Arturia MicroFreak Review and Tutorial: Everything you need to know, including all 12 sound engines

[@Phillyfast]

It's a great time to be alive if you're into synthesizers

[@AI1983-r1k]

best...very lucky for who are into this to live in this exact time

[@Dubtee]

Yeah I'm building a modular system (kosmo) and have a microfreak coming on Tuesday. I can't wait - I'm moving in two months so I'm not gonna have as much space, but that just means I don't need as many speakers!

[@DarkMetaOFFICIAL]

no dude i'm pretty sure we died and this is heaven 😂

[@davidbanner9001]

Couldn't agree more. I had an old bedroom studio about 30 years go and have fairly recently gotten back into music production as a hobby. Yes, I had a few classics,101, 808 etc. But we just didn't have it so easy with MIDI/Non MIDI/CV/Gate etc. Now days synths like the the MicroFreak with a cheap FX pedal are so much easier and insanely more versatile for the price. Don't even get me started with free VST's etc.

[@iancain6647]

It's also pretty cool that John Mayer is helping us deadheads enjoy dead shows too. I agree great time to be alive, synths or otherwise

[@iskariot3180]

i noticed that when i order something, like say a microfreak, i tend to watch your video about the product almost daily between ordering and arriving. It only takes 3-4 days on average, but by the time it arrives i have a decent idea about it, and this info is priceless. I can dive straight in, without reading that f'ing manual ^^ Thank you!

[@epprk]

exactly the same here. He‘s the real mvp

[@salampapi]

Can confirm, did the exact same thing with the Digitakt, and now I am doing it for the Microfreak...

[@wokeil]

Manuals are for quitters. six hours of youtube tutorials though..

[@psyeumel]

Same here

[@danskmacabre]

Haha same. This guide is great and I ordered one last night. Will probably watch it a few times.

[@ryangunwitch-black]

My fiancé bought me a Microfreak Vocoder bundle for my birthday and it just arrived yesterday. I love it. I plugged it in beside my bed and fell asleep with it last night.

[@AI-Heaven-Hell]

A very thorough and knowledgable review. I 've had the privilege of using the MicroFreak for several months. I've seen go through many alterations and improvements. Personally what I like most is that you can modulate oscillator type. I made at least 15 presets based on that feature and the sonic potential of it is amazing. At one time during the development process modulating the oscillator type was removed because it caused problems in paraphonic mode. Fortunately, the developers managed to solve these problems. I'm very happy they did. The keyboard takes time to master but when you select maximum sensitivity in utility you can create crazy arpeggios by alternating soft and hard pressure/velocity. Done the right way you can create very interesting dynamics. The assign function works as you describe but does more. If you assign a column to a knob (by turning that knob) it will not only assign the current intersection on the Matrix to that knob but all knobs in that column. Another favourite of mine is transferring an arpeggio to one of the two sequencer patterns. I sometimes find it hard to come up with a good sequence, I find it easier to improvise an arpeggio and than quickly transfer it to a sequence pattern. The nice thing is that this option is somewhat intelligent; it will automatically adapt the arpeggio to the currently defined sequence length. It's a very flexible setup but you can change the length of the sequencers on the fly by pressing shift + the Rate encoder. (this only works in the very latest firmware edition). Thanks again for a brilliant review.

[@loopop]

Thanks for your comment! Where in the video did I say Assign only applies to the current intersection? Happy to add a "card" comment to fix that. Actually that would be cool! But confusing... so, yeah, Assign indeed applies to the whole column which makes sense. Shift + Rate changes the swing, not the sequence length - it would be cool to have a shortcut for that rather than going in the menu. Did I miss something? If they put sequence length there, where did Swing go?

[@AI-Heaven-Hell]

​@@loopop Hi Loopop, Shift/Rate does indeed change the sequence length, but the sequencer (A or B) must be in step mode for this to work. If it doesn't (yet) work, let me know...

[@loopop]

It works! Nice one!

[@syrupcore]

"change the length of the sequencers on the fly by pressing shift + the Rate encoder" is very very good news! Question if you don't mind: If you cut it from 20 to 5 steps, mess with those 5 steps and then set it back to 20 steps, does it remember the step values you had before? Or duplicate whatever is 1-5 to fill the new length?

[@AI-Heaven-Hell]

@@syrupcore I checked. It retains the content of the long sequence in memory. As long as you don't erase the sequence it seems to stay there

[@detrechter5416]

The 1 thing I always do before buying.....wait for the Loopop review 🙂

[@digidope]

Looploop is the new Nick Batt :)

[@JavascriptJack]

yeah saved me the price of the purchase (looks cool on paper, but not impressed enough to spend cash on it)

[@fortheloveofnoise]

@@digidope it's sad nick does not really review synths often anymore

[@rodrigolaporte274]

@@digidope Both are great!!! I always check reviews from each, though I think soniclab seems to be focusing less on these reviews lately.

