GR-MEGA firmware 1.8.0 release notes

Phase vocoder rework, granular feature leftovers from 1.7, drawings, QoL features.

release date: 23 September 2026

new features:

- phase vocoder rework:
  - engine menu - phase heap integration: more realistic engine, but cpu heavy. only supported on newer gr-mega's, not on gr-2
  - engine menu - formant lock
  - (tilt) and (curve) knobs control spectral shape (filter)
  - knob (A) - bend spectrum, this supercedes freq shift. 
    - bend mode can be toggled in engine menu -> spectral bend -> OFF (legacy), ON (new and less ringy)  
  - knob (C) - pitch blend, superimpose a pitch shifted tone on top 
  - knob (D) - freeze
  - knob (E) - shift formant
    - with formant lock ON this shifts it relative to the original formant 
    - with formant lock OFF this shifts it relative to the pitch shifted note (formant-shifted "chipmunk")
  - [Shift] + knob (E) - fold spectrum
  - 1.8.0-a13 spectral shaping:
    - (Tilt), (Curve), (AM) allow you to shape the spectrum like you would a grain.
    - [Shift] + (Curve) = control spectral contrast hi/lo
    - [Shift] + (Tilt) = "spec depth" to apply the window function to the spectrum
  - most old spectral effects moved to shift + (engine knob)
  - gr-mega [Feel] + engine knob A..H -> improved spectral control help popup with moving knob graphics

- granular engine:
  - shift + A knob -> grain probability
  - voicing menu - pitch spray polarity
  - 1.8.0-a3 - voicing menu - pitch quantization - toggle between per-voice or per-grain

- #1855 touchscreen draw xy menu - requires a touchscreen! will not work without!
  - "Draw XY" tile menu to draw trajectory, scale and rotate using multitouch
  - lfo encoder set to mod source [draw x] or [draw y], and then you can use (Rate), (Phase), [Sync], [Key Trig]
  - free running or synced rates
  - key trigger: OFF, ON, LEGATO to reset playing
  - assign waypoints to stop and restart movement

- gui:
  - file chooser and file manager - mark files as favorites (with stars)
  - cycling buttons turn into dropdown lists on touchscreen displays (default on gr-2, or when gr-mega detects an external touchscreen via usb) 
  - 1.8.0-a8 - usb c mode - warning popup when using slider / encoder turns 
  - 1.8.0-a8 - gr-mega touchscreen menu button in bottom right
  - 1.8.0-a10 - templates, presets, mtpresets menus now offer slot initialization 
    - [Delete] button on gr-mega
  - 1.8.0-a19 - io menu - file chooser sound preview toggle, and default = ON
  - 1.8.0-b3 - ui menu - preset & time display - ON: name and size on screen, informative; OFF: gone, minimalist beauty

- physical ui:
  - #1741 [Shift] + (ADRS Sliders) -> SampleStart (A), LoopStart (D), LoopEnd (S), SampleEnd (R)
    - While holding [Shift] + (ADSR-slider) screen will focus on sample/loop point position if it is outside viewport (due to zoom).
  - gain control for the Envelope Follower
    - [Shift] + [ADSR Curve], to access env follower controls, then move Amount fader
  - #118 gr-mega: filter slopes
    - [Shift] + (LP Cutoff) -> LP filter slope
    - [Shift] + (HP Cutoff) -> HP filter slope
  - #1927 gr-mega [Shift] + [Key Trig] will also access Legato scan and Poly scan

- effects:
  - 1.8.0-a14 #1874 FX Type: EQ-3 Shelf-filter 
    - ability to bypass bands
    - visualization in fx menu a la resonator
  - fx preset chain save / rename functionality. focus on one of the chain presets to prompt a dialog. 

