Haken Audio has published release 10.81 of its Haken Editor, firmware and user guides, dated 19 October 2026. It follows the 10.80 beta from late September and rolls those changes into the newest entry on the Editor, Firmware and User Guides page.
For owners of the Continuum Fingerboard and ContinuuMini, it's a release focused on playability and workflow rather than a single headline feature. Here's what's inside.
Steadier pitch under a light touch
The most important change for players is improved low-finger-pressure pitch stability on new Continuums. On a continuous playing surface, pitch is defined by exactly where your finger sits. At very light pressure the sensor has less information to work with, which can cause small pitch wobbles just as a note fades in or out.
Better stability here helps in exactly the moments that make the Continuum special: soft entries, pianissimo swells and delicate releases. If you play string, wind or vocal-style patches with gentle attacks, this is the update to test first.
New presets
10.80 and 10.81 together add several new sounds built on the EaganMatrix engine. The list includes Viboe, which features in a recent Edmund Eagan video, plus Vioboe, Oboe, Balinese Bedsprings, Distortion Wind Drum, Mahling Across X and Underwater Ceramics.
The names give a good idea of the range: wind-instrument studies on one side, physical-modelling oddities and textures on the other. As always with Haken presets, they're worth exploring as starting points for your own designs in the editor, not just as finished patches.
Editor and EaganMatrix improvements
Several smaller changes make day-to-day sound design smoother:
- Click-and-edit numeric values above Macros and other controllers in the editor.
- Rename presets when shift-click saving to the Continuum's flash memory.
- A new "Save Preset To User Preset Slot" option in the upper-right dropdown menu.
- In the EaganMatrix formula editor, typing a value for W now sets constants automatically to approach the requested value, with variable increment and decrement steps based on what you type.
- Playing Surface Direction now also reverses the Y-axis, useful if you play the instrument in an unusual orientation.
There's also a specific fix for ContinuuMini owners: a 10.73 issue where FC3A did not have its full range has been resolved.
Mobile View and third-party overlays
The Mobile View in the editor's Cogwheel Menu has been updated and is compatible with the Haken Mobile App for iOS and Android. Haken also notes compatibility with Motif Lite, an overlay app by Clement Roussillat available on the Apple App Store.
For performers, a mobile view means quicker access to presets and macros from a phone or tablet on stage, without opening a laptop.
What about Osmose owners?
The Expressive E Osmose also runs on an EaganMatrix-based engine, but Haken's own notes for recent releases state that they are not for Osmose. Osmose updates are coordinated separately by Expressive E. Its latest firmware, v2.3.14 (5 October 2026), fixes a playlist data issue introduced in 2.3.12, which had added a DAW Control Mode with Ctrl-e integration and reorganised the instrument's USB MIDI ports. You can follow those changes in the Osmose changelog.
Before you update
Haken includes an important warning with 10.80 and 10.81: if you want to return to a version older than 10.80 after updating, you'll need to download the older version while in Recovery Mode. In practice:
- Back up your user presets and any custom sounds before updating.
- Read the user guide included with the release so you know how to enter Recovery Mode if you need it.
- Avoid updating just before a gig. Give yourself time to check your performance presets and pedal assignments.
- Test MPE output separately if you use your Continuum to drive external MPE synths. The release notes don't mention MIDI output changes, but a quick check in your DAW is always wise.
The takeaway
Release 10.81 is a solid, player-focused update. Better low-pressure pitch stability improves the most expressive part of playing, the new presets widen the sound palette, and the editor and mobile improvements make the Continuum easier to manage on stage and in the studio.
Download it from Haken Audio's Editor, Firmware and User Guides page.