Presets · MicroFreak guide

3.1BasicsManual §4.1 p.23, §3.1.1.4 p.11, §20 p.139

Loading presets

Turn PRESET and the MicroFreak loads each preset as you reach it, showing its name and category on the display. Since firmware 5.0.0 there are 512 slots, up from 384, to make room for a new bank of 64 factory presets — which you load from the MIDI Control Center — and your own sounds.

What’s where

1–128 — factory presets. If you are new to the MicroFreak or to synthesis, leave these alone and save your own sounds elsewhere.
129–512 — template presets: starting points for particular kinds of sound, and free slots for your own work.
An empty slot is called Init and its category is Bass.

Key combinations

Turn PRESET: Loads the next or previous preset.
Press PRESET: Loads the preset you have scrolled to.Click to Load on
Press PRESET three times: Resets the current sound to the empty Init state — press quickly, in a row.

From the community

Program Change only reaches the first 128 presets. Keep gig presets in slots 1–128 unless your controller can also send Bank Select. via SoulBrix on YouTube (23:58)

3.2BasicsManual §4.2 p.24, §3.1.1.5 p.11, §20 p.139

Saving presets

Saving stores the whole sound in a slot: knob positions, both sequences with their modulation tracks, and the preset’s own Utility settings. You can overwrite the current slot in one move, or choose a new slot, a category and a name.

Save to a new slot

Press SAVE to enter save mode.
Turn PRESET to choose a slot, then press PRESET. The display shows Click to save.
Turn PRESET to choose a category, then press PRESET.
Turn PRESET to choose the first character of the name — upper case, then lower case, then the digits 0–9. Turn fully anticlockwise for a space. SAVE blinks to show you are at the last stage.
Press PRESET to confirm the character and move to the next one. Repeat until the name is complete.
Press SAVE to store the preset.

Key combinations

SAVE: Enters save mode.
SAVE: Cancels saving; the display shows Save Cancelled.Just after entering save mode
Long press SAVE: Quick-saves the sound to its current slot; the display shows Preset saved.
Turn PRESET: Chooses the slot, the category or the next character.Save mode
Press PRESET: Confirms the slot, category or character and moves on.Save mode
SHIFT + turn PRESET: Jumps between the A, a, 0 and . character ranges.Naming a preset
Push and turn PRESET: Edits a character in an existing name.Naming a preset
SAVE: Stores the preset with its new name.Naming a preset

There are eleven categories: bass, brass, keys, lead, organ, pad, percussion, sequence, sfx, strings and template.

Saved with the preset

The position of every knob.
Both sequences and their modulation tracks (The sequencer).
The settings under Utility > Preset (Settings saved with each preset).
The chord settings and the last chord you used (Paraphonic mode and chord mode).

3.3IntermediateManual §4.3 p.25

Settings saved with each preset

Some settings belong to the sound rather than to the instrument. They live in Utility > Preset and are saved with each preset, so one sound can respond to pressure with a five-step sequence while the next uses velocity and 32 steps. Both sequences in a preset always share the same length.

Worth trying on a sequence that uses a modulation track

Switch Utility > Preset > Glide Mode from Time to Rate and listen to how glide steps change.
Change Utility > Preset > Envelope Legato to hear whether resetting the envelope makes the sequence snappier.
Turn Utility > Preset > Seq (1-4) smooth on or off to change the mood of the modulation tracks.

