Crumar Spirit

Name: Crumar Spirit
Price: 59 USD
Author: Cherry Audio

by Cherry Audio · Synth · Crumar Spirit analog synth emulation

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A recreation of the 1983 Crumar Spirit monosynth, designed by Bob Moog, Tom Rhea, Jim Scott and Sante Crucianelli, with two oscillators and two filters.

Cherry Audio adds 4, 8 or 16-voice polyphony, a modulation matrix, two effect chains, an arpeggiator and over 430 presets, for $59.

Best for: Keys & Synths, Bass, Sound Design. Genres: Electronic & EDM, Pop, Rock & Indie.

Keywords: arpeggiator, hardware emulation, polyphonic, 80s, analog, preset-driven, sound design, aggressive, basses, creative, drones, heavy, leads, modulation matrix, monophonic, oversampling, subtle, subtractive, thick.

What it does

Crumar Spirit is Cherry Audio's emulation of the rare 1983 Crumar Spirit, designed with Bob Moog, Tom Rhea and Jim Scott, of which an estimated 100 or fewer units were made. It keeps the original's two filters and two modulation paths and makes it polyphonic; the developer warns it "is not a polite instrument".

Oscillators: two oscillators with sync; Oscillator B can run at a fixed frequency for drones, as an audio-rate modulator, or as an extra LFO.
Dual filters: an upper low-pass and a lower multimode filter with high-pass, band-pass and Overdrive modes, 12 or 24 dB slopes, keyboard tracking and a fixed formant option for a vocal colour.
Envelopes: two velocity-sensitive ADSRs, one for the filters and one for the amp, with several gate options.
Mod X and Shaper Y: Mod X routes triangle, square, sample and hold, red noise, Shaper Y or Oscillator B to the oscillators and filters via the mod wheels; Shaper Y works as a looping envelope or extra LFO with Free Run, KB Hold, Run and Reset modes.
Matrix Z: Cherry Audio's addition, a four-slot matrix with 25 sources and 45 destinations.
Voice modes: mono, unison, cycle and polyphonic with 4, 8 or 16 voices; a multi-voice panel varies pitch, pan, filter and envelope times per note, with quick settings such as "Slightly Detuned".
Arpeggiator: Ripple, Arp and Leap patterns, with swing, chance and feel controls.
Effects and presets: two effect chains, one on the Filter/ADSR path (distortion, flanger/chorus, echo, reverb) and one on the Shaper Y path (envelope filter, dual phaser, flanger/chorus, echo); over 430 presets in 12 categories.

It adds velocity and polyphonic aftertouch, MIDI learn and adjustable oversampling. A free 30-day demo is available.

Source: Cherry Audio product page

When to use it

Crumar Spirit is the pick for a less common Moog-designed sound, with two filters, a formant option and two modulation paths that go beyond a typical Minimoog layout. Compared with Arturia Mini V or the UA Minimoog, it is stranger and more experimental, and it plays chords. It is much cheaper than u-he Diva, but Diva covers far more classic analog designs. For big pads, Cherry Audio's own Mercury-8 is better suited.

Best for: expressive mono leads, thick basses, vocal-like filter tones and filter-heavy sound design.
Genres: electronic, synthwave, pop, rock and experimental.
Look elsewhere if: you want a big polysynth for pads (Mercury-8 or Memorymode 2), or a straight Minimoog (Mini V).
Tip: MusicRadar suggests raising the voice count in unison for lush, detuned textures.

What producers say

Reviewers rate it a great-sounding, affordable way into a very rare synth, with the layout and fixed effect modulation the main gripes.

MusicRadar (Roland Schmidt, October 2025) said its "stunningly impressive" sound and visuals inspire at an affordable price, and liked the flexible filter for both delicate and aggressive tones.
Synth Anatomy praised the dual signal paths, the formant filter's "very special vocal quality" and the Leap arpeggiator, saying the additions "do not detract from the original charm".
Criticisms: MusicRadar found the layout takes getting used to and some reversed-graphic selectors unintuitive; Synth Anatomy noted fixed effect modulation and no way to reorder effects.

Where to buy

Tutorials and reviews

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