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Pros: Affordable, portable, tactile, and sounds fantastic, with rock-solid MIDI via USB.Ĭons: No discernible velocity control glide is more of a global portamento than a true latching or legato glide effect.Ha! OK. "This was one of the most difficult product reviews I've ever had to write -because I couldn't take my hands off the damn thing!"
#Arturia analog lab sonar x3 portable
Whether you're a traveling live act looking for a great-sounding portable synth, a studio rat looking to add an affordable analog unit to the rig, or a beginner looking for a pathway into the realms of synthesis, the MicroBrute is an amazing deal that meets all these needs with savage style. In all honesty, this was one of the most difficult product reviews I've ever had to write -because I couldn't take my hands off the damn thing! While the vast horizons of digital synth plug-ins loom ever larger, there's something to be said for the creative focus that hardware limitations present. You can route the LFO to the pulse-width input for unique textural intensity, or control the Overtone harmonic frequency via the envelope for dynamic stabbing sounds -experiment and tweak away. However, getting creative with the routing here is what makes the MicroBrute so much fun and ensures its usefulness in the studio for years to come. Arturia recommends routing the envelope to the Metalizer for angular, percussive noises, and you can achieve a classic wobble sound by routing the LFO to the filter. There are six modulation inputs to choose from: Metalizer amount, Ultrasaw amount, Square wave pulse-width, Overtone sweep, Filter Cutoff and Pitch. Since there are only two CV output modulation sources -the LFO and the envelope -the unit only comes with two cables, which plug into the corresponding mini-jack patch-bay in the upper right corner. "Getting creative with the routing is what makes the Microbrute so much fun -and ensures its usefulness in the studio for years to come." However, the LFO isn't mapped to anything by default -that's where the MicroBrute's patch-bay modulation matrix comes into play.
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The built-in LFO comes with three waveforms: square, sawtooth and sine, with a host-syncable or free Rate, and an Amount dial. The MicroBrute's slider-controlled ADSR envelope is already mapped internally to the filter, and can be applied to the amplitude as well via switch tweaking the sliders in real time easily results in some dramatic, hands-on shape-shifting. Add in the Brute Factor knob -based on an emulation of a classic routing from the headphone output back to the input for an integrated feedback loop -and you've got some serious, hard-hitting sounds that earn the unit its barbaric name. Envelope Modulation and Keyboard Tracking are hardwired, while the self-oscillating circuitry allows for some intriguing sound design possibilities even with all the other oscillators switched off: just crank the Resonance dial to maximum and use the Cutoff knob to set the current pitch -though you'll want to have the volume turned way down when doing so. Opting for continuity with their MiniBrute by implementing the same Steiner-Parker filter, the -12dB/octave multi-mode circuit comes with low pass, high pass and band pass, selectable via a handy three-band switch. Finally, the Overtone oscillator by default adds a sub-octave to really beef up your output -but for added value, the harmonics of the overtone can be morphed via the Sub-Fifth dial to a perfect fifth above the root note, providing the illusion of polyphony and a more expansive top end. Next, we have a square wave complete with pulse-width modulation, and a warm triangle wave with a “Metalizer” control designed to help emphasize transients with a sharp edge. The first is a fat sawtooth oscillator, accompanied by an “Ultrawave” tone shaper that layers in two slightly offset copies of the same saw wave for added texture.
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"It's full of options to keep even the most savvy gearhead engaged." Four WavesĪt the MicroBrute's heart, we have four core oscillators to build our sounds.
As such, it's a great synthesizer for someone learning basic synthesis, and while it'll be easy to use for any experienced synth practitioner, that isn't to say it isn't full of options to keep even the most savvy gearhead engaged. There's no preset banks in this bad boy, so dialing in your sounds is a physical process-same as it would be on any classic synth from the era that inspired it. Officially, Arturia recommends a 5-10 minute warm-up period for the three analog oscillators to get in tune, but that didn't stop me from tweaking it right away.