Subdecay moves EZ MIDI to code and activation license model

October 4, 2026 · 1 sources

Subdecay announced on October 4, 2026 that its EZ MIDI system is now sold as a code and activation license rather than as boards or pre-flashed microcontrollers. The maker said buyers now source their own microcontrollers and activate each unit with the EZ MIDI activation board.

EZ MIDI is a digital control system for pedal builders. The maker describes it as handling the digital side of a circuit so builders write no firmware. Under the new model, the maker said, "you buy the microcontrollers from whichever distributor works best for your region and budget. You flash the code and activate each unit with the EZ MIDI activation board." The maker gave three reasons for the change: rules around purchasing and shipping microcontrollers, tariffs on the STM32F103, which it said is manufactured overseas and passes through multiple borders, and a wish not to be a bottleneck for builders' production lines.

The maker said EZ MIDI began in 2018 and 2019 as code written in Mbed, and that it later wrote its own libraries on top of ST's hardware abstraction layer for speed and lower memory use. It said it is updating its modules for ST's current tools and will eventually move the whole project into ST's native development environment. Because the code is now distributed digitally, builders download only the version built for their project, which the maker said means smaller builds and faster testing.

The MCP (digital pot) version is available now. The maker said it built that version first to test the core of the system in its simplest form, and that it may split into several branches as features are added. An LFO version is described as due soon. No price was given.

The maker's stated aim for the system:

More on MIDI pedals.