Hardware sequencers rarely improve this dramatically after release. When Squarp Instruments dropped firmware version 3.0 for the Hapax back in April 2026, existing owners woke up to a machine that could do things it couldn't the night before — most importantly, full MPE sequencing across all 128 pads. The update was free. The latest release, hapaxOS 3.10 (June 18, 2026), refines those capabilities further.

For context: the Hapax is a professional-grade hardware sequencer priced at $1,245, built around a 128-pad grid and designed for deep, polyphonic MIDI sequencing. Before firmware 3.0, it was already a capable device. After it, it's arguably the most powerful hardware MPE sequencer available.

What MPE Mode Actually Means on the Hapax

In Live Mode MPE, each of the Hapax's 128 pads becomes a full MPE source, transmitting three dimensions of data per pad: Aftertouch (Pressure) on the Z-axis, CC74 (Timbre/Slide) on the Y-axis, and Pitchbend on the X-axis. Press a pad hard and the note swells. Slide your finger and the timbre shifts. Lean sideways for pitch inflection. The same expressive gestures available on dedicated MPE controllers like the Osmose CE or LinnStrument are now natively recordable and playable directly on the sequencer grid.

This matters especially for users who want to record MPE performances directly into sequences rather than playing live. The Hapax captures per-note expression in real time and stores it in its step-sequencer lanes, meaning you can build complex, expressive patterns that a standard MIDI sequencer simply cannot represent.

Multi-Track MPE and Virtual Cables

One of the more technically impressive aspects of firmware 3.0 is multi-track MPE routing. MPE historically requires dedicated MIDI channels (up to 16 channels for 15 simultaneous expressive voices), which creates routing headaches when you want multiple MPE tracks playing at once. Hapax 3.0 introduces a new routing system that allows up to 4 MPE tracks to share the same output without channel conflicts — a practical solution that previously required external MIDI routing software or hardware.

The Virtual Cables feature, introduced alongside MPE support, transforms the Hapax's USB device and host ports into 16 independent MIDI ports each. This effectively expands the Hapax's available MIDI outputs dramatically and allows multiple MPE controllers or synths to be connected and routed simultaneously without a separate MIDI interface.

Connecting to MPE Instruments

The Hapax 3.0 works as a sequencer for any MPE-compatible instrument. Pair it with software synths like Arturia Pigments 5, Surge XT, or Dune 3 over USB, or connect directly to hardware synths like the Expressive E Osmose via MIDI DIN. The combination of Hapax as MPE sequencer and Osmose as expressive voice engine is particularly compelling — the Hapax handles pattern, structure, and automation while the Osmose handles physical gesture and timbre shaping.

The Bigger Picture

What makes Hapax 3.0 remarkable isn't just the feature list — it's what it signals about the MPE ecosystem's maturity. A hardware sequencer company deciding that MPE support is important enough to build an entire major firmware version around it suggests that MPE workflows are moving from niche to mainstream in hardware-centric setups.

For producers who work primarily in hardware environments and have been reluctant to adopt MPE because of routing complexity, the Hapax 3.0 removes many of those barriers. And for existing Hapax owners, the fact that this arrived as a free update makes it one of the more generous firmware releases in recent memory.

The update is available now from squarp.net.

hapaxOS 3.10 — Current firmware, released June 18, 2026 | Free for all Hapax owners
Download the firmware | Full coverage at Synth Anatomy