Korg Poly800/EX800 Users

Hi Poly 800 fans,

I just added two new polls for the group to participate in. The two
polls are related in that I am trying to gauge how to move forward
with the software upgrade and determine if it is worth continuing with
a hardware upgrade kit or not.

The existing ROM in your EX800 or Poly800 MK1 could be swapped out
with a new ROM that would contain much better use of controllers and
sysex single patch upload/download abilities. However, I cannot fit
those new functions into the little 8K ROM unless I remove other
functions. The two specific function groups that would have to be
removed would be the sequencer and the tape save/load functions.
What is nice about doing a simple ROM swap out is that the ROM sits in
a socket on the board. So it is very easy to remove it and replace
with a new ROM. The bad news is that the little 8K ROM just won't be
able to take much more that a few extra controllers and new single
patch sysex functions.

So the only way to really remake the Poly800/EX800 is to build a
retrofit kit that expands the memory significantly. This then will
allow all of the existing functions to remain in place and will allow
all of the new controllers and sysex functions and then, will allow us
to create new envelope generators, LFO waveforms, and a whole list of
new performance functions that would never ever fit into that little
8K ROM. The bad news is that the retrofit kit would require
desoldering IC29 from the main board. If you've never desoldered chips
from boards before then this could be a very difficult task with the
risk of damaging (and rendering useless) your beloved instrument. The
retrofit kit would come with excellent instructions but removing IC29
will require skill that perhaps some of us just don't have. As part of
the retrofit service, I am thinking about doing a board swap out
program where you would ship your main board to me, I would do the
modification and then ship it back to you. But there would be an
additional labor charge and some risk attached to shipping your board
to me and then back again. Unfortunately, those of you who live
outside of the USA would have to either modify the board yourself or
give it to a technician that could do the job for you.

So the two polls are just a way for me to gauge the best way forward.
And I will very much appreciate your input as I continue to make
progress on the new software.

Thanks again,

Mike.