Introduction

Bitcrust is a SID-inspired polyphonic synthesizer with an in-house MOS 6581 / 8580 DSP core. This short introduction covers what Bitcrust is, what it is not, and how to install it.

What Bitcrust is

A twelve-voice polyphonic synthesizer with three oscillators per voice, a multi-mode TPT filter with dual chip-model character, an 8-slot modulation matrix (3 LFOs, mod envelope, MIDI sources), a 6-slot post-synth effects rack, a tempo-synced arpeggiator, a 16-step sequencer, 97 factory presets with a full browser, A/B compare, 12 bundled themes, and comprehensive live visualisations. It is a modern synth with SID architecture — not a bit-accurate emulation.

What Bitcrust is not

It is not a cycle-accurate emulator or a sample-playback engine. The DSP is written from scratch against public datasheets — every quirk of the original silicon is modelled deliberately, then extended with modern features like 64-bit internal processing, smooth filter crossfading between chip revisions, and per-oscillator volume control.

Installing

macOS

Download Bitcrust from the Apple App Store. It installs as AU, VST3, and Standalone. Both Apple Silicon and Intel are supported natively.

iPadOS / iOS

Download from the App Store. Installs as AUv3 and Standalone with on-device Audio/MIDI settings.

Windows

Download the installer from the Gumroad store. It installs the Standalone executable and the VST3 bundle into their standard locations automatically.

Linux

Download the .tar.gz archive from the Gumroad store. Extract it and place the VST3 bundle in ~/.vst3/ (or your DAW’s configured scan path). The Standalone binary can go anywhere on your $PATH.