- slice:
  - #1733 operator menu - autoslice - sensitivity with hor. fader
  - 1.8.0-a6 crop zoomed also in slice mode

- #1788 elektron style switching between sequencer presets
  - see system menu -> preset change
- randomize menu - randomize patch name
- 1.8.0-a9 scrolling rec - play position now correctly set when user hits record

changes:

- saved patches version >=1.8.0: some parameters like grain rate will not correctly import on old firmware. manual knob tweaks will be necessary
- matrix and macro menus - destination list is now limited to category, meaning shorter lists
- phase vocoder - fft reducer knob merged with amp threshold knob, as they had largely overlapping functionality 
- grain tile menu renamed "engine", because it now also holds phase vocoder options
- 1.8.0-a7 - randomize - avoid exteme volume ranges, and see to it that lp/hp filters don't mute
- 1.8.0-a11 - phase vocoder uses less cpu power in its basic form
- 1.8.0-a15 - #1924 fx menu can now also access "NONE" fx links
- 1.8.0-a19 #1939 removed the ability to assign resonator fx parameters like BANDS, SCALE, MODE to fx knobs
- 1.8.0-a19 engine menu - renamed 'voice retrigger' -> 'voice sync'
- 1.8.0-b3 - expert save dialog - omit slot row when sample type selected
- 1.8.0-b3 - after recording audio into a layer when multiple layers are enabled, expert save dialog will offer to save patch, mtpreset, sample types

bug fixes:

- 1.7.10 - sequencer - note length values : E.g. 1/16, 1/8 and so on were fine, but 1/24 was the same as 1/16, 1/12 same as 1/8 and so on.
- 1.7.10 - #1887 patch copypaste didn't update LEDs 
- 1.8.0-a3 - subosc now quantizes in accordance with main voice quantization
- 1.8.0-a4 - touchscreen - dropdown list now scrolls when encoder is turned. 
- 1.8.0-a4 - dropdown list sized re-fixed.
- 1.8.0-a4 - gui punch-through focus fixed
- 1.8.0-a4 - touch to focus now works again on slider type continuous value widgets, incl encoder and fader control. example: voicing menu widgets.
- 1.8.0-a6 - randomizer - knob list got wiped when exiting menu
- 1.8.0-a7 - hardened usb c audio streaming against all kinds of disconnections or missing driver data
- 1.8.0-a8 - template menu - save on empty slot gave overwrite dialog
- 1.8.0-a10 - scrolling record zoom level refresh glitches
- 1.8.0-a11 - play rec sync (scrolling rec) - reverse grains could get shortened
- 1.8.0-a13 - init project now uses the default template
- 1.8.0-a14 - spec fold - full spectrum
- 1.8.0-a14 - #1918 grain rate and size were wrong after cycling to and from free grain ratio mode 
- 1.8.0-a15 - #1921 variable sequencer lags fixed
- 1.8.0-a15 - #1923 sequencer menu - [shift] + (operator) broken
- 1.8.0-a15 - #1925 proper legato keyboard action for slice mode in monophonic mode 
- 1.8.0-a15 - #1926 random1234 modulators all have the same value
- 1.8.0-a17 - AM modulation didn't work in phase vocoder sound engine.
- 1.8.0-a17 - #1931 BPM estimation error ~4% + drift over time wrt external fixed.
- 1.8.0-a17 - sequencer - start at 0 when in seeded mode. reset clock when sequencer starts by pressing play button. 
- 1.8.0-a18 - multitimbral #1934 wrong samples popping up in layers after recalling some saved multis 
- 1.8.0-a19 - #1938 saving single preset could sometimes overwrite multi preset 1
- 1.8.0-a19 - #1935 delete button supported in preset/mtpreset/template menu rename dialogs
- 1.8.0-a20 - #1947 opening layer in new project could open layers from old project
- 1.8.0-a20 - #1936 when a layer is toggled OFF and PLAY_BTN is pressed to stop the droning and sequencing. when the inactive layer is toggled back ON, it is no longer playing.
- 1.8.0-a20 - #1946 copypaste multitimbral preset (upfront) was permanent.
- 1.8.0-a20 - #1945 gr-2/gr-mega draw menu doesn't set or blink physical LEDs anymore
- 1.8.0-b1 - #1956 CC9 now behaves like engine control A
- 1.8.0-b2 - #1968 menu slider widgets couldn't be focused by touchscreen
- 1.8.0-b2 - #1970 master eq - q factor range now up to 18.0. max band gain 24dB
- 1.8.0-b3 - gr-mega - after selecting preset / mtpreset with pysical buttons or midi, the preset/mtpreset menu shows active row, but not the selected row leading an unattentive user to save or delete the wrong preset.