Oberheim Matrix 1000

Don't know that software Rev (why do I always forget to look this up before I post? Maybe Harmony Central should let you edit your reviews)
The presets sound great. The big thing with this module was that it had 1000 sounds in 1988-89, back when having 128 sounds was considered a luxury. There are a few caveats about accessing them though (other than manually from the front panel).
The Matrix 1000 was a preset only box, unless you edit the sounds with a computer. This is of course a standard thing (computer editing only) for many things now (e.g The Korg Trinity TR-1 module) but a fairly radical concept in 1989 (I didn't even get a computer until 1993!)
What Oberheim did was to make a preset box version of the Matrix 6R, and stuff it into a 1 rack space cabinet by leaving off the user interface.
The sounds are great, they are (I guess) some factory banks, along with user sounds from around the globe.
They are conveniently arranged in banks of 100, the first two banks, in which you can actually store computer edited versions are a "best of" mixed bag, whereas the other 8 banks are grouped in categories like basses, leads, pads, etc.
Don't think just because it says bass or lead, you are limited to that though. Many of the sounds use unison mode, which is extremely fat and powerful (or PHAT for you 90's people).
In unison mode (all 6 oscillators stacked) there are lead and bass sounds that WILL PEEL PAINT OFF WALLS AT 50 METERS - I mean like wow,
THEY ARE PUNCHY.
A lot of the regular (6 voice) sounds are pretty punchy too. The Matrix 1000 has a lot of output, I usually find myself turning it down.
You wouldn't think an analog module would be that great for wild, swirly pads, but some of the presets have LFO cycles combined with modulation matrices that go on for 2 minutes or so. They are really cool, the sound just keeps evolving, unlike a sample playback unit where after 5 seconds you go, "oh I heard this swell in there before)
You can't edit patches, other than set the pitch bend range, and tuning and then after you shut the unit off, you lose that.
You have to have a computer to edit sounds. Because there are so many sounds this isn't the limitation that it appears to be. Normal people can usually find something close to what they need in the presets.
A patch editor of course makes a difference. I use MidiQuest 4.0, which is a great product. I have to confess that I have done very little programming of the Matrix 1000, compared to my other synths.
A large part of this is that the Matrix series has it's own sort of architecture, if I had ever owned the Matrix 6 or an Expander or Matrix 12, I probably would have understood it better.
Everything can modulate everything else, so for an analog, 6 voice synth, it gets very complicated. It's not a simple oscillator feeds a filter feeds an amp with three envelope generator setup.
I've found myself changing things in the editor program that have no effect. Envelopes are easy to change however, and of course make a big difference.
The other side of this is that I've found about 100 presets that I just love, and since I use the Matrix 1000 as part of a large midi rig, I haven't felt the need to program a lot of custom sounds.
One thing that really sucks is the bank change implementation. Maybe the bank change in the midi spec wasn't finalized back then, but Oberheim developed a real strange way of accessing Banks 2 through 10 via midi.
First you send it a modulation message great than 64 (50%), then you do a program change. These two actions select the bank.
Then you roll the modulation back to 0, and select a program 0 - 100.
This accesses the program within the bank. It's not too hard to do this in a sequencer, but if Oberheim thought you could do this live (using at least two, preferably three hands) they were crazy.
The best approach is to copy your 100 favorite sounds to the first bank and then use program changes 001 - 100 to call up the patch you want.
The manual is pretty good,

6 Voice polyphony in regular mode, nuclear mode (unison) is only one voice (the oscillators are stacked), BUT WHAT A SINGLE VOICE SOUND!
One really cool feature of the Matrix series is that you can get linked polyphony, with true alternating rotate and assign.
What this fancy bit of terminology means is that you can hook additional units up (they can even be Matrix 6's or 6R's, NOT JUST the Matrix 1000) via midi, and they act like ONE BIG SYNTH. One unit will play the first voice, the second unit will play the second, the first will play the third voice, etc.
You can hook together up to 6 units for 36 voice polyphony!!!
On a more practical note, I'm always on the lookout for another Matrix 1000 cheap, because I've heard if you link just two units, and pan the mono outputs slightly (or fully) that you get an incredible 12 voice, stereo sound.
No built in effects at all, no delay, no chorus, no reverb, NADA
I use an external unit (either an Alesis Quadraverb, or a Digitech DSP-256), having reverb and/or delay/chorus really helps a lot, as some of the patches that are dry with short envelopes sound a lot more spacious.
Hey think about it, back in 1988/89, very few synths had effects, and those that did generally sucked.
No expansion capabilities, other than the ability to link multiple units.
Responds to aftertouch (very nicely in fact), modulation, and midi controller # 7 (volume). Curiously, I've never been able to get it to respond to sustain pedal though. There's apparently no paramter in the computer editor to do so either.
I guess with a