Cherry Audio revives an oddball 1978 Italian synth with the Crumar DS-2: “A true example of ‘vintage digital’ technology”Cherry Audio has unveiled Crumar DS-2, a synth plugin that “faithfully recreates” the quirky, digital-analogue character of the 1978 original alongside modern feature upgrades.
The original Crumar DS-2 was an early hybrid synth, combining a monophonic synth engine with a 44-note fully polyphonic section for a distinctive layered sound. Its digitally controlled oscillators avoided the tuning drift of typical analogue synths, but produced deliberately “stair-stepped” waveforms, giving it a gritty, harmonically edgy tone. The Poly section used a single filter and VCA to generate unique sawtooth-like waves, and shared modulation settings with the Synth engine.
The result was a sound unlike anything else at the time: neither smooth digital nor buttery analogue warmth, but jagged, raw, and slightly raspy, with a bold harmonic bite that gave the DS-2 its signature character.

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“DS-2 is a true example of ‘vintage digital’ technology, and it’s been an exciting journey to revive it in collaboration with Crumar Instruments,” says Cherry Audio.
That character remains intact, but the plugin pushes things further with a suite of modern upgrades.
The Synth section now offers monophonic modes, unison, multi-voice options, oscillator sync, and a stair-stepped sine waveform for OSC 2. Meanwhile, the Poly section is fully polyphonic, supporting up to 32 notes, and both sections can be layered or split across the keyboard. Three assignable LFOs include sync, retrigger, one-shot, and reverse waveforms, with discrete delay knobs for each, while envelopes now feature initial delay stage, looped modes, and velocity sensitivity.
The plugin also incorporates a VCA release control, both 12dB 2-pole and original 24dB 4-pole options with polarity and key follow, assignable pitch bend and mod wheel functions, plus a dynamic arpeggiator with four pattern modes and randomisation options.
Three independent customisable effects chains – one each for the Synth and Poly sections plus a global layer – host 20 studio-quality effects, each with its own modulator. Over 300 professionally designed presets are also included, with an extra 100 sounds available via the new Deep Space Preset Pack for DS-2 ($9.99). Complete MIDI control and DAW automation are also supported for all controls via easy-to-use MIDI learn and mapping.
As Cherry Audio puts it, the DS-2 delivers “the fun parts of owning a strange vintage synth, without the less-fun parts.” Priced at $59, it’s available in AU, VST, VST3, AAX, and standalone formats.
Learn more at Cherry Audio.
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