Arturia MicroFreak

The MicroFreak has 22 distinct sound engines (as of the 5.0 update).[3]

They are:[4]

• Basic Waves – a standard synth voice using traditional waveforms,
• Super Wave – a group of detuned waves (like a supersaw),
• Harmonic – a form of additive synthesis where you set volumes of frequencies individually,
• Karplus-Strong – a physical modelling system to replicate string sounds,
• Wavetable – a method of synthesis where the waveform transitions through a table of different waveforms,
• Noise – various types of noise and static.
• Virtual Analogue – a standard subtractive synth voice,
• Waveshaper – a triangle wave that is repeatedly wavefolded,
• Frequency Modulation (two operators) – a method of synthesis where a wave modulates the frequency of another wave,
• Formant – a form of granular synthesis,
• Chords – an engine that plays groups of notes paraphonically,
• Speech – a vocal synthesizer,
• Modal – a physical modelling engine that replicates the sound of hollow objects,
• Bass – another waveshaping algorithm specifically for basslines,
• Harm – a mixture of waveshaping and additive synthesis,
• SawX – a supersaw being phase modulated,
• Vocoder – a voice transformer similar to a talkbox,[5]
• User Wavetable – an engine to use your own wavetables,
• Sample – an engine that plays back loaded samples,
• Scan Grain – a granular synthesizer that scans through a whole sample,
• Cloud Grain – a granular synthesizer that creates overlapping grains from a sample, and
• Hit Grain – a granular synthesizer that creates percussive sounds from a sample.

Of those, 12 are made by Arturia (Basic Waves, Super Wave, Harmonic, Karplus-Strong and Wavetable, Noise, Vocoder, User Wavetable, Sample, Scan Grain, Cloud Grain, and Hit Grain), 7 are made by Mutable Instruments (Virtual Analogue, Waveshaper, Two operator FM, Formant, Chords, Speech and Modal) from their "Plaits" eurorack module,[6] and the remaining 3 are made by Noise Engineering.[7]

Arturia made available user installable firmware updates for the MicroFreak with additional features and improvements in the years after the original release.[8][9]

• 1.0 – MicroFreak released with this firmware
• 2.0 – Added noise engine, chord mode and scale quantisation
• 2.1.3 – Added vocoder engine. Vocoder edition released with this firmware.
• 3.0 – Added noise engineering oscillators, unison mode and more preset slots
• 4.0 – Added user wavetable engine and 64 more preset slots[10]
• 5.0 – Added sample and grain engines, 128 more preset slots, and a sample and hold mode for keybed modulation. The Stellar edition released with this firmware.[3]

It received a limited edition white Vocoder design in 2020. [5]

MicroFreak Vocoder (in white) is located on top of MatrixBrute (leftmost synthesizer)

It is considered by some to be one of the best value for money synthesizers of modern times.[11][12] According to the music production website MusicTech it has "an enormous amount to offer and will really reward exploratory use".[12] The MicroFreak was popular due to its many sound engines and modulation options.[13][14] The MicroFreak received 9/10 from MusicTech (MusicTech Choice Award);[12] and 9/10 from MusicRadar.[11]

• Arturia MiniBrute – another synthesizer by the same company