Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
via this auction
"Up for sale is a piece of Tom Oberheim history! rarer than chicken lips!! Oberheim Digital Sequencer model DS-2A... Perfect for your SEM Two/Four/Eight Voice, MOOG, ARP synths! About 1975, Oberheim electronics introduced the DS-2a, a "Digital" sequencer capable of remembering one-hundred and fourty-four notes. Although it was only a monophonic device, the attraction to this type of sequencer was that notes could be entere in both "real time" or "step time" from the synthesizer keyboard. This was of great interest to composers who would prefer to play notes in from the piano keyboard, rather than having to painstakingly "tune in" one note at a time with a potentiometer. This unit had the capacity for three sequences that could either be played back independently or chained together to play in turn, but there was no means of permanent storage for anything loaded into the device. Since all information was stored in a "volatile" RAM memory, everything was erased when the power was removed. Simply a great instrument for creative use."
via Steve: "This is a once in a lifetime chance to own an Arp 2500 without breaking the bank to do it. The eBay listing tells the whole story- this Arp 2500 was purchased during ARP's bankruptcy auction, on site at ARP, by my friend Larry O. The modules were, and remained, in plastic wrap with tags right off the QA line. He recently assembled them into a 'mini' Arp 2500 system built into a cabinet from the QA dept of ARP.
It was fully serviced by Phil at CMS just now and is on eBay.
You will probably never, ever, see such a pristine and AFFORDABLE Arp 2500 for sale... Get it before its gone!"
via this auction:
"The Who’s Pete Townshend and Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page were only two of the devotees of this legendary instrument. Hell, it was the ARP 2500 that was used to call to the aliens in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”!
The History
This extremely rare and primo system is the last of more than 100 modules and eight cabinets I personally purchased from the auction at the ARP factory when the company went out of business back in 1981. These modules were still wrapped in plastic with QA tags attached when I got them. (See recent photo of QA tags below.) They have seen very little use over the last 30 years (the QA tags are stamped with 1975 dates).
The cabinet resided in ARP’s Engineering Department, where it was used for prototyping new modules. The original serial number tag identifies it as being the 45th cabinet made in 1970 (70-045). Five of the modules and the cabinet sport ARP’s earliest logo (the “squishy lines”), while the rest have the “treble clef” logo.
Vintage? Oh yeah.
Needless to say, I cherry-picked a beautiful configuration to keep as my final remnant: four VCOs, two VCFs, two VCAs, four envelope generators, sample/hold, noise generators.
For the full auction story and a listening tour of this instrument, copy and paste these links to see my YouTube videos [below]
The Modules
This is one sweeeeet system, the likes of which you are not likely to see again. It’s the real deal:
1004-T Oscillator (mixable waveform)
1023 Dual Oscillator
1045 Voltage-Controlled Voice (this thing is The S**t)
1036 Dual Sample & Hold/Random Voltage
1003 Dual EG
1006 Filtamp
1016 Dual Noise
Click “Buy It Now” and get an additional 1006 Filtamp, also just back from service by CMS!
The Icing on the Cake
Included are an original, print Owner’s Manual, a CD containing PDFs of all the circuits and parts (though you really should have Phil do any work on it), and a cabinet extension cable.
On request I can provide an Excel doc containing The Gory Details: serial numbers, CMS service specifics, patching details for the outer slots."
Sold For: US $12,000.00
ARP2500 KingoftheModulars
YouTube via theonlylarrytheo
"Larry the O gives a tour of his ARP2500, including how he purchased it at the ARP auction."
ARP2500 mod improv1
"Part 1 of 2 of Larry the O improvising on an ARP 2500 modulation patch. A sound design session from the boop-squawk school."
ARP2500 mod improv2
"Part 2 of 2 of Larry the O improvising on an ARP 2500 modulation patch. Are you experienced? Have you ever been experienced? Well, I have."
ARP2500 S&H improv
"Larry the O improvising on an ARP 2500 sample-and-hold patch. Boop-squawk sound design, old-school style."
via Analog Industries "The whole concept is based upon an idea I had to generate odd rhythms a while ago, and which I've now ported to the iPhone/Touch. Basically, you give the little plankton a shove, and it bounces about. When it hits a wall or runs over one of the smaller planktons it makes a noise.
There is also a background loop running, and you can choose from four sample sets for the walls and interceptions, and three different background loops. It also sends OSC messages for the wall hits, interceptions, and the X/Y position of the plankton. (That, of course, is the real usefulness of the app, as a mod and note generator, but it is kind of fun as a noise maker too, in my opinion.)"
"A work by Ben Houston and Arius Blaze combining the synthesis from the subharmonic field by Arius Blaze, the hand plate of the electric hands by Ben Houston and a nice analog delay with slide controls."
YouTube via GruithuisenCityMan "Hello ! My name is Frederic Gerchambeau and you are listening to "Smiling at clouds", a track i have made entirely with Plogue Bidule. It's only one complex sequence and a melody on the top of it. I hope you like that track. Tell me..."
1. Change Input Gain for 10Vpp Signals 2. Add Three Input Mixer 3. Change Output Driver 4. Add Reversing Attenuator for FM1 Input 5. Add LED Driver for LFO Output 6. Change AUX Input Gain for 10Vpp Signals
"Up for sale is a piece of Tom Oberheim history! rarer than chicken lips!! Oberheim Digital Sequencer model DS-2A... Perfect for your SEM Two/Four/Eight Voice, MOOG, ARP synths! About 1975, Oberheim electronics introduced the DS-2a, a "Digital" sequencer capable of remembering one-hundred and fourty-four notes. Although it was only a monophonic device, the attraction to this type of sequencer was that notes could be entere in both "real time" or "step time" from the synthesizer keyboard. This was of great interest to composers who would prefer to play notes in from the piano keyboard, rather than having to painstakingly "tune in" one note at a time with a potentiometer. This unit had the capacity for three sequences that could either be played back independently or chained together to play in turn, but there was no means of permanent storage for anything loaded into the device. Since all information was stored in a "volatile" RAM memory, everything was erased when the power was removed. Simply a great instrument for creative use."
wBWk~%24(KGrHqYH-CwEqut7Er(UBK3hu,,hlw~~_12.JPG)
7Jow~~_12.JPG)
