This Week in Music Gear: SP404 MK2 Gets DOOM OS, Custom User Elektron Firmware & More

21 hours ago

4 min read

Last week, custom firmware felt like an interesting trend that was starting to bubble up around samplers and grooveboxes. This week, it got a lot more real. The SP404 MK2 now has a publicly available user developed custom OS, the original Digitakt has gained a new synth engine through unofficial firmware, and the Model:Cycles is being pushed well beyond its stock feature set. Add in a new generative sampler and this turned into a pretty unusual week for music hardware.

Here are a few of the things that caught my attention.

SP404 MK2 DOOM OS Is Now Public for the SP404 MK2

Last week I wrote about developers beginning to reverse-engineer the SP404 MK2 and successfully executing native code on the hardware. Just a few days later, one of those projects has already turned into a public custom firmware release.

SP404 MK2 DOOM OS Github — Source: https://github.com/klangfeld-labs/doom-os?utm_source=chatgpt.com&tab=readme-ov-file

SP404 MK2 DOOM OS was released on September 29 and is designed to rethink the SP404 MK2’s sequencing workflow. The current version replaces parts of the stock pattern workflow with more graphical editing tools and aims to make the SP feel more like a traditional groovebox, with less reliance on memorizing button combinations.

The project is still early. Song mode is not finished yet, and the developer has already acknowledged that parts of the interface still need more refinement, but the pattern editor, piano-roll functionality, multiple recording modes and new visual workflow are already functioning.

Installation is handled through a browser-based patcher, and users have to provide Roland’s official firmware file themselves rather than downloading a modified Roland image directly. That does not remove the usual risks involved with unofficial firmware, but it is interesting to see this move from “someone cracked into the SP” to an actual usable operating system this quickly.

Disclaimer: This is unofficial firmware for the SP404 MK2, that means it's not supported by Roland and comes with the risk of bricking or making the SP unusable.

The Original Digitakt Just Got a New Synth Engine

The custom-firmware movement continues on Elektron hardware, starting with the original Digitakt.

A new project called Digisophie adds a four-mode percussive synthesizer directly into Digitakt MK1 firmware version 1.53. The new engine includes four different models called FUSE, BOOM, PIPE and SHARD, with parameters for tuning, wavefolding, sweep, FM/ring modulation, feedback and other sound-shaping controls.

What makes this especially interesting is that the new synth engine integrates into the Digitakt’s existing workflow instead of sitting beside it as some completely separate system. It can still use the Digitakt’s amp, filter, mixer and effects paths, and its parameters can be automated with parameter locks just like other Digitakt functions.

The original Digitakt has already been discontinued, which makes projects like this especially interesting. Rather than the hardware simply freezing at its final official firmware, users are now finding ways to add entirely new sound engines after official development has ended.

More info: https://github.com/soejrd/digisophie

Model:Cycles Is Getting Six-Channel USB Audio and More

The Digitakt is not the only Elektron box getting unofficial upgrades. A project called Modded Cycles is adding features to the Model that go well beyond small workflow tweaks.

One of the biggest additions is six-channel USB audio, allowing each of the six tracks to be sent separately to a DAW instead of recording only the stereo output. The project also includes smaller workflow changes like latching mute, trig preview and scrolling long names in the sound browser.

Things get stranger from there. The developers have also created a new SD VINTAGE drum engine and successfully tested cross-flashing the Model operating system onto a Model, effectively allowing the same hardware to run software designed for the other machine.

The project is still experimental, and the developers are very clear that users are modifying firmware at their own risk. Even so, seeing features like individual USB outputs appear through community development shows just how much unused potential can sometimes remain inside hardware long after its original release.

Project: https://github.com/18nelli18/Modded-Cycles

Engram Takes a Different Approach to AI Music Hardware

Away from firmware hacking, Engram is one of the more unusual new hardware announcements I’ve seen recently. It is a sampler and groovebox built around small locally run AI models, but the goal is not to automatically generate finished songs.

Instead, Engram uses its models to manipulate and reinterpret recorded audio. The developers describe the process more like creating unpredictable sound transformations and “happy accidents,” with the models running directly on the device rather than connecting to a cloud service.

The company says its models are trained on openly licensed datasets, and the project is eventually intended to become an open platform where users can load their own models and modify the firmware. Kickstarter pricing for early units starts around $675, with a projected retail price somewhere around $850 to $900.

I’m generally more interested in tools that use technology to create new ways of manipulating sound than tools trying to generate complete music for you, so Engram is one I’m curious to watch. Whether that approach becomes genuinely useful in a hardware workflow will probably depend on how playable and immediate the actual instrument feels.

More info: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/evmaki/engram-generative-audio-sampler-and-groovebox

The bigger story this week may not actually be any one of these releases. It is how quickly custom firmware, open-source development and community-built features are becoming a real part of hardware music making.

A week ago, SP404 custom firmware was still mostly theoretical. Now there is a public OS, Elektron boxes are gaining entirely new engines and routing options, and even discontinued hardware is being opened up for people to continue developing themselves.

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