You can change if you want to!

David Boulton • June 11, 2018
A 3d man is kneeling down next to the word change.

Don't like it, try a different way.....

The K500, K1000 and K1500 - have for years been one of the most popular accessories for your Myriad software.

A black keyboard with a bunch of buttons on it

These we have always been referred to as "Programmable Keyboard". We've had quite a few different designs over the years, and sadly the design with the ‘qwerty’ keys have been harder and harder to come by recently.

There are two different ways you can communicate with Myriad:
1: Keyboard Mapping
2: Serial

1: Keyboard Mapping is where the button presses a standard keyboard key, such as "F1", "Spacebar", "Delete", etc.
These keyboards have always relied on Myriad being "In Focus". This is where you click inside an application and mouse and keyboard actions now influence that application. You can tell if you have "focus" as the application window changes. In Win10 this is quite subtle, with the "Full Screen, Minimise and Close" buttons greying out.
If you use this method and Myriad v4 has focus, "F1" will start any audio loaded in Player 1. If Google Chrome has focus, it will open another tab displaying the help information.

2: Serial Keyboards have an RS232 connection (via a COM Port) directly into Myriad and the two communicate by a series of commands. This method means that you don't suffer from the "focus" problems.
You will need to make sure that you have what is known as a "serial" port, most modern motherboards no longer contain this feature, however you can get USB to Serial convertors. Also check to make sure any KVM extenders you use are able to work with these connections.

The hardware is different between these two types of keyboard, and you may need specific cables.

Did you know that you can also re-programme and design your own version?

And here's how:

You'll need to make sure you know what type of keyboard you have (see above)!
Download an application from the keyboard manufacturer, to connect to the keyboard and change what the keys do.
Check out the documentation for the Broadcast Radio software, so you can design what you want.
Create your own button legends (this can be done in the application you have downloaded), cut them out and put them on the keycaps.

Contact Broadcast Radio to purchase additional keycaps, there are several different types available:

A group of plastic boxes are sitting on top of each other on a white surface.

If you'd like something specific, pre-designed, tested and shipped with your system, contact us and we'll see what we can come up with for you!

Oh and look out for something exciting we hope you have for you soon........ :-)


Need a little more help?

Download our K500 Upgrade Guide here>

A page that says update a usb / ps2 c500 keyboard to work with myriad 5 layout
By Liam Burke May 12, 2026
Cloud Playout Phase 1 – Winding Down We initially launched Myriad Cloud Playout, now referred to as Phase 1, in the Autumn of 2020 to provide a solution for stations launching in the throes of a worldwide pandemic that rendered a more traditional approach to launching a radio station impractical. At the time we outlined a multi-phased approach to developing the technology in a way that would provide an immediate solution whist paving the way for wider adoption and deployment at scale. Phase 1 (Cloud Playout)– Desktop playout running on hardware hosted at Broadcast Radio HQ. Initially this involved Myriad Playout running on physical or virtual hardware with full remote access via RealVNC and voice tracking & live control via Myriad Anywhere. All other function (Myriad Schedule etc) was done via remote access. Phase 2 (Myriad Cloud Dedicated) – Desktop playout running on datacentre based VM’s offering higher levels of power and connectivity resilience. This was coupled with an extension of Myriad Anywhere to provide true web-based functionality for all major elements of Myriad including Schedule, Admin, User Management etc. Direct remote access is still included via RealVNC to allow for administration of 3rd party applications, Myriad Splits and BR Encoder. Phase 3 (Myriad Cloud Native) – Complete cloud solution running natively on MS Azure without the need for Windows 10/11 host VM. Control over all functionalities including encoding, audio processing and all Myriad functions provided via web interface. Includes native integration with streaming and web players etc. As there is no host Windows PC/VM, there is no direct remote access and no provision to run 3rd party applications. As part of out ongoing commitment to provide the best technical and cost-effective solutions for our customers, we will be deprecating Phase 1 services over the coming months with the option for customers to choose whether to switch to Myriad Cloud Dedicated or Myriad Cloud Native. Which should you pick? We have already identified which Phase 1 customers will likely need to switch Myriad Cloud Dedicated and which have the option to switch to Myriad Cloud Native instead, although the ultimate choice will be with you the customer. Broadly speaking the main factors to consider are: You should consider moving to Myriad Cloud Dedicated if: You are using Myriad Split Playout If you are using specialist 3rd party applications (audio processor, encoder, logging etc) If you are using Myriad Logging on the same PC/VM You want to retain direct remote access for other reasons You should consider moving to Myriad Cloud Native if: You want to avoid issues caused by Windows Updates or hardware driver issues. You want to be able to manage all aspects of your station (including encoding, streaming, archive etc) from a single web portal. Want to be able to add and remove stations and share content between stations managed via your portal. Get seamless integration with web player and optional website CMS / mobile apps. Want to benefit from the reliability and scalability of MS Azure. There are benefits to both platforms and we fully understand that whilst we can make a recommendation, it is down to the customers choice which is the best route for them. In either case, we will handle the migration for you so that all your content is replicated to the new platform and the transition is as seamless as possible. Phase 1 customers will receive emails in the coming days outlining the options and inviting them to contact us for more information and to confirm their decision. Phase 1 accounts for a tiny percentage of our overall Myriad Cloud (dedicated and native) customers so the vast majority of Myriad Cloud users will not be affected. If you have not received an email in the next ten days then you are already on Phase 2 or Phase 3 and the ramp down of Phase 3 will not impact you at all. As ever, if you have any questions, please contact the Broadcast Radio team for more information.
Media player interface showing a list of tracks with
By Billy Billany March 17, 2026
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