Any Love for the MicroFreak?

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I don't see the MicroFreak coming up here very often. It caught my ear and I picked one up. So far I am really enjoying the creative choices that the Arturia team made to deliver this at a good price point. I am having immediate fun generating patches. I'm interested in any thoughts regarding how you are using this synth or maybe why you took a pass. - Scotty

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It is the first Arturia keyboard or synth that I am aware of that supports some form of MPE. When I tried out the MicroFreak "keyboard", I found it to be quite responsive as you can play very fast on it. I would actually like to see Arturia develop a dedicated MIDI controller version of the MicroFreak's "keyboard"; I would buy it. Folks who are comfortable with the feel of traditional keyboards might be put off by it, though.

Free patches from the Arturia Community are available for download for the MicroFreak:
http://downloads.arturia.net/products/n ... y_Bass.zip
http://downloads.arturia.net/products/t ... op_zip.zip
http://downloads.arturia.net/products/p ... ds_zip.zip
Last edited by tonedef71 on Mon Nov 11, 2019 1:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
[Core i7 8700 | 32GB DDR4 | Win11 x64 | Studio One 6 Pro | FL Studio ASIO/WASAPI ]

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I used to have the Plaits module, from which many of the MicroFreak's oscillator models came. So I didn't feel like it was going to offer me anything new sonically. Also most of the demos I heard of it just didn't get me excited.

I thought that I might like the touch keyboard -- and had also hoped for a compact MIDI controller version, call it the ControlFreak :hihi: -- but when I finally had the chance to try the synth in person at Knobcon this year, I found I didn't actually like the feel of it.

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It's been on my radar for a while, but never got my hands on one yet. A friend has just bought one and he's loving it, so I may swing by his place sometime soon for a jam session. :)

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foosnark wrote: Mon Nov 11, 2019 12:38 am... a compact MIDI controller version, call it the ControlFreak :hihi:
I like it. I bet Arturia's marketing folks would get a kick out of that idea for the name, too. :tu:
[Core i7 8700 | 32GB DDR4 | Win11 x64 | Studio One 6 Pro | FL Studio ASIO/WASAPI ]

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Yes there are 9 Mutable Instrument voices in there and if you had them in Eurorack it would be redundant. I was thinking that the capacitive touch would be an annoyance but I am really like it. I have a couple of synths with mini key spacing so I got use to the smaller reach so that may be helping. The instantaneous triggering and the "pressure" response is really quite expressive not to mention some of the gliding that you can do more or less instinctively.

So far I am pleased with the balance of the features... the mod matrix is well thought out and with the 4 channel motion sequence you can get a lot of movement in the sounds with minimal button pushes. I'd love an integrated delay/verb/chorus but I can add that externally. It would be killer if we could load our own wavetables but what are there already are usable.. karplus strong was unexpected and I am very surprised at how much FM you can squeeze out of 2 operators.

Just a fine overall job of selecting features and making an "instrument".

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Resurrecting an old thread because there's an update -- three new oscillators by Noise Engineering added in this version :D All winners, too.

Pretty much like the oscillators based on Plaits code, I feel like these become something completely different in the context of the Microfreak. (I've owned Manis Iteritas and BIA before, on which Sawx and Harm are partially based.)

Earlier in the thread I left a post saying I wasn't impressed with Microfreak when I tried it briefly at Knobcon. But in the 2020 hardware thread I think it was, I said I'd traded my Reface CS for it and then professed a lot of love for the Microfreak.

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Yeh, this started out as a great value synth (I have it and MI Plaits) but then the free vocoder update and then the three new oscillators by Noise Engineering...maybe the best sounding and best value little synth available...
X32 Desk, i9 PC, S49MK2, Studio One, BWS, Live 12. PUSH 3 SA, Osmose, Summit, Pro 3, Prophet8, Syntakt, Digitone, Drumlogue, OP1-F, Eurorack, TD27 Drums, Nord Drum3P, Guitars, Basses, Amps and of course lots of pedals!

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Another fan of the Microfreak here. Quirky, experimental, cheap and quite good sounding. Very impressed that Arturia gives it this amount of love and attention. When will we b seeing an MiniFreak you think? It feels like a given.

/C
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Oooh, more new algorithms. Grabbed.
my other modular synth is a bugbrand

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The new oscillators sound really good. Especially for bass sounds, which were not very strong on my MF until now. The new unison mode REALLY fattens everything up too. Also more storage for patches...great little update. Love it!

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Oh, I missed unison mode. Nice! The tuning options available for unison can make some really tense scary drones. :clap:

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Yea, fantastic update. Micro Freak is really great and crazy versatile for that price. It goes for 266€ at Thomann at the moment. That's pretty insane.

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