Some players used to more expensive polyphonics found this a restrictive practice which limited the variety of sounds available on the 800. The drawback here was that all the other notes, you were holding would also sound out again, even though you hadn't struck the keys. Multiple triggering would give you a freshly fired filter each time a new note was depressed.

Attempting to hold down one bass note and solo over the top produced sounds that were at the end of the filter's envelope - the soft, muted, sustained part of the sound, not the initial 'wang'. With single triggering, you'd play a chord and the filter would run through its proper attack pattern, but wouldn't fire again unless you took all your fingers off the keys. And there was only one filter, not eight, so you had to make the choice of single or multiple triggering. If you wanted double oscillator sounds, you were reduced to four note polyphony. Although boasting two banks of oscillators, they could only produce a maximum of eight notes.

Once you got deeper into the 800, it became obvious that a few careful economies had been made in order to hit the price target. The battery powered, shoulder slung synth created a well deserved stir in 84/85, principally down to the wide selection of analogue features it offered.Īt a budget price you would usually associate with a home keyboard - all presets and drum patterns - it offered genuine oscillators, filter, programmability, onboard sequencer, chorus, MIDI, joystick, white noise, and more. For those of you who were never formally introduced to the original Poly 800, let us set the scene.

Korg poly 800 battery