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Crumar Bit 99
The Crumar Bit99 was my first analog synthesizer and was released in 1985. I own a white one, but there are also black species.
The Bit 99 is a 6-voice polyphonic synthesizer (with an ‘analogue’ sound). In fact, it was the first synthesizer with Digital Controlled Oscillators (DCO) in comparison to the VCO of its predecessors. The Bit 99 is one of the first synthesizers from which traditional knobs and sliders have been banned. The edit method is easy to understand. The Bit 99 can produce a wide variety of sounds but bass sounds are the best. With a polyphony of three notes, instead of six normally, you can have two sounds layered!
Although the Bit 99 has two DCO it is still an analog synthesizer. DCOs are true analog oscillators that are just synced to a digital clock source. The part of the DCO that is doing the oscillating is analog– producing an analog waveform!
Images: the white Crumar Bit 99
Image: invoice. Bought for 2995,- guilder (we didn’t have Euros at the time) in October 1985! Over 30 years old. Not warranty anymore.
Inside
When I bought the Bit 99 it came with a booklet contain all schematics and layout of the circuit board. I have never seen this for any other synthesizer I owned.
Image: example of the Bit 99 schematics. The full booklet is found below.
Image: the Bit 99 can easily be opened.
Image: the keyboard is fixed to the circuit board and can, therefore, not easily be detached (for cleaning).
Image: another inside view.
Image: the bottom side of the keyboard. Each key is connect with the circuit board with a black metal rod. These rods should actually not be black but metal-like. The black probably comes from oxidation and/or filth that came into the Bit. This is the reason that the keyboard is not working properly anymore while it works fine through MIDI. Unfortunately, I cannot clean the rods myself since they are soldered to the circuit board.
Manual and Presets
Crumar Bit99 User Manual (pdf) 795.34 KB 192 downloads
Crumar Bit99 synthesizer User Manual See also Crumar Bit99 ...
Crumar Bit99 schematic diagram (pdf) 7.35 MB 267 downloads
Crumar Bit99 synthesizer Schematic Diagram See also Crumar Bit99 ...
Crumar Bit99 schematic diagram (pdf) 7.35 MB 267 downloads
Crumar Bit99 synthesizer Schematic Diagram See also Crumar Bit99 ...
Crumar Bit99 Presets (zip) 23.40 KB 203 downloads
Crumar Bit99 synthesizer presets (Midi SysEx files) See also Crumar Bit99 ...
Other documents
Image: Warranty card from Crumar
Image: Quality checks from Crumar
Using it in bands
Image: rehearsing with my first band (Bad Weather; Tilburg) a very long time ago (around 1986). No keyboard stand yet. Not keyboard amplifier. At that time I used the (vocal) sound equipment in the room). Few years later I bought the Peavey KB100 amplifier that I used for a long time.
Image: Performance in music cafe ‘Loonies’ Nijmegen (14 December 1990) with my second band ‘Intensive Care’. On top of the Bit 99 I have the Roland D100 that I bought a few years later. Both are connected through Midi.
Image: Performance in music cafe ‘Loonies’ Nijmegen (14 December 1990) with Intensive Care.
How does it sound?
The Bit 99 didn’t have any effects (such as reverb, delay, chorus, etc) on board as do most modern synthesizers. In the next two SoundCloud clips you here the difference effects could make. The first clip plays a piece of classical music (Bach) with the original present 24 (strings) from the Bit 99 without any effects add. The second clip plays the same music but this time I did some processing on the sound with external hardware and software:
- Chorus (Lexicon MPX 500)
- Reverb (Behringer X32, Vintage room)
- Little compression after recording in Cubase 10.5
- Little more reverb (Revelation) after recording in Cubase 10.5
I leave it up to you to decide what you like best.
Hi skippyweb.eu owner, Great content!