I thought it was metal. Are you sure it’s plastic?
Yes, you can tell, if you knock on it, it’s the same plastic as the Keystep Pro, the bottom plate is some type of sheet metal - stamped and anodized. But the upper body is a polycarbonate. I wouldn’t let that be a negative. My Canon 5R is polycarbonate resin, and that is a bomber camera.
The footprint, the overall size is - small, diminutive, I hope someone puts out a nice case, maybe a backpack. With a battery brick, and a 12V Birdcord, Ripcord USB cable, this is a portable synth. Thats what I wanted, it’s something I can bundle with an OP-Z, OP1, or the OXIOne and take it for a weekend to Joshua Tree or somewhere and create nice tracks.
I wouldn’t say I could do that with any of the other synths I have. So 2 thumbs up for an offering that is not just a studio piece of gear. But I do agree with @Khidr9 sentiment. They should make these instruments with a built in USB rechargeable power source. Teenage engineering does, and so do the Roland offerings (Aira, the JX-08/JD-08). The Yamaha Reface CS/CP as well - It’s of that category IMO.
According to Loopop, Minifreak has a metal enclosure. You can hear it at around 7:25.
Is the Minifreak the same color as the Microfreak?
1 Like
I don’t want to disappoint you, but I think once you have one in your hands, you will realize pretty quickly, the exterior top casing is polycarbonate. Yes, it’s the same color as the MicroFreak.
It’s not a bad thing, the HS Explorer is plastic
3 Likes
Just got the micro freak from guitar center tonight and scales do not follow midi. They only work with the internal sounds. Also, if this is hard plastic that’s impressive because it feels like metal to me.
With that said, this thing is freaking awesome. I never had the micro freak so I can’t compare, but what an awesome synth. It’s wild the variety of sounds it has just by browsing the presets.
5 Likes
Sure, the Freak sounds great! But then you will have to add sampling & multitrack recording, plus nice fun graphic interaction. Then shrink it so it could thin as an iPhone. Then we will talk.
3 Likes
Just got confirmation fo shipping from Thomann, excited to see how gnarly this thing is
1 Like
It can get pretty gnarly. This is Noise Engineering Bass algorithm into bitcrusher > stereo ping pong delay > hall reverb with a little random LFO modulating the filter. Using the arpeggiator’s momentary ratchet function to periodically double the rate.
I just liquidated all of my Eurorack gear and this synth has definitely eased the pain.
10 Likes
Really cool!
Just picked mine up from Control Volrage if any of you are looking for one they have them in stock. Arturia Minifreak - Control Voltage
But anyways, top shell is definitely plastic. You can feel the difference in temperature from the bottom half and top half, no denying it. Not that it’s a big deal but it is very clearly plastic.
1 Like
Got mine yesterday and i am absolutely blast away. What a lovely and soulful Synth. Really looking forward for good times in my studio with him
Me: oh boy, I sure am glad I got over the GAS for this new piece of gear
Nick Batt: did you know it can sound like this though
My wallet: glances around nervously
2 Likes
Didn’t expect to like this one as I wasn’t impressed by the Microfreak at all. Now waiting for the frogless edition.
Must resist.
Damn!
I’m trying to tell myself I already have the digitone keys as my weird little keyboard… and it is better… But is it?? That is the question… this is new!! And looks really, really, really cool and sounds epic, but so does the dtk… hmmm… gas is hard.
No, it’s definitely plastic.
The bottom is clearly a bent piece of sheet metal and the top is a piece of plastic.
I even have a little bit of a factory defect in mine where it didn’t mould 100% correctly
And then these little tabs that slot into the sheet metal on the bottom are also a pretty clear giveaway.
I can see the case of the Peak or the Hydrasynth being questionable if they were metal or plastic. But also given the shape of the top panel it makes more sense that it would be plastic.
3 Likes
They are different. Obviously the Digitone is multi-timbral plus it has the killer sequencer. But you can’t modulate the effects (without an external sequencer) and there’s less of them (that said, the ones that they both share sound better on the Digitone imo).
You do have far more flexibility with modulation routing on the Minifreak though, as you have two envelopes and two LFOs that can all be assigned to multiple targets at once not to mention there’s a dedicated vibrato LFO plus LFOs on the modulation effects (chorus, flanger, and phaser). LFO designer is also extremely powerful, I wish more synths had something like that.
I do wish synths like this existed when I was first getting into synths. All there was were Microkorgs and Mininovas which both were confusing to program. Having the mod matrix laid out isn’t a new idea by any means but I’m glad Arturia has brought them back. So easy to figure out whats being modulated.
