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Discussion about the Korg PolySix synthesizer

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In good working order?

In good working order?

2008-11-19 by tsra26

Hello all, I have been working with a P6 that seems to be in good 
shape however it seems to be lacking in sound quality and dimension. I 
really am not a synth player so I'm not sure how to get the best 
results with all of the pots. I have loaded many different patches but 
the results don't seem to match the glowing reviews. 
I have watched all the youtube vids but I can't tell what they are 
doing with the controls to get the richness and depth or if they are 
using the factory patches and such. I ran it thru a really good tube 
amp and all the crazy warped sounds were pretty impressive but I can't  
get the basic voices to mimic what they are meant to (some seem close 
though).
The unit is very clean and the battery has not done any damage (same 
shape as the original batt but has a white cover).
Anyway I would like to put this up for sale but I don't want to 
mislead anyone about it's functionality.
What would a calibration do for it? Any ideas.
Thanks for any input you can spare.

Re: [PolySix] In good working order?

2008-11-19 by Oliver Fairhall

I don't have a great answer for you, but a couple of thoughts spring to
mind.

You may just be expecting too much from the synth. It is an old synth,
and in my opinion, it was not the highest end product for the time. It
was never really considered the 'most desirable product'. I am not
trying to denegrate the synth though. I like it for what it is. It has
genuine warmth, and is capable of some interesting sounds. It is not
nearly as programmable as a lot of other synths though.

You probably haven't explored the synth enough to really get a good
impression of what it is capable of. Patch programming in general takes
a bit of understanding, or at least patience, experimentation,
enthusiasm, and immagination. To really know how to program a synth
well, one usually has to live with it, and work with it for some time.

Analogue synths in general will vary from unit to unit, more so than
other technologies. Old analogue gear can vary quite a bit from original
factory calibration, for various reasons. I wouldn't say this is
necessarily detrimental to a synth's sound. It may mean that your synth
does not resemble some other P6 as closely as you would expect.

Calibration may help the sound of your synth, though it is not
guaranteed to. It will almost definitely not degrade the sound at all.
This may not be worth the cost though, unless you have a mate, or can
DIY.

Good luck,

Oli
Show quoted textHide quoted text
On Wed, 2008-11-19 at 00:48 +0000, tsra26 wrote:
> Hello all, I have been working with a P6 that seems to be in good 
> shape however it seems to be lacking in sound quality and dimension. I 
> really am not a synth player so I'm not sure how to get the best 
> results with all of the pots. I have loaded many different patches but 
> the results don't seem to match the glowing reviews. 
> I have watched all the youtube vids but I can't tell what they are 
> doing with the controls to get the richness and depth or if they are 
> using the factory patches and such. I ran it thru a really good tube 
> amp and all the crazy warped sounds were pretty impressive but I can't  
> get the basic voices to mimic what they are meant to (some seem close 
> though).
> The unit is very clean and the battery has not done any damage (same 
> shape as the original batt but has a white cover).
> Anyway I would like to put this up for sale but I don't want to 
> mislead anyone about it's functionality.
> What would a calibration do for it? Any ideas.
> Thanks for any input you can spare.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------
> 
> PolySix "Digiest" Page: http://www.acc.umu.se/~amber/Poly6Yahoo! Groups Links
> 
> 
>