Korg Poly800 mk1 MDK - Midi Dump Kit

The Korg Poly800 MDK was an upgrade kit for the Poly800 mkI that Korg released
for what seems like about 20 minutes in the late 80's. What is does is allow
you to load and dump the entire patch memory to and from your synth and your
computer via midi system exclusive (sysex) data.
The original Poly800 mkI's only allowed you to save and load sounds from
cassette, like on early home computers, although WAV or mp3 recordings of the
audio data played from your computer also work once you've figured out the
correct levels.

The EX800 already has the ability to transfer data over sysex. The fact it has
no keyboard and so therefore didn't need the keyboard scanning routines in the
operating system, gave Korg some extra space to add the facility for sysex
transfer.

This kit consists of an updated operating system in the form of the POLY MDK
EPROM chip, a small custom designed and pre-assembled MDK PCB, a couple of PCB
mounts, and an eight way wiring loom.

Installation is quick and easy, although you will need to cut a couple of PCB
tracks and solder in a few wires.

You can download the installation guide from
https://www.circuitbenders.co.uk/tutorials/MDK_build_guide_v3.pdf

The original operating system on the Poly800 mkI has a known bug in it that
can cause parts, or all of the sound memory to be erased under specific
circumstances involving certain midi operations. We have not been able to
replicate this bug using the updated operating system used in this mod. There
is every possibility that Korg fixed this issue with this OS release, although
we cannot say this with absolute certainty as is difficult to claim a fault
isn't there when you aren't 100% sure how to reliably force it to happen!

This kit does not allow you to control any synth parameters via sysex
commands. It is just for saving and loading patch banks.