Arturia Collaborate with Noise Engineering on MicroFreak v3 Firmware Update

Arturia and LA based modular synth aficionados Noise Engineering, have teamed up to work on the latest firmware update for Arturia’s quirky hybrid synth the MicroFreak. The new firmware update offers 3 new oscillator modes, a unison mode, more factory presets plus some workflow improvements.

Arturia and Noise Engineering originally crossed paths at NAMM show back in 2019 and vowed to work together on a project developing sounds for the MicroFreak. Now in 2021 the fruits of their labour have come to fruition seeing the MicroFreak’s sonic possibilities expanded once again with 3 new oscillator types, all of which have featured in Noise Engineering’s Virt Iter oscillator module.

New modes include:

• Bass: A non-linear wave shaping algorithm to produce tuff low-end sounds.
• Harm: Combines additive synthesis with wavefolding to produce shimmering textures.
• SawX: A supersaw sound that produces complex results.

The new firmware also includes a new Unison mode allowing you to stack up to 4-voices for all oscillator types, giving you a unison spread of upto 12 semitones and which can even be set as a modulation destination, Sheesh! – I cant wait to hear what that sounds like.

 

This latest update is the 3rd update to feature new sound design features, you may recall it was only few months ago that Arturia announced a limited vocoder edition of the MicroFreak in a white colour way and included a gooseneck vocoder mic. Users of existing Microfreak’s are able to update the firmware for free and are even purchase the gooseneck mic separately so as to not leave anyone feeling left out of the fun. Cant wait for a jam!

Stay tuned for a Noisegate sound demo coming soon.

The new MicroFreak firmware is available here