Crumar DS-2 Analog Synthesizer with MIDI Added

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Published on Jan 2, 2015 Farsetto Nero

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"The Crumar DS-2 is a really big sounding analog synth. Made my Crumar in the late 70's, it was apparently once of the first DCO synths that was still fully analog - the LFOs on this synth are really crazy and you can get some very spacey sounds, as well as aggressive and bass-heavy low end.

Cosmetically, it is in decent shape, the front panel has some slight rusting from age, but it is in very good working order! I had the synth serviced recently, and had MIDI added, which really takes it to a whole new level. Everything functions as it should, including the poly section. It comes with a case enclosure as well (not in picture).

More info:

'This is not a synthesizer for boring italo basslines, funky leadlines and commonplace pop music melodies. This thing is instant cosmic space travel... Its big, unstable, adventerous, bleepy, moist, crackling, cloudy, hoarse, droney' - Legowelt"

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Vintage 1978 Crumar DS 2 SN 47

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"1978 Crumar DS 2 synthesizer - Number 47 of under 700 made in Italy. Rare. Seems to work fine but I am not familiar with this instrument. Missing one slider knob. As is.
The DS-2 is basically a monosynth with an added 44-voice polyphonic strings section. The DS-2 was one of the first synthesizers to use DCOs (digitally controlled osc.) making it stable in tune but maybe not as fat as VCO synthesizers. That isn't to say it can't sound fat...it can. Especially if you use the polyphonic string section and apply some slow LFO modulation to the pitch. This is a very big and good looking synth with a lot of knobs for instant hands-on control. And you don't need a hardcase, it's built into one. Just lift the cover and there it is (smart!)."

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Rare (Working) Crumar DS-2 Analog Synth (Italian 70s Synth) SN 551

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"The Crumar DS-2 (as in “digital synthesizer # 2”) is an Italian analog/digital hybrid synth built in the late 1970s. A few sources and synth blogs give 1977/78 as the starting year of production. Only a few hundred (some sources say around 700) were made; this one has a serial number of 551.

The takeaway = this is a rare, fat-sounding, heavy-ass 1970s synth that features two LFOs with really unique shapes, two digitally controlled oscillators (hence the “D” in DS-2), a poly section, pink and white noise…all of this, packed in a road case. The DS-2 is a classic-sounding beast, and one of the few synths that has a poly section you can play alongside a 2 oscillator mono section. The architecture of this synth draws comparisons to Moogs and Arps, but it's honestly more quirky (and therefore perhaps more limited in its scope, but also more unique)."

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Vintage Crumar DS 2 Synth Synthesizer SN 464

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Vintage Crumar DS-2 Synthesizer

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Happy New Year From MATRIXSYNTH! - A Look Back at 2014

Happy New Year everyone!

I want to start by thanking everyone that comes to MATRIXSYNTH and helps make it what it is - the readers, the supporters, and of course all the sponsors on the right.

THANK YOU and have a GREAT 2015!!!

This site is a labor of love and a ton of work. This site is ultimately meant to be an testament to everything synth in the making. We have over nine years of daily synth history captured here, 119,983 published posts. I can't wait to see what the future brings us in 2015!

That said, here are a few interesting bits from 2014 in the longest post of the year. ;)

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Crumar Vintage DS-2 Digital Synthesizer SN 00137

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Pics of the inside below.

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Crumar DS-2

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via the seller: "CRUMAR DS-2 synthesizer in super cool army style footlocker style road case with CRUMAR logos on it. (Let me start by saying that I am a guitar player and don't know a ton about synths so feel free to correct my terminology if I get some things wrong.) This is a vintage synthesizer from Italy. It powers up and all the keys produce notes, it seemed in tune with itself when chords were played. There is a pitch control near the pitch slider thingy that change the pitch when moved, I would guess that the pitch wheel could dial it in to a modern tuner, or wherever else you wanted to go. There is a multi position octave selector switch near the bender bar that changes the overall octave of the synth up and down.

I messed around with this thing for about half an hour, and the knobs & sliders seemed to work, with one notable exception* - rates and octaves change, timbres change, the sounds can be modified.* The one thing I couldn't get to work was the little pitch bender bar. It may work, and I didn't have it engaged? This thing has so many controls that I wasn't sure what I was doing. There may have been other things that don't work, but it seemed like most of the controls were functional. The only thing I noticed that was definitely missing was the top slider for OSC. 1 on the left hand side of the keyboard. You can see this section in one of the pictures. The controls seemed pretty clean, not super scratchy.

Cosmetically this thing is in pretty good shape. The case seems to have kept it pretty nice over the years. Some old tape here and there, normal wear from use you'd see on a vintage instrument, but nothing serious. The case has some nicks and scrapes but it is solid as well. Will need a new handle. Pictures should tell the story, condition wise. "

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Vintage Crumar DS-2 Synthesizer SN 346

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"The ds2 is a very rare ( 500 made ) crumar synth which has digital ( , fat . raspy saw , pure square and lovely sine thats unlike any analogue i heard ) analogue filters , 2 x lfo , weird lfo shapes and to top it off a 44 key string synth section ( which works at the same time as the main osc's for sublime chord tuned keys.)

