[SOLVED] Triggers that were never sent - Freak plays itself - turns knobs itself

[tozow]

Hey everyone,

this is my first post after buying my first Arturia device, the MicroFreak. I have seen many videos and was totally amazed about that synth.
Today it arrived but I have to return it. I leave the symptoms here so that others can see that they are not alone... if there are others.

When it is untouched, switched on and any preset is chosen, it triggers certain keys and knobs without anyone doing anything.
If I play anything, it adds up. So it recognizes my triggers as well as the unwanted ones. I reduced the keyboard sensitivity to 10% since I thought it was just the keybed - no effect.

Furthermore the display jumps to certain envelope views or the mod-wheel-view (of the mod matrix). It is supposed to do so, everytime you turn the certain knob for that - which I didn't. So, not just the keybed triggers unintended signals - the knobs do too.

Resume:
There seem to be contacts where there shouldn't be.
I will return the device (via Thomann) and they will send me another one - hopefully that one will be alright. Unfortunately the next batch will arrive at Thomann's at the end of march which is rather disappointingly late.

So if anyone experiences this as well - you are not alone.
If an employee of Arturia reads this...:

I will update, when the new device has arrived.

[Germain.arturia]

Hello tozow,
thanks for your report, and sorry you're encountering such issues.
Could you please give a bit more details about how is the Microfreak Powered : USB, DC, USB + DC ?. Is it connected to a desktop computer? A laptop computer?
In the case of being connected to a laptop, is the laptop running on battery or on it's Power supply?

I also would like to know if you already contacted our tech support team, in order to me to gather information.

Thanks in advance,
cheers,

[Edouard_Arturia]

Hello Tozow.

Can you please provide me with the serial of the unit by pm?

Ideally, the best would be to create a ticket from this page: https://www.arturia.com/support/askforhelp/issues
Our support team will do its best to provide a solution.

Best Regards.

[erstlaub]

My display constantly reverts back to the cycling envelope screen, regardless of what has last been adjusted.

[tozow]

Hello Edouard and Germain,

thanks for your immediate reply.
As I wrote, I already sent the device back (hoping the replacement device will arrive faster)
So, providing the serial number won't be possible - sorry. I have the order and return code from Thomann (if that helps).

But to answer your questions:
1. It showed the symptoms at the following setups:
a) power supply:
- MacBook Pro via Overhub (USB Hub), MacBook via power supply
- Freak's original power supply
- Power Bank
b) Midi Connection
- with and without
c) Clock sync
-with and without
d) Audio Out
- LineOut
- Headphone out

--> In all possible combinations
Everytime same behaviour.

2. No, I did not contact your support.

Since I saw a lot of the Freaks via youtube (cockoo, loopop, NAMM, Thomann SynthReactor), working without a flaw, I was/am pretty sure, that the certain device was faulty. I read in the manual that the power supply makes a difference. Which it didn't in this case...

If I can be of any further help - do not hesitate to ask.
I am really looking forward to that little guy.

Cheers!
ToZoW

[Germain.arturia]

ok thanks for the precise data.
One question, does your macbookpro power supply is a "real official" one?
Saying this because during early development, i experienced issues when connecting the microfreak using USB on a macbookpro, which had a "non-official" apple power supply.
When laptop was running on battery only , everything was fine.
When laptop was running on an official apple power supply, things were fine too.

Anyway, now that you don't have your unit anymore, i don't know how i can provide more help...
But once you will get tour new unit, i would suggest to check how it behaves :
With microfreak power supply only or power bank(no connection to computer)
with microfreak connected to computer, but computer is running on battery

thanks,

[Edouard_Arturia]

Hey.

I wanted to let you know that this issue is firmware related.

We are currently working on an update resolving this little quirk ! We expect to be able to release it next week if everything goes well !

Cheers

Edouard

[Edouard_Arturia]

Hello !

The issue you were facing has now been resolved by the firmware update released yesterday.
Check out your MIDI Control Center !

Best regards

MicroFreak V 1.1.2

New features
Spice / Dice improvement: Now affects the envelope decay, release and matrix pressure value.
Added program change support
Local control and external CC handling improvement
Real-time recording now enabled when starting the sequencer from the step-recording mode
Matrix amount reset now set to 0.5 seconds instead of 1 second

Bug fixes
Potentiometers stability improvement
MIDI start/stop handling improvement
CPU management and Sync improvement
Negative automation amounts now properly handled
Aftertouch + arpeggiator handling improvement
Real-time recording improvements
Song position pointer sync now preserved upon preset change when slaved
Preset browsing improvement in panel mode
Automatic sync source detection improvement
Parameters initialization improvement on power-up
Sequencer improvements in USB Sync
Arpeggiator to sequencer pattern transfer improvement
Real-time automation recording improvement
Gate length display now accurate
Step-recording display now visible when utility is enabled
Cycling envelope timing display now accurate
Step-browsing display is now refreshed when cycling through Mod slots
Matrix assign display improvements