A Simple Demonstration Between An Analog VCO & DCO Oscillator
A very simple demonstration showcasing the difference between VCOs and DCOs in analog synthesizers. A VCO (Voltage Controlled Oscillator) is never perfectly in tune, which means each voice is tuned differently. This makes VCOs drift (without using oscillator detuning), which adds warmth and drive to the output signal.
A DCO (Digitally Controlled ANALOG Oscillator) is an ANALOG oscillator which is controlled digitally to keep the DCO(s) on each voice in tune. There is a common misconception about the DCO oscillator being digital, but a DCO oscillator is not digital. A digital oscillator is generated digitally by a computer, which could either be your own PC/Mac or a hardware device that has a DSP (Digital Signal Processing) chip that generates waveforms digitally. The sound of a DCO is generated by a circuit, thus it is analog.
The benefit of VCOs is they sound warmer and more alive, because of the imperfections in pitch. However, this can cause a synth to go out of tune unexpectedly. Some VCO based analog synths need to 'warm up' for anywhere between 10 to 60 minutes, in order for the tuning to stabilize.
With a DCO based analog synth, this is not necessary. The tuning is perfect on a DCO based synth, however some of the drive and warmth is lost because of this. However, with the DeepMind 12, which I used for the video, you can add oscillator drift to simulate the drifting of VCOs to some extent.