The Korg Poly-61 was released in 1982 as the successor to the Polysix. It was somewhat of a step up from the Polysix, as it has 2 DCOs for better reliability. It also retained the arpeggiator of the Polysix. It has a very dirty sharp sound much like the Yamaha DX7. This is good if you are into the lo-fi sound of electronica. The Poly-61 can provide cool gritty basses or trippy analog sounds and fx.

Also added is the familiar Korg joystick, which can be used to modulate the VCO or the VCF. However, its filter only has 7 steps of resonance and is not as fat as the Polysix's filter. It also uses the same method of programming the Poly-800 and Yamaha DX-7 use, so it's not a very useful synth for real-time-tweaking junkies. The first Poly-61s didn't have MIDI, but the Poly-61M released in 1984 corrects this. Overall, the Poly-61 is still a decent synth, and it can be acquired for practically nothing! It has been used by FM Static and The Faint.

Lasse

September 24, 2009 @ 8:03 pm

This is a great (and very underrated) polysynth that produces some stunning sounds. It's capable of amazing pads and arpeggiator sounds, which is what I mostly use it for. I don't like it as much for leads, though it can produce some great basses.
It's mono, so it's a good idea to team it up with a chorus for lush pads. Poly 61 + Electroharmonix Stereo Polychorus has turned out to be a great combination for me. Thinking about it, the chorus was actually more expensive than the synth... It's a freaking steal!
The Poly obviously has its flaws and shortcomings. Aside from the lack of knobs, the limited resolution of some parameters (resonance and envelope stages in particular) can be a pain. Having a sub oscillator and glide would also make it even more useful. But overall, it's a great sounding analog polysynth at an unbelievable price. Bargain alert!

kb

September 16, 2009 @ 11:06 pm

I think knobs make this synth much more fun:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYpo_AF5hSE

groovechaser

August 23, 2009 @ 7:18 am

I love mine. For the price, you can't beat it. It produces some nice authentic 80's electro sounds. Hook it up to your fx processor and you have a monster! The only thing I noticed is the arpeggiator hesitates sometimes on certain notes and throws the timing off. It could be a glitch on mine.

Bishop

August 8, 2009 @ 6:31 am

Poly61 it's a very special keyboard.. for sure !
Amazing & dirty sharps analogs sounds out from this unit.
The only one problem (except rubbercontacts :-) I have
it's to sync it with Roland rythmbox like 606, the problem it's not 24/48 difference. Problem it's a 1/2 step delay response from the keyboard.
Anybody have another solution like buying a KPR 77 & sync it out with a 606?! Thanks

il

July 23, 2009 @ 10:58 pm

Nice but obviously the Polysix IS better (and more expensive) also the JX-3P is a nicer all round synth with better filters (Jupiter 8 ones!) and lovely roland chorus. If you are to choose between this and a JX-3P go with the Roland - better build and better looks. Korg always were a bit ugly AFTER the polysix (polysix looks nice!) and through the 80s. Their design dept was sadly lacking compared to Roland's

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