[2 GB] This program was a long time coming. I had been an owner of one of the original mid 1960s Compact Combos for many years, until things started to break down. And of course, next to impossible to find parts. Or people that are able and willing to repair them. Some of the modern keyboards do have some of the Farfisa sounds, but in reality, only a small amount of them(like maybe 2 or 3 of them). In reality, there is more of a diverse amount of tones that the Farfisa produced. Even resorted to buying one of the Electro-Harmonix C9 organ emulator pedals, but that still wasn't enough of these particular kinds of tone for me. Then Arturia started coming out with these new virtual instrument programs. The dealers that I normally buy from carried the similar type of Vox Continental program(which would have probably worked fine, and would have settled for it) but knowing that the Farfisa program was also being made, I had to search to see who carried it. No regrets here. All the sounds that I was familiar with, and where they were situated on the virtual keyboard screen. What was interesting that they had the option of effects pedals in this program......and I would always run my Farfisa through a Phase Shifter and/or a Flanger when I had it. Also learned a few things that I did not know about my original instrument. There used to be this one controller that stuck out of the bottom, that you controlled with your knee. When I bought my original Farfisa(used, back in the mid-70s), that knee controller was missing, and it was something I never noticed. So, a bit more historical and technical information on the instrument you played regularly---but didn't know about. It's easy to get a keyboard that has the piano, Rhodes, and Hammond sounds, to name a few......but nobody seemed to get the Farfisa sounds right. Until now. Great timing, on the part of Arturia!

[Download] I have several little synths like this from the minilogue to the roli seaboard and I have to say nothing is quite like sitting down with the microfreak for a few hours exploring the possibilities of digital synthesis along with the tactlessness of the strange but wonderful circuit keyboard. If you lay your finger on a key you can produce strange short out sounds or an increase or decrease in the desired effect depending on what you are doing. I wish it had a few more outputs but other than that this thing is a ton of fun for the price.

[Yes] I bought the MicroFreak over a year ago, and I'm still finding new things to do with it. There
are many digital oscillator types. While the oscillators themselves offer only three controls, the modulation matrix give this instrument much more depth and allows it to punch far above it's weight class.

I'm glad I waited to write a review because since I bought it the device has received a massive firmware update (5th major update) that allows you to load short samples onto it. There are three sample playback modes (e.g. granular, oneshot) and these can be routed through the modulation matrix providing a very interesting sound design opportunties.


Because this is such a popular item, I found that getting help with creating a patch or trouble shooting is easily available from the community of experts.

The capacitive keyboard is a mixed bag. The aftertouch puts additional modulation dimension in the keys themselves. However, it's easy to touch the wrong note. I like owning such a unique playing interface, but if it's your only keyboard it's very non-standard. Also the capacitive controls and buttons, like the pitch bend ribbon don't respond well when running on USB power some of the times. I've found can be finicky even with the legit power supply.


Even with a few flaws this thing is 5 stars. Very good value for money.


PROS:
Many Oscillator Models
Works as CV to MIDI or MIDI to CV converter
Step Sequencer
Arpeggiator with interesting controls and MIDI out
Analog filter*
User-Sample Playback


CONS:
capacitive controls are touchy
12db filter only*






* The SEM filter isn't bad, but I'd like to
have seen a 24db filter as well. There are a range of sounds I can't make
without outboard gear. I can't really knock the device too much for this though
because the immense value of this thing delivers overwise.

[Standard] Not sure why I waited so long to order it, its a must have for any electronic music sound creator. Fun started right out of the box and it goes much deeper, lot's of tricks under the hood in this synth. Arturia has created a true freak of FM synthesis.

[Yes] Very easy to use .

[Standard] The BSP is the heart of my synth instrument setup. Love it!

[Yes] Endless sound possibilities. It's opened up an amazing world for me. It's expressive and powerful. Run it through some chorus and slight reverb and it sounds like a fully bloomed analog synth. My only complaint is that it comes by default with 300+ presets and in order to save your own, you have to scroll forever to a blank slot (or overwrite a factory one). AND if you mistakenly bonk that preset knob, you've lost whatever you were just working with. Happened so many times.

[Yes] Arturia's BeatStep Pro is a very welcome addition to my hardware. I have been able to use it in place of keys in a lot more situations that I expected. With this in my collection, I was also able to grow the confidence to let go of a drum machine I had held onto for too long.

I had looked at a couple of sequencers because my main synthesizer did not have one built in. It is a nice piece, and I looked at a lot of nice sequencers. The BeatStep Pro kept getting good reviews, so I picked one up expecting to sell it when I purchased another. Well, I kept using it and ended up setting a couple of other pieces free. It is really nice to work with.

My biggest issue is one that runs across a lot of pieces. Arturia has created an extensive .pdf manual. At times the page count reminds me of Devarahi's textbook (length more than raw info). I think Arturia could distill this information into a 30 page manual included with the BSP. We could then have it for easy reference.

[Yes] The Arturia Mini V3 is incredibly cool. There is truly sooo much you can do over a standard Model-D from an extra LFO that doesn’t eat up oscillator 3 to velocity as a modifier to varying actual pulse widths static or modulated to individual amounts of any modifier on each oscillator all made possible by the eight slot mod matrix. The major failing that I take no points off from this synth is that it does not have the natural drift of the original Model-D. I’m pretty sure I have heard & seen oscillator drift in soft software synths so I’m not sure why it’s omitted here but as long as you detune your oscillators to taste you get a rich sound that in context will surpass a Minimoog in terms of sheer flexibility & enhancements every time. The built in chorus & delay sound good but really aren’t necessary for most patches. I never found a use for the vocal filter as I would have preferred female articulations or the motion recorder as it always restarts with each note press & isn’t free running like say a Moog 1125 which would have been an ingenious touch. Maybe in a future update. For sheer flexibility from enhancements such as polyphony & velocity to being able to automate sequences & performances to never needing to service your instrument the Arturia Mini V3 delivers in spades. I literally sold my vintage Model-D because the Mini V3’s features made me feel the vintage instrument is more of a collectors piece & not forward thinking. I see myself using the Mini V3 for a long time to come.

[2 ] My order came surprisingly quick and was exactly what I ordered