From Michigan, the land where the TR-808 met techno, comes an open-source effort to extend the 808’s life and expand its features. A new 808 firmware joins firmware for the TR-606 and TR-303. Meet SuperOS-808.
This matters, because wonderful machines as the TR-808 are, the digital part — the bit that makes them quite literally “computer controlled” — also becomes the component that eventually fails and is impossible to repair. Swapping analog circuitry, that’s easy. But a brain transplant requires a new chip and a firmware to run atop it. We’re not even talking ship of Theseus territory here: you can maintain an authentic TR-808, but you do need a way to replace a long-gone digital core.
And that’s what this fix does. The chip in question is the OS-x0x Open Source Processor. That fully free and open source chip runs on the “AT90USB1286 CPU replacement board in the µPD650C socket (Teensy++ 2.0 class).” That approach and license also means the possibility of porting to another chip architecture in the future, should this one become unavailable.
I wrote about the TR-303 side of this component earlier this year:
Last weekend, MWS debuted the exciting 808 side of the equation, illustrated above.
This is not the same as cloning. On the contrary, it keeps your vintage 808 running. It adds features without changing the iconic hardware. Metaphorically, this is closer to the vintage auto restoration business — maybe exactly the right metaphor for the home of Motor City.
Check the demo for everything that’s new in action, with some nice musical examples.
What they don’t change is already impressive: every single stock control remains in place, with every feature. That preserves the behavior of the original instrument in a way even the most sophisticated clones do not, let alone more crude recreations.
What you add is this:
- Patterns extended from 32 to 64 steps (four sections instead of two). Sections 3 and 4 default to zero length, so stock-written patterns behave identically.
- Per-step probability and ratchet, per-instrument loop length and polymeter, swing, play direction, live reslice, arp, pattern generate, copy/paste, transform, mute.
- MIDI in/out: drum notes (velocity ≥ 100 asserts accent), program change for pattern selection, clock sync as slave or master, soft thru.
- A web editor over SysEx (
tools/web-editor/index.html) for pattern editing, panel calibration, and firmware/program-image upload.
There’s not video yet of the 808 web editor, but here’s the 303 one:
Bjorn Lustic made this happen, assisted by Claude Code.
Full details on GitHub:
https://github.com/bjornlustic/SuperOS-808
Lots of other goodies over at MSW, too:
But wait — there’s a mod coming, too
From Tubbutec, there’s also a mod for the TR-808 and Din Sync recreation. (I think the MSW OS works with the Din Sync, too?)
Synth Anatomy did a nice breakdown of that. (Yeah, I know, I’m late — hey, 808 Day was on a weekend, other things happened!)
Some nice features:
- MIDI input and output (velocity sensitive)
- 11 Additional instruments
- Upgraded sequencer
- Effect and other live performance tools
TR-8oh8 product page and notification list
There you go. The best new 808 might be an old 808. Not bad for a machine that’s 46 years old!