I like how Arturia is doing theyr own stuff, making new original things happen, and incorporate more creative features in these products. Good job showing it also Bo.
On first sight it looks like everything one could wish from an Micro/Mini-Brute update! Detunable 2nd oscillator, 2x LFO, 2x ADSR, a lot of patchpoints, keyboard playable formfactor, keystep style sequencerand a price that feels just right! WOW. I'm kind of hyped about this one!
I'm loving the resonance modulation! Also, this interests me much more than Behringer creating endless clones of classic synths. Something new is what we need.
i´m getting closer to buying my first drum machine and you really help me choose which one to buy. your videos are so nice, you´re such a calm dude and you explain very well. thanks and keep on the good stuff :)
Thanks for the timeless Minibrute-2 episode. My new, i.e., used Minibrute-2S, is arriving five years after its release tomorrow. Thanks to your well-explained review, I am acquainted, excited, and confident about getting the most out of this awesome device.
The Minibrute is the one synth I have found that can create an almost realistic flute sound, from the breath of the flautist to the end of the sound.. You can not create this on a Sub37 / Phatty, etc.. I have tried to. Each synthesizer has their own special characteristics and the Minibrute does not disapoint. I am super impressed with the updates for the Minibrute 2 and can't wait to get my hands on one.
to be fair, I half expected it, with Your Arturia T-shirt and the patch cables laying on the table, but I was expecting something else than the Minibrute 2 :D
Pretty smart of Arturia to situate this little beastie between the first Minibrute and the Maxibrute. Seems like they took the most logical path after producing the Maxibrute. Also, it's functionalities it makes it useful wether you have the Maxi or not, or if you plan on doing modular or not. Very happy that the sequencer is basically the Keystep's.
also, pretty intrigued by their "it's not alone" line on the website, and the fact that they're keeping the best for last :D I guess something wicked this way come :D
This one had me in doubt at first probably because it doesn’t have much ‘built in’ expression and the sound is very tidy and slightly insipid mids. Well do not worry it’s absolutely SUPERB and does what other synths don’t quite do for you or at least require intense processing for. I ran it through Boss bass cosm - that’s great but you could comment that the cosm isn’t in the same sound league...!
Keep in mind it does lack a couple of features, too. And the oscillators, filter, brute factor, etc all sound a bit different. So don’t buy it expecting to get the same sound the Minibrute has. It will be similar, but some patches will not be possible on the MB2 and vice versa.
Awesome! This one goes straight to the wish list. Sold my MB a while ago and really hoped they would come up with something new to bring back that Brute flavor to my pallet. Thanks for the great review!
Bästa syntrecensionerna på nätet. Starkt jobbat, mannen. Lite avis på alla syntar du får leka med... Nåja, får gå tillbaks till mitt Excelark innan chefen kommer.
1:18 Actually it has 4 LFOs if you use the loop-function of the AD envelope (and connect it via the patchbay to any favoured destination) and the osc 2 as a lfo
Yeah thats a good point! When describing functions however there is just so much that could be said when taking the PB into consideration. I might put that in a more in depth PB video! :-)
Yeah, as the MB2 seems to be feature-packed, it is difficult to show them all in a vid, i suppose. But i think you did an awesome job with it, as usual!
thanks for the extensive presentation (and thanks Arturia for providing Bo with a demo piece ;) ) Seems to have most of the things I was missing at the Microbrute and Minibrute 1, so indeed a very interesting machine
You know, it looks amazing. I was so close to buying a Minibrute this past week, but all of the horror stories regarding the keys falling off scared me away. Hopefully, Arturia have learning their lesson when it comes to build-quality because I'm probably going to buy this thing. Good review.
"The Minibrute is too big to fit on camera" Bo... what do I do with my Montage? LOL. Really nice video though and I will definitely be checking this bad boy out in couple weeks at NAMM. Seems like Arturia took all the best of the things they've been doing over the past few years and crammed it into an extremely compact and affordable package.
Great Review BO!! Congrats on your award! I’m torn. I love the options and the patch bay but I stepped over to a Sub Phatty from a minibrute b/c I don’t have the time to create patches everytime I use it. It would be nice if they could do some sort of patch mem. I know that would cut off the patchbay, but I’m sure you could save great patches w/out it and then have that as a random creative source. If they release a poly synth they might get my money. Matrix is beyond me, and no patch mem mono’s are 2 time consuming. But I do love the sound of the Brutes.
What a scoop! And totally unexpected (at least on my part). Congrats Bo. I am not going to buy this I am not going to buy this I am not going to buy this ... I am going to but this.
I just got this expressing nicely like a classic Moog without resorting to patch bay just using adsr and filter fm. I retract my previous comment that this synth is not all easy as it’s misleading : it’s fairly easy with a bit of familiarisation - even the patch bay - familiarisation. Getting quicker at tuning this one (eg osc2) on the run . It’s ok. I think a sub as well as osc2, also maybe 3 or 4 voices.
