Pad & button cheat sheet

What's new in 4694 (v0.6.0) — emulator-tested only

• Real DX7. One DX7 engine, matching msfa (the engine inside Dexed) note for note in the emulator on 271 of 288 factory-ROM test notes. Voices come from plain .syx files in DX7/ on the card; see Your own DX7 patches. On a Synth, knob 8 scales the voice's carrier level (louder and brighter) from the next note.
• Custom FX: FX view, pad 32 opens the Custom FX page; pad 32 again goes back. Row 1 = 8 reverbs (Small room … Cathedral), row 2 = 8 tape delays (Slapback … Runaway), row 3 = 8 lo-fi and row 4 pads 25–31 = 7 choruses for the selected Synth/MIDI track. Press to turn on, press the lit one to turn off. The 8 knobs edit the last effect you pressed. A custom reverb or tape delay takes the stock slot and uses the same sends; pick a stock preset to get stock back.
• Performance page: Mixer, then Mixer again. Hold pads: 1 delay throw, 2 reverb throw, 3 low-pass sweep, 4 high-pass sweep, 5 FX cut, 6 feedback lift, 7 sidechain punch, 8 Fill. Pads 17–20 = Drum 1–4 roll, 21–24 = roll division (1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/16T), 25–27 = roll mode Fixed / Ramp / Random, 28 = new random roll. Every move snaps back on release and is never recorded or sent as MIDI.
• Fill: a stock track's fill is the pattern just after its chain (P2 after a lone P1). Hold Performance pad 8: tracks with a fill jump to it on the beat they were on; let go and they go back in time. XT lanes don't jump.
• Mixer Shift + knob: turn right = that track's level to 100, turn left = 0.
• Strum: Chord setup (Shift + Scales) row 4: pad 25 Off, 26 Up, 27 Down, 28 Alternate; pads 29 / 30 / 31 = 8 / 18 / 35 ms between notes.
• Degree pads: Chord setup pad 7 = Keys (as before), pad 8 = Degrees. With Chord on, the bottom row of the split Note view plays the scale's triads I ii iii IV V vi vii° I′ and the row above the same as 7ths. In pentatonic and blues the chords come from the parent minor key, and stock snaps any off-scale note to the scale.
• Pattern repeats: Pattern Settings pads 25–28 = play this pattern ×1–×4 in a chain; hold Shift for ×5–×8. Works on stock tracks and XT lanes.
• Groove: Pattern Settings knob 2, 0–5: swing for that pattern only. On drum tracks it replaces macro 2 on that page.
• XT lanes: pattern changes wait for the bar like stock (Shift + tap = now), chains work (hold one pattern, tap another), and Scenes switch XT patterns too.
• Lighter DSP load: engine notes no longer also run a hidden stock voice.

Where: a folder called DX7 at the top of the card (Tracks/DX7 works too). Copy DX7 .syx files in, any name.

What works: single voices (163 bytes), 32-voice banks (4,104 bytes) and raw 32-voice banks without the SysEx header (4,096 bytes). Any other file, or one with a bad checksum, is skipped and doesn't appear; nothing else is affected. Names starting with . (Mac ._ files) are ignored.

On the Tracks: select Synth 1, Synth 2, MIDI 1 or MIDI 2 and double-tap Preset. Voices fill rows 1–2, 16 per page; Up/Down or row 4 pads 6/7 change page; row 3 jumps 32 voices at a time. Press a pad to load; press the lit voice again for the track's stock patch. The first time after power-on the pads show grey for a moment while the folder is read.

Order: alphabetical by file name, ignoring case and the .syx ending. A bank appears as its 32 voices in a row where its name sorts. Example: aaa lead.syx → voice 1, Brass 1.syx → 2, ROM a.syx → 3–34.

Limit: 256 voices (eight banks). Files that don't fit under 256 are left out; rename one to sort earlier to reach it.

Changing the folder: close the browser and double-tap Preset again; the Tracks re-reads the folder if it changed.

Saved Projects remember a voice by its number in the list, not its name. Adding a file that sorts before a voice a Project uses changes that Project's sound. Name new files so they sort last (start them with z), or reload the voice and save the Project again.

Earlier: what came in 4646 (v0.3.13)

