Overview
The MicroFreak is Arturia’s small hybrid synth with a pressure-sensitive touch keyboard, a digital oscillator with many models, and an analog filter. Two of those oscillator models are wavetables. The factory Wavetable model plays 32-cycle tables with a chorus on the Shape knob. The User Wavetable model, WaveUser, works the same way but plays your own tables, and its Shape knob reduces bit depth for a lo-fi edge instead of adding chorus.
WaveUser holds one bank of 16 tables at a time. The Wave knob picks a table from the bank and Timbre moves through its 32 cycles, which, like any oscillator parameter, can be swept from the modulation matrix. A factory bank loads if you haven’t sent any user tables. Timbre is one of the first four destinations in the modulation matrix, next to Pitch, Wave and Cutoff, so routing an envelope or LFO to the table position takes one patch point. The synth can also play paraphonically, up to four voices sharing the analog filter.
Wavetables on the MicroFreak
Tables reach the synth through Arturia’s MIDI Control Center, which converts them. Its Wavetables tab shows banks on your computer on the left and the tables in the MicroFreak on the right. Import › Replace Wavetable (.wav/.aiff) swaps the selected table for an audio file, and Send to MicroFreak copies the whole bank into the synth, overwriting everything already there. Table and bank names can be up to 21 characters.
During import, MIDI Control Center counts every 2048 samples of the file as one cycle. The first and last cycles become cycles 1 and 32. With more than eight cycles, it spreads them evenly across the 32 slots and crossfades linearly between them; with fewer, it uses its own method to fill the slots. So the converter will take almost anything, but a file with 1024 or 256-sample frames is read in 2048-sample chunks and every cycle ends up holding several waves. The manual’s oscillator chapter says the synth stores each cycle as 256 samples, which means the conversion also reduces the frame size.
WaveStack’s MicroFreak target writes what MIDI Control Center expects to read: a mono 16-bit WAV with 2048-sample frames, resampled from other sizes, and at most 32 frames. Longer tables are thinned to 32 by picking frames evenly, keeping the first and last, which matches how MIDI Control Center would place them. You hear that choice in WaveStack before it reaches the synth, rather than leaving the crossfades to the converter.
Since the import goes through Arturia’s software, the target saves to a folder you choose. A folder of WaveStack exports kept next to your MIDI Control Center banks makes it easy to rebuild a bank later.
Specifications
| Import file type | WAV or AIFF, converted to MicroFreak’s MFW format |
|---|---|
| Import frame size | 2048 samples per cycle |
| Frames per table | 32 |
| Tables in the synth | One bank of 16 |
| Transfer | MIDI Control Center, Wavetables tab |
| Name length | Up to 21 characters for tables and banks |
From WaveStack to the MicroFreak
- In WaveStack, open Export (⌘E), choose MicroFreak, and save the WAV.
- Connect the MicroFreak over USB and open Arturia MIDI Control Center’s Wavetables tab.
- Select a bank on the computer side (or make one with New Bank) and the slot to fill.
- Click Import and choose Replace Wavetable (.wav/.aiff), then pick your file.
- Click Send to MicroFreak. This replaces all 16 tables in the synth.
- On the synth, choose the User Wavetable oscillator, pick the table with Wave and sweep it with Timbre.
Frequently asked questions
How do I load custom wavetables onto the MicroFreak?
Through Arturia’s MIDI Control Center. Connect the synth, open the Wavetables tab, select a table in a bank on the computer side, and use Import › Replace Wavetable (.wav/.aiff) to swap in your file. When the bank is ready, Send to MicroFreak copies all 16 tables to the synth, replacing what was there. Then select the User Wavetable oscillator: Wave picks one of the 16 tables and Timbre moves through its 32 cycles.
What wavetable format does the MicroFreak need?
MIDI Control Center accepts WAV or AIFF and reads every 2048 samples as one cycle, building a 32-cycle table from whatever it finds. The safest input is a mono file with 2048-sample frames and 32 of them, so nothing has to be stretched or crossfaded. WaveStack’s MicroFreak target writes exactly that, resampling other frame sizes to 2048 and picking 32 frames evenly from longer tables.
Why does my wavetable sound wrong on the MicroFreak?
The most common cause is a frame size other than 2048. MIDI Control Center cuts the file every 2048 samples regardless of how it was made, so a table with 256 or 1024-sample frames ends up with several waves in each cycle and jumps in pitch and tone. Tables with many frames can also sound smeared, because the converter crossfades to fit them into 32. Exporting from WaveStack at 2048 samples and 32 frames avoids both.
How many wavetables does the MicroFreak hold?
One bank of 16 user tables at a time, each with 32 cycles. You can keep as many banks as you like on the computer in MIDI Control Center and send a different one whenever you need it, but sending a bank overwrites all 16 tables in the synth. Recall to Computer saves the current set as a new bank first. The factory Wavetable oscillator is separate and isn’t affected.
Does the MicroFreak use 256 or 2048 samples per cycle?
Both, at different stages. The import section of Arturia’s manual says MIDI Control Center treats each 2048 samples of your file as a cycle. The oscillator chapter says each cycle in the synth is 256 samples long. So you prepare tables at 2048, and the conversion to Arturia’s MFW format reduces them for the synth. A 256-sample cycle holds fewer high harmonics, which shows mostly on low notes.