Second Minibrute received completely trashed. With Pictures!

[inkuplex]

So I just received my replacement Minibrute after the first having its middle C broken. The new unit is utterly thrashed compared to the last, multiple keys are completely broken off from the keybed along with the others that are still attached don't even have a common resistance/attack. I'm not here to thrash Arturia in some disembodied personification but to let the representatives and other consumers know that this is most definitely not a small discrepancy as the CEO stated in official post:

"The truth also is that the defective rate of MiniBrute units is still bellow 1,5%."

Evidence is abundant in this very forum, testimony from returns department workers, and the fact that you can get a stream of results from just Googling. It is 4 days from being a month since the official statement and no hint or word of an incoming fix other than "soon." The truth is I love the sound of this product along with it's unique hardware that sets it apart from the rest of the analog market. I will try to buy a working unit from a local retailer but if no fix is available by the time the return period is up I will have to return the synthesizer for the third time and take my business to another company, who I'm afraid, may not offer the aggressive sound I'm looking for that is the Minibrute. Along with the loss of my entire vacation time to record I now have an apprehensive stigma towards Arturia products and can't recommend this product to any other musicians till this issue has been rectified. Damage is shown in the images linked below. Arturia has done a great job in reinvigorating the analog synth market but they should probably cease production of units until quality is adequate enough not to further damage the brand. 

http://imgur.com/a/f2j3y#7LwctRC

[stevism]

yes i stopped recommending arturia stuff as well. great products / ideas, but unpredictable execution. a shame really.

those pictures are incredible...totally ridiculous.

and there's just no way anymore that this is just a weird "coincidence" of people posting on the forum....people on here are getting multiple defective units and that's just too much coincidence lmfaoooo

[inkuplex]

I think the root is the plastics distributor not notifying their customers that they were changing the formula.

[T3k]

Someone who gets a bad unit is going to show up here to complain.

Someone who gets a good unit is not going to take the time to tell others they got a good unit.

If you got a bad unit and read through this forum, you might get a skewed impression of the fail rate. I don't see a reason to doubt the official statement about the percent. If a majority of MiniBrutes had broken key beds, they would be rare - piled up high at a return facility and in repair shops, and few in the wild. Yet we know people have flawless ones. Are there about 25-50 unique threads about broken keys here? That's a small percent of sold units.

Go visit the forums of other synth manufacturers. They are filled with complaints and horror stories, from firmware to hardware to basic functionality. Go visit the forums of any complicated product, from washing machines to smartphones. There's always someone saying a product is "junk."

Not discounting your experience. I had the same thing happen, but I decided to superglue the bumpers in place.

I'd like a replacement key bed, and maybe that will be the eventual solution - anyone registered can sign up for a free replacement key bed and self-install instructions. That would suit me fine.

Try another return, and hopefully you'll luck out. If not, Arturia has promised a solution.

[inkuplex]

I understand that the "the minority is the loudest," but I'm trying to bring attention to consumers and Arturia service representatives that this is not a by-chance-defect and more so a serious show-stopper that affects a reasonable portion of the customer base. I do understand defects happen, I had a VOX AC30 that burned through two whole sets of vacuum tubes in a period of a month despite purchasing brand new, however that's a commonly expected problem of that kind of product. Multiple customers receiving several successive Minibrutes synthesizers each with keybeds where there are large chunks of plastic completely broken off is not. Nor is it a simple plug-n-play fix that anyone can do with a screwdriver and some glue. This is the like if a large telescope manufacturer shipped a whole batch of telescopes with cracked mirrors. The product is completely useless and the fix isn't necessarily something you can just run down to your local hardware shop and replace. Kudos for being able to finesse your unit into operation but although the photos don't show the damage caught deep beneath the keys, this recent unit was completely annihilated.

[T3k]

inkuplex - I basically agree with you. Immensely frustrating. I've gone through maybe 10 various synths over the years, none had the key beds crack apart like this.

I think Arturia admitted that the bumper assembly was some kind of weak plastic. Good enough for some things, but obviously not good enough to take the stress of key-up spring force.

