The Oberheim Matrix 1000

[~TECHPO12]

Have any of you used this rack synth? I'm seriously considering buying one. I've heard it comes close to hitting the old Oberheim sound. Supposedly Nitzer Ebb used a lot of Oberheims so I'm hoping out of the 1000 sounds at least a couple will sound close to some Nitzer Ebb sounds. So yeah have you played with one of these?

Techpo

[~ZuN]

I haven't but If I remember correctly the boyz in Brand New Idol have one you may want to instant message them, im sure they can help.

Good luck

[~Quixote Chapter]

It's Paul Robb's favorite synth. I've never used one, but I've heard it gets hotter then your "George Foreman Fat Reducing Grilling Machine."

-Kevin

[~TECHPO12]

If in fact Paul Robb uses it thats convincing enough. I've always thought Paul Robb had good taste. I still wish I could email him and get his opinion.

Techpo

[~Tim_BNI]

We've been using our Matrix 1000 since 1989 (we also have and old Matrix 6 packed away that we no longer use). We absolutely love it. Great classic bass sounds, awesome leads and super spiffy sweeps.

Its biggest drawback is that it is mono. Any stereo has to be done post-production. Some clever lads back in the eighties would chain 2 together and bus one left and one right for a "Stereo-like"effect or crazy layering comparable to the matrix 12.

Another draw back is that it is a "one trick pony." It's not muliti-timbral so you have to layer in your recording to use it for more than one part at a time. But that's life right?

Some of the really early ones were fully programmable, But later models only gave you a bank of 100 user presets to model and store. It's a pain in the arse if you are into customizing your synths out of the factory set. If you have a choice, which is not very likely since they are kinda rare, go for the original black shelled version over the cream re-release of the early 90's. Finding a fully programmable one is like rolling dice, since Oberheim didn't indicate that they were and most users don't even know it. Either way it is a great supplemental synth.

I'd say go for it. There is nothing like an Oberheim!

[~NullDevice]

If I remember correctly, the other annying drawback about it was that filters and such were controlled by sysEx and not by MIDI cc's, which was fairly common in the day but a pain in the arse to deal with in the current knob-tweaking environment.

Still, it's on my list of Things I Want Anyway.

[~Brand New Idol]

If I remember you can tell the filter what it's controlled by. Problem you will need unisyn or some other patch program to really delve that deep. This is not a synthesizer for your average joe, this thing has some seriously deep programming technique. I know for a fact that I can control the sounds filter on our oberheim through the mod wheel on our triton.

If you want this synth to do what you want it to do you're going to work for it, it's not a knob twiddlers dream board that's for sure.

[~ZuN]

You may want to check out this editor

http://www.technomusic.de/ob6000/

http://www.technomusic.de/ob6000/mainpage.jpg
http://www.technomusic.de/ob6000/effectpage.jpg
http://www.technomusic.de/ob6000/modpage.jpg

Crap the pics didn't fit but you get the idea.

here's another editor you may want to check out

http://home.hccnet.nl/mark.strijbos/syn/m2001/index.html

[~sys700]

And for those who prefer the hands-on approach, you might want to check out this editor:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2501546530&category=1287

2 days left...

[~TECHPO12]

I didn't realize it was mono. Hmm, 1000 mono sounds, I don't know. I used to have the prophecy and really wasn't too fond of only mono sounds. I guess that would be fine for bass sounds. Is the matrix 6 and 12 mono also?

Techpo

[~ZuN]

Matix 6 i beleive is 6 voices, so i assume the 12 would be 12 voices.

[~Tim_BNI]

With a few exceptions, you'll find that most early 80's analogue synths were mono. I can't remember if that's the case with the Matrix 6, but the Matrix 12, I believe, was a stereo synth or at least it had assignable outputs if that counts. It still costs an ungodly amount of money and in the end sounds similar to a Nordlead.

The variety and quality of the sounds on the Matrix 1000 more than make up for the mono output. Besides, these days you can do all sorts of fun things to a digital audio track. So the problem is easily resolvable.

[~ZuN]

Here is a page with some good info hope it helps

http://www.sonicstate.com/synth/oberhiem_matrix6.cfm

[~pop]

What's wrong with having mono?
So you can't assign panning with LFO and it doesn't have Fx.
Most of time, I turn stereo and fx off when I record things into
the computer. I rather have the control during production.
Paul Robb makes the synth sounds good, not other way around.

[~David Vesel]

Here's another source of info:

http://www.vintagesynth.org/oberheim/mat1000.shtml

My Matrix 6R isn't stereo I think, but it has left and right outs for keyboard splits. I'll have to go rummage in my rack and find out again.

[~TECHPO12]

GOOD POINTS. IF PAUL ROBB MAKES IT SOUND GOOD THEN IT IS. I WASN'T AWARE IT SOUNDED SIMILAR TO A NORD LEAD THOUGH.

TECHPO

[~Jack-Dark]

I've never used an Oberheim I didn't like. Not even the 2-Voice. The 1000 is great, as long as you edit it with something besides itself.

[~MightyPekingMan]

>I didn't realize it was mono. Hmm, 1000 mono sounds, I don't >know. I used to have the prophecy and really wasn't too fond of >only mono sounds.

oops, sounds like you've confused two "mono's"
prophecy - monophonic w/ stereo output
matrix - polyphonic w/ mono output

If I remember correctly, Cosmicity used a bit of matrix1000 here and there on the Forgive Me My Syns cd. Specifically, "Apple (worm-hole mix)" & "Seriously (debbie gibson's in my house mix)."

If that's not enough to convince you to buy one I don't know what is :)

Plus they're pretty cheap compared to analog emulators.
Just make sure you've got either a software editor or knobby control surface.

[~NullDevice]

Mmm, just bought one today. Should arrive early next week. Oh baby, analog goodness.

[~Tim_BNI]

Good choice!