dexed

Dexed is an open-source FM plugin synthesizer that is closely modeled on the Yamaha DX7. It is multi-platform and multi-format, running as a plugin and as a standalone application. Under the hood it uses the music-synthesizer-for-android (msfa) engine for synthesis and JUCE as the application/plugin wrapper. Project goals and scope The stated goal is to serve as a tool and companion for the original DX7 hardware. The sound engine uses float value parameters, and the maintainers note that features going beyond the DX7 — such as TX81z-style alternate waveforms — should be implemented as forks rather than in the main project, in order to preserve compatibility with the original machine. Formats and platforms Dexed supports VST3, CLAP, Apple AU and a standalone application build. Apple Silicon M1 builds are available, and macOS releases are notarized. The UI is scalable, with DAW-driven scaling plus optional user zoom. Plugin parameter dialogs are integrated into the main plugin window rather than separate windows. Notable features - Cartridge Manager for loading and managing DX7 cartridges, including drag-and-drop of .syx files and sending the current program to a DX7. - Sysex support, including streams with multiple sysex messages in one .syx file, patch request replies, and cartridge validation by size. - MIDI learn for CC messages, support for incoming parameter change messages, and MIDI CC 0x78/0x7B (All Sound Off / All Notes Off). - Microtuning support including MTS-ESP and SCL/KBM, plus initial MPE performance support. - Accessibility implementation with keyboard shortcuts, and copy/paste of operator values as text. - Engine options including a Mark I engine (default) and OPL series engine, with operator mute switches, master tune, and modulation via wheel, foot, breath and aftertouch. Licensing Dexed is licensed under GPL v3. The msfa component remains under Apache 2.0 to allow collaboration between projects. Building Dexed uses cmake as its build system and depends on several submodules, including VST3/CLAP and a library for non-standard tuning. The README instructs cloning the repository, running git submodule update --init --recursive, then creating a build directory and running cmake with JUCE_COPY_PLUGIN_AFTER_BUILD=TRUE followed by cmake --build. Binaries appear under Source/Dexed_artefacts. Linux users may need distribution-specific build dependencies documented in the project wiki. Ecosystem Known forks include MiniDexed, which runs a DX7 engine bare metal on a Raspberry Pi, and a SIMD-optimized version using Google's highway library. Pre-release nightly builds are published on GitHub Releases. The project credits the msfa team, the Surge Synth Team for microtuning and MPE contributions, and numerous contributors for engine fixes, graphical design and DX7 program collections.