Octo-Vave · free firmware for the M-VAVE FM-1

What it does

Finds every free firmware

Official, the community top 10 ranked by stars and downloads, free closed-source projects, and the next 20. Paid firmware is never listed.

Tags what you're getting

Open or closed source, published checksum, one-click revert to stock, and how it installs: web, Python or M-UPGRADE.

Checks every download

Files land in a local library, verified against the SHA256 each project publishes.

Validated on a real FM-1

Installed, played, Sound-checked and reverted to stock. The exact file tested is pinned by its SHA256.

Plays the FM-1

A key bed modeled on the device, perform and FX controls, a DX7-style voice editor, a patch library and MIDI tools.

Runs on your computer

A small Python server on 127.0.0.1 and a page in Chrome or Edge. No account, no cloud, nothing to install but Python.

Quick start

Install Python 3. Nothing else: standard library only.
Download the ZIP and unzip it, or git clone the repository.
Run python server.py (Windows: double-click start.cmd).
In Chrome or Edge at http://127.0.0.1:8765, plug in the FM-1, press Connect and allow MIDI + SysEx.
Browse the Firmware page and look for the orange octopus.

Felucca and SLOOP cards with their tags and orange octopus

Validated firmware

Live from firmware/validated.json. A grey octopus means the project has a newer release that hasn't been tested yet; a nightly check flips it automatically. Got the file somewhere else? Compare its SHA256 with the one below.

	Firmware	Version	Tested	File SHA256
Loading…

Tested one yourself? Send a validation report.

The firmware

Free firmware for the FM-1: stock, FM-1 Open and the top community projects, with downloads checked and kept in a local library. An orange octopus is our stamp of validation: that version was installed, played and reverted to stock on a real FM-1.

Play it

Play and shape the FM-1 from the browser: perform controls and FX, a keyboard, favorite patches and the voice editor. Customize picks what shows.

FM-1 Home: perform controls and the FM-1 key bed

Sound check

Check by ear that the firmware on the FM-1 answers MIDI: each step plays a short test and you mark what you heard. Results are kept per firmware.

Voice design

The FM-1 is a six-operator FM synth that speaks the DX7's SysEx. The Voice editor on FM-1 Home lays out a whole DX7 voice, so you can design sounds in the browser and hear every move on the device.

Operators 1 to 3 of a randomized voice: oscillator settings, envelope graphs, rates, levels and output

Six operators

Ratio or fixed frequency, coarse, fine and detune, a four-rate, four-level envelope drawn as you shape it, output level, velocity and mod sensitivity. Switch any operator off to hear the others.

32 algorithms

Pick an algorithm and the editor names its carriers, so you know which operators you hear and which ones shape them. Feedback included.

Pitch EG and LFO

The global pitch envelope, LFO speed, delay, wave and key sync, pitch and amp mod depth, and transpose.

Hear it live

Live send writes each change to the FM-1 as you move it, as a DX7 parameter change (F0 43 10 pp qq vv F7). Send whole voice pushes all 156 parameters at once.

Thousands of DX7 sounds

Import any DX7 .syx: a single voice or a 32-voice bank, then pick a voice from the bank. Export yours the same way.

Keep what you make

Init, Randomize, then Save to Library with notes and tags. Notes come back with the patch; star it to pin it on FM-1 Home.

DX7-compatible SysEx. The FM-1 doesn't send its current voice back, so the editor starts from INIT or an imported voice. Live send writes each change as you move it. Edits change the active voice; save on the device to keep them there. The voice editor targets the stock firmware; community firmware has its own sound engines.