I-Pac4 Help: Hybrid mode? Xinput+Keyboard

[smileyhowler]

Hey All!
I'm working on my first build; mostly done but working on making it as user friendly as possible. I have 4 player pedestal: P1/2 have 7 buttons & P3/4 have 6 buttons. I have 4 'admin' buttons. I'm using an I-pac4 on Firmware 1.56 and have been switching between Mode 1 (keyboard) and Mode 3 (Xinput) and seeing what works best for our setup. I'm a big fan of Mode 3 because this allows for not only arcade emulation but also playing some arcade style windows programs; think Cuphead and TMNT Shredder's Revenge. I've been scouring the interwebs trying to find an answer on how to accomplish this. I've heard (remember it's the internet) that it is possible to use the I-pac4 in xinput mode but still have some buttons mapped to keyboard buttons. The 4 admin buttons are wired to P3/4 buttons 7 and 8. I've found workarounds through scripts in Launch/BigBox but it does not hold up for every emulator and/or game. Would love to have these 4 buttons mapped to Esc, P, F1, etc.

Is this possible or am I dreaming?

I'm trying to stay away from x360ce and keyboard2xinput; trying to keep it simple and I've run into issues trying those out. If this is not possible with the I-pac4 I'm certainly open to other suggestions.

Appreciate any insight!