While you might think of Dubreq as the company that makes the Stylophone, which, of course, they do, if you haven't been paying attention lately, their lineup includes more than just stylus-played synths. In the past few years the company has released some pretty interesting, well-priced instruments including their Theremin and Beat drum machine, and I've been enjoying the immediacy, portability, and sounds of their Gen X-1 synth, which I received as a Christmas gift about 4 years ago (a great gift, at that!). Their new CPM DS-2, a tabletop/Euro compatible drone synth, has those attributes as well, though with DS-2 Dubreq is stretching out a bit from the more offbeat, more unique electronic instruments they've produced up to this point. This is a good thing; the DS-2, while being familiar to anyone that's rocked a Euro rig or analog synth, is quite a fun little synth.
Consisting of a very flexible dual LFO channel, two VCOs with filters for each, and reverb and delay, DS-2 can do a lot more than just drone, though DS-2 is an all-analog (except for the digital reverb) drone machine. That's not hyperbole; "Drone Synth" is printed on the machine itself; that's the intention.
Laid out in the typical left-to-right analog synth fashion, there are two assignable and synched channels of fourteen different LFO shapes that go from 0.02Hz to 70Hz. While there is only the one Rate control that controls both LFOs' frequency, some of the LFOs have double the amount of waveforms for the same time period, which gives some pretty good familial variety. Either of the LFOs can be assigned to modulate either drone channel's oscillator pitch or waveshape, as well as their filter cutoff, and the amount of the LFOs for each can be dialed in with attenuverters for all of this.
Each Drone channel is a 3340-based oscillator, and they're identical; both with a switchable -1 or -2 sub-oscillator that can be mixed with the main variable waveshape. Each drone also has a 3320 chip-based switchable (LP or HP) filter with Resonance and Cutoff controls before being sent to a volume/mix output that can get into saturation territory if pushed past the 3:00 range. The two drones can be hard synched and pitch linked.
As for the effects, there's a PT2399-based delay with Dry/Wet, Time, Repeat, and LFO amount controls, and the reverb has quite a bit variety with eight algorithms—from plates to halls—and is based off of the Alesis/Wavefront AL3201 reverb. There's a little speaker on board, and a mix/headphone section for interfacing everything. DS-2 includes some cables, and a TS adapter to split the output from the Main out into both L and R channels for stereo operation, though there's no dynamic stereo movement, no ping-pong delay or anything. I did find it strange that the splitter cable is a TS, not a TRS, so that you get two identical channels out of it through that output. If you want to get separate channels, you'll have to grab a TRS splitter.
There are a total of twelve 3.5mm patch points; the drone channels have Pitch, PWM, Cutoff ins, and Main Out, and the LFO channel has Rate and Reset ins, and Wave I and Wave II outs. Because of this, it might seem that DS-2 is designed almost specifically to be used with a Eurorack rig, and in fact can be removed from its case to be mounted as a 42HP module. If that's not your bag, it can also be battery powered (x6 AA batteries included!) and DC powered. It was easy enough to remove from its case (after some outdoor playing, of course), and it fit right in, though, as DS-2's enclosure is plastic, and so is the faceplate, which isn't an issue really—it's plenty sturdy—but it's also the only module in my rack that does have a plastic (or non-aluminum or PCB material) faceplate.
The immediacy of the Dubreq aesthetic and playability is obvious from the outset; DS-2 is a lot of fun. I put it in my backpack and took it to a park on a nice sunny day, sitting far enough away from drone-averse dogs and dog owners to make some noise. I got some stares, mostly because I was one of the few ones out there not multitasking; most everyone was on their phones while throwing balls to their dog, or on their phone while flying a kit, or on their phone eating a sandwich...DS-2 had my full attention, though I was sort of writing this review in my head while I was playing it, so I suppose I was doing some internal multi-tasking.
On its own, since there's no onboard sequencer (or stylus!) to pitch it with to create melodies and such, and I'd brought nothing else to play with it, I spent that time in droneland. With all the modulation and waveshape possibilities, there's plenty of movement and shifting of sound that can be done, and it was a lot of fun seeing how far I could stretch this little synth. The answer? Surprisingly far. When pitch-linked, the first oscillator's frequency controls both drones, where the second drone frequency controls the offset between the two and this can make for some really cool swarming type sounds. Sharing one LFO between the two oscillators, both affecting pitch, while one is on the positive side of the LFO depth chart while the other is on the negative, with every movement of the LFO they get further apart before coming back together, and that brought out a musty, breathing, organic feel. You can also sync it up to get some more pleasant, musical harmonics between the two notes, and adding in a good mixture of the sub oscillators for each channel can get a surprisingly full sound. Speaking of sound, the tiny speaker, even though it's not going to knock your socks off sonically, it adds to the portability of the whole experience. I also really like that everything that you need is on the front panel, which is consistent with other Dubreq releases.
There are a couple of things I need to mention. Along with the TS splitter cable, it would be nice to have a little grip or texture on the knobs to grab them easier, as well as having the pointer painted white for easier and faster identifications. Also, it's a little bit tricky to turn the LFOs fully off—to zero them completely (straight up position)—and to do so it worked best working with one oscillator at a time, turning the volume down in the other, so that you could listen to make sure that the LFO wasn't affecting the oscillator or filter on one channel before doing the same and moving on to the next. Center detent pots would have helped.
Apparently, Dubreq is planning on making more synths like this, which will be able to be connected by the ribs on the side of each. They're off to a great start, as the DS-2 is a lot of fun and integrates easily into a CV-heavy setup, whether in the park or the basement. Dubreq obviously works really hard to come up with instruments that are unique and fun to play for all skill levels of musicians, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what else they come up with to pair with it, even though DS-2 stands strong on its own.
Price: $299

stylophone.com