In use, it sounds smooth across a wide range of settings, and high Resonance settings result in meaty boosts up to a satisfying ‘howl’. Inspired by the classic Oberheim SEM design, this state-variable, two-pole tone-shaper can be switched between low-, high- and band-pass modes with the Type button, and is flanked by Cutoff and Resonance knobs. While the oscillator is unashamedly digital, the filter it feeds into is fully analogue, albeit digitally controlled. However, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing – when you need a brash, harmonically complex sound that can slice through a mix, MicroFreak can do it in so many different ways.
On the downside, being a digital synth, a lot of these oscillator types can sound a little… well, digital. If you’re stuck for ideas when dialling in a patch, quickly flipping over to a different oscillator mode can instantly inspire something new out of thin air. The Wave knob is used to choose one of 11 chords, the Timbre knob switches the current inversion, and Shape scans through a host of waveform shapes.Īs you can tell, MicroFreak often feels like multiple synths in one. The Speak-and-Spell-style Speech mode outputs synthetic vowels and consonants that can be scanned through, while the Granular Formant oscillator breaks a waveform into ‘particles’ and allows you to recombine formants in various ways.įor us, though, the USP is the Chords oscillator, which outputs a four-voice chord. If you’re stuck for ideas when dialling in a patch, quickly flipping over to a different oscillator mode can instantly inspire something new out of thin air.Īside from these well-known synthesis types, MicroFreak also features several experimentally-minded oscillator modes. MicroFreak often feels like multiple synths in one. The Waveshaper mode, meanwhile, uses a combo of waveshaping and wavefolding, and can spit out biting basses and resonant harmonic tones with ease. Unsurprisingly for a digital synth, there’s a two-sine-operator FM (frequency modulation) oscillator, which features Ratio, FM amount and Feedback controls. The Basic Waves and Virtual Analog oscillators serve up continuously variable waveforms for classic VA sound design, while the Superwave mode delivers detuned fatness for more modern basses, leads and pads.įor more complex wave scanning, there’s a Wavetable oscillator the Harmonic oscillator, complete with Chorus, is useful for dialling in additive, bell-like timbres the Karplus-Strong mode is a physical-modelling oscillator that facilitates the creation of bow- and string-like sounds and the Modal Resonator replicates the tuned ringing of real instruments and drums. The 12 modes cover a huge range of analogue-emulating and digital types, giving massive tonal potential.
12 modes are available: choose one with the Type knob, and the OLED screen is populated by three parameters, unique for each mode, adjusted with Wave, Timbre and Shape knobs and seen onscreen with little ‘test tube’ meters. Sound generation is handled by the single Digital Oscillator, several variations of which implement Mutable Instruments’ open-source designs. MicroFreak is a four-voice paraphonic synth – when the Paraphonic button is engaged, you can play up to four voices at once, but all share the same filter, envelope and under-the-hood VCA settings. Take a look at the best synthesizers you can buy right now.
MICROSYNTH REVIEW PLUS
Usefully, it can be bus-powered via USB, or connected to the mains with the bundled PSU there’s a single mono 1/4-inch output for audio, plus a headphone output 3.5mm CV/Gate/Pressure outputs and 3.5mm MIDI In and Out. Round the back, MicroFreak’s rear panel packs in a ton of connectivity options for such a small synth.
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