Full Octave Range on the 13K1ES — From Request to Firmware the Same Day
A customer asked if the 13K1ES could cover the full MIDI octave range. It couldn't. By that evening, it could.
The 13K1ES is a one-octave keyboard controller — 13 keys laid out in a standard piano arrangement, with a detent encoder for navigation. Out of the box, the encoder changes banks, and each bank shifts the keys to a different octave. That works, but the standard bank system topped out at five banks, which meant five octaves maximum.
A customer needed the full range: C0 through G9, all ten octaves. They asked. We looked at it. The fix was straightforward — a dedicated mode that repurposes the bank controls exclusively for octave shifting, bypassing the normal bank limit entirely.
The feature shipped as Octave Only Mode in firmware 9.2.1, released the same day as the request.
How to Enable It
- Update to firmware 9.2.1 or later
- Open the Web Configuration Tool
- Go to Global Variables → ENABLE OCTAVE ONLY MODE
When active, the encoder steps through octaves from C0 to G9. Banking is disabled in this mode — the encoder is fully dedicated to octave selection.
The 13K1ES is designed for keyboard players who want a compact, bus-powered controller that travels light. Octave Only Mode makes it a full-range instrument rather than a five-octave one.