Exploring the Oberheim Matrix-6

A short look at one of Oberheim's popular late 80's synthesizers - the Matrix-6.

[@lavoltabbona]

Nice documentary!

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks!

[@_P_M_]

Nice! This and the JX3p were the first synths I ever got to play around with when I'd go to the music store to buy drum sticks. I loved going through the presets and hearing the cool sounds they made. I remember there was one on the Matrix I think called 'Monster' that I really liked. Prices were out of bounds for me, but they gave me a fascination for electronic instruments.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Nice - I love reminiscing of those days going to music stores to play cool new expensive synths. I also remember looking at the Matrix-6 in the 80s and was really close to buying one.

[@klinkske]

I have the rack version with the 19 inch controller from stereoping. Great combo :)

[@SpikesStudio3]

Ace as always bro. 🎯

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks Spikes

[@Psychlist1972]

The Matrix 6 sounds fantastic, but is limited by the extremely slow and overtaxed processor, which results in super mush envelopes when compared to synths like the Matrix 12. The Kiwi stuff apparently fixes that, but I haven't yet installed those upgrades on mine.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks for that info - I didn't know that, but I totally can hear what you're saying

[@davebellamy4867]

Nice review. It looks like they are about 1300 GBP secondhand asking price in the UK.

[@wendelynmusic]

Back in the day, when I was fresh out of college, My first synth was the Oberheim Matri 6. I loved that thing. It was awesome. I paired it with a Kurzweil k2000s and a Yamaha TX81Z.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

That is a good combo for sure. Had a bit of everything there.

[@Noise-Conductor]

This video is short, good & to the point! Would like to see a more extended version with artist that used it.

[@AlainHubert]

Great little video showcasing a too-often-forgotten Oberheim. It's true that the CEM3396 has been only used in the M6(R), Cheetah MS6, and Elka EK22. But it's also used in recent Dave Smith Instruments (now Sequential) synthesizers, although very slightly modified and reissued under the name DSI120 or PA397, in the Prophet 08, Prophet REV2, and a few other models as well. The only big problem with the Matrix 6 is that Marcus Ryle and the Oberheim team wanted to get as many features as possible from the Matrix 12 in an affordable product, and thus resulted in an underpowered synth with an overstressed CPU that can't handle all the tasks smoothly. The Matrix 12 has 3 processors instead of just one, and thus has snappier envelopes and faster LFOs. Finally, the Matrix 6 is DCO-based, whereas the Expander and Matrix 12 offer VCOs. There is a clever twist in the Matrix 6 however in order to try and get more natural pitch variations between voices: 3 separate DCO clocks running independently from each other as the clock sources for the DCOs.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks for all that great additional info Alain!

[@fjfrancois]

Thank you so much, good info to have 👍✌️

[@dubstationzero4908]

fantastic as always. the ctrlr panel plus the tauntek os mod directly from Bob makes this synth really feel modern . the os mod fixes so many bugs to numerous to list and makes operation more reliable and smooth . it's also my favorite of all the ctrlr panels , clearly slowing all the modulation capabilities. I was using it for over a year before I hit the red and blue pills on the ctrlr panel 😂 (patch generator with customizable ranges and initial patch)

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Totally - Bob Grieb just sent me OS 2.15 and installed it a few day ago. Really enjoying ctrlr editing. Yes - makes a huge different in just discovering what this synth is capable of!

[@JKC40]

basically the same chip is in the Prophet 08 and Mopho from DSI.

[@takeasnapshot]

I had one with the latest tauntek firmware and it def made things a bit snappier than the original OS. Absolutely loved the sound from it but sold it due to wanting more physical hands on controls. Still miss it!

[@Zwopper]

Thank you! ❤️ 🙏

[@kaitlyn__L]

I finally wrapped my head around the Xpander’s mood matrix the other day! I didn’t know about the 6 though. I must say, I prefer the SSM sound over the Curtis sound. But this is still a cool time capsule of a pivotal point in their history.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

I agree on the filters, and definitely the Martrix-6 actually had a lot of the spirit of the xpander built into it's design. No where near the amount of modulations and matrix patching, but definitely enough to do some interesting things.

[@odmusicman]

I owned one in 1987 and made sounds I simply cannot recreate today, at least authentically. Very unique, but I probably spent a few days to program a complex patch.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

It is really deep. I can't imagine trying to program an Xpander or Matrix-12 from scratch just using the front panel.

