulling out from the Polysix!
Gotta Love those SSM chips!!!!!
+skyprop I prefer chocolate chips!
Being German AnalogueAudio1, you're not allowed to have a sense of humour.
great! :) i onwed a polysix fby myself for years and loved it!!!!
So you wouldn't mind me getting one with the full Kiwisix Midi upgrade, would you? :)
@DJPeteJames Hi, the sound was recorded directly and was not treated with anything. The Polysix is not noiseless - also like a Juno-60 or a DX7. But the noise ratio is ok as you can hear. I don't know about the vco chips.
Thanks! Yes, it is a great synth... now I have two of them - both with replaced batteries.
A nice and quite representative video. The Polysix can sound really GREAT.
Cool! A really great sounding, simple and FUN synthesizer....then and even now. I think for the price back then ($1500?) it was the about best deal in town and weighed less with a lot of cool features. The Prophet 5 and OB8 were really great too and were the standard then:But they cost at least twice as much. So this one was a God-send to poor young musicians like me. I also liked Korg's Mono/Poly which was offered around the same time. Thx for the vid.
I had one, back in the 80's. Together with my TR808 and TB303 (and my Tascam portastudio) I was invencible.... well that's what I thought.
oh man the unison sound is massive
Still sounds great after my last comment 14 years ago 🤠🤠🤠
I will love to have this in my room with my other synths
Great demo! Thanks for uploading this!
I always thought it had a kinda plastic sound - so thanks for the vid. It really still has.
Yes, the MonoPoly has the SSM 2033 VCO chips, but the VCOs in the Polysix are not SSM chips.
love that demo!!
Oh Man!. My first synth was a Mini Moog but my first polyphonic synth was a PolySix. Loved that synth. I had all my stuff backed up to Cassette. Too funny. I ended up selling it and buying a Memory Moog. Thanks for the memories dude :)
@plastikman2 congratulations, It's a great machine, have fun!
@duggabax thanks.... filter resonance and oscillator waveforms mixed.
Sounds beautiful.
Great, thanks! I love the sounds from a polysix(I,m lucky to own one)
Interesting. I have the same instruments, plus a MiniKorg700. I wasn't invincible, either :-) Still love my Polysix, which is still going.
That was the first polyphonic synth I owned. I only had a mini Moog and a B3 for years. Once I got a hold of this, I sold my moog for 50 bucks... (BIG MISTAKE)
Why don't they make synths like this anymore? They sound more alive and warm to me compared to their digital counterparts
You cannot be serious. Did you actually just write that? "They sound more alive and warm to me compared to their digital counterparts" LOL...
Yes, those damn 'sterile' digital synths...You idiot.
John Thomas Indeed, a real Polysix sounds more "alive" than a software emulated Polysix
John Thomas
Time to buy an hearing aid, says the idiot over here.
+ John Thomas you must not own very many synths for you to say an asinine comment like you said. I have been playing for over 35 years. I own both analog and digital synths. There is no digital synth that can match the analog for that "alive" sound. They are also more warm (their pads). As for an idiot... I'll take it but you should really look in the mirror yourself. Or better yet, do more research
+EtherBit Love them!!!! Not Vanilla but have Warmth!!!
This is normal. The mod wheel is always assigned to pitch.
The mod switch in the MG section affects the LFO effect independently from the mod wheel.
Very nice demo!
Thanks for sharing.
Just found one at 750€...Worth the price for this analog legend of the 80's...
Sounds good, but I think that to pay 700-1000€ for this synth (even 1500 with the "Kiwisix" kit) is totally out of price...
500-600 (top) euros for an original one would be a reasonable price.
@Donal Finn no worries, you will not find one under $900 in working condition. Battery leaking is not an issue anymore, today we have brandnew replacement parts and Kiwisix as well
@DenimArcade Good for you! My batt did the same thing. Unfortunately I was less handy w/said soldering iron, UGH! I miss it.
