Arturia MicroFreak Vocoder Edition EOL

The MicroFreak is a pretty wild little box. It looks like a toy, but housed within its plastic casing is a powerful little tool that is bound to keep you creative and entertained if you take the time to get to know it.

It's my first IRL Synth and while it takes some learning, it's a really great tool for learning about synthesizers, as well as synthesis overall. If you read the manual and maybe watch some informative Youtube videos on the topic of synthesis to gain a theoretical understanding of how synths produce the sounds they do, then the MicroFreak is a wonderful and supremely tactile instrument with which to apply this knowledge. Because you have so much control over so many aspects of the synthesis you can really come to understand how this (sometimes mindboggling) form of sound works.

The interface is pretty intuitive once you get used to it. I've had the MicroFreak for around four days now and it gets easier every time I pick it up. The amount of knobs might seem intimidating at first, but they're well placed and 'formatted' to give you a good overview. I think the only thing I wish here is that more of the knobs were endless, but I suppose this would negate the "Panel" function which always you to reset all of the knob's current inputs (or rather, ignore them) when working with your saved sounds or presets -- a handy tool for resetting whatever crazy sounds you have developed.

Beyond being a fun box and practical learning experience, the MicroFreak has a pretty great Arpeggiator and a the ability to save two Sequences. The former is an absolute joy to play with, the latter I still need to work with more to really figure it out, but it has been said to be pretty powerful once you do.

The key-pad (yes, pad, it's not a conventional key-board) is actually really fun to play. It's not sensitive to velocity, but I believe if you hook the MicroFreak up to a conventional midi-keyboard this can be achieved (not 100% on that one, however). On the flip side, the reaction time is basically instantaneous and you can lay down some Fast-AF lines. You can also program the key-pad to modulate different aspects of the sound depending on the amount of skin contact you have (the MicroFreak translates this as 'Pressure', but really it's just registering how much skin is contact with the key. So smashing down on the key-pad doesn't change the sound). This also means you can't play with gloves or inanimate objects -- if that is a wish you should have.

But what really makes the MicroFreak shine is the modular Matrix. It's easy to use and oh-so fun. Definitely the steepest part of the learning curb, but possibly the most rewarding. This is the bit that lets you totally f*** up your sounds to a whole new level of ludicrous, bizarre, interesting, and sometimes even beautiful. If nothing else, it is a creative tool that lets your imagination run wild with the possible and endless soundscapes you can generate.

For me, the comparatively low cost of the MicroFreak sold me enough. It could always be jampacked with more features, more powerful tools, blah blah. But it's already such a versatile toolbox that, for the price, I personally can't complain about much.

If you're on the fence about the MicroFreak, I'd say its important to think about how your work-flow is/what kind of music you want to make. The quality and fun of it shouldn't be a concern. To that affect, watch some Youtube videos (of which there are a ton) of people using it and see if it looks like you can make use of it.

Das Gerät hat mich auf Anhieb überzeugt. Es ist soundtechnisch ein Schweizer Taschenmesser.. so ziemlich jede interessante Syntheseform ist vertreten. Die Bedienung ist dabei intuitiv, nach kurzer Zeit hat man alles ohne Anleitung im Griff. Bei dem Preis muss man nicht lange überlegen..

Die Lieferung war super schnell. Nur habe ich mich dann beim auspacken gefragt, ob das Teil nicht schon mal verwendet wurde. Sah so aus. Also dann umgetauscht, direkt in Kalk. Hier bekam ich auch ohne Probleme eine neues Gerät. Leider dann mit einem UK-Netzteilstecker. Einen zweiten Umtausch habe ich mir dann nicht gegeben, hatte ein EU-Netzteil noch im Hause.