Arturia’s MiniFreak 49 makes its Freak synths more professional

<figure> <img alt="A woman kneeling on a green rug playing the Arturia MiniFreak 49 and using its XYZ touchpad." data-caption="" data-portal-copyright="Image: Arturia" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/Playful2.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;crop=0,0,100,100" /> <figcaption> </figcaption> </figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Arturia is adding to its Freak line of proudly weird digital synths with the MiniFreak 49. Under the hood, it's almost identical to the current <a href="https://www.engadget.com/arturia-minifreak-digital-synth-review-weird-161551334-161551969.html">MiniFreak</a>, but it adds a number of more professional features and some interface improvements. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The most noticeable change is that, rather than the <a href="https://www.arturia.com/products/hardware-synths/minifreak/overview">MiniFreak's</a> 37 minikeys or the <a href="https://www.arturia.com/products/hardware-synths/microfreak/overview">MicroFreak's</a> 25 "key" touchplate, the MiniFreak 49 has (as you may have guessed) 49 full-sized, semi-weighted keys. Though it's somewhat disappointing that they feature only mono aftertouch instead of polyphonic aftertouch. It also trades the touchstrips of the other Freak instruments for proper aluminum pitch and mod wheel …</p> <p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/gadgets/1014255/arturias-minifreak-49-synthesizer">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>