Korg Poly-800 Vintage Polyphonic Analog Synthesizer 1980s

Here's a 1980s Korg Poly-800 polyphonic synthesizer in good playing condition. This machine is a little funky to program but once you get the hang of it you'll find that it's loaded with a wide variety of lush and dynamic tones, and the design is nice and compact and well made. Very cool! Sure to make a great addition to your studio or live setup. Some normal cosmetic signs of use throughout (see photos), but this one is in very good shape overall. Does not include power supply, stand or other accessories, but send us a message before checking out if you'd like to add anything to your order.

From Vintage Synth Explorer:

At a time when Roland was doing well with their Juno-series, KORG countered with a poly-synth of their own in 1983 with the Poly-800. The Poly-800 was comparable to the Juno-106, at the time, with respect to the fact that musicians now had access to affordable programmable polyphonic analog synthesizers (it listed for under $1,000) with memory storage, stable DCOs (digitally controlled oscillators) and a new state-of-the-art technology called MIDI (although there was no SysEx implementation yet).

The Poly-800 is an eight-voice instrument (two more than the Juno series) with 64 memory patches (half of what the Juno-106 offered) and up to 50 editable parameters! Like the Juno, the Poly-800 had one DCO per voice, although it did feature a Double mode in which the oscillators could be stacked up for a fuller sound and only four voices of polyphony. The analog filter is a 24dB/oct low-pass which is shared by all voices (the Juno has separate filter chips for each voice). There's also a stereo chorus effect, chord memory, a simple built-in sequencer, three digital envelope generators (for the oscillators, the noise generator and the filter), and a funky joystick used to adjust the pitch, modulation and the filter.

Unlike the Juno, which was still a “studio” instrument, the Poly-800 was built for the performer. With a light-weight plastic case (only 10 lb.), a couple low-profile sliders/knobs and only 49 keys, the Poly-800 can run on batteries and has guitar strap pegs so it can be worn like a keytar. A less common reversed color keys model was released for a unique look as well.

* If you are placing an international order, please contact us prior to checkout to discuss shipping quotes.