[@improbablesafari1491]

Looking forward to this one - I’ve got a 6r

[@Chevroletcelebrity]

Johnny I need one of those HD5-IF boards for my S550. Have you got any made yet? 🙂

[@RoyChartier]

Johnny reviews one of my synths...nice!

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Such a great synth, and still a pretty good deal on the used market.

[@ktreier]

Matrix 6 was my second synth, pairing it with an Odyssey. With a decent editor it’s a great synth.

[@seanluke3052]

Not sure exactly what you mean by "onboard". The Matrix 1000 can be programmed just fine, thank you very much. It's just done over MIDI.

[@davebellamy4867]

I hust spoke "Oberheim Matrix Six" into Google on my phone to look up prices and it gave me "oh behind matrix sex" instead! 😂🙄

[@ingoodmusic]

It’s DCOish….So, nowhere near as M12

[@fjfrancois]

I have one ❤, but unfortunately is broken, but I’m going to try out the new OB Teo 5 👍😊

[@NelsonClick]

I submit that the reason Japanese synths superseded the American West Coast brands like Oberheim and others was not because of better sound but because of a better philosophy. Japanese synths always wanted to give their customers value for money. All American brands (excluding Kurzweil) never thought like this. American brands had visionaries and pioneers (Octave Plateau Voyetra 8) but lacked the humility to manufacture for the masses. They had an elitist streak.

[@SpikesStudio3]

Id never have thought to judge a synth manufacturer in terms of humility. We have the range of today and the history of yesterday because people have different priorities. Its the diversity that grows innovation. Just saying...

[@Dudderlyful]

Still happening with the big brands from back then too. Sadly!

[@davebellamy4867]

I don't know. I wouldn't have called Tom Oberheim elitist for instance. He's a true gentleman as far as I can see. Yamaha is a huge corporation. All the US manufacturers were start-ups basically. Quite a lot of beta testing stuff on customers too, which tends to piss them off. I think that's a bit if a bad American tech habit. Yamaha and Roland basically released completed products that had a much more sleek aesthetic and they were a subsequent generation, so had access to knowledge of all the mistakes made in the 70s!😂 Plus the Japanese engineers were geniuses at making marketable, value for money priducts, synths, cameras, hi-fi, whatever, almost anything. Japanese industry totally kicked ass in the 80s. ... However, there is an awful lot of analogue posing and snobbery nowadays and synth snobbery in general, which is sad, especially if you can't afford those high end instruments, which I can't!🙁 I'm also guessing the the American 70s synth startups were expecting to make stuff for big name musicians because noone else could possibly afford the instruments. The digital technology (especially) brought costs down a lot, so they became much more consumer friendly, except for comparatively great difficulty of editing. I bought my first synth in 1986 (Yamaha DX21) but I so wanted a synth with knobs that could be edited essily. It was a long wait until virtual analog in 1997ish and rebooted analog in the 2000s.

[@davebellamy4867]

​​@@DudderlyfulYes I'm guessing those small start-up synth companies around the 1970s knew their products would be expensive and only for studios and big name musicians and bands, so they wouldn't have major economies of scale. Digital was what really brought costs down, plus the large Japanese electronics companies entering the market and providing instrumrnts with many preset sounds, that were difficult to edit, saving on potentiometer costs!😂 Though the ultimate expensive machines were the early samplers like the Fairlight and Synclavier that were computer based and digital, ironically. Though I suppose the Yamaha GX1 also cost a fortune in the 70s. The 2000s analogue resurgence has been really weird, in terms of GAS gear obsessed behaviours and some kind of snobbery of vintage versus modern, etc. I guess the old guys who came back into business just went for the instruments they wanted to make and the markets available. The reissues thing seems a bit odd to me. Are they "real" or not? Plus they're expensive. I couldn't believe Moog would make a System 55 again. Then the new polysynths like the OBX8 and Prophet-10: it's kind of are they or aren't they? I guess that if they'd been making them continuously since 1980, the OBX and Prophets would probably be about the same as theyve turned out as remakes though with the Prophet-5, it would be on revision 25 and not revision 4! On a more modest budget, I didn't go for reissues. I guess that whoever makes whatever just targets the market that will buy their stuff and that's OK, I suppose.