Chase Bliss has officially discontinued the cute CHOMPI hardware sampler, but it lives on as an open-source project.
The cute hardware sampler Chompi began with a super successful Kickstarter campaign that raised over $1 million in 2023. In 2025, the US-based pedal company Chase Bliss acquired the two-man company behind it, including its developers.
With the acquisition, the goals were clear: to continue the hardware, increase production, and even work on a new hardware revision and firmware versions. With Tempo, they released one alternative resulting from the partnership. But the rest will not happen.
Chompi Is Discontinued
In July, Chase Bliss sent out a mass email stating that the CHOMPI project had been overestimated. For one, they very quickly hit CPU limitations regarding hardware reboots, updates, and new firmware versions.
For another, they ran into manufacturing difficulties with the current version and a new one. In this newsletter, Chase Bliss said that they are not working on it or planning any new CHOMPI products.
Today, the commercial chapter has been closed, but a community-based one has been opened. Chase Bliss has officially discontinued the CHOMPI hardware sampler.
They say that they will not be manufacturing any more Chompi, do still have some in stock, but these are the last ones, and are not working on any more alternate firmwares. However, they will continue providing support for it, but not for DIY hardware or firmware
This brings the commercial journey of the hardware sampler to an end after just three years. In this new newsletter, they said that it would be too expensive to keep making them. It’s a real shame. However, the instrument isn’t far from over, and it lives on.
Chompi Is Now Open-Source
With this commercial discontinuation, Chase Bliss is opening a new door for it to a more open future. CHOMPI is now open-source. Not just the software but also the hardware.
According to Chase Bliss, they made every functional part of CHOMPI open source, including some new features you haven’t seen before. This gives you everything you need to create your own DIY CHOMPI, edit firmware, or create custom firmware versions.
With the open-source release, they also released a last alternate firmware called WAVE. It’s a wavetable Synthesizer firmware that is recommended as a starting point for developers. It’s a beta version and will have bugs.
You can find all the details about the new open-source state on the CHOMPI Club website and on GitHub. You can also discuss projects on their Discord channel.
Both original developers, Chelsea and Tobias, will remain part of the Chase Bliss team.
First Impression
It is a real shame that the CHOMPI sampler is being discontinued—especially considering it was on the market for barely three years. However, the decision to go open-source is very welcome one and exciting, as it lets the sampler live on in other projects.
I am curious to see how quickly a virtual version of the sampler will appear as a plugin or app.
The last CHOMPI units are available now on the website for 699€. The project is now available on GitHub.
More information here: Chase Bliss
Dodged that bullet.