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EFFORT
No
words can express the horror I felt after unpacking my first "fully
working" Polysix, bought from a man whom I didn't know, from a place
too far away for me to travel, powering it up and finding the sound
totally messed up, then opening the panel and seeing the even bigger
mess on the circuit board caused by the infamous blue Varta battery. I
think it had been put there intentionally by the Lord of the Synths to
test the devotion of synth freaks and their zest for continuing the
effort of the United Fundamentalist Synth Freak Church to keep the
gospel of
vintage synths alive no-matter-fucking-what. I did that. I stretched
myself horribly. I put my
effort into repairing it and played it. Will I go to synth-heaven?
COMPARISON
I've come across a
lot of people comparing Polysix and Juno-60, so let me not break the
convention this time and let's start with a quick comparison.
First that comes to my mind is that P-6 and JU-60 are two totally
different synths. Why do people compare them, then?
I guess because
they cost similar amount of money, because they were prodcued
in the same time, and because they both are what is called "a
reasonably priced vintage polysynth". The reason I still perceive them as
totally different is because they are totally different sonically,
and this is most crucial for me. Other than that I'd say they're
pretty much the same (lol).
Technically speaking, first thing that struck me is the Polysix envelope;
it is a lot more
sluggish than Juno's. Juno is very snappy and rounded, so to
speak. As far as the filter goes, the Polysix VCF broadens its sonic possibilities to a
great extent. You will be able to create some odd and cool harmonics messing with
the resonance on the VCF. Next comes the PWM; Pulse Width Modulation is one of a kind,
as setting the maximum value
of the PWM makes the wave so thin that it virtually vanishes. Last but
not least, there are the much-praised three effects that add this special character
to the Polysix sound. All of this makes the Polysix quite a plastic
(=versatile across timbres)
synth in its relatively small editing scope and you'll bound to find
it less "samey" than the Juno (I'm not mentioning the fact that the P6
will take you much closer to the sound of the old Prophets, because if
you care for the Prophet, you probably know this already).
CHOICE - BOTH (OR RATHER ALL
THREE)
So. Juno
has its invincible, lush, thick-as-brick chorus, Juno has DCB (or MIDI
when speaking of the JU-106), Juno has PWM controlled by envelope,
Juno has High Pass Filter, and Juno too has a unique filter that can
do some weird interference. It simply sounds very different,
very sensual & harmonious. The Polysix struck me with the
stiffness of its soundwave - it's somewhat muddy and gets glitchy when
pushed a little bit further beyond the safe boundaries. However, it's
great for all things wet (swampy), dirty (dusty) & retro (classic). It
stands out in this respect. Prophets are clean / icy, Junos are warm /
creamy, whereas the Polysix is damp / scratchy. So I'll take the Junos
for basses, pads and various electronica candy, and I'll take the P6
for brasses, strings and leads. Let those two complement each other in
a productive union.
ps. One of
my favorite sounds ever is the Korg Legacy VST Polysix bass. It just
fucking shreds everything else to pieces with its deep, warm, full,
supple, fuzzy, crystalline presence. I thought that when I buy the
real Polysix, there will be the danger of me dying from eargasm. But
nothing of that sort happened - quite the opposite. I almost died from
confused disappointment. The real P6 bass sounded like a woodchuck's
ass compared to the VST P6. Funny. I never expected the results
presenting themselves this way.
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