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.
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
- Update path
- 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 (opens in a new tab). 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.