Minifreak V: The perfect marriage of synth hardware and software! 

just got my MiniFreak today. I had ordered it last week just on the merits of the hardware alone, and was not aware until today that the MiniFreak V software was part of the deal. So awesome - Arturia really exceeded expectations on this one! Wish all music gear had this awesome hardware+software combination!

Something I did recently was to play two patches at the same time, recording from the vst and the other from the output of the MF. So cool to layer patches in real time with one synth.

Videos are always so clean.

Delighted you got the idea of a perfect 1:1 it’s been the thing I’ve strived for for years. The fact you can have as many copies of the hardware synth you want, is also… useful 😃

Arturia is killing it lately!! Thanks for the vid Jef :)

I bought the Microfreak a few weeks before the Minifreak came out. I then bought the Minifreak. It's about double the cost and a million times better. Your video is a part of that. I LOVE having the best of both the hardware and the plugin worlds. And as ever, you showed me things I hadn't even thought of. Minifreak is pure gold. Many thanks.

It's a really cool to have the VST with the hardware, thanks for showing what it can do! The System 8 is a similar approach, but more expensive and you have to buy the VST as well...

This guy is a must have !

It’s good to hear a demo of the mini freak in a musical context

Love the idea behind this. Makes me want to grab a Minifreak only to get the VST version with it. How nuts is that! Although I have no doubt that the Minifreak is a great synth too (coming from a Microfreak owner)!

I've had the same thought regarding why it didn't ship with the custom wavetables and also possibly the vocoder feature, to make it easier to get Minifreak V to work interchangeably. But let's hope that this is just the starting point - after all, the MicroFreak didn't launch with certain features like the vocoder, and it seems they weren't really ready with Minifreak V immediately either. Maybe there's more to come. Loved your video and enthusiasm, for some reason you had not shown up on my radar until now despite your high subscriber count. 😊

Love the glasses you wear!

Thank you for being honest. You do receive the hardware as payment and there's nothing wrong with it. I wish other RU-vidrs would stop lying and admit there is a payment. I love your videos and the content, thank you so much.

Arturia is listening.. great video.

Love your enthusiasm as always Jeff. Have you tried watching it at 0.5 speed? I'm sorry if it's me being juvenile but it's hilarious. It's like you've had a skinful! Keep up the good work and try to stay off the sauce for a bit 😄

Thanks for the great video. Not sure if you have tried this yet, but can the hardware also somewhat control other Arturia VST‘s? thanks

Do they sound the exact same? (As in is the analog filter stage emulation seamless?)

is it possible to work with multiple minifreak v's and the hardware reacts to it when you switch?

Didn’t korg achieve this hardware/ plugin thing already with the Opsix? Very interested in this too, although another synth in any form is the last thing I need lol.

great vid! thanks for bringing Arturia V to the front of my mind again, completely forgot about this piece of software. what's the DAW that you're using alongside V in this video?

Hi Jef. I always enjoyed your scoring videos but haven't seen them a long time, it's mainly software and hardware reviews. Do you have plans to make more film scoring videos? I learned a lot from them in using Cubase and is also the reason i finally was able to make the switch from logic to Cubase.

Roland really had to be given the credit for pioneering this kind of tech. I’ve been using the system 8 in this way for several years. Regardless I am damn sure interested in a Minifreak. They sound very different

Great vid, great beats. Do you feel like the hardware gives you a different sound quality? I have the vst and it’s great. I’ve only heard the hardware version on videos and it sounds more full. Thanks

The modwheel sliders on the V software don’t change when I use it on the hardware 🤔

When I connect it to my fl studio it crashes so I can’t record. I need help

❤

Jef: I'm using Cubase 12 as well and for some reason when I load an instance of Minifreak V, it takes like 60 seconds to load and then sends the Cubase performance meter crazy. Did you find this?

what an excellent sound of the minifreak Arturia lately is doing a great job for the musician 💓 what monitor do you use? I was impressed by its size 👻

Great work as always from Arturia. I have an offer to get the vst for 69€ which is cool. Using the 20 min demo so far.

Arturia. Please make the chords mode transmit midi notes

electrons stuff with overbridge does this. its excellent. it even sends all audio over usb, even on windows.

Maybe not completely in the same price-range but apparently you can do this with the Roland System 8 too. I have one, but I'm still not too sure if I also own the System 8 VST, Jupiter, Juno and JX-3P vet's (for free) too. Roland isn't too clear about it, or I'm not too smart... Anyway, I do also use my System 8 to control other VST's, as do I also use my Moog Minitaur to do so. Cubase makes it really easy.