• Synth and MIDI arps keep playing across track changes and screens, like XT arps, and a background arp is never recorded into its track.
• Pad 32 is the only Chord/Arp on/off. Releasing Shift + Scales or pressing Duplicate keeps your settings without switching modes.
• Arp step range: hold a step, tap a later one, and that range fills with repeating arp cycles.
• Arps on several tracks at once: a latched arp keeps playing when you change track or XT channel, so you can stack them. Stop ends them all.
• Arp step entry: hold an arp (or latch it) in Note view and tap a step: one full arp cycle is written from that step, spaced at the arp's speed.
• XT knobs: lights fade smoothly like stock, and fast turns sweep the SEQTRAK instead of jumping.
• Latched arp: starts on its first note with no chord stab before it.
• Latched arp keeps playing while you peek at other screens or tweak it with Shift + Scales, and never presses another screen's pads.
• Chord/Arp pad 32 is an on/off toggle: green = off (press to turn on), red = on (press to turn off).
• XT Patterns view: other slots show the lane's dim colour like stock, and the sequencer shows the pattern you pick straight away.
• MIDI 1 stays on MIDI 1: while an XT channel is showing, MIDI 1's own pattern keeps playing on MIDI 1's instrument; only what you play goes to the XT channel.
• Generator follows your Scales setting — every generated note is in the Project's scale and key, so changing Scales afterwards moves it like a recorded note. See Scales & keys below.
• XT recording pitch fix: notes recorded onto an XT channel while playing now play back at the pitch you played.
• XT channels follow Scales too, exactly like Synth 1/2: change scale or root and XT patterns move with it; switch back and they're restored.
• Chord/Arp respect the screen: they pause in every Shift view (Sidechain etc.) and keep playing across the 1–16 / 17–32 step-page button.
• Arp pad 17 = Latch, pad 18 = Chord+Arp. Dim grey = off, white = on.
• Each XT lane has its own Pattern Settings: start/end (up to 32 steps), speed (sync) and direction (forward, reverse, ping-pong, random), saved with its Pattern.
• Recording keeps the note lengths you actually held.
• SEQTRAK link: XT channels learn the synth's sound changes (Bank Select + Program Change) and send them back when the Project loads; switching SEQTRAK project links it to the current Circuit Project. Turn on transmit Bank Select / Program Change on the SEQTRAK and wire its MIDI out to the Circuit's MIDI in.
• No more program changes on XT channel select — only learned sounds are ever sent.
• Knobs on XT lanes send the lane's macros: cutoff, resonance, attack, decay, volume, pan, reverb, delay (CC 74, 71, 73, 75, 7, 10, 91, 94) — and record as automation.
• XT Mixer: in the Mixer, pad 15 flips to X1–X8 — knobs = volume, Shift + knob = pan, pads 1–8 = mute.
• Chord/Arp in every Note view — full 4-row view (Note again, or Shift + Note), steps 17–32 and after momentary peeks; chords follow pentatonic, blues and chromatic layouts.
• Generator sets develop — Span 2–4 give A / A′ / B / closing variations instead of copies; multi-pattern sections vary after the first.
• 4628 fixes the 4626 crash when selecting an XT channel and pressing a pad or opening Patterns; the Up/Down arrows now page correctly.
• MIDI in matched by channel (channel 3 = X3, whatever is showing) and never echoed back to the port it came from.
• Tool settings saved per Project (Chord, Arp, Generator, and which tracks have Chord/Arp armed).
• Generator: answer bars fill beat 4; 24-step Patterns count as 2 bars; Span copies the source length; Section pads 5–8 always lit amber.
• Real Tracks colours. XT lanes X1–X8 are a rainbow in Patterns view and note view (bright and dim pads). Older builds used the wrong palette, so their "grey" was white.

XT8 Pattern and tools quick reference

Select: hold Shift and tap track 1–8 for XT1–XT8. On an XT lane, Patterns opens its independent eight-slot matrix; Up/Down shows slots 1–4 or 5–8. The bright lane-coloured pad is the Pattern that plays, dim grey pads are stored, dark pads are empty. Each XT lane has its own Pattern Settings (start/end up to 32 steps, speed, direction), and its note view is drawn in its lane colour.

Generator: Shift + Preset opens an audible preview. The Generator always opens on the style page: 25 styles grouped by musical family, with cyan pad 32 opening the controls page (Down does the same). On the controls page, cyan pad 32 returns to the styles (Up does the same); pads 1–4 select Fill, Variation, Progression, or Section; pads 5–8 (always lit amber) select Build, Drop, Breakdown, or Lift and switch straight into Section mode; 9–14 select Follow, Bass, Melody, Chords, Drum, or Kit; 17–20 choose a 1–4 Pattern span; yellow pad 24 reseeds; and 25–31 set density. Melodic spans use Q/A phrasing and Follow/Bass answer stored lead gaps; Breaks and Breakcore use structured chopped-break templates. Kit fills all four native drum roles with their current samples (drum tracks only). Duplicate commits across Synth 1/2, MIDI 1/2, Drums, or XT. Section writes forward into the next slots and preserves the viewed source; Shift + Preset or Clear cancels and restores it. Hold Mixer to use the mixer; let go to return to the Generator with the preview intact.

Chord: Note selects the Chord page. Pads 1–4 choose 3–6 voices, 9–12 inversion, and 17–22 choose Triad, Seventh, Sus2, Sus4, Power, or Sixth. Duplicate arms it. Red pad 32 turns Chord off. Not available on drum tracks.

