Behringer calls this "An ultra-affordable homage to [the Prophet 5] with all the features of the original and then some" extolling its 32-step sequencer and arpeggiator, pure analog signal path, authentic 3340 VCO with pulse and sawtooth wave outputs, plus extremely flexible VCF and VCA filters.
Specific info about this Crave
Gently used and well cared-for. In pretty much pristine shape. It has lived exclusively in my home office (non-smoking, regularly dusted) and was kept in/covered by a cloth bag (from one of my wife's shoe-purchases...) when it wasn't in use. The bag isn't included - I'm using that to cover something else now - but as you can see from the picture, I'm throwing in four patch cables, as well as a wall-wart power source and a USB power-source. I had good luck with the latter - never had issues with ground hum. All of it will come to you in the original box.
Some info about Craves, in general
I'm going to synopsize some of the marketing blather from the Crave webpage, with some editorial remarks and observations thrown in in italics
Big, Fat Tones / Authentic 3340 Oscillator
CRAVE’s 3340 Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) provides your choice of pulse or reverse-sawtooth waveforms. When pulse is selected, the width can be varied using the Shape switch for narrow, squarewave or wide pulse – with a tuning range of ± one full octave. The VCO can be modulated via the envelope or the low frequency oscillator (LFO). Performance is further enhanced by the Mix control, which balances the levels of the internal VCO and noise generator.
Note - the unit has a "Frequency" knob in the upper left hand corner. This is probably best thought of as a tuning knob... as in, if you go to turn the Pulse-Width knob and grab the Frequency knob by accident, you are going to put the unit out of tune... The good news is that it is pretty easy to dial it back into tune - the knob is neither too fiddly nor too coarse. If you like experimenting with patches, you can also get fancy with the patch bay, the LFO, and the resonance of the envelope to produce more than one tone at once, and then dial things in to non-discordant intervals using the Frequency knob.
Versatile VCF
The very heart of CRAVE’s sound is its Classic Moog * 24 dB ladder filter, which lets you freely experiment with the Cutoff Frequency, Resonance and Modulation to dial in the perfect sound. CRAVE’s filter Mode switch can be set to either Lo- or Hi-pass for selecting the range of your choice.
The filter on this is pretty sweet - you can get some dramatic sounds just by knob-fiddling and filter sweeping, and it can get very spacy and swoopy as you crank the resonance. As with virtually all resonant filters, the more you crank up the acid, the more you lose the bass timbres, but I never thought it sounded thin or reedy.
16-Note Poly Chain Ready
While a monophonic instrument , CRAVE can support up to 16-note poly-chaining.
Big news, I guess, if you intend to acquire 15 more of these... I only ever used it as a monosynth, but found it was quite suited to that role.
The Envelope
CRAVE’s Envelope generator features Attack, Decay and Sustain knobs that help you craft incredible sounds, plus a Sustain On/Off switch, which can either sustain the note for as long as the key is held, or start the decay as soon as the attack setting times out.
Pro tip: there is a switch under the main volume knob labeled "VCA Mode". If it is switched to "on" the unit plays a sustained note. This is useful if you are trying to create a new patch. It is very confusing and alarming, however, if you aren't aware that this is what that switch does [and Behringer's documentation isn't exactly helpful on this point...] and you just plugged in the unit for the first time after buying it, and it immediately and unexpectedly starts making noise without any key being pressed...
Onboard Sequencer & Arpeggiator
CRAVE’s sequencer allows you to program up to 32 steps of notes, rests, accents, glides, and ratchets and save them as a pattern. You can record, save and recall up to 64 patterns, all of which can be stored in the 8 banks, each holding up to 8 patterns. The onboard Arpeggiator features 8 patterns.
I found the arpeggiator immediately intuitive, and the sequencer, uh, decidedly less-so... Once you get the hang of it, it is easy enough. It's more or less the same sequencer found on the Behringer SH-1 clone, so if you've used one of those, you'll grasp this one too.
Candidly, I used an external midi-controller most of the time with this and would recommend that approach for most users - the on-board keys are clicky and a tad awkward to "play" (though if you are mostly a step-sequencer, its nicely tactile for that kind of programming...)
Analog LFO
Crave's dedicated and fully-analog Low Frequency Oscillator offers either triangle or square waveforms, and has an LED providing visual feedback of the LFO Rate.
I don't recall if there's an easy way to sync the LFO to the tempo - if there is, I never figured it out... that said, the LED is actually pretty good at letting you eyeball it and dial the LFO in to the beat by ear.
Modulation capabilities
In addition to the straightforward Amp/Env/LFO sound-sculpting features, CRAVE has a noise generator that can be used as modulation source to create distortion-like effects.
Using the various switches, knobs, and the i/o patchbay at the top of the unit, you can route the various components of this thing to control and modulate one another, to self-resonate, and create all sorts of fancy-schmancy semi-modular sounds, ranging from neat throbby techno bass drones and piercing leads to godawful farty noises. Be prepared to get a lot of the latter while you figure out how the patch-bay works... but hey, you get some of the modular experience at a much cheaper price point and less gear-pomposity than going full-Eurorack.
There are a number of sites (e.g. patch-library.net/patches/) that offer suggestions for Crave patch-settings, and most also let you download a PDF of a blank "patch sheet", which I definitely recommend (though just taking a picture/video clip of a good-sounding patch with your phone also works pretty well...)
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