Overview
The MiniFreak builds on the MicroFreak’s design with two digital oscillators, one with 24 types and the other with 21 modes, feeding a multimode filter and three digital effects slots. MiniFreak V is its software twin: it runs as a plugin or standalone instrument, and when the hardware is connected it also manages what’s stored on the synth. Version 5.0 updated both together and added user samples and user wavetables.
The Wavetable engine is available on oscillator 1 only. Position picks where in the table the waveform starts, Width compresses the wave into part of a pulse wave, which changes the timbre a lot, and Tone is a one-pole filter that goes low-pass to the left of center and high-pass to the right. MiniFreak V includes 78 factory wavetables, and the synth arrives with 32 of them loaded.
Wavetables on the Arturia MiniFreak
Custom wavetables reach the MiniFreak through MiniFreak V. With the synth connected, a lower pane shows the wavetables on the hardware and how much memory they use. The Import button brings new tables from your computer into MiniFreak V, and Send (or dragging a table into the lower pane) puts them on the synth. Arturia’s manual says tables can come from online libraries, wavetable software, or Arturia’s Pigments, and that every table is truncated to 24 bits, 512 samples per cycle, and 64 cycles. Arturia’s update page describes the result as mono, 24-bit, 512 points.
Because Pigments tables are a documented source, WaveStack’s Pigments target is the one to use. It writes a mono WAV in 2048-sample frames, which MiniFreak V reduces to 512 itself. Keep the table at 64 frames or fewer. The Pigments target allows up to 256 frames, and the manual says MiniFreak V truncates to 64, which reads as the extra frames being dropped rather than spread across the table.
Space on the synth is shared, and MiniFreak V shows it as a colored bar graph next to the list of tables on the hardware, along with how many presets use each table. Right-click a table in that list to pull it back into MiniFreak V with Get From Hardware or clear it with Remove; MiniFreak V warns you and lists the presets that depend on a table before it goes. Reload Factory puts the original factory samples and wavetables back. User samples are a separate feature in 5.0, stored at 12-bit and 32 kHz and up to 6 seconds long, so a wavetable WAV should go through the wavetable import, not the sample one.
This is a different path from the MicroFreak, which loads tables through MIDI Control Center in 32-cycle sets and has its own MicroFreak target. A table made for one won’t carry the same frame count to the other.
Specifications
| Samples per cycle (stored) | 512 |
|---|---|
| Cycles per wavetable | Up to 64 |
| Bit depth | 24-bit, mono |
| Wavetable engine | Oscillator 1 only |
| Factory wavetables | 78 in MiniFreak V, 32 loaded on the synth |
| Transfer | MiniFreak V, version 5.0 or later |
From WaveStack to the Arturia MiniFreak
- Update the MiniFreak and MiniFreak V to version 5.0 or later.
- In WaveStack, keep your table at 64 frames or fewer, then open Export and choose Pigments.
- Open MiniFreak V with the MiniFreak connected, set oscillator 1 to the Wavetable engine, and open the wavetable list.
- Click Import and choose the WAV you exported.
- Send the new table to the synth with Send, or drag it into the lower (hardware) pane. Watch the memory bar if the synth is nearly full.
- On the MiniFreak, find it under Sound Edit / Osc / Wavetable Select.
Frequently asked questions
Can the MiniFreak load custom wavetables?
Yes, since version 5.0. You import wavetables into MiniFreak V on your computer and send them to the connected MiniFreak, where they show up under Sound Edit / Osc / Wavetable Select. Arturia’s manual says imported tables are stored at 24 bits, 512 samples per cycle, and 64 cycles. How many you can keep depends on free memory, which MiniFreak V shows as a bar graph.
Which WaveStack export should I use for the MiniFreak?
The Pigments target. Arturia’s MiniFreak V manual lists Pigments wavetables as a source for import, and WaveStack’s Pigments target writes the mono 2048-sample frames Pigments uses. MiniFreak V reduces them to 512 samples per cycle itself. Keep the table at 64 frames or fewer, since the manual says tables are truncated to 64 cycles and longer ones would lose frames. The 24-bit mono storage format is handled by MiniFreak V too.
Is MiniFreak wavetable import the same as the MicroFreak’s?
No. The MicroFreak loads tables through Arturia’s MIDI Control Center, which splits a file into 2048-sample cycles, 32 per table. The MiniFreak uses MiniFreak V and keeps up to 64 cycles of 512 samples. WaveStack has a dedicated MicroFreak target for the first, and the Pigments target suits the second, so export once for each synth if you own both.
Can I play user wavetables on both MiniFreak oscillators?
No. MiniFreak V’s manual lists the Wavetable engine as oscillator 1 only, and user wavetables play through that engine. Oscillator 2 has its own engines, so a common approach is a user wavetable on oscillator 1 with something simpler underneath on oscillator 2. In MiniFreak V, the same limit applies to the software instrument, so a patch built in the plugin carries over to the hardware unchanged.