An attempt by EMS to produce a digital synthesizer in the mid-1970s. The basic idea was to fuse portions of the Synthi-100 with a digital control system based on a Digital Equipment Corp. PDP-8 minicomputer. A panel containing a set of performance controls was custom-designed; for programming and other non-performance tasks, a Teletype terminal (typical for the era) would be connected.
Specific details are sketchy, since numerous different specifications were published. The system would be equipped with some number of D/A converters in order to produce control voltages to control the analog components, which were conventional VCOs, VCFs, etc. A software package called MUSYS was to be developed which would allow the programmer to program sophisticated sequences and patterns, as well as serve as a form of patch memory. A sort of cassette interface would allow data to be stored.
R&D costs were high, and the system itself projected to cost far more than additionally planned. (The least expensive model was advertised at £16,000, in 1975 pounds.) Additionally, the project was set back when one of the lead designers, Peter Eastty, left in 1977 to take a position at IRCAM. Three prototypes were built before the project wound down, by 1979.