Creatively this machine is freaks synth or one for retro heads , the 2 lfo's and mod matrix make this not unlike the sequential pro 1 at times but way more complex ( it has ladder / staircase and s/h random lfos' which take you straight into star trek / bbc radiophonic territory)The machines string section makes super cheesy and cool 60's and 70's pad sounds and just plain psychedelic wavering timbres very similiar to the boards of canada stuff , you know those detuned and weavy psychedelic tones.The machine also excels at leads from thin and tonal to fat and pwm ones and as it has 2 main osc's it can play chord leads that go from classic rave tones to crazy jazz tones , it can emulate a moog lead with ease , really its very moogish.The machine also reminds me alot of the Oxford oscar , it has a very very similiar tone to the oscar at times , a rough and ready filter and a resonance that sqwarks like a banshee , it self resonates and the filter will then act as a osc and track perfectly.I should also mention the lush pink and white noise section ( which again just adds to this machine )The machine i feel outdoes many analogues , its osc's are really mean and fat , they dont sound digital ! but do at times have a slight plastic tone which is what makes the machine sound so cool and psychedelic." Hard shelled case included. I stated earlier just 2 little missing slide covers for the Lfo's. Super easy to replace. Thank you and enjoy G.S.112"

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CRUMAR DS-2 Digital Analog Synth

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Note the label on the DS-2 states "Digital Synthesizer".  The oscillators are digitally controlled (DCOs).  

"1 OWNER / SUPER RARE SYNTH
EXCELLENT WORKING ORDER
FULLY FUNCTIONAL - recently restored
TWO OSC - monophonic
TWO LFO's
POLYPHONIC with two filter sections
Pink and White Noise
Original Manuals Included


This was owned by 1 person and has been stored away for many years. Recently has been brought back to life from a professional tech. This CRUMAR DS-2 is both monophonic and polyphonic.
It has MASSIVE sound. I've owned many analog synths, MS-20, Octave Cat, Prophet 5 and I have to say nothing compares to this Crumar sound.
It has a very unique sound and it can get very dirty and big. It's awesome at creating phsycodelic errie type sounds. Has many routings and interestingly two flo's. Polyphonic section has Lo-pass and Hi-pass filter. Both Monophonic and Polyphonic section can play at the same time..."

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Crumar DS-2 Synthesizer SN A 213

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VINTAGE Crumar DS-2 Analog Digitally Controlled Synthesizer

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Crumar DS-2 SN 152

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Crumar DS-1 vintage analog monophonic synthesizer

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"This is the ORIGINAL DCO synthesizer model. Around the time my recently turned 52 year old body was graduating from HS Crumar was selling this item. A synthesizer that would have tuning stability. Yet they called it DCO when in reality the control is ANALOG....however the generation of that initial waveform was a digital chip... a 74LS221 set up as a relaxation oscillator with a capacitor. In other words the analog control currents charge a capacitor to the threshold of the chip and it discharges the cap at that point and then starts a new charging cycle while outputting a waveform that is tied to that frequency.

Anyway DIGITAL was a new buzz word back then :-). Then they didn't want to emphasize the fact that everything AFTER the digital chips that create the initial waveforms is analog. Down to the details of the delay circuit for the LFO where the flexible modulations can be made to GRADUALLY arise after the strike of a note, rather than abruptly like on polysix and some other common analog synths. So this is a fairly powerful analog beast in other words that has oscillators that stay stable. I acquired a DS2 which adds a poly section into the mix and extra lfo so decided to let this one go since... they are otherwise extremely similar.

FOR THE COLLECTOR though..they built a few thousand DS-2's it appears. THey built probably (from the serials we've seen) less than 200 of the DS--1. So it is one of the most collectable 'landmark' synths in history.

THis one as you can see is in really awesome shape for it's age. I'll put lots of end padding in the box so that corners dont' get smashed and the innards don't get trashed. Will final check it before shipment. The tune pots were a little iffy as I recall last I played it so I'll clean those. Otherwise it was working awesome! I got this from a guy in Hawaii! Serial number A72 as I remember. I think we've seen serials up to A 144 or like that.."

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$220,736.00 / 160,000.00 Euro Synth Auction

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This one spotted by Adrien.

The list:
"1. ARP AXXE
2. ARP PRO DGX
3. ARP QUADRA
4. MOOG Realistic MG 1
5. MOOG Polymoog Keyboard
6. MOOG Polypedal Controller
7. MOOG Taurus II mit Pedal
8. MOOG Keyboard Controller 950
9. MOOG Memorymoog
10. MOOG Satellite
11. MOOG Sonic Six
12. Korg Trident MK II

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CRUMAR DS-2 VINTAGE SYNTHESIZER

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Vintage Crumar DS-2 Digital Synthesizer

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"The Crumar DS-2 is basically a monosynth with an added 44-voice polyphonic strings section. The DS-2 was one of the first synthesizers to use DCOs (Digitally Controlled Oscillator.). "

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Crumar DS-2 Previously owned by BILLY COBHAM

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"Known as the master of fusion jazz or jazz funk, he has toured as drummer for the likes of THE GRATEFUL DEAD, MILES DAVIS, CARLOS SANTANA, and too many others to list. He was one of the first to utilize electronic drum controllers and other early electronics, and still tours today."

SN A 227

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VINTAGE CRUMAR DS-2

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Crumar DS 2 digital Synthesizer

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"Crumar DS 2 Digital synthesizer project made in Italy, Ser# A125, Model DS 2"

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