I picked a poly800 MKII up from guitar center w/a keyboard bag and power supply for $100. Can't argue with that. For the money it's an okay synth. Good for ambient stuff and anything w/a long slow attack. Decent basses too. with a little work it can sound pretty good...same for any synth really. Small enough to put next to a qwerty keyboard and play melodies on. Some people modify them with knobs for certain parameters. it's on the net somewhere. Usefull for lot's of styles of music. Sounds great with some FX. The internal delay is usefull at times but not spectacular. you can get some wierd tunings out of it and fx-ish sounds. fun keyboard. Buy it if you find it cheap. or a cheap DX something or CZ will do just as well.
Rating: 3 out of 5
posted Friday-Dec-08-000 at 15:09
Andy
a hobbyist user
from The Netherlands
writes:
Poly 800... not only good for house, but also for symphonic rock/metal bands who kills their bassplayer. Also created some very funny/spacy/weird/surpricing sounds. Together with a Peavy module it is the basic of the band.
posted Monday-Aug-28-000 at 15:14
Rix
a professional user
from rotterdam/holland
writes:
WHAT? BAD SYNTH? i don't know any other synth with this many great sounds and possibilities in it for such a low price. okay, it ain't always that efficient to edit each parameter one by one, but i don't think it's possible to find such great sounds in an other synth for such a low price....great for techno, triphop and detroit because of it's nice 80's-sounds...makes your tracks sound timeless....something that's impossible with for instance a JP-8080 or CS2X. very underestimated!
Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Friday-Jul-07-000 at 04:09
rabbi
a part-time user
from United States
writes:
If you're gonna do the filter mod, replace VR2 on the main circuit board with a 100K audio taper pot, and VR5 with a 10K audio taper pot.
As far as the synth itself, forget cutting bass/lead sounds. The sound is mushy. and burbly. It's at its best doing weird pad/swelling noises and "LFO to Filter" drones. Try before you buy...I love it, but it's no minimoog. Don't pay over $200. (Unless it's modded!) It gets a four for character/uniqueness, not versatility.
Rating: 4 out of 5
posted Sunday-Jun-18-000 at 05:13
Adam
a part-time user
from Clarkston, MI. 48346
writes:
Here's a link to the page that contains instructions to add the cutoff/rez mod:
listings
