Bad Gear - Arturia Microfreak - Le Freak

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Welcome to Bad Gear, the show about the world's most hated audio tools. Today we are going to talk about the Arturia Microfreak. Is Le Freak a revolutionary hybrid synthesizer or yet another buggy nightmare?

Thanks to Klangfarbe for letting me use one of their floor models

Chapters:
00:00 Intro tune
01:09 Overview Arturia Microfreak
01:17 Buchla - style keyboard
01:47 Oscillators (Mutable Instruments)
02:10 Oscillators, Updates, Vocoder (Arturia)
02:50 Oscillators (Noise Engineering)
03:12 Polyphony/Paraphony 1
03:21 Analog Filter (Oberheim SEM - style)
03:37 Polyphony/Paraphony 2
03:48 Envelopes (ADS, Cycling Envelope), LFO
04:30 Modulation Matrix
04:54 Step Sequencer, Parameter Automation, Spice & Dice
05:33 Arpeggiator
05:40 What else??? (Connectivity, Current Firmware, Bugs)
06:20 Hate
06:42 Jam 1 (Electro Funk)
07:39 Jam 2 (Trap Music)
08:25 Finale (Proto Techno)
08:53 Verdict

[menhirmike]

Bad Gear is actually a series of tutorial videos, showing people the stuff that their instrument can actually do.

[zapptuff]

I won't lie I love the microfreak. I have a joint condition that has made playing any instrument, including midi keyboard very painful and difficult. But with the keys of the microfreak I can finally play music. I'm so happy and excited. I only picked it up 3 weeks ago but I'm already just so grateful to be able to make sounds. I'm late to the party with music but I'm looking forward to making some very bad stuff and gradually improving haha.

[AlexBallMusic]

My postman does cycling envelopes too.

[apolloc.vermouth]

There's nothing more satisfying than playing the MicroFreak through an effects box that cost twice as much!

[audioartisan]

"It's better to be a freak, than just another clone" - Synth quote of the year! 😁

[TheSciHi]

Microfreak doesn't fall into Bad Gear zone but it rather sits in Love It Or Hate It Gear category. It's just too quirky to please everybody. After renting it for a few days I've found that the most fun part for me was its... touchstrip keybed.

Great vid as always, Florian. To wrap up such an overwhelming list of features in a nick of time? That's most impressing, Dear Sir!

[Answersonapostcard]

The amount of updates to the synth engine via firmware updates is really impressive. This is a great value and versatile modern synthesiser.

[izpgzzb]

To those saying the volume output of the Microfreak is too low: The manual says to use a TRS balanced cable - if you don't use one the volume output WILL be low. I can confirm this, I've compared signals with regular cables vs balanced trs.

[RobbieRyanLMF]

More gear that you review that I also own...Here we go. This is a very versatile "swiss army knife" little synth that does a variety of things well. I think a lot of the slams on it are from people that don't give themselves the time or the space to dig deep into it. It really does a lot of things very very well. You mentioned the vocoder, which is lovely. If you don't buy the vocoder version there is an inexpensive microphone you can purchase from any authorized dealer. The speech synth is fun. The FM synth delivers surprisingly deep bass, and there is even a fine JP8 synth recreation included in the original presets. Also, the synth is still being added to and updated. Arturia have addressed the lack of digital effects previously, in that they didn't want to put a "crap" reverb on there when most folks using this will have access to better tools and post processing. Your examples were lovely as always, Florian but this is a synth that really deserves a deeper dive than most users in this modern age are willing to give. Danke!

[gibusgamer]

Had a Microfreak for a year or two, to me it is a perfect first hardware synthesizer. Not too expensive, all the important controls are up-front without too much menu diving(There is some, but you can design some great patches with just the three oscillator controls, the envelope, and the filter), and the variety of oscillators means you can get a ton of sounds out of it with minimal tweaking. At the same time, between the mod matrix, the number of oscillators, and the variable filter, it has a ton of room to grow as someone gets more experienced. It's a rare piece of gear that feels beginner friendly, while still packing enough advanced features to be useful once you move past the beginner stage. It's also perfect for guitarists and bassists thinking about diving into the world of synthesizers, because they already have all the effects that the Microfreak lacks!

If it were $500 or above I'd expect more from it, but for $350 I think it's a killer little gadget.

[bitsmasher]

I'm starting to wonder if AudioPilz is actually secretly a marketer for a high end 2nd hand audio website or smth because all these pieces of gear are FANTASTIC

[Alexis-imxu]

Cool to see a piece of equipment I actually have getting featured here. Yeah sure the initial patch is pretty toy-ish and "thin" sounding and lacks effects but you can get around that pretty easily by using unison mode or by knowing your way around the ridiculously easy to use mod matrix. I actually saw a guy who patched the envelope to the unison spread in order to create a sort of natural sounding reverb. Really cool trick to do. The very first synth I had as a kid outside of Yamaha Portasound and cheap Casios from yard sales was a microKORG and damn it really feels like a breath of fresh air to actually not have to read text on a front panel and do some guesswork on what I'm actually doing.

People also complain about the Buchla keys and sure they might be difficult for people to get used to but honestly nothing else would work as well for the Microfreak as that could.

Probably the best Christmas present I had gotten in my life along with the ol microKORG (which unfortunately has gotten lost) and the 3DS with New Leaf.

[wavrekordz]

This keybed gives you such a speed, that is more like a percussion pad than an actual keyboard. Especially with the aftertouch, it can be a real percussive instrument or controller. Being originally a hand percussionist I really appreciate this and regardless of any other aspects (weak sound and low volume) I love it so much I will never get rid off it.

[Wagoo]

After first buying one as a gift for someone I since bought one myself and I've had it on my desk the past few months, nice to idly twiddle with. It's a really fun synth, and I hope they make a Megafreak. Maybe a combination with a hardware version of their Piglets VST and incorporate V collection stuff in a modular way like in the Arturia Origin.. combined with these freakish things.. and they could have a monster to compete with Quantum

[CapRockout]

My favorite thing about your videos is that not only do you do a dive into the features and quirks, but you also give it context in quality jams. Lots of talent!

[benitoe.]

As an MF owner I agree with the episodes conclusion: Yes, on paper it has everything you could possibly wish for, and it sounds always 'interesting' but it is hard to make it sit 'pleasantly' in the mix. Maybe the harshness is too much. So it seems to be ultra versatile, but it isn't. Strange little freak ;-)

[jessfrancofan]

It makes me happy to see this on the channel as I love these clips as tutorials. I own 3 Microfreaks actually and I'm at my most creative when I sync 'em all up and let my brain just run amok. I also love that the Freak isn't really the most "pleasing" of sounds because I can get that kind of thing in a horde of other instruments.

[secretelitemusic]

I remember the awkward gushing reviews when it was released, and the way it quickly vanished from sight while Arturia dealt with the wonky OS blowback. Credit to them for fixing it, after letting the punters beta test it properly.
It'll probably become a "lost classic" in twenty years, when you'll be able to buy the elusive v.1.0 software versions (with the special buyer's remorse attic patina) for a couple of thousand magic beans.

[mixn]

Great sounds, you showed off the capabilities of this thing really well. It’s my go-to traveling synth since you can power it on a USB battery pack, and it fits nicely in a carry-on bag. I’ve spent many hours waiting to catch a flight while sketching out song ideas with the sequencer :)

[jesusrocks]

Sold mine to score an MPC One and now I want another Freak. It's a handy little powerhouse and running it through external effects just makes it better. The fact that Arturia is constantly refining amazing hardware just adds to the attraction. Excellent video Bud.