@SPAZZOID100 right, the CZ sounds thin and sterile - but not the DX7. The DX7 is a great synthesizer, once you learned to program it.
or you can control it with Dexed ;)
@subbahh When referring to synths, analog refers to a synth with voltage controlled oscillators or digitally controlled oscillators, although many purists do not define the latter as truly analog. The alternative would be a digital signal processing synth, which is essentially a computer recreating the functions of analog parts with a resolution of digital bits. The main difference is that analog systems deliver voltages to circuits and digital systems use strings of on or off values (1 or 0).
Nice demo!
I miss mine every day.
@TheMCMXXL it's not entirely true to say it has no LFO and no VCF EG. There *is* a single envelope generator, which can control the VCF and VCA. You can switch the VCA between envelope and gate mode (the latter opening the VCA when the key is down), and adjust the VCF EG modulation from "down" to "up" through zero. There is an LFO that can be switched between the VCO, VCF and VCA, and a separate LFO for the squarewave PWM.
Mine died last month....RIP 1981-2022 (second battery leak) 40+ years is a mighty long life for a synthesizer
This is a machine, it can't die... replace that circuit board, there are several options to get a new one.
@@AnalogAudio1 Not worth the effort and the money for me anymore. about 12 years ago I had it restored and I remember the nightmare.....I must admit I will miss one of the best sounding machines I ever owned.....
@@cozmovox Then sell it to someone who has the motivation. But don't throw it away please.
@@synthesizerhome2041 I gave it away to someone motivated....don't worry
Thanks... it's already done! :-)
alright this will be the next synth i buy
Mine had a coke spilled on it and it fried. Great synth.
Nice demo job!
no, it has not! By the way, in this moment I really notice the absence of it :-) - because I didn't ever miss it... I look at the Polysix rather as a polyphonic instrument. Unisono is a nice extra - but at this mode you don't have much control over the sound (detune, several waveforms of voices). Portamento is important on monophonic synths - if I need a solo with portamento, I use one of my monophonics, like the Mono/Poly...
Roland Juno-60 lacks portamento, too... (unlike the Juno-106)
The synth used in Shannon's Give Me Tonight.
I want one soo badly
thanks!
of course it's an analog filter - built around a SSM filter chip. This filter chip was also used in other synths: PPG Wave, Prophet-5, Korg Mono/Poly... to name a few.
Yes, the filters sound very good...
The PPG filter emulation in the Waldorf Q definitely has similar resonance timbres. It’s a pretty sound.
Great Laser Resonance sounds, if anything, you have to be careful with possible distortion on the case of the Waldorf Q, ‘cause it’s obviously digital. But still impressive in 2020 the little aliasing and high end detail of the Q, released in 1999 IIRC.
The Poly6 has def. a pretty sound of it’s own. Beautiful.
This video and this channel are already a classic.
Thanks for the effort.
great sounds!
@6:30 Reeeaal Human Being....
it's a great synth, have fun! :-)
SSM2044 is a nice filter (what you have in the Polysix, and what i have in a Kawai K3), but this is not the same as the legendary 2040 used in the early Prophets. Very different, some say. The discrete filters found in synths like OB-X or Jupiter 4 beats all these chips anyway :)
I had a polysix for almost 15 years. I bought it in 1988 when it was less than 7 years old and I was only 24 years old. I never really did anything with it and now seriously regret it. I had to get rid of it a few years ago because I let it sit for so long that the ni-cad battery leaked all over the motherboard. It wouldn't hold any voice memory after that. It's a shame I didn't have the stick-to-it-ive-ness to keep it running. I could be using it today to make something.
5:28 BLOODY HELL THOSE PADS!!
I was going to get this synth to replace my juno 106 but apparently all polysix eventually have a similar problem as well.
Korg Polysix - the original NiCad battery leaks and causes catastrophic corrosion to circuit board.
- Roland Juno 106 / MKS-7 / MKS-30 / HS-60 - the voice chips have an epoxy coating that eventually short the chips resulting in dead voices.
