OPL Studio

OPL Studio is the ultimate OPL2 / OPL3 compact MIDI synthesizer! It exposes all controls of the popular OPL3 FM synthesizer chip through an easy to use touch screen interface. OPL Studio integrates my earlier OPL3 Duo! synthesizer design to give you double the channels of a normal OPL3 synth, or four times that of an OPL2.

You control OPL Studio through MIDI. When you connect OPL Studio to your computer it will show up as a MIDI device. You may also connect it directly to other MIDI equipment using a MIDI DIN cable. Or not use any MIDI at all and use the built-in editors and touch screen to make music or use it as a media player to play music files from the SD card.

The OPL Studio software runs on a powerful Teensy 4.1 and is already very feature complete, but also still in development to bring more features in the future.

This is the fully integrated and stand-alone version of OPL Studio that does not require a separate OPL3 Duo! board or any assembly. If you want to customize your OPL Studio, for example to integrate in into an existing synthesizer build then maybe the OPL Studio kit is more your thing.

More information about the project can be found on the Hackaday project page or my website.

App Modules

OPL Studio has many different modules that function as little apps that allow you to edit instruments, record MIDI into sequences and so on. Some of the app modules that are included on OPL Studio are:

1. Mixer - Change volume, panning, mute, solo and instrument for each MIDI channel
2. Patch Editor - Allows you to change instrument parameters, create your own instruments or load existing OPL2 / OPL3 instrument banks
3. Sequencer - Melody sequencer that allows you to record MIDI to sequences of 16, 32, 48 or 64 steps. No MIDI input is required, you can also use the touch screen to drag and drop notes onto the sequence. Detailed editing for note velocity, volume, panning, pitch bend and modulation.
4. Drum sequencer - Create your own drum sequences of up to 8 tracks. Each track can have a different drum patch.
5. Composer - Arrange your sequences into complete songs
6. Synthesizer setup - This is where you assign synthesizer controls to OPL Studio's analog inputs, where you can create compound instruments and in the near future map all MIDI controls to synthesizer controls
7. Accessories such as a media player with which you can play MIDI files and other popular OPL2 media files such as .VGM and .DRO

Specs

1. Dual OPL3s for up to 36 channel polyphony
2. 240x320 color LCD touch screen
3. Stereo sound output
4. A and B rotary controls to change parameter values alternative to the touch screen
5. 6.3mm stereo jack line out and amplified speaker out
6. MIDI in and out through both USB and 5-pin DIN
7. MIDI in for all 16 channels, channel 10 fixed drum channel
8. Support for key velocity, volume, panning, pitch bend, modulation, channel aftertouch and sustain pedal
9. MIDI out for timing and synchronizing with other MIDI equipment
10. Default instrument patches for 128 melodic and 47 drum patches
11. Default instruments can be both 4-OP and 2-OP instruments
12. Each instrument can be edited and instruments can be loaded from / saved to SD card
13. SD card slot to save and load compositions, instrument banks and media files.
14. Supported instrument files: .BNK, .TIM, .SND, .TMB, .SB, .O3, .SBI
15. Supported media player files: .MID, .DRO, .VGM, .IMF
16. 6 Analog inputs that allow real time control of synthesizer parameters and triggers
17. A cool 90s retro Windows 3.1 / 95 like GUI
18. Stylus holder on the side of the unit

What you get

When you order OPL Studio you get a fully assembled and tested unit. Unlike the kit version, this all-in-one version of OPL Studio already includes the OPL3 Duo synthesizer hardware, so no need to get it separately.

1. A micro USB cable is not included since most people already have several
2. Notice that OPL Studio uses 6.3mm audio jacks. A 6.3mm to 3.5mm jack plug adapter is not included at this time,