Arturia unveils 49-key MiniFreak – with an all-new XYZ touch control matrix

After introducing its major new 5.0 update for the MiniFreak last month – offering producers the opportunity to import their own samples and wavetables – Arturia is once again showing the MiniFreak some love, this time with a brand new hardware unit.

Meet the MiniFreak 49, an upsized version of the MiniFreak boasting 49 keys – up from the original’s 37 – as well as upgraded panel controls, plus a new XYZ touch matrix.

Like the existing MiniFreak, the new 49-key version boasts six voices spread across the stereo field, with dual-engine architecture offering two engineers, analogue filters and VCAs per voice. There’s also over 30 oscillator modes including algorithms from Arturia, Mutable Instruments and Noise Engineering, all of which can be blended together, or shaped through a resonant analogue filter.

In addition, the MiniFreak 49 features three FX slots, each with a dedicated access button and 13 algorithms, spanning everything you’ll need from chorus and reverb to distortion and even vocoder processing.

“MiniFreak 49 puts the familiar and the unruly within reach, from rich polyphonic textures to fractured rhythms and abrasive harmonics,” says Arturia. “Play a chord, reach for a control, press into the matrix. Playing a patch is only the beginning.”

While the heart of the unit remains similar, the MiniFreak 49 features an all-new XYZ touch control matrix, which can be used for everything from performance to modulation to navigation. The matrix can also be used to swipe through presets, or even watch reactive visualisers which follow your playing. The unit’s larger form factor also facilitates a larger OLED display.

Meanwhile, each of the 49 full-size semi-weighted keys boast velocity sensitivity and mono aftertouch, while additional expression control is offered via aluminium pitch and modulation wheels on the left of the unit.

The MiniFreak 49 also boasts Audio-rate Filter Frequency Modulation for adding harmonics and grit, with dedicated Type, Wave, Timbre and Shape controls, as well as three selection shortcuts per oscillator.

There’s also a 64-step sequencer onboard, with four modulation lanes and an arpeggiator function, too. The MiniFreak 49 also comes loaded with a massive 350 factory presets, plus 162 slots for saving your own.

As a bonus, each MiniFreak 49 comes with a copy of Arturia’s MiniFreak V software synthesizer, allowing you to bring the sound and architecture of the MiniFreak into your DAW of choice.

The MiniFreak 49 is available now at €799. Learn more at Arturia.