MATRIXSYNTH: KORG POLYSIX Vintage Analog Polyphonic Synthesizer with Mods


Saturday, December 20, 2014

KORG POLYSIX Vintage Analog Polyphonic Synthesizer with Mods

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"The Special Things:
- The keybed was refurbished by Sound Doctorin in 2011. It's been flawless since.
- The MIDI input was installed and configured by Greg Klosmon in 2011, and been flawless as well. (see photo)
- I created/installed what i consider my favorite upgrade of this synth, which is it's INPUT/OUTPUT insert point for patching either A) the synth PRE effects board OUT, B) the effects section independent of synth IN, or BOTH. More about this later..
- I built a V-Trig / S-Trig converter to allow the Polysix to be able to receive all types of triggers for the arpeggiator trigger input. This is included and is a simple patch when hooking up a respective signal. (not photo'd due to max photo limit here. it's just a simple small box)
- The battery was replaced several years ago so this synth avoided all of that battery/board leak stuff.
- I changed out R98 (resistor 98) to make the LFO circuit act perfectly smooth and at factory spec. There was a minor timing issue that had developed from age but it's perfect now and will be from here on.

The History:
This Polysix I purchased in February of 2012, from someone who had just had the synth serviced by Klosmon and Sound Doctrin. It's been a reliable mainstay in my studio this past couple years, and has never left my clean home or studio.

The Cosmetics:
All looks very very good! The pictures speak for themselves. Some very minor imperfections here and there as with any old synth. The wood sides have a few small chips on the corners (polysixes almost always have this) and there is one thin surface crack on the side panel, which is just the thin outer layer.. the side panel itself is still completely solid. Lastly there is one knob that has a tiny chip that you'll never notice until you look for it.

The Input/Output mod:
This is a simple mod, but amazing in result. There are two jacks i've installed on the back panel, one for direct output pre effects board, and one for direct input to the effects board. The effects board then of course comes out the normal synth output. A connection to either of these new rear jacks will break the signal flow, and no connection will keep the signal flow as normal. The mod is transparent sonically.
Why do this? Quality of sound. If you A/B the difference in sound quality in both the low and high end, between the normal out jack (effects off) out and pre effects out, you'll be pretty amazed at the improvement. I don't want to take this as an opportunity to give a long rant but it honestly should be installed on more Polysix's because it's that fantastic to hear the raw unadulterated Polysix sound before it passes through all the noise reduction circuitry of the effects board. In other words, the effects board has a lot of sonic treatment going on to reduce the noise of the effects themselves but it degrades the original synth sound. This treatment is helpful when you are using effects, but when you are using the synth's pure sound without effects turned on it is still going through the gating, compression, expansion stages and the original sound is thus compromised. From the direct out, the lows are super deep and natural, and the highs are simply clear and easy. All in all I'd consider it just more whole and natural, and thus more pleasing top to bottom. It sounds like the snyth is no longer pinched or restricted. Attacks are stronger as well, and long releases fade into natural pure sustain and then silence. Some patches bring this all out more than others, but over time you will be so glad you have the I/O patch. AND the inherent noise of the polysix is brought down big time when you use the direct out. Very noticeable difference. I haven't measured it with a meter, but when playing quiet subtle patches (which i did a lot of) it sounds like the noise level difference between a vintage synth and a modern synth. So from the direct out you get both a more musical sound quality and less noise. It's a beautiful thing. LASTLY, like i said you can use this effects section as an independent effects unit because of the effects input jack, even if you are using the polysix synth section already. You can have the synth coming out the direct out (without effects of course) and simultaneously the effects being tapped into by any other instrument or signal. Whats really great is because the polysix saves the effects settings with it's patches, you now have yourself an analog effects section WITH MEMORY! How about that :) It's a legendary ensemble effect, so having the ability to use this ensemble on anything is pretty rad. I personally think all three effects sound just as good as the other, but people really love the ensemble. It's pure fun to be able to save effects settings though."

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