Korg Poly 800?

[dvyce]

Said i'd be Corrected the Steps are infact O-15 and 0-99 respectivly. that would be 15 and 99 steps as i originally said. as you Don't count 0 as a step
0-1 is 1 step therefore 0-15 is 15 steps Just thought we would have that correct incase we confuse the Noobie's Same goes for the P61 you don't count the 0 as a step. Other than that minor thing I agree with what was said.

I absolutely stand by my valuation of the steps.

The relevance of the numbers is not in "transitions" as would be the case with "taking steps while walking"...

The relevance of the numbers is in the "individual value levels that determine how fine the difference is from one value to another"...

The numbers refer to how many "choices" or "values" you have to choose from in programming your patch.

You can select a value of "0" through a value of "x"... you are not selecting a "jump" from "0-1", "1-2", "2-3", etc...

A parameter with a setting allowing you to choose a value between and inclusive of "0-15" gives you 16 incremental levels to choose from... and "0-99" gives you 100 incremental levels.

The term "steps" is not one that makes real sense anyway... I knew what he was talking about... meaning "how many values are there to choose from"... I know this because there is nothing "stepping" in the parameter.


[edit]

Actually, one could say the parameter choices "stepped" as opposed to being "continuous"... but that is different from "stepping" or "going in steps"...

But my analysis still holds: 0-15 gives you 16 steps you can choose from... you can choose 0 ("off"), 1 ("a little"), 2 ("a little more"), 3 ("even more than that"), through 15 ("all the way")... 16 settings for the parameter... 16 steps to choose from.



But who really gives a crap... Defining "steps" here is of no real importance...

It is not an actual term people use with a definite meaning... It is just something this dude said to try to describe his question regarding continuous vs jumping values.

It is not a specifically defined synth term.

The answer is the same either way.

You get to choose a nber between 0 and 15... Call it whatever you want.

This us a very different situation from confusing "cutoff" with "resonance"... Or "filter" with "envelope"... "VCO" with "VCA"...

Those have actual defined answers... This doesn't.

There is nothing to argue or debate since there is no answer...

It is like debating whether ghosts are "blobs of mist" or if the "look like the human form the used to be"

You don't sweep the Res although i bet you could if you added a couple of switches and did some rewiring most likely chose which one you'd like to do.
yes the Poly800 Filter will self resonate on the highest setting. If it doesn't the filter can be adjusted inside so that it does. The Moog slayer Mod is basicly tapping into these internal controls and moving them outside.
Another Point people also say about the poly800 is that it only has one filter for all six voices I havn't got the circuit for the p800 but I guess the the voices are either summed or multiplexed through it you can change the way it responds either retriggering on every note press or triggers on the first touch and doesn't retrigger until all notes are released and then another pressed.
Compare to the Poly61 each has its own ENV and Filter So each note gets its envelope independent of other voices. However the p800 does have 3 envelope shapers one for each oscillator again without a drawing I don't know but most likely is seperate VCA's for OSC1&2 being controlled there. and one for the filter. There is more control there than either the poly61 or a Juno6/60.
Because the way it works it does things the Poly61 or Juno's can't do But equally they can both do Stuff thethe P800 Can't.

I think The p800/ ex800 is "Marmite" You either love it or Hate it, I think in its day it was a fab little board for the money and dependable never had a single glitch live with mine. Unlike the Sy55 I replaced it with At one gig did a Hammond style growl and ended up with a fist full of Keys. and another night Stage crew used way to much dry ice so I didn't see anyone else for about 20minutes all I can think is it got into the keyboard because all of a sudden the tuning went and sounded like the oscillator was being modulated with a random wave then a load of Japanese figures appeared on the display and that was that. Had to finish the gig with the other 3 boards. Next day it was fne and never did it again until it suddenly died about 10years later Replaced it with another one still not sure why?

I don't recall the 800's filter being self resonating in a "stock" unit... and I don't recall either way about the 1 filter/6 voices thing...

i have not used them in a little bit of time... and although they are sitting in front of me and I am perfectly happy to look at their faces to check how many value settings each parameter allows, i am too busy to plug them in and check out the filters.



And, as I said earlier... although the poly and EX are theoretically the same box... I love the EX but don't care for the poly... they sound completely different (at least the ones I have and have had do)...

And i love the Poly61.

---------- Post added at 04:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:32 PM ----------

How limiting is the 16 steps of resonance, versus a continuous value?

depends on who you are asking.

I have no issues with it, but other people may feel differently.

Obviously it is better than the poly61's 8 steps, but does it really make much of a difference?

depends on who you are asking.

I have no issues with it, but other people may feel differently.

And more selectable values does not a better synth make.

Or does it sometimes leave you with that "almost but not quite right sound" feeling?

depends on who you are asking.

The more you know about synths and the more you know exactly what it is you are looking for and the better you are at programming synths, the more you will find yourself at a point of "almost but not quite right" as a result of what is available in a synths architecture, oscillators and filters... but it is rarely because of how many increments of change are available in a setting... it is typically due to what parameters EXIST.

Also, does the filter have the ability to self-oscillate on the poly/ex800?

Not that I can recall.

 

[Pbunky1970]

I agree, 0-15 =16. You have to consider 0 or off as a step or plausible value.

I occasionally run across poly 800s in pawn shops and other second hand shops for $100-$200.Maybe its worth a look.

 

[Lamster]

DVYCE
Ok I'll conceed your point although I would term 0 as off leaving 15 or 99 steps.
Your obviously Like me an electronics Tech as well as a user?
I've recently been inside 2 P61's I got dead off ebay and an Ex I had to rebuild as I got it dead and in kit form in a carrier bag for £20. The EX and the Poly only has one filter in it, Just had a quick look at the PDF online of the circuit and it looks like the o/p's from the OSC's are summed through a quad op amp into 1 NJM2069 VCF chip so as I said 1filter. Trouble is many people site this as a short coming. the fact that you can control the OSC's with their own Env and independently of the VCF then in that department it becomes more versatile than both the Juno's and the P61. And christ this PDF is a crap scan! also looks like the VCF can do 12db/oct and 24db/oct but only the 24db is wired. The P61 is 12db/oct and although there are six of them the control for the ssm2054's is summed and ssms balanced to give the same or as close as o/p as each other that same setting is applied to the VCA so both the VCA and VCF have the same envelope same sort of thing with the Juno's the advantage is that each note will follow the envelope when it is triggered where as the Ex and P800 can't do this. But apart from that it's effectivly the same as you would term the P61 and the Juno as having one filter and although the Juno's are well loved and I liked mine it's a pretty poor show using the same ENV to control both VCF and VCA. When I get time to investigate the control voltages in the P61 I shall rob them off the CPU and control them with pots and switches on 1 of the synths I have. And if my Pic ENV experiment works I'll be adding another 6 ENV's to control the VCF and VCA independently.
some guy has done some mods to one on youtube. But he's hacked into the board and cut tracks I want to do it on a separate board so it can be reversed but this is a bit of design rather than a bit of circuit bending when I find the time i'll do it. and the P61 service manual is a really crappy scan so will take ages just to read whats on all the pins before I even get a meter or a scope near it.