Arp: Gate selects the Arp page. Pads 1–5 choose direction, 9–16 rate, and 25–31 set gate length. Pad 17 Latch keeps the arp running after you let go (the next press replaces it; Stop or changing track clears it). Pad 18 Chord makes each held pad arpeggiate its Chord-page chord — one finger, a whole in-key arpeggio. Both show dim grey when off, white when on. Red pad 32 turns Arp off. Arp follows transport tempo and auditions while stopped.

Live setup: use Shift + Preset, choose Note for Chord or Gate for Arp, adjust the grid, then press Duplicate to enable it and return to the previous Note layout. Quicker: hold Shift + Scales (opens Chord, or Arp if Arp is already armed or on a drum track; Note/Gate switch), set the pads, and let go of Scales to arm it. Chord/Arp remains enabled but interception is suspended automatically on Preset, Velocity, Gate, Scales, Patterns, Mixer, FX, the other screen buttons and every Shift view (Sidechain etc.); returning to Note resumes it. The 1–16 / 17–32 step-page button keeps it running. In sequencer view the lower 16 keys trigger it; expanded Note View uses all 32 keys.

XT lanes X1–X8

• Select: Shift + track button 1–8 = X1–X8. Press a track button without Shift to leave XT.
• Note view: an XT lane uses the MIDI 1 editor. Pads that stock draws MIDI 1 blue are repainted in the lane colour (X1 red … X8 pink). Dim and flashing pads stay blue.
• Length, speed, direction: open Pattern Settings on the lane and set start/end (up to 32 steps), sync rate and direction (forward, reverse, ping-pong, random). Each lane keeps its own settings, saved with its Pattern. While a lane is shown, MIDI 1's own pattern borrows that window so the playhead lines up; leaving XT puts MIDI 1's back.
• Play: the pads play the lane that's showing. External MIDI is matched by channel: a note on an XT lane's channel (e.g. 3) goes to that lane (X3) whatever is showing; notes on channels no lane uses play the lane that's showing. Nothing is sent back out the port it came in on, so SEQTRAK pads never double-trigger.
• Knobs: on an XT lane the 8 knobs send its macros — cutoff, resonance, attack, decay, volume, pan, reverb, delay (CC 74, 71, 73, 75, 7, 10, 91, 94); knob lights show the lane colour.

XT Mixer

1. Press Mixer, then pad 15 — it turns white and pads 1–8 light in the X1–X8 rainbow.
2. Knobs 1–8 = X1–X8 volume (CC 7). Shift + knob = pan (CC 10).
3. Pads 1–8 mute / unmute X1–X8 (dim = muted; notes stop at once).
4. Pad 15 again returns to the stock Mixer. Scenes (rows 3–4) always stay stock.
5. Levels you move are saved with the Project and sent when it loads; untouched lanes send nothing.

Recording onto an XT lane

1. Shift + track to pick the lane.
2. Press Record, then Play.
3. Play the pads or your keyboard: notes land on the step where you play them, with the length you hold them. Macro knob moves record too.
4. Press Record again to stop recording. Nothing records while the transport is stopped.

Saving

• Stop saves: changed XT Patterns, each lane's current Pattern and length, and tool settings.
• Switching Project saves the outgoing Project first. Switching XT Pattern saves the one you leave. Duplicate and Clear in XT Patterns view write straight to the card.
• Per Project, on the card root: X… Pattern files, S… lane state, and T<key>A/B.BIN tool settings (Chord, Arp and Generator settings, plus which tracks have Chord/Arp armed). A and B are alternating copies.
• Close any tool page before pressing Stop — tool settings are not saved while one is open.
• Nothing saves at power-off: press Stop first. A Project never saved on 4620 or later opens with default tool settings.

• Nothing in 4694 has run on a real unit yet; everything was checked in the emulator. Pad colours are unverified.
• DX7 notes can drop under heavy load (the stock overload guard sheds them). The emulator puts the first drop at the 7th or 11th held DX7 note; in the second case there may be crackle from about the 9th. The load readings will settle it.
• A few factory DX7 voices still differ from Dexed (Timpani, Steel Drum, Strings 3, Train, Take Off).
• DX7: 256-voice limit; Projects remember a voice by its list number.
• Tape delay time is in ms, not synced to tempo, and has no wow yet. The custom reverb and tape delay use the Circuit's external memory, which hasn't been tested on hardware.
• Lo-fi, chorus and Custom FX knob edits aren't saved with the Project (they survive power-off but are the same in every Project). Custom reverb and tape choices are saved with the Project.
• XT lanes ignore Scene mutes and don't jump on Fill. Shift + tap in a running XT chain jumps to the chain's start.
• Duplicate and Clear don't copy or reset repeat counts. The random drum roll isn't saved.
• Select, Clear and Duplicate on XT Patterns work only while stopped.
• Chord can't be armed on drum tracks; Kit works only on drum tracks.
• Run the test checklist on the Connect & flash page.