Subdecay EZ MIDI PRO

The Subdecay EZ MIDI PRO is a MIDI control board for guitar effect designs. It is not a pedal in itself: it is the digital control section a pedal builder or manufacturer builds into their own product to add MIDI, savable presets and tap tempo¹. It is based on Subdecay's EZ MIDI Control board, but offers more customization and support for the builder's specific requirements¹.

The design is Brian Marshall's, and it draws on 14 years of experience at Subdecay controlling effect circuits with digital technology, integrated into an STM32 microcontroller¹. EZ MIDI started as an all-in-one solution that Subdecay used internally for its own pedals and also sold as a product².

What it is and who it is for

The EZ MIDI PRO sits in the EZ MIDI family as the option for builders producing pedals at scale. Where the EZ MIDI 2 is a DIY board that serves as both the brain of an effect pedal and a programming interface through a web-based MIDI editor³, the PRO is a customized service: Subdecay provides a version of the control board tailored to what the builder's design needs¹.

For pedal builders, Subdecay can provide either a customized version of the EZ MIDI Control board or loose LQFP48 48 pin ICs. If a design needs more inputs or outputs, a 64 pin IC is available¹. Pricing is described as competitive, but it depends on microcontroller cost and availability and on the level of customization, so there is no fixed list price¹.

The controls

The control scheme centers on an 11 detent pot used for selecting presets and LFOs, with an OLED display used for programming customizations¹. The underlying EZ MIDI Control board provides 7 PWM / control voltage outputs, which is how the digital side drives analog effect circuitry⁴.

On the builder's side, the circuit has some practical notes. Power filtering is not shown in the EZ MIDI circuit, so the builder supplies it. Breakout pins are necessary for flashing code to the board, and the serial pin breakout is for debugging and cloning preset data¹.

One behavior worth knowing before committing to a design: when parameters change, EZ MIDI stops everything to send data to the display, which creates a delay of about 50ms. Subdecay notes this can be noticeable, especially on modulation effects, because the LFO will pause during the update¹.

MIDI out is possible on the PRO; Subdecay asks builders to contact them for details¹.

Versions and ordering

The EZ MIDI PRO is ordered as a customized version of the EZ MIDI Control board or as loose LQFP48 48 pin ICs, with a 64 pin IC available where more inputs or outputs are needed. The minimum order is 100 units¹.

The wider EZ MIDI line has moved through several versions, and a builder comparing options should know where each sits:

The MCP version of EZ MIDI is still expanding: Subdecay says an LFO version will be available soon⁵. For builders who want to try the platform before committing, the MCP evaluation version is fully featured and free, and runs for 2 hours between power-ups⁶. Documentation for the EZ MIDI Control board is available as a downloadable user guide PDF⁴.

The EZ MIDI Web editor is for EZ MIDI 2 only, so PRO customers work with Subdecay directly on their customizations rather than through the web tool¹. The EZ Wizard programmer board remains the quick way to customize EZ MIDI Control, ordered separately⁷.

For a player rather than a builder, the practical result of boards like this shows up in finished pedals with presets and full MIDI control, the kind of MIDI pedals that Subdecay and other makers build around them.

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