I have no idea how many MiniBrutes Arturia has sold. Probably a decent number - there was a lot of pre-release buzz, followed by a long wait for production to ramp up, plenty of pre-sales. If even 1/10th of those units were faulty, this forum would be hundreds and hundreds of complaints deep.

If you unscrew the 16 small screws on the bottom plate, the synth opens up easy. There's no security stickers or anything. You'll see the broken bits and where they cracked. There's a thread about how to get the key off to check the bumper. I can't tell you to be happy with a superglue fix, but for me it was faster and simpler than shipping a return or opening a support ticket.

Anyone who paid for a brand new MiniBrute deserves it to work right and to have reliable key action. Arturia promised to make things right soon. They know that the Bass Station II and the MS-20 Mini are out there in the same price range.

[BobbyRich]

I just received my second minibrute with broken keys today.  This is getting really frustrating.

[inkuplex]

inkuplex - I basically agree with you. Immensely frustrating. I've gone through maybe 10 various synths over the years, none had the key beds crack apart like this.

I think Arturia admitted that the bumper assembly was some kind of weak plastic. Good enough for some things, but obviously not good enough to take the stress of key-up spring force.

I have no idea how many MiniBrutes Arturia has sold. Probably a decent number - there was a lot of pre-release buzz, followed by a long wait for production to ramp up, plenty of pre-sales. If even 1/10th of those units were faulty, this forum would be hundreds and hundreds of complaints deep.

If you unscrew the 16 small screws on the bottom plate, the synth opens up easy. There's no security stickers or anything. You'll see the broken bits and where they cracked. There's a thread about how to get the key off to check the bumper. I can't tell you to be happy with a superglue fix, but for me it was faster and simpler than shipping a return or opening a support ticket.

Anyone who paid for a brand new MiniBrute deserves it to work right and to have reliable key action. Arturia promised to make things right soon. They know that the Bass Station II and the MS-20 Mini are out there in the same price range.

If my third unit arrives tomorrow with a cracked key and is minor enough I'll contact you for support.

[inkuplex]

I just received my second minibrute with broken keys today.  This is getting really frustrating.

Unless you specifically have a really great deal on the synth like me I really recommend going through a local retailer.

[inkuplex]

Glad to report I have a working model sitting next to me. I guess third time really is the charm.

[stevism]

Glad to report I have a working model sitting next to me. I guess third time really is the charm.

for now...seems like these keybeds were passing quality control inspections and THEN breaking.

don't play too hard on them 

[inkuplex]

Yep, read someone had that exact situation happen to them today, I'm actually counting on it breaking during the warranty period if it is using the defective plastic.

[Dav1d]

Finally, this is an official announcement.

"We are of course aware of the issue that affected some Minibrute units in two specific production batches from 2013.
We did investigate and found the cause of the issue. (At a certain points during the production of the keybed parts, the injection of plastic into the mold was not done at constant temperature. This created a weakness in some keys.)
This concerns in fact a limited number of products even if people having issues are naturally more vocal -and have all the rights to be. Less than 4% of the keyboards within these two batches were affected. Still Arturia did replace all keybeds in their entire stock and so did their distributors as well. We are aware that some units have reached end-users this is why we extended the guarantee to three years on the MiniBrute keybeds. Of course we have put more quality controls on the production following this problem.
In any case the Special Edition comes with keybeds that have been tested right. So you should not be scared.
As a conclusion we understand the frustration of customers who trusted us and got issues with the MiniBrute. We have replaced faulty units as quickly as we could, along with our distribution partners and we will keep on doing so when needed. But it should not affect the value of a good product that is reliable and used by many musicians now."

We just received a shipment of containers in regard of the Keybeds issues.
Depending on the warranty period, we can send the new Keybeds directly from you or from our distributors:
==> http:// [url]http://www.arturia.com/evolution/en/buy/distributors.html [/ url]

For the US : us_support@arturia.com

For the rest of the world, If you have not received a reply or you're out area, please write an email to the following address:
distributors.support@arturia.com

We need this specific information:
1/ A picture showing the issue
2/ Your address and phone number
3/ For the warranty, a proof of purchase of the product.

Please note that we will do our best to provide you with keyboards in Timely Manner.