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"Such a sweet sounding synth, really nothing quite like it! The Crumar Bit One is a main stay of synth-waver Com Truise, but its true roots belong to Italo Disco. With two DCO's it really is on par with the Juno series (if only it had sliders and that slick chorus). Two LFO's and Envelopes round out this beast to make a superb piece of kit.Sadly, the Bit One fell far short of glory in the midi department, but this has been remedied by the installation of the HKA midi kit in this unit. This upgrade does the following:
Local keyboard and external MIDI can be used at the same time - plugging a cable into the MIDI IN socket no longer disables the local keyboard. Local control can be turned off in setup mode if desired.
Receiving channel for external MIDI can be set on the synth itself, and is remembered on power-off. (Transmitted MIDI channel is fixed on channel 1)
MIDI handling is much more reliable. The board filters out all other channels before they get to the main CPU, also ignoring any messages that it cannot use, so there are no more MIDI overload-caused crashes, stuck notes etc.
Now receives MIDI pitch bend (±2 semitone range) and mod wheel. MIDI mod wheel is provided by a dedicated LFO, independent from the Bit One's own two LFOs. The modulation depth can also be controlled by MIDI channel aftertouch.
Receives MIDI sustain pedal (CC 64), which is used to control the Bit One's hold functionality.
Adds an arpeggiator with up, down, up + down and random modes. (Requires an external MIDI clock source such as a drum machine)
The Bit One also has some trouble with memory and battery longevity. This unit saves patches 10-60, and some are blank. I have programmed the blank patches and had success saving them, but perhaps it is worth replacing the battery on this unit (its probably pretty old anyway).
While the lighting in the photos makes this particular Bit One look a little crusty, natural light does wonders and this unit is in tip top shape, a real gem. It has been well taken care of. The keys are a little yellow as well, but I've seen worse.
The headphone output is a little noisy, but the main outputs are clean as a whistle. You know, the outputs the do the heavy lifting."
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