Arturia Minifreak VST

[BONES]

Huh. That seems like a pretty quick change from them, like three months? Wonder why.

It's probably something like "once we sell out our initial batch of X,000 hardware units, we'll release the plugin for everyone who wants it". So it might indicate that the MiniFreak hardware has been selling quite well.

I tried the Minifreak demo and compared it to the Pigments demo. I don't know if I would be interested in buying either one, as Hive, Icarus, Opsix, and even Warlock sound better (I like the Freak's sound a bit better than Pigments). At least Minifreak has consistent CPU usage compared to Pigments and seems more fun to play with.

I spent half-an-hour with the demo this morning, until it timed out, and I was hugely underwhelmed by it. I was mostly auditioning presets, with a bit of tweaking here and there, and it didn't seem to have much to offer beyond bleeps and bloops.

I'll have another play tonight, try making some patches from scratch, but it doesn't seem like much of a synth to me so far.

I almost bought the hardware synth because I was so impressed with it in all the youtube demos. Just demoed the plugin for 30 min and uninstalled. Not impressed at all. My conclusion is hardware is always better than software.

The thing is, in this instance both are software, they just run on different platforms. OK, the hardware has an analogue filter but that's not going to make the huge difference I could hear between the YT demos I've heard and this thin, lifeless plugin's sound.

[Neon Breath]

I find some of the comments here a bit harsh. Sure, not a synth that will revolutionize the whole synth world forever but still, I think it’s a pretty cool little beast with some quirky interesting features, especially in the oscillator section.

[BONES]

All wasted if it doesn't actually sound any good, and it doesn't.

[jamcat]

I'm not too pleased with Arturia's direction since Fragments EFX and the Augmented trio.

I hope they get back to modeling classic synths. We still need a JX-8P and a Theremin.

[EnGee]

I'm not too pleased with Arturia's direction since Fragments EFX and the Augmented trio.

I hope they get back to modeling classic synths. We still need a JX-8P and a Theremin.

I have the opposite feeling! I'm very glad for Pigments and mini freak direction. I hope they both become big hits (Pigments is already there).

I've demoed Mini Freak V and bought it after about half an hour. I really like its design and features. The sound reminds me of Korg synths, very polished sounds. It also seems very versatile producing all kind of sounds due to different engines and very flexible sound shaping functions.
The cpu usage is not bad also. About 20% of my Ryzen in Ableton Live. I expect less on my m1 mac (haven't tried it yet).

Overall, for my offer ($49) is a no brainer. For $99 I think it's ok, but absolutely not for $199! IMO of course

[inkwarp]

All wasted if it doesn't actually sound any good, and it doesn't.

In your opinion my friend?
in MY opinion, this is a really well-designed synth.
You come across as a bit of a misanthrope. Lighten up.

This plugin has a great sequencer. Good FX section. It even has an undo history which is a bit rare. Ergonomically sound. WIll get lots out of this I reckon :)

[Cyforce]

All wasted if it doesn't actually sound any good, and it doesn't.

In your opinion my friend?
in MY opinion, this is a really well-designed synth.
You come across as a bit of a misanthrope. Lighten up.

It`s a great synth (and greatly designed), fully agree. Especially the hardware version, place it in contrast to synths with a similar structure - e.g. Waldorf Blofeld. Maybe 50 bucks cheaper, but no keyboard, fuzzy annoying menu diving, and no editor in general...

The price of the VST version, well bit high maybe, but it`s also a 1-to-1 of a hardware synth.

[Lbdunequest]

Secondly, my price is $49
Insta buy

Oh! I thought to pass but your 'hint' made me login and found it at $49 I really really don't want another synth! But damn! at $49 crossgrade price it made me not so sure! I'm going to demo it first!
I know the result

When a hoarder like that wakes in me i think of all the amazing synths i already have that i do not use to their full potential ...Massive X, Serum, Rapid, Hive 2, Zebra Legacy, Diva, Dune 3, Phase Plant with all FXs, Viper, Vital, Repro, Nexus, The Legend, Obsession, whole Komplete bundle, Sylenth1, Spire, Synthmaster one and two, Surge, Sampletank 4, Syntronik, Ultra Analog VA 3 full bundle, UNO Synth & Pro, Voltage Modular, VPS Avenger.

[EnGee]

Secondly, my price is $49
Insta buy

Oh! I thought to pass but your 'hint' made me login and found it at $49 I really really don't want another synth! But damn! at $49 crossgrade price it made me not so sure! I'm going to demo it first!
I know the result

When a hoarder like that wakes in me i think of all the amazing synths i already have that i do not use

Too late for logic now!

[Scotty]

I am not overly impressed by its core sound but it does come alive with the intuitive modulation matrix. Snappier envelopes would be nice. I didn’t realize that the exploding frog algorithm is a true polyphonic effect which can be applied separately and modulated separately for each voice until I saw a video this morning explaining it. I’m a big fan of the microfreak (love the quirky keyboard and the contrasting synth engines) and I’ll pick this up for $49.00 which is within my play money zone. I don’t consider it exceptional but I suspect as I get a bit deeper with it it will reveal its full potential. I would expect to see more updates. Arturia commits to their synths over the long term. If they can tweak the hardware firmware and add more synth engines there is a good chance we’ll see this reflected in the VST.

[sacer]

All wasted if it doesn't actually sound any good, and it doesn't.

In your opinion my friend?
in MY opinion, this is a really well-designed synth.
You come across as a bit of a misanthrope. Lighten up.

It`s a great synth (and greatly designed), fully agree. Especially the hardware version, place it in contrast to synths with a similar structure - e.g. Waldorf Blofeld. Maybe 50 bucks cheaper, but no keyboard, fuzzy annoying menu diving, and no editor in general...

The price of the VST version, well bit high maybe, but it`s also a 1-to-1 of a hardware synth.

Yeah it’s a cool synth, you could make a melodic techno preset Bank to showcase

[Hettoblaster]

I didn’t realize that the exploding frog algorithm is a true polyphonic effect which can be applied separately and modulated separately for each voice until I saw a video this morning explaining it.

Could you point me/us to this vid please; would love to see this to get my head around it

[Cyforce]

All wasted if it doesn't actually sound any good, and it doesn't.

In your opinion my friend?
in MY opinion, this is a really well-designed synth.
You come across as a bit of a misanthrope. Lighten up.

It`s a great synth (and greatly designed), fully agree. Especially the hardware version, place it in contrast to synths with a similar structure - e.g. Waldorf Blofeld. Maybe 50 bucks cheaper, but no keyboard, fuzzy annoying menu diving, and no editor in general...

The price of the VST version, well bit high maybe, but it`s also a 1-to-1 of a hardware synth.

Yeah it’s a cool synth, you could make a melodic techno preset Bank to showcase

Already have my MinIFreak hardware synth on the desk for a week

[Scotty]

Certainly…

I didn’t realize that the exploding frog algorithm is a true polyphonic effect which can be applied separately and modulated separately for each voice until I saw a video this morning explaining it.

Could you point me/us to this vid please; would love to see this to get my head around it

[sacer]

My first impression I like it more than Korg modwave, opsix and wavestate together