Is any difference by recording the hardware minifreak via audio in or using the VST soundwise? :)

How far away are we from having this marriage between hardware and software takeover? I'd love for an analog 31 band dual channel eq with motorized faders that respond to changes in the software companion. We'd have in the box workflows with actual analog harmonics and saturation.

i was wondering why you used cubase for the presentation of minifreak v, who usually works with NI machine. It would have been nice to mention that minifreak v doesn't output any audio in NI Maschine when using minifreak as a controller

Did you tweak the lead patch already or is it a factory patch that comes with ?

👍🏾

I'd like to see a comparison of the virtual patch vs the hardware only patch. Are they the same?

Awesome! Mini freak vs hydrasynth? Any thoughts on that? Hydra's got 5 LFOs and 5 Envs for more sonic creation potential?

Great video Jeff thanks! Do you know if it can double as a generic midi controller?

What about overbridge? Don't all those elektron machines have even tighter software integration because of the audio over USB?

I love my microfreak I want the mini freak.. I think both would come in handy together. Speaking of using it with Maschine. Do I even need a controller now with the mini freak? Wouldnt that take its place? Right now Im just using launchpad with micro freak and logic. Im not even a keyboard player. Im a guitar player bass player and drummer. But THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!

You can do this with the Korg Wavestate and it costs about the same amount. Still cool though!

Based on what I have seen thus far regarding the MiniFreak and the accompanying VST, I see no reason why they couldn't add user wavetables to the synth/VST combination. Maybe today the sync just transfers patch settings, and not actual wavetable content, and they are trying to make the sync snappy/quick. Maybe today there isn't a lot of extra storage in the hardware unit to accept additional wavetable data... not sure. But it should all be doable. It's just digital math/data. However, I can see why Arturia might not want to make a VST that 'tries' to perfectly emulate the Polybrute. As you said, the Polybrute is analog, and I'm sure that purists would find (and rail against) even tiny differences between the sound coming from the Polybrute and the sound coming from the emulation. And you know how 'no good deed goes unpunished'! 🙂

Hello, I have these questions. 1.- Sequencer Play/Stop button on the Hardware doesn't trigger the equivalent on Minifreak V. 2.- Arp notes played on the hardware does not sound on the V version. P.S. Both work well on the Hardware and the V.

Yes, I love the integration, I certainly need that. But... playing live I need real size keys. Pity

Yes, cool! But Polybrute/Connect is cooler :) Multi-instantiated feature is the best! .... oh wait, MiniFreak will work as VST only, so it is cooler :)

Arturia PolyBrute and PolyBrute Connect came out over a year ago... Roughly the same combination in their Flagship model.

The way hardware knobs sync with software ones is strange. I guess it would be better with endless rotary encoders and light around them as on Hydrasynth. Now the software is available to non-hardware owners, the question is is there any difference in the sound having in mind the hardware has analog filters?

sure would be awesome if you could make a custom patch from scratch.

I must try it with a non Minifreak controller.

Is it intuitive for someone fairly new to synthesis and production? Looks amazing and likey will have many updates in the future? :)

More MIDI controller makers shld take note! It sux how quick these little boards lose support tho!

Sorry, i was wrong. Problem solved, works also with NI Maschine

like overbridge, but something a little more lightweight.

Wavestate and Opsix software/ hardware , the same ideas , isn't it ?

Overbridge?

The "Knob Catch" behavior is pretty clunky IMO. I guess proper 2-way encoders would have been cost prohibitive, but that's a real workflow killer when working with multiple soft instances.

🌚🖤🎶

The hardware is actually hybrid; analog filters. 🤷‍♂️👍

…that title is far from the truth. It would be true if MiniFreak would have pitch/gate/velocity cvs. I have MiniFreak and I got MicroFreak as well. MicroFreak is quite limited in comparison but more flexible in the home studio. Connects DAW even with Eurorack without any other equipment needed, besides cables. Mini is a very good poly synth for its price, has some cool oscillators but other then that it is nothing special. Btw I did like better MicroFreak sequencer and how it looks!MiniFreak is really ugly looking synth but I will keep it because it is a poly goodness!😂 …and I think you are biased. But pls don’t take it personally! Anyone! 😂❤🍀 Happy New Year! 🎊🎈🎆

This title was a little clickbaity… I’ll let it slide though