bcr@ccivax.UUCP (Barry Ruff) (02/16/85)
---> I'm not a musician I'm a hack <---
A brief review:
The CHROMA Polaris Synthesizer
Well, I went out and did it. I bought myself a synth.
I looked around for four or five months, I looked at
them all, from Casio to Yamaha. After all this careful
deliberation one unit stood out. Price for performance
the new CHROMA Polaris from Fender is quite the instrument.
An elegant mix of clean analog sounds and powerful digital
control. It uses an 80186 for the onboard processor. Six
voice polyphonic, two analog oscillators, a filter, two
digital envelope generators( ADSDR and ADR ), and a sweep
generator( LFO effects-filter sweep, vibrato, and echo ).
A 61-note velocity sensitive keyboard, two programmable
modulation levers for effects like pitch bend and vibrato,
programmable keyboard split anywhere you like, I realize
I'm droning but keep reading the best awaits.
So maybe your not to up on all this synthesizer buzz, well
then let's talk about computing power. 16K RAM expandable
to 64, 32K ROM. The Polaris can store 132 patches and 12
sequences. Recording sequences is simple, and you can
play over top of any sequence that is playing. That allows
you to have four different voices at once. Ok, but what
does this have to do with computers, well...
The Polaris was designed with interface in mind. It has
MIDI ( Musical Instrument Digital Interface ) in all it's
splendor, the Rhodes Chroma interface( connects to the
original Chroma and the expander ), sync in and out and
a cassette interface. So whether you want to connect by
way of MIDI or any of the other methods, theres a great
ammount of flexability.
So much for the specs, what really counts is of course
the sound. Rich, fat, very nice. You have to hear it
to appreciate it. Vibrant strings mixed with harpsichord
with wind blowing in the backround, need I say more.
Bottom line, how much? This is the best part. Fender
lists for $1995. I got a local dealer to say 1700, but
after some effort I got a dealer in Providence RI to
get me one delivered for $1410.
I realize thats no small price tag, and the Polaris isn't
the unit for everyone, but if you get a chance ask your
local Fender dealer for a demo.
There are a lot of features in the Polaris I skipped over
to maintain brevity. For a more extensive review refer to
Keyboard magazine Dec '84 I believe. Also you can get in
touch with Fender at:
Fender Musical Instruments
1300 East Valencia Drive
Fullerton, CA 92631
If you already have a Polaris and would like to exchange
some programs or if you have any questions or comments,
feel free to get in touch.
Barry Ruff 716-427-2882
Computer Consoles Inc. {allegra,seismo}!rochester!ritcv!ccivax!bcr
Rochester Inst. of Tech. {allegra,seismo}!rochester!ritcv!ritvp!bcr6454
Rhodes, Chroma and Polaris are trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments
@ 1985 CBS Inc.