Rare Waves Grendel DC-2: Drone Commander 2 ready to take control
The Grendel DC-2 is a 2-oscillator analog synth voice for Eurorack with multiple LFOs, 2 filters, LPG and CV-Gate control for generating far more than drones.
Grendel DC-2
The DC-2 fuses together the DC-2e Eurorack synth voice with its CV/Gate expander to create a more complete and versatile version of itself in a 35 HP module. Behind the scenes it’s still two separate modules but the new faceplate in original silver or now black brings it all together nicely.
The Grendel Drone Commander began life as a handbuilt desktop analog drone synthesizer with 9 knobs, two manually tuned oscillators, synced LFOs and a terribly nasty filter. Version 2 took it to Eurorack, increased the knob count to 12 and gave them all dual functionality via a push-pull switch to extend the complexity and possibilities by a massive amount. The CV/Gate expander transformed the DC-2e from a drone machine into a proper synth voice with 18 patch points for audio, modulation and clocking of LFOs. These two things were always meant to be together and that’s what we get with the new DC-2.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
They’ve retained the original gritty filter that “stands out with a tone-bending nonlinear bandpass effect, low frequency self-oscillations, subharmonic generation, and crusty overdrive” and added a second one with a more classic 4-pole feel. You can bypass the first filter into the second and then push the first into self-oscillation and feed it back into the signal path as a third oscillator.
There’s much to explore in this unruly and modulation hungry synth voice that could turn a small Eurorack system on its head or add some interesting flavours to a larger system.
It was original announced in December and this is the first demo to arrive. Rare Waves haven’t yet given a release date or price although the DC-2e with expander is available on Reverb for £376.64 which may be an indication.