Release notes · 9 October 2026

Groove OS 1.2.

Keys that play the moment you press them, and free sound packs with drum kits.

The headline

01 · Improved
Keys play instantly
A key now sounds about 11 ms after you press it, measured on an FM-1. On 1.1 it took about 160 ms.
Fast runs, chords and repeated notes come out the way you play them, on every track.
- Groove OS 1.1160ms
- Groove OS 1.211ms
From key to sound, measured on an FM-1
02 · New
Sound packs and drum kits
11 free sound packs, each a drum kit, 24 sounds and a few songs to start from. Load one into any of banks A to D from the Sounds page, and what the bank held is backed up first.
CORE is the one to start with: it fits any style. The other ten are genres, from LO-FI to AFRO. A song keeps its kit's sounds, whatever the bank holds later.
Browse the sound packs

Also in 1.2

Hold the key you just wrote and turn K1 to K4 to set its note, velocity, length and chance.
With chord pads, hold the pad and turn K1 to K4: the whole chord moves.
On the drum grid, hold SEL and press a drum to put its hit on the cursor step.
DICE is a row in the PATTERN and KIT menus, and it fills every bar of the loop.
A battery in the corner of the screen shows the charge. SETTINGS > ABOUT shows the voltage.
PRESETS lists the kits, then banks A to D, with each sound's slot (D02).
A DX7 bank (.syx) can go into any of A to D from the Sounds page.

PERFORM to MIX in one turn: the SELECT wheel goes TRACKS, MIX, PERFORM, KEYS, PROJECT.
OCT- / OCT+ leave the preset browser open, so you can try a sound in another octave.
A new track starts on INIT VOICE, ready for the sound you pick.
SEQ opens a drum track's grid from any page; SEQ on the grid turns its steps off.
BRIGHTNESS is gone from SETTINGS: the FM-1's backlight is always on and cannot dim.

No more stuck notes after fast playing or a MIDI note-off.
A long pad is no longer cut short when another track plays the same note.
A VA sound from a bank shows its own name, not the name of the factory sound it is built on.
An effect's value turns again after a PERFORM throw held it.
Songs with drum-hit conditions (1:2, FILL) or a sequencer FLAM now load; before, they saved but would not open.

Starting fresh

NEW starts EMPTY. Songs to start from come with every sound pack.

Your projects

Your saved projects, the autosave and your settings carry over as they are. Installing 1.2 never changes banks A to D.