The RackBrute 6U is a two-row Eurorack frame, styled here in Arturia's Noir Edition look. It bolts straight onto a MiniBrute 2 or 2S, letting sound designers expand this semi-modular synth with any modules they feel would fit their sound. Thanks to the MiniBrute's built-in patch bay, said modules can slot right into the sound engine, while the frame's clever mounting system – with an adjustable tilt angle – keeps everything solid and locked in, so there will be no patch cables getting yanked out when the rig is on the move. Alternatively, the 6U frame can be hooked up to the single-row RackBrute 3U or run standalone. The rear support bar doubles as a carry handle, ensuring easy portability.
The 6U frame gives hands-on mod heads two rows for mounting their favourite modules, with a total of 176 HP to play with: 83 HP up top (with 5 HP already taken up by the power supply module) and 88 HP on the bottom. The bus board in turn offers 32 connectors for modules, and power comes through the panel of the built-in supply module, which also has a mains switch and LEDs to show the bus voltages. And it certainly provides plenty of juice for standard modules: Up to 1,600mA on ±12V and 800mA on 5V. The bus board sits in the top row, so the available depth there is a bit tighter at 53mm – still plenty for skiff modules. Down below, the full 75mm is ready for use.
The Arturia RackBrute 6U was designed primarily for owners of the MiniBrute 2 and 2S, as these synths feature a patch bay with 48 inputs and outputs for audio, CV, and gate signals. As such, their internal sound engines can be expanded with modules from the endless Eurorack universe, tailored to any creative idea. Want a digital oscillator, a granular sampler, extra modulation, effects, or more specialist modules? Then just drop one into the RackBrute's frame and run it using the MiniBrute's keyboard or sequencer. Of course, the 6U frame is aimed at users who want to add a more comprehensive set of modules – for simpler setups, the RackBrute 3U frame will often do the job.
Arturia's success story began with software emulations of well-known analogue synthesizers such as the Moog Minimoog, Sequential Prophet-5, and Oberheim SEM. The popular software instruments included in the V Collection are still flagship products of the French developer today. Over time, Arturia has gradually expanded its range and now also offers a host of hardware devices, ranging from synthesizers and keyboard controllers to sequencers. Since then, the former software developer has thus also become a household name in the world of analogue synthesizers and other equipment.
Certain add-ons for the MiniBrute are almost must-haves, or at least very nice to have: A macro oscillator with different synthesis types like wavetables, FM, Karplus-Strong, and more will immediately and effectively broaden the sound palette. The OSC module runs in parallel with the internal oscillators via the synth's pitch output. If the RackBrute is running multiple sound generators in the frame, they're summed through a mixer module first, then patched from the rack's output to the MiniBrute's External In. For things like the flexible modulation of internal and external OSC functions – PWM, pitch for hard sync, wavetable control – extra modulators (envelopes, LFOs, CV sequencers) are a good add-on, as they invariably offer more functionality than the built-in versions. And because it's always worthwhile to include devices like multiples, inverters, attenuators, and other similar utilities, the RackBrute is likely to fill up quicker than expected.