knob.monster

knob.monster is a browser-native SysEx librarian for vintage synthesizers. Back up, search, and restore patches from DX7, Juno-106, M1, JV1080, and dozens more without installing MIDI-OX, drivers, or a Windows 95 VM. THE PROBLEM Synthesizers from the 80s and 90s outlive the software that backs them up. Batteries die. Desktop librarians rot. Mac and Windows tools do not talk to each other. Most people end up hoarding mystery .syx files with no search and no cloud safety net. WHAT IT DOES Plug USB-MIDI into Chrome or Edge, dump a bank from hardware, get searchable patch names in a private vault, flash back to the synth, download .syx anytime. Free tier to try. Lifetime license if you want unlimited storage and export ($39 hobby / $399 commercial). HOW I MADE IT Solo project under Half Radiation LLC. Started as a bet: zero vintage synth knowledge, can strangers still pay for something useful? Learned SysEx, manufacturer memory maps, and why 8-bit CPUs choke on fast USB MIDI. Biggest win was pacing outbound dumps with scheduled Web MIDI sends instead of naive chunking. HN post on Web MIDI timing got 52 points; beta users started mailing Prophet and JV1080 dumps to break parsers. STACK Python + FastAPI, PostgreSQL, Jinja2, HTMX, Tailwind, vanilla JS on the front. Web MIDI API in the browser (no Electron). Stripe for one-time checkout. PostHog + OpenTelemetry. Hosted on Vercel.