Hello Bo, I understand you prefer the Minibrute 2 because of the keyboard. But if you get the 2s and connect a keystep wouldn't that be pretty much the same with the extra benefit of more sequencing power?
Bo, hi. Just a little touch of constructive help: would have been nice to have seen a framed direct overhead shot( camera squarely above) of the interface starting @ 5:14 . Perhaps it's not physically possible with your current setup...? That aside, thanks for this nice review.
Good job Bo and good move on Arturia's part, coming up with something occupying more of the middle ground. Have to say it sounds pretty sweet, but hopefully they fixed the old Minibrute tuning scaling problem.
fwiw, I found the original MB benefited from being calibrated, using the two little screws on the back ... PITA but helps the synth track accurately. Loved the Prockgnosis abyss vids btw.
ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-evxlR5ILiEg.html Hey Adamski ... The youtube above demonstrates the tuning procedure for the original MiniBrute ... takes a little trial and error, but it works. Whether this speaks to the exact issue ProckGnosis mentioned, I don’t know. This youtube is in French, but you can see what to do by watching Franco tune his Brute. There is also a tuning PDF Arturia can send you, I think, but you have to ask them for it. Hope this helps.
Out of the factory, the Minibrute 1 was scaled where it was only playable (in tune enough) for about 2 octaves. Outside of that range, most were just be too out of tune. You could adjust some screws in the back of the unit to help improve the scaling, but I never got around to trying to adjust it (bought my first Dreadbox not long after, and I was distracted by that a bit more). As Percussion Boy has already posted, there was a great video showing how to adjust it, the only drawback is it's in French (Et mon français est très mauvais) , but it still gives a good overview.
Wow! Exciting new synth, Arturia does it again. I had predicted that the future of synths would include many modulation sources and routing, and it is happening! Based on the innovators of the; DeepMind, MatrixBrut and the much unappreciated Novation UltraNova, sound designers are in for a great end to this decade.
Looking forward to it. I recently bought my first synth(partially thanks to your buying guides!) a Microbrute and I'm loving it! The new Minibrute really shows me that I picked the right company, because this thing just looks amazing as well!
Not anti, as in "against" I mean as in, "alternative to"... God no... I will never sell, give up, or stop using my Rytm or AK! It's just that using them is not exactly knob-per-function... :) especially how I use them with every damn modulation source taken up. :)
great review! it's a shame there isn't any poly functionality given the depth of sound design capabilities. other than that this thing is damned amazing.
Great review - All the S2's new feautures makes sense, except for the omission of the KBD filter track knob in favour of res mod!? I think the sound of the Steiner Parker filter is an aquirred taste that teleports you back to French 70's Elektro🗼🎶👾
Personally I'd be more interested in the 2S with the better sequencer implementation more akin to a Beatstep, separate tracks for pitch/gate/velocity/pressure, pattern chaining etc. paired up with the RackBrute it's a proper modular gateway drug.. At pretty sensible pricing compared to getting a modular starter system going, as the initial investment in basic oscillators, envelope shapers, sequencer for a modular would easily add up to more than the cost of the MiniBrute
Kind of a bummer that mod wheel and aftertouch can't be used at the same time. Maybe there's some patch bay workaround, or CC 1 maybe? I don't need this, but I thought about getting a Mini to keep my Micro company.
Wöw at €649 this is a great öffering imhö. And yes göt the jöke, Nick is a fan of PWM. This synth will sell by the mässes. Agree that Arturia döesn't have the Möög punch but söunds bröader.
I got the 2S back in July and must admit to still struggling to get any decent sounds out of it. It's my fault, of course, for diving straight into my first analogue synth without reading the manual.
I'm slowly working through it - working with digital equipment (Push 2, Maschine Mk3 and Jam) has made me lazy. Two weeks ago I saw a store over here (Juno) was selling the Behringer Neutron for £249 which was precisely how much I had traded in my old iPhone for and well, it would have been churlish not to take advantage of such a great deal!!! Are you going to have a look at the new FL Studio controller? FL was my gateway drug into computer music!!!
Can you do some stuff running the drum brute through the filter of this with the brute factor cranked up? I wanna know what that sounds like and why they didn’t include it....I’m guessing it sounds bad...and not in a good way haha I’m also assuming you could do some interesting things with the drum triggers controlling things on this guy? Could be kewl ;)
Wow "Bend range"! Not sure but I don't remember a lot of synths with this function (with a knob). Mod.wheel can only use LFO or Aftertouch as a source... it's lame IMO. The could easily make a sum option of these signal paths. Doesn't need a lot of elements (a small space on the MB).
Could you do a video (even if it's a short one) with the Mini Brute 2 patched to the MicroBrute?? I've seen videos hooking up a MicroBrute to the original MiniBrute through the connections in the back and it created some amazing sounds...I could only imagine the madness of patching the Micro with the Mini 2