[@rodrigolaporte274]

@@JavascriptJack Same for me :(

[@tylerallen6435]

This ended up being my first hardware synthesiser, thanks for your thorough explanation of how it works!

[@richnewman]

Every single synth fan should buy one of these. It's chock full of inspiration, functionality, and fun.

[@kabood777]

man so many demos or reviews on this thing, none of them give you even half as much as loopop covers here...thank you so much for this video.

[@imgointardhard]

I know this is an old video of yours, but seeing this vid in the past few days inspired me to finally take the plunge from softsynths into the world of hardware synths. Your video was just so concise and motivated me to venture out of my comfort zone. Thank you, your content is top notch.

[@loopop]

Thanks! Be sure to watch the vocoder video too, as read up on the other firmware updates - plenty of new great features

[@gkillmaster]

I can't imagine an overview being better than this. Thanks so much for the conciseness and thoroughness and clarity!

[@loadreadyrun]

This comment is on point! Great in-depth review - thank you for this!

[@kgreggbruce1552]

AutomaticGainsay: hold my beer...

[@st0rmchild]

@@kgreggbruce1552 Marc goes into incredible depth in his excellent series, but Loopop does better, more concise overviews. Start with Loopop…if you like what you see, dive into Marc's videos.

[@st0rmchild]

It doesn't get any better! Despite being 30-40 minutes, Loopop's videos have really high information density. He makes it look easy, but it must take a lot of hard work to explore every feature of the synth, make an outline of all the talking points, and edit all the clips into a coherent piece. Love the timeline overlay. This is some of the best content on KZbin. The book for Patreon members is amazing too!

[@AI1983-r1k]

yeah always ,... i think this is the best audio hardware channel on YT

[@Baby_boodle]

My goodness you make 40 minutes fly by, this video was terrific to watch. Now I'm just that much more excited to play around with this as my first synthesizer. c:

[@stupidbeetle]

I bought it just because of this review and now the Microfreak is probably my most used hardware synth.

[@templemu]

really clever synth, takes on many softsynths with one hand behind its back

[@philfazer]

A video still useful in 2023, thank you for all the work you do on synthesizers, Merci from Paris ( France )

[@7177YT]

You're becoming so thorough and methodical, it's actually a little getting a little intimidating. lol. (:

[@fortheloveofnoise]

Dont let that stop you, the more reviews a synth has the better. Its nice to see multiple viewpoints and presentation styles.

[@st0rmchild]

@@fortheloveofnoise Agree 100%

[@DonSmiths]

I'm only posting this because I'm sure others can relate. I watched this review months ago and KNEW I'd be getting it at some point. When I decided to watch it again tonight, I wondered, "will I be able to get to the end of the video before I order it?" I knew the answer ahead of time, and I was right. I didn't make it to the end before ordering it. Picking it up tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be a good day. Long time fan of Loopop and current Patreon supporter. A true legend in the synth world. Ziv, thank you for all you're doing for us.

[@loopop]

Thanks Don for taking the time to write and for supporting on Patreon - it's what makes the madness on this channel possible :)

[@locksh]

Your reviews are a blessing. I hope you realize this.

[@SuperOssi]

more stuff with new firmware Added a new “WaveUser” Oscillator with 16 embedded Arturia Wavetables Load your own wavetables using Midi Control Cente Three new Oscillators types from Noise Engineering : BASS, SAWX and HARM Unison mode available for all Oscillators, with control on the voice spread. as always thanks for your effort on these reviews

[@ConwayBob]

This is the first review of MicroFreak that got me thinking that maybe I should get one. Thanks, Lou Pop.

[@MsCellobass]

Thank you much for your thoughtful display of this magic machine. Some KZbinrs are ANNOYINGLY ALL TALK without showing anything.

[@smguy7]

I am in the process of composing a CyberPunk album. I am going to buy a MicroFreak because I can see and hear that it is going to inspire me a lot. Thank you for this great run through of this instrument.

[@UNSCPILOT]

Watching this while experiment with my own, I have no idea what I'm doing but it's hecking fun

[@FeelRealRacing]

That's a really powerful Arp/Sequencer! I should've known the beatstep pro guys were gonna give us something inspiring again. Love the review/tutorial, it's got me really excited to get mine when they finally ship

[@thedrumunkey8582]

With that display, all the synthesis options, and the hands on, and the seq... This could be a great educational tool for teachers and schools.

