Device and compatibility
The M-VAVE FM-1
A pocket FM synthesizer with 27 keys, seven encoders and a colour screen. Its USB update path is open enough that the community now writes whole new instruments for it.
M-VAVE FM-1 firmware workbench
Choose firmware for your M-VAVE FM-1, play it here, then check its installation options when you are ready to send it to your device. Preview and install availability depend on the selected project.
Play the virtual M-VAVE FM-1Select a project to see its release, preview and install options. Firmware for other devices is excluded.
What the device can do
Each capability is sourced and dated on its own. None of these is a Maru compatibility claim unless it says Maru verified it.
- Replaceable firmwareCommunity firmware replaces the whole instrument through the vendor's own update path.Reported by the community · fm1-editor.com firmware directory, checked 12 Oct 2026
- Update pathFirmware travels as SysEx over USB MIDI; authors' browser installers use Web MIDI.Reported by the community · awesome-fm-1, checked 12 Oct 2026
Device facts
- Maker
- M-VAVE
- Chip
- JieLi AC791N (WL82 family), dual-core 32-bit DSP with a single-precision FPU
- Storage
- 1 MB SPI NOR flash
- Connection
- USB MIDI with SysEx, through the vendor's own unsigned update protocol
- Vendor updater
- M-UPGRADE
Stock firmware versions
What a unit reports when an installer asks for its identity. Most custom firmware expects stock V15 first.
| Version | Identity reply |
|---|---|
| V15 | FM-1_015 |
| V14 | FM-1_014 |
| V13 | FM-1_009 |
Get stock firmware only from M-VAVE’s downloads. Maru never hosts or redistributes it.
Which browsers work
- Chrome or Edge on a desktop computer: supported by the authors' installers.
- Chrome on Android with a USB-OTG cable: works for some installers, treat it as experimental.
- Brave and other Chromium browsers: only when Web MIDI is turned on.
- Firefox, Safari, iPhone and iPad: no Web MIDI SysEx, so browser installers cannot reach the unit.
Renamed MIDI ports. Some units show their MIDI port under a different name, and installers that look for “FM-1” then report the device as missing. fm-static is an installer written for those units.
Compatible and incompatible hardware
M-VAVE FM-1 firmware runs only on the M-VAVE FM-1. The SMK-37 family shares the vendor updater and a reported chip family, but it has other controls and another board, so it runs its own firmware. It will get its own catalog.
| Device | Relation | Evidence | Firmware today |
|---|---|---|---|
| M-VAVE SMK-37 Pro | Same chip family reported (one review says AC69xx) | Device index and press coverage, October 2026 | Its own firmware only: smk37-firmware-custom-mod (MIT, Windows flasher) and Baud Girl SMK-37+VA |
| M-VAVE SMK-37 Elite | Treated as an SMK-37 variant | Synth Anatomy, 2026-10-11 | Baud Girl SMK-37+VA |
| Donner Starrykey-37 Play | Reported rebadge of the SMK-37 | Synth Anatomy, 2026-10-11 | Baud Girl SMK-37+VA |
| EROK MKE-P37 | Reported rebadge of the SMK-37 | Synth Anatomy, 2026-10-11 | Baud Girl SMK-37+VA |
| Other M-UPGRADE devices (MK-300, SP100, Tank, Pocket Amp) | Unverified | Same vendor updater only | None known |
Before you install anything
Read the recovery ladder so you know how to get back to stock firmware, and keep your own copy of the stock file.