The MicroFreak gets a new, polyphonic sibling. Si Truss lets the ’Freak off the leash
CONTACT WHO: Arturia WEB: arturia.com KEY FEATURES 6-voice hybrid polysynth (12-voices in paraphonic mode). 22 digital synthesis and processing engines. Analogue filters and VCAs for each voice. 3-slot effects engine. Sequencer and arpeggiator. 37-note ‘slim’ keyboard with velocity and aftertouch sensitivity
Launched in 2019, Arturia’s MicroFreak was a bit of an outlier – aproudly digital instrument arriving at the end of a decade dominated by affordable analogue. The same can’t be said about the MiniFreak. Between the likes of Korg’s Wavestate, Opsix and Modwave, Modal’s Cobalt and Argon synths, and Elektron’s Digitone, we’re arguably in the midst of a new golden age of digital hardware synths. Whereas MicroFreak undercut much of the competition with its sub £300 price, the Mini’s price sees it going head-to-head with all the instruments mentioned above as well as the likes of ASM’s Hydrasynth Explorer.
Despite this increased competition though, Arturia’s latest Freak still feels like a unique entity. The marketing push for MicroFreak made a lot of its slightly oddball design and experimental nature, and much of that ethos is carried through.
On the whole, MiniFreak is effectively an expanded version of the MicroFreak’s synth engine. As with that synth, the design here pairs multi-mode digital oscillators with an analogue filter section and VCA. Again, these elements come accompanied by ADSR and cycling envelope generators, LFOs, and a flexible mod matrix to route it all.
Almost every element has been scaled up for the MiniFreak though. This starts with the hardware itself, which is considerably larger than that of the MicroFreak, making this feel more like a fully-fledged instrument. The extra size means space for a proper keyboard – as opposed to the Micro’s divisive capacity keys. The 37 keys here are still ‘slim’, similar in size to Arturia’s Keystep Pro, although they are equipped with velocity and aftertouch sensitivity, with a decent synth-action feel.
The keyboard is joined by a pair of touchstrips placed to the left at a slightly lower level to the keyboard itself. These can act as a stand-in for traditional pitch and mod wheels, control a pair of assignable macros or increase the ‘Spice’ and ‘Dice’ parameters for the sequencer.
In terms of capabilities, the main upgrade from the MicroFreak is an increased voice count. Whereas the Micro could operate in paraphonic mode, the MiniFreak is capable of full six-voice polyphony with filters and modulators for each voi
