Arturia MicroFreak

Oh my, some amazing sounds in there.

How are people liking the MF? Do the 4 encoders still respond really slowly? I feel like that would be super frustrating.

Got one last week! The thing is amazing, super playful … It’s like a giant sweet spot, I whish the sequencer was more like the monologue, and the knobs too actually … Might see if I can change those.
Anyways, very cool

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I am totally new to synths, but am having a great time with the MF. Controls feel great, presets show what’s possible. Recommended!

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What’s the deal with the lack of env release knobs?

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What are the keys like, say in comparison to a Korg Nanokeystudio. If this were able to connect to any ipad synth and input midi notes on a timeline, then it could be good ( obviously it would be good not being a midi controller )

decay and release are linked… seems like a limitation but in practice not so much.

They aren’t really keys, but more like sensors in a keyboard layout. Nanostudio keys are unnatural to play, very loose feeliing buttons. The quiet playing surface is a plus of the MF. Its definitely different but Im not a player so it doesnt factor in for me. Id prefer a couple of vertical touch strips like on the keystep than the horizontal one. The sound pallette is wonderful.

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The keys on the MicroFreak are not mechanical keys or buttons as on the Nanokey, they are capacitive touch-plates with quite different characteristics.

We can touch the plate, press our finger on the surface to cover more or less area and generate a changing control signal, which would be similar to “aftertouch”. The plates are very responsive. We can use this to even control modular gear via CV. The MicroFreak is also an USB compliant Midi controller. Connecting to an iPad should work fine.

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Live improv with my dual MicroFreak setup. I’m too lazy to do enough takes to get it right.

Has anyone picked up a rechargeable battery/pack to use with the Microfreak? Any recommendations?

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It runs off USB, so any cellphone powerpack will do the trick.

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Right, I’ve just never used one before, so I was hoping someone might have a recommendation or could describe an experience.

Wirecutter.com is the best place for recommendations. Never steered me wrong:

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Thank you!

Hello guys, I apologize for perhaps a stupid question, but I could not find an answer - what material is the chassis or front panel of Microfreak? is it plastic or some metal? it looks plastic, but Teenage Engineering OP-1 looks plastic too and it’s metal. Thanks for the reply!

a few owners above are bemoaning the plastic feel (search plastic in this topic) - a few other folks comment on how unbelievably light it all is - presumably at least the base is metal, but given the weight comments perhaps not !

It’s all plastic.
really light.
super portable.

sounds ace.

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Yeah, that’s exactly my experience. Sure, it would be a lot more impressive rendered all in metal, but you’d pay for it in weight and cost. If you don’t hit the thing with a big stick or throw it across the room, I’m now wondering about the practical value of being “built like a tank.” I do have that fetish (like overvaluing famous brands), but am I better off getting over it? It’s hard to let go of the fantasy of an all-metal MicroFreak.

The 303 and the 606 were plastic if i remember correctly… Better plastic back then though? I don’t know. I picked one up this week and love it. Didn’t take long before i was modulating away and sequencing it with the OT- putting it thru reverb and delay’s. I think what got me clued in and interested, was using the Reaktor ensemble TRK-01. It’s synth engine has a similar architecture. Love that thing… Not sure if the wave folding is as extreme in the Microfreak, but it sounds great anyways. Oh and it has all these other types of synthesis that I wouldn’t have had access to (I rarely buy hardware, since I have Reaktor and U-he plug-ins witch I can trigger from my OT and live sample back). Hopefully they will add things…Love it now.

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Yeah, it’s plastic, but the build quality is really fine. No problem for me at least. And with the price it’s understandable.

I wanted a capacitive keyboard for my eurorack and ordered this after a lot of pondering with the horrid price. Thought that on that price (800$!) the build quality must really feel premium:
http://www.future-retro.com/products.html#!/512-Touch-Keyboard/p/66528039/category=0
And it was so bad and plasticy so I sent it back immediately.

When you compare MicroFreak to that, I was more than happy to pay the 300€ for the features!