thumb|300px|Oberheim Matrix-12 (1985–1988)

<!-- thumb|300px|Oberheim Matrix-6 (1985&ndash;1990) -->

Oberheim Matrix synthesizers were a product line of subtractive analog synthesizers from Oberheim featuring a system of modulation which Oberheim called "Matrix Modulation" as a method of selecting and routing elements that dynamically shape various aspects of the sounds it produces. Matrix synthesizers continue to be popular due to their characteristic late-1980s analog sound and leading patching and filter capabilities.

These five products fall into two groups. The Xpander is a six-voice rack-mount synthesizer with voltage-controlled oscillators and very flexible voltage-controlled filters. The Matrix-12 is in effect two Xpanders plus a keyboard. The second group consists of the Matrix-6 synthesizer, with DCOs, and much more standard filter capability. It had two rack-mount variants, the Matrix-6R (Matrix-6 without keyboard) and the Matrix-1000 (low cost preset version with extended memory).

Models

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!width="100"|

!width="200"|Xpander

!width="200"|Matrix-12

!width="200"|Matrix-6

!width="200"|Matrix-6R

!width="200"|Matrix-1000

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! Image(s)

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|180px|Oberheim Matrix-12 synthesizer top view with background erased.

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! Polyphony

| 6 voices || 12 voices || colspan="3" | 6 voices

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! Oscillators

| 12 VCOs (2 per voice) featuring CEM3374

| 24 VCOs (2 per voice) featuring CEM3374 || colspan="3" | 12 DCOs (2 per voice) featuring CEM3396

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! Filter

| colspan="2" | Multimode, 15 variations of <br/>low / high / band / notch / phase shift resonant filter <br/>based on CEM 3372 w/ external switch circuitry|| colspan="2" | low-pass filter using CEM3396's LPF ||same as 6R but different capacitors

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! LFO

| colspan="2" | 5 (per voice) <br />(plus 1 global for vibrato effect) || colspan="3" | 2 (per voice) <br />(plus 1 global for vibrato effect)

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! Envelopes

| colspan="2" | 5 (per voice) || colspan="3" | 3 (per voice)

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! Layers

| 6-part multitimbral <br/>with up to 6 zones || 12-part multitimbral <br/>with up to 6 zones || colspan="2" | 2-part multitimbral <br/>with up to 2 zones || monotimbral

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! Memory

| colspan="2" | 100 patches, 100 multi || colspan="2" | 100 patches, 50 multi || 1000 patches (800 preset, 200 user)

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! Form Factor

| Desktop|| colspan="2" | 61-key (velocity & channel aftertouch) || colspan="2"| Rackmount

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! Production

| 1984&ndash;1988 || 1985&ndash;1988 || 1985&ndash;1988 || 1986&ndash;1988 || 1988&ndash;1994

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! Price

| US$3995 || US$6399 || US$1695 || US$999 || US$599

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References

Further reading

  • VintageSynth.com has specifications and photos
  • OB6000.de The Editor for the Matrix 1000
  • Xplorer A free, realtime editor for the Oberheim Matrix-12 and Xpander synthesizers