Arturia MicroFreak receives new oscillator and more in v.2 update

On top of announcing KeyLab Essential 88 and KeyStep Pro at NAMM 2020, Arturia has also revealed an update to the MicroFreak digital synth.

The MicroFreak v2 update adds several new features and functions, refines some existing ones, and fixes a few minor bugs.

New Features:

• New Noise oscillator: morph between particle noise, white noise, and a metallic noise that's reminiscent of a synth cymbal. An exciting new voice that will open up powerful new drum and percussion possibilities in MicroFreak.
• Chord Mode: by holding the Paraphony button and playing some notes, you program the chord, then replay the shape with a single key.
• Scale quantization: In the Utility settings, you can activate scale quantization to your favorite scale. When activated, the "white notes" on the keyboard play whichever scale you have selected. No more wrong notes.
• Sequencer streamlining: in version 2, you're now able to easily copy Pattern A to Pattern B in an instant.
• Matrix initialize: before version 2, if you wanted to clear the Matrix of all routings, you'd have to manually do it. Now you can just hold the Shift and perform a long press on the encoder, and it will clear.

Improvements:

• MicroFreak now displays visual feedback even when Local Control is off.
• The synth's Local Control now also translates USB to MIDI Out.
• The release of currently playing presets are now cleared when switching to a new one.
• The Record LED now blinks on each beat, instead of on 16ths.

To update your synth, simply connect it to your computer, load up the Arturia MIDI Control Center, and hit the "update" button for MicroFreak.

To hear the new oscillator in action, check out the Arturia booth at NAMM 2020: Hall A, booth 11910.