I am beginning to wonder if there are ANY poly synthesizers without a built in defect that automatically ruins the synth...???
I am not talking about a synthesizer needing maintenance because of age but actual design flaws that guarantee a synth will go bad no matter how well you take care of it.
Are there any pure analog poly synthesizers without serious built on design flaws?
Brian Gordon What defects were there?
+Brian Gordon Juno-60
+Brian Gordon Don't let that stop you for buying one. If you find an operative one.....GET IT. If the Battery wasn't replaced already, I could do that for you and give it a general cleaning. I would replace and relocate the battery to a place that if the new battery was to EVER leak. It wouldn't damage anything. This SHOULD have been done with any 6's out there that HAVE been already serviced!
the polysix's SSM chips sound so earthy ans organic
@DJPeteJames Korg Polysix doesn't use any Curtis chip as VCOs. You can find the service manual on web.
thanks! :-)
They take a mains supply, but have an internal battery, which as mentioned tends to leak
no, MIDI was not available in 1981. MIDI came out two years later.
It has sounded better on records? Well, I didn't play songs or something here - I just wanted to show some interesting sounds. This is a synth DEMO, not a performance. And believe me, I can appreciate this instrument, since I used it on many recordings.
yeah that sounds really awesome. I wonder if my Juno 60 could be made to sound like that.
Anybody ever have a problem with NO sound coming from the keys?? I opened it up and replaced the battery 10 years ago, and it never leaked....the old one. But there is no sound....and ideas? Nothing looks burned or corroded anywhere on the circuit boards.
Closest to a Prophet V!!!!
Sounds about right :P
One of the 80;s sounds synths, in the Juno 106-category of cheaper but good sounding polys.
I think that the version of the polysix that is in Korg legacy pack is fantastic. Probably one of the best virtual instruments around. Not sure if it is consistent over the whole range though (most vst;s aren't).
Of course you don't get the hands on experience as with the real thing, the knobs in 1920*1200 are just too small and then theres the thing with stepping when turning knobs(not smooth).
I was given one as a fixer upper but the internal sounds are gone. Does anyone know where to find the sounds and how to load them into the board?
I. NEED.
Probably that it was filmed with a digital camera, uploaded to the internet, and is being played back to you compressed.
Is there any input jacks on synths like this. I know pete townshend would run an electric organ thru an old synth rack module and get an organ sound with the different filters and stuff from a synth. is there any way to do something like that on a synth like this?
@Alterstateresearcher
Gotta program automations to make the filters and stuff change dynamically with the sound to help it out ya know?
I think there could be different reasons... but I'm not an electronics engineer.
What's the question here? I'm an electronics engineer.
2:04 Camera Eye From Rush?
6:40 onwards, could you explain how you are getting those bell-like tones? very awesome-sounding, cold in a good way.
Replace the battery...I need to do that with my DW8000, but not before I get MIDI cables for it so I can restore the patches!
uff... 10/10
Hey great video, do you remember what patchea you had on it at this time, I love the one at 1.30 and would love to know what it's called
@DJPeteJames
Knowing Korg, they are probably custom Korg chips.
Ring mod triangle? Any number of VA's could duplicate it - It does sound a bit "logan's run" to me, but that's the era. At the time (c. 1981) you had several great synths, each with its own character, available. P5, Oberheim's Matrix series, Roland's analog stuff, etc. Each took a different path, depending on the price point the mfnc. wanted to hit.
Wow, yours is in awesome shape. The battery leaked on mine, so the waveforms, effects, octaves, and the attenuator don't work at all, filter only barely works, and someone (ok, me when I was like 12) messed up the tuning of the voicing. In other words, playing it sounds a bit like an elephant death cry.
@majorhostage thanks :-)
You have some nice patches there. I have one but the patches have been erased. Would you mind sharing the patch you got at about 0:45?
the pads always make me think of B horror
@TheMCMXXL yesss
i saw a video showing this synth playing COREY HART _ SUNGLASSES AT NIGHT, can you make the sound?