But I think they both cover different enough grounds. There’s overlaps for sure but the physical modeling and Karplus Strong shit would be much more difficult to emulate on the Digitone. Plus you could use the Elektron sequencer to get even further use out of the Minifreak.
Im probably not helping gas here 
Edit:
Very odd that the manual is still not published yet despite people having one in their hands for a couple of weeks now…
1 Like
I was reading the differing opinions here and held my tongue.
I should have believed loopop or whatever, but I couldn’t help and believe the random online gent, @mrisney when he said it was plastic.
I couldn’t believe people were denying him straight up even though he physically had the minifreak and they didn’t.
Well this weekend I popped into guitar center and it’s DEFINITELY plastic lol. maybe some early runs were metal, maybe everyone is right. but the take away is: it’s plastic just like the MICROfreak except this has a metal sheet bottom like a keystep 37.
also wasn’t really impressed with the minifreak overall.
aftertouch on the keybed was inconsistent by key (but this Guitar Center demo could be fucked up, that said, it can’t be that old) and man I forgot how mini the mini keys are, they just weren’t that great. I think I’d settle for mid size keys, but the minis are just tiny and I have thin fingers, two hand playing felt like that donald trump thing he does while talking (palms close together, facing outward and fingers out in each direction, lol) just in general I’m glad I played before I paid because even though it’s a really great product conceptually, I never liked a lot of the microfreak’s work flow.
having obscure synth parameters feels weird when everything else is clear and straightforward. The matrix is convoluted and cumbersome to me. Adding effects is great, but they fall into the same weird workflow issues, and I just wasn’t having a lot of fun with it.
also, the touch sensitive buttons right above the keybed were the final killer for me, idk it’s obviously just my playing style, but a stray finger seemed to catch those buttons all the time and click on the sequencer and other stuff up there. maybe it was just the angle the demo was displayed at but they were too close and sensitive for comfort.
my vote would be for digitone keys! pull more out of that beast sound engine, and you get full size keys, very little compromise in that box! except with such a good sound engine you might start dreaming of a Digitone Key 61, which would probably need an entirely different layout haha
Yeah, the quote above from the designer saying the cabinet is metal is clearly in reference to the bottom part that everyone is saying is metal, that’s the part with the perforated vent holes. The top panel is undeniably a piece of plastic as those here that have actually touched one have found out. It’s not a big deal cuz it feels fine just people should know what to expect.
I do think it’s important to keep things in perspective regarding its price. At $600 you’re getting into the range of capable synths with compromises, it just is what it is (even $1500 to $2000 tend to have compromises as well). Ultimately this is a Keystep built into a synth. I do think the keys feel much nicer than the Korg synths in the price range. Digitone keys is $400 more expensive so I’d expect it to have better keys. But I think these keys are perfectly fine for patch designing and testing things out, even fine for performance. I will probably be reaching for either my Push 2, Erae Touch, or Matriarch to control it with. But as far as mini keys go this is probably about as good as they get and after that it really just comes down to whether or not someone wants to deal with mini keys. I definitely would have preferred a desktop version but it’s also nice to have a keyboard built into a synth.
Which synth parameters are you talking about? For the Oscillators? Every time you twist a knob it says what the synth parameter is on the display, same with effects.
I do think the effect workflow is a little odd, pressing the encoder turns the effect on and off and then turning the knob instantly changes the effect and I’ve definitely grabbed the wrong knob many times trying to change the first effect parameter. I think I’d prefer if pressing the knob went to the effects menu with Off being an option within it, and then the knob itself cycles through the different modes for each effect (which currently is tied to the same knob but while pressing the shift button).
Also curious how the mod matrix felt convoluted to you. I mean, there’s better mod matrixes out there like what’s on the Hydra (arguably the most well designed synth out there right now) but there’s also far more tedious matrixes like the Peak which only displays one connection at a time and you have to scroll through the list to find the parameter you want.
With the mod matrix on the Minifreak you literally just scroll to the slot you want, press the encoder and then add how much you want that modulation to effect the parameter then press the encoder again to exit out. And shift plus the encoder allows you to move the dot up and down. Then with the 9 assignable parameters at the top it just comes down holding one of the three buttons and twisting a knob and now that slot has a parameter assigned to it. It’s almost as easy as it gets (if it wasn’t for the Hydra existing).
I definitely don’t have an issue with my fingers accidentally touching them, my hands are like 2 or 3 inches away from them. Curious to know how you’re playing. I do have issues with the touch buttons though. I don’t know why they couldn’t have just added real buttons. The lack of feedback sucks and there’s no real benefit I can see, at least from the user experience, that they would be there unless it just to be an ode to the Freak line. I’m fine with the touch mod wheels as there’s a benefit from not having a physical wheel in that case but the sensors above the keyboard are really unnecessary.
1 Like