Utility > Preset

Group	Setting	Values	What it does
Voice	`Bend Range`	0–24	Pitch-bend range, from none up to two octaves (The bend strip).
Voice	`Glide mode`	Time, Sync, Rate	Whether GLIDE sets a glide time, a tempo-synced time or a rate (Glide).
Voice	`Unison Spread`	0.001–12.000	How far apart the four voices spread in unison (Unison).
Voice	`Unison Count`	2–4	How many voices unison uses.
Modulations	`Envelope Legato`	Off, On	Whether the envelope resets when the keyboard triggers a note (The envelope).
Modulations	`Envelope Snap`	Off, On	Gives the envelope a sharper decay.
Modulations	`LFO retrig`	Off, On, Legato	Off never restarts the LFO; On restarts it on each keyboard trigger; Legato does not restart it while you play legato (The LFO).
Modulations	`Press mode`	Aftertouch, Velocity	Whether the keyboard sends pressure or velocity (Keyboard response).
Modulations	`Key/Arp Mode`	Linear, Random	With Random, the Key/Arp source sends a new random value for each key you press.
Modulations	`Velo Amp Mod`	0–10	How much velocity affects the volume.
Preset Volume	`Preset Volume`	−12 to +12	The preset’s level relative to other presets.
Scale	`Scale`	global, off, major, minor, harmominor, dorian, mixolydian, blues, penta	Locks the preset to a scale, or follows the global scale (Playing in a scale).
Scale	`Root Note`	C to B	The scale’s root note (The scale root).
Seq/Arp	`Seq Length`	4–64	The number of steps in the sequences.
Seq/Arp	`Default gate length`	5–85, default 45	The default gate length for sequencer and arpeggiator notes.
Seq/Arp	`Seq 1 smooth` – `Seq 4 smooth`	Off, On	Smooths the matching modulation track (Modulation tracks).
Vocoder	`Vocoder Hiss Mode`	Off, Switched, Pass	Whether hiss is heard when you use the vocoder (Vocoder settings and mic levels).
Vocoder	`Vocoder Hiss Volume`	−20 to 0	The level of that hiss.

From the community

Many factory presets sit at a preset volume of 0. Raising your favourites towards +12 helps with the MicroFreak’s fairly quiet output. via LeSynth on YouTube (3:43)

The complete Arturia MicroFreak Iceberg
SoulBrix | Groove Lab
Tiered tour from basics to obscure tricks: Click to Load, knob catch, MIDI TRS type, power options, program changes and more.

Getting the MOST Out of Your MicroFreak? 20 TIPS Unlock its Full Potential! #synthesizer #arturia
LeSynth
Twenty practical tips, from encoder speed and preset volume to stacking modulation and granular patches.

3.4BasicsManual §4.4 p.28, §3.1.1.3 p.10

Panel mode

When you load a preset you hear it exactly as it was stored, but the physical knobs stay wherever you last left them — so what you see no longer matches what you hear. For playing that doesn’t matter. When you want to edit, you have two ways to bring knobs and sound back in line.

One knob at a time: Turn a knob and its position becomes part of the sound; keep going and eventually every knob matches. Load a preset with a slow attack, turn ATTACK, and only the attack changes. How the stored value meets the knob — jumping, catching or easing in — depends on the Knob catch setting (Digitally controlled analog).
Everything at once: Press PANEL and every current knob position is applied to the preset. The sound may change suddenly, but from then on every knob matches what you hear.

Key combinations

PANEL: Applies the current position of every knob to the loaded preset.

3.5IntermediateManual §4.5 p.29, §14.2 p.101

Digitally controlled analog

The MicroFreak controls every module digitally — including the analog filter. That’s what lets it save and recall sounds while keeping a real analog filter in the path. The knobs don’t carry voltages themselves; they tell the digital circuitry what to do, and because they are 360-degree encoders they don’t necessarily point at the value in use after you load a preset.

Knob catch modes

Jump: The value leaps to the knob’s position as soon as you move it.
Hook: Nothing changes until you sweep the knob past the stored value and “catch” it.
Scaled: The knob nudges the stored value up or down from wherever it is, scaled to the distance left to either end of its travel.

Choose the mode with the Knob catch setting, in Utility or in the MIDI Control Center (Utility: global settings, MIDI Control Center). To skip the matching altogether, press PANEL and the sound follows the knobs as they are (Panel mode).