[@LemureDeiCampiElisi]

Your reviews and tutorials are prolly the best around.

[@chrisconley7181]

You're a treasure of the Internet. Hats off to you loopop

[@EannaButler]

Great! Always hoped that loopop would do his thing with this interesting newbie to the market..

[@turquoisevibrations5649]

These tutorials are absolutely fantastic, loopop - I've just recently bought a Microfreak and your videos are really insightful - especially for someone as ignorant as me, who is a real novice when it comes to hardware synths. I have been able to understand how this lovely instrument works really well thanks to this video. THANK YOU!!

[@DavidDeLuge]

This seems to be a lot of synth, with great sounds, for a good price. It seems too good to be true... 👍🏻

[@UNSCPILOT]

Got it as my starter to learn with, a day and a half in and I'm already having a blast just testing stuff out

[@eavids128]

By far the best Arturia MicroFreak tutorial, better than the Arturia tutorial series imo

[@russianvoodoo]

Seems like this is what I'm buying as a companion for my minilogue xd.

[@victordl9492]

After reading the manual, it's kinda nice to have a demo overview like this to see how it works ! thanks :)

[@aurelhollowgram]

thank you I buy it! it's a real "idea box" and I love Arturia, I have the Microbrute and the Keystep, both are really great! ;)

[@robertpastorella]

Love the full depth of these reviews, along with the scopes and little zoom in views, crazy helpful. Thank you 🙏🏻

[@suibian33]

Fantastic review / tutorial, very helpful:) I am curious how you were able to get the two Oscilloscope displays (especially the one on the left which appears to show the wave form without processing)? I would like to have that displayed as I work with mine. Thanks again for a very helpful video:)

[@zrizzrall]

Same question here! I'm dying to find this one out!

[@sivoltage]

Same question here too.

[@happyjessus]

Also been wondering

[@totally_not_a_bot]

It's been ages, but he would be running the audio to a DAW and running the processing there. Hopefully this will help people in the future :)

[@krazywabbit]

It's almost 3 years later from this video and you sold me on this. I've heard others sing its praise. Thank you for this and everything you do to help us decide. Cheers and Happy New Year!

[@bci3937]

It is a very cool innovative Instrument but Arturia sucks in interacting with Users/ Improvements/Ideas...so you need close look what u buy. And this is a good Examples Vid...to buy it finally.

[@theNickRYG]

yeaaaaaaaap. i was really unsure hearing the convention demo; not a good representation. Yet, These full overviews are really getting me hyped now.

[@pianokeyjoe]

So today I bought my Microfreak! It is nice to play with alot of nice synthy effects but the real power and meat and potatoes is in the basic template presets starting with 129! These allow you to hear the SYNTH for what it actually IS and with no fancy arp or patterns to throw you off your playing. I love IT! I did not know what paraphonic meant until I played 4 notes and found out. NICE! I honestly thought it was two note poly with mono legato.The pads are a pain to play for real music BUT they do for demo purposes. U need to cut your nails when playing this.

[@winddealer1]

Loopop again sets the high bar on format, quality, objectivity and value in his content. The best review to date on this product. Thanks for the level of effort you invest into your viewers and content.

[@loopop]

Thanks :)

[@user-hl5xj2qh8q]

This video is really amazing, the walk-through, the information, the waveform oscilloscope, really high-quality content! Two thumbs up!

[@holotropik]

A no-brainer purchase :-)

[@scartinmorsese7723]

This video is exactly what I've been looking for. Your demonstration has made me decide the microfreak is right for me. Thanks for making and posting this and for helping me spend my money where I want to spend it.

[@synthmage00]

The only thing I wanted to know that wasn't 100% demonstrated in this video: How noisy can it get? It seems like the mod matrix and all the synthesis engines onboard would make it fairly simple to get some harsh, atonal noises out of this. Has anyone here tried dialing in the most grating, noisy sound possible to see what it's capable of?

[@matthewtunnicliffe201]

Utterly superb review. I wasn't even that arsed about these but now I'm probably going to buy one.

[@valdiskrebs566]

Another great demo... you get such great sounds out of this synth... great filter! Your videos are so full of information/insights that I watch them several times.

[@loopop]

Thanks!

[@zroeder]

Great review as always! I was wondering how the poly AT was going to function with the PCB keyboard. It seems like it will be fantastic for pads.

