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The Legacy Polysix 's filter has a wide range, with the cutoff ranging from 13Hz at the low end to 21.1kHz at the upper. For example, adjusting the Keyboard Track trimmers incorrectly causes the Kbd Track knob on the front panel to add a variable delay before the filter Attack, rather than affecting the keyboard tracking itself. The tiniest error in any of these can produce the most amazing errors and inconsistencies in the front panel's operation. However, the actions of these knobs are highly sensitive to the settings of the synth's internal calibration trimmers.
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On the original Polysix, there are four filter controls: cutoff frequency, resonance, envelope generator intensity, and keyboard tracking amount. Even today, nothing else sounds quite like a PS3200. These gave it a character that still sets it apart from other instruments. Although Korg originally released the PS3200 the same year, and the big polysynth shared much of its panel hardware and design philosophy with the MS20, it was a very different beast, with a single non-oscillating low-pass filter, pulse-width modulation of both oscillators, a graphic EQ, an ensemble unit, and many other voicing and control differences. Overall, this is a very encouraging beginning.įollowing last month's coverage of Legacy MS20, I was asked whether it sounds anything like its visually similar big brother, the Korg PS3200, seeing as Legacy MS20 is essentially a polyphonic MS20. Likewise, the sub-octaves have similar timbres, although the original Polysix's is again somewhat brighter. The PWM waveforms are also close to one another, although they require slightly different initial pulse-width settings to sound the same. In this case, it's necessary to close the filter of the original Polysix just a tad to match the brightness of the two instruments, but they then become almost indistinguishable.
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The square wave on the Polysix is less ideal, exhibiting a significant overshoot on each transient, but the sound is still close to that of an ideal square, so the software and hardware incarnations again sound alike. This is relatively easy to model so, with the filter wide open, and no contouring or modulation, it's no surprise that the sawtooth waves from Legacy Polysix and the hardware original sound remarkably similar. Testing with a signal analyser shows that the sawtooth wave produced by the original Polysix is surprisingly close to the ideal. Likewise, adding a transposer of ☒4 semitones, moving the bend intensity (up to one octave), and moving the fine-tune of ☑ semitone to the same area has no detrimental effect on the 'feel' of the synth. Nonetheless, the addition of this control in no way detracts from the original design. Because MIDI hadn't yet been invented when the original Polysix was released in 1981, this wasn't present on the original, and the amount of modulation engendered by the Polysix's own modulation wheel was hard-wired. A sixth control, labelled Vibrato Intensity, controls the depth of pitch modulation imparted by MIDI continuous controller (CC) number one. The OscillatorĪs on the original Polysix, Legacy Polysix 's oscillator section is simplicity itself, with three waveforms - sawtooth, pulse and pulse-width modulation (PWM) - three octaves, and a sub-oscillator.
Even if you've never played a real Polysix, this is a simple and intuitive layout, and if you read my review of the Legacy MS20, you'll immediately recognise and understand the new controls that Korg have added to the original architecture.
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However, this is not where the real action happens, and you'll probably want to jump immediately to the Edit screen (shown overleaf), which contains all the original controls, plus the new ones that Korg have added for the Legacy Collection version. On launching Legacy Polysix, the first thing you'll see is the Play screen (shown opposite), a fixed-size representation of the original synth.
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I discussed how to load and authorise the Collection in the previous parts of this review, so I'll start by assuming that you have the software installed and running.
Will Legacy Polysix live up the promise of the other components, and will Legacy Cell and its effects deliver what is claimed of them? Legacy Polysix
So here we are, ready to put the final elements of the Collection through the SOS mill. Photo: Mark EwingOver the last two issues, I've been taking a close look at Korg's Legacy Collection, specifically the software Wavestation and MS20, and confirming that they really are remarkably accurate recreations of the original instruments. but will the Legacy Polysix and Legacy Cell scale the same heights in the final instalment of our three-part definitive review? It's been an unreserved thumbs-up for Korg's bundle of software synths so far.