Firmware 9.6.0: Set Your Own Octave Range on the 13K
A small but much-requested update for 13K keyboard owners — and another feature that came straight from a user's email.
The Request
The 13K keyboards have had Octave Only Mode for a while: turn the encoder and the whole keyboard shifts up or down by octaves, so 13 keys can reach the entire MIDI range. It worked, but one piece was missing. A user put it clearly:
"I got it to work using the advanced global variable. It works nicely, but I was hoping to limit the range of the keyboard as well. Ideally one encoder detent per octave, and I'd like to keep the range from C-1 to C-5 and cap it there, not looping."
Reasonable — if you only play a few octaves, you don't want to spin through the ones you never use. So we built it.
Firmware 9.6.0: Octave Range Control
The configurator draws the keyboard across your chosen range and lights up the keys you play (here C2, E2, G2).
Octave Only Mode now has a configurable OCTAVE RANGE (FROM / TO), plus a couple of refinements that make it feel right on the 13K:
- Set your own range. Choose the lowest and highest octave the encoder can reach. The default covers the full MIDI range, but you can cap it to exactly the span you play.
- It caps — it doesn't loop. Turn past the top and it simply stops at your highest octave, instead of wrapping back to the bottom.
- One detent = one octave. The encoder is set up automatically for this mode, so there's no fiddling with resolution or acceleration — one click moves exactly one octave.
- See what you play. The web configurator draws the keyboard across your chosen range and lights up each key as you press it, so you always know which octave you're on.
- No stuck notes. If you shift octave while holding a key, the sounding note is released cleanly.
Cap the range to just what you play — here octaves 1–5. Turn past the top and it stops; it doesn't loop.
How to Set It Up
Global Variables → ETC FLAGS: enable ENABLE ONLY OCTAVE MODE and set OCTAVE RANGE (FROM / TO).
- Update to firmware 9.6.0 (see below).
- Open the Configurator tab in ParksTool Uploader, or config.parkstool.com.
- Go to Global Variables → ETC FLAGS and enable ENABLE ONLY OCTAVE MODE.
- Set OCTAVE RANGE (FROM / TO) to the span you want — the on-screen piano shows exactly which notes it covers — and click Apply.
Full step-by-step instructions are in the manual's Octave-Only Mode section.
How to Update
ParksTool Uploader — connect your device and press Auto Update.
This release is mainly relevant to 13K keyboard owners; on other devices the behavior is unchanged.
- Download the latest ParksTool Uploader from the releases page.
- Run it, connect your device with a USB cable, and press Auto Update — it detects the device and installs firmware 9.6.0 automatically.
- When it finishes, the Configurator opens so you can set your octave range.
9.6.0 adds a new setting to the device's memory. We recommend taking a screenshot of your configuration before updating; if anything looks off afterward, do a Reset Local Defaults + Default Global Reset in the configurator.
Have a feature request? We build these from user feedback. Let us know what you'd like to see next.