[@Oooo-bi7bi]

Thanks so much for taking the time to share your knowledge. I’ve had mine 4 months and have just learnt what the other three orange knobs are for and exactly what the last one does.thanks. I’ve had a brain injury and struggle to understand stuff. You have helped me no end . Cheers man. I’m off to play with it again now I know what you’ve shown me.

[@madmac66]

Not sure if shipping one with a Keystep ‘board is of much value compare to shipping a desktop version with NO ‘board that can be paired with the Keystep you already own. I mean, everyone already has at least one controller keyboard. And that capacitive touch ‘board looks like a gimmick to me, but I’ll reserve judgement until I actually play one

[@st0rmchild]

This makes sense to me. I have my MicroFreak sitting next to a KeyStep and it's nice to have the option to play it with either one. I do find the capacitive keyboard a little bit gimmicky but it's more usable than I expected.

[@paulyvinyl2361]

Was on the fence till i watched this video. Just bought one making sure to use your link. Oh yeah it even has a vocoder now!

[@maw9406]

Yesss! I needed this :D

[@chrislynch9364]

Great unbiased review. I’m very impressed with this synth and getting ready to pull the trigger.

[@LesProductionsZvon]

Very informative and clear video! I like the editing with the smaller windows showing the enlarged Microfreak displays.

[@IpfxTwin]

I know without a doubt this is gonna be my next purchase. Great tutorial / demo as always!

[@epprk]

I love your videos so much but what I love even more is the well deserved appreciation and love you get in the comment section of every video!!!

[@loopop]

🙌🏻🙏🏻

[@enensis]

Bought this last year and literally forgot I had it christ the GAS hits hard sometimes. I found it on my shelf under some paper, hooked it up and realised I have been missing out big time. This thing sounds insane

[@polyroguegames5820]

Thanks for this tutorial. I know very little about snyths outside of what I've figured out in my time learning to make music in DAWs for the past year entirely self-taught. Just picked up the Microfreak today, and after spending several hours having a blast trying to figure it out, watched this. Can't wait for my cables to arrive to hook up my keystep and hook the microfreak itself to my DAW.

[@auntjenifer7774]

@ 42:32 when I figured this out I was so stoked to make a sequence with that sound doing the glide trick !

[@artisanone]

Man I'm so conflicted between this and the microbrute D:

[@aaroncarter8845]

I sunk hours into my microbrute, really enjoyed it, and always liked the sound it put out. Given it to my older brother to learn synthesis, not as many bells and whistles but a good introduction to synthesis and whenever I need a badass line, extra LFO or funnily enough, something to mangle a signal, the microbrute is really handy for that. Once I even passed a video signal through it and it came out the other side.

[@seek4truth]

Hi, you are the only guy who i know that can help me. I am an ambient guitar player. I have many effects. I have never played any synth and do not know much about them. I am looking for a synth that is very versatile considering its price, that can give me lots of sounds. Something suitable for ambient/lofi music that i can use with my tape delays, loopers besides my guitar. -Versatility -having many sounds -enough knobs to tweak in a live situation -suitable for ambient/lofi

[@reintje58]

THE MICROFREAK IS A BEAST. :)

[@tehnik333]

Thank you for not adding reverb ;)

[@loopop]

Ha! I really wanted to... but of course realize you want to hear the synth. I snuck it in for 20 seconds in the thx part at the end though...

[@DerAykac]

Your vibe reminds me of the LockPickingLawyer. But instead of disrespecting your object of interest by truly unlocking its secrets, you give away the key to inspiration ;D

[@8thlvlMage]

"The Microfreak has a lot of versatility despite its odd looks and name. In any case, that's all I have for you today."

[@valley_robot]

mine came today, no manual in the box, just how I like it. made me learn how to use it.

[@DEG_fan]

Just discovered your channel. What an incredible, clearly articulated, in depth review/tutorial! I'm very impressed and definitely subscribed. I am thinking about picking on of these up one day, but even after getting one of these I will definitely be referring to this video a whole bunch!

[@adastra123]

I bought one on the strength of your video. It is a very unusual synth , but its the unusual sound palette that was the attraction. Your video was the only one that really cut to the chase on how to use it , thanks to your script on the side. So thank you for taking time out to work out the details for the rest of us and also for taking the time out to make a video and upload it so the rest of us can benefit . May good health , wealth , happiness and a bit of madness befall upon you .

[@loopop]

Amen thanks!

[@keytar00]

What an astonishing synth! And Daniel Fisher is the best tester for it!

[@НатальяГолуб-и7м]

That’s the best review on micro freak in KZbin! Definitely! Thank you!

[@munkejens]

Fantastic review!! And very, very nice touch with the respect you pay with the MI Plaits on the table to the side ✌️✌️

[@martinlopez2955]

Awesome review! So glad I found your channel, your reviews have helped me out on my last 4 purchases!

[@matzer8846]

Great intro to this little beast! Absolutely like the scope subscreens. Thanks a lot for sharing this!

[@TheNimasan]

best review channel on whole internet....no doubt!!!

[@MilkoOfficialChannel]

The harmonics are nice nice nice, very nice. Beautiful artifacto.

[@TheWimmse]

Thanks for me not having to read the entire manual! This was an excellent tutorial.

[@rodrigolaporte274]

On one hand, amazing super detailed review. Man this is awesome, to get this level of in depth. THANK YOU for that! as usual. Now, about the synth, I was reallllyyy excited about it... but IDK not too sure about it now, soundwise I'm not sold yet. I'll wait to see what sounds people get out of it, how it sounds altogether with other gear.

[@___Benedetto]

I was going to get a dafm for my b-day, but now i know what i want this (Arturia MicroFreak).

[@francoisberkinjr5088]

Just received mine yesterday! Awesome toys for adults! 🤟🏼

[@grapesodas]

What are you using to put the waveform on the screen?

To the left is definitely some type of oscilloscope. Hardware or software kind, it's hard to say. To the right is freq analysis, quite similar to what you can see in software EQs

[@loopop]

Hey - I use software scopes by Melda

[@coltranius]

Phenomenal video. Thanks for these wonderful overviews. Fingers crossed for the Crave coming soon...

[@ScottBrio]

Awesome tutorial dude. Better than the manual every time! *EDIT* the sequencer data does save with the presets. This things insane!

[@adey7569]

i really want to like this but the sound im not liking :(

[@Tyetheberious]

Probably the best review format I have seen on KZbin, just fantastic!

[@vladpopescu7776]

Really sick review and nice editing!

[@christriplett4901]

you said splice so many times, instead of spice! hahahahha

[@JeffCfreeradiorevolution]

Excellent presentation (as usual). Certainly packs a lot of punch for it’s price/size... must... resist... gas....

[@superchroma]

This is a really well structured video.

[@revoniks3559]

15:21 BRUH

[@eastsideHK2]

lol

[@awojunior]

"Don't be surprised if I sound drunk in slow motion." I had to try it. Got a good laugh too.

[@Vishnu-xn4vx]

The master did it again, lovely review, i'm getting one for sure

[@sajp8859]

That was superb Ziv! I just bought one from Sweetwater. Thank you for the awesome walk-through! The keyboard has endless creative capabilities-wow! Chording options are very way cool! The Mod Matrix!!! I gonna have me funs! Excellent video-best one by far compared to others’.

[@nathankirch2751]

I’m new to all this and even though I didn’t understand like half of the words, this was a very nice review to watch (and listen to!)

[@ipadoddschan7184]

Really wish this had some fun fx and reverb/delay. But at this price point there’s a ton of other stuff there onboard... tempted to buy one but my brain is saying ‘hold out and wait for its big brother to show up’... if they make a version with built in fx and audio input for basic user sample patches id buy it in a second...this Freak range is looking really promising. Kudos to Arturia.

[@brandonsmothers8907]

I hope it comes with those floating screens! Wow!

[@Charlieboy2680]

@@loopop what are those screens that are showing the wave length .

[@loopop]

They’re not real - just a video overlay - I use MOscilloscope and MAnalyzer by a company called Melda - they’re free with some limitations in the MFreeFXBundle. Occasionaly I’ll use scopes by VCV

[@theresistance9953]

Your knowledge is beautiful bro ..cheers !

[@somnyad]

27:50 Cycling Envelope so friggin' cool.

[@nandikesha]

Thanks so much for this, you just helped me make my cash-limited decision to grab this as my entry into synth life

[@minalist7139]

im just following your tour bus of instructional videos buying each piece shortly after. and i wouldn't have it any other way. lol. sold my volca fm to upgrade to this and i'm really digging the variety, and quirks?, of the microfreak. definitely a cool synth that can heavily benefit from effects like you mentioned. adding an nts1 as an effects processor is a solid little to-go kit. thanks again for spreading knowledge the way you do. always a fantastic resource for new owners. cheers.

[@loopop]

Thanks! This + NTS1 = match made in heaven :)

[@fancyspectacles]

Fantastic video, best primer on the micro freak I’ve found. Thank you

[@arteasoundVolterra]

Fantastic! Thank you for this complete (as usual) review. Stay safe.

[@Dogboy73]

Great overview. Pretty excited for this thing.

[@ruxiwang9571]

the spice and dice functions are interesting.