Arturia MiniFreak

Recently I got my hands on my second MiniFreak. The first one got returned to Thomann because 3 of the keyboard keys were not working at all. I spent little time with that synth once I realized it's defective so I didn't pay much attention to other details. But it crossed my mind back then that quality control must be non-existent at Arturia, otherwise you won't get a synth with defective keybed approved for sale. I mean, checking the keys is the very first thing to try, so it looks like there is either no quality testing at all, or it's just someone checking if the synth powers up or not.

Anyway, I got another one recently and spent some time with it. The build quality is astonishingly poor, it's probably the worst piece of audio gear I ever had in terms of build quality. The worst part is the keyboard, all the keys have different pressure resistance, some keys feel "soft", and others feel "stiff". Based on what you are intending to play, this can be a big problem. At least all the keys are working this time, for now.

I'll keep the synth this time, I'm not returning it, but it's a little difficult to enjoy its otherwise great sound abilities while worrying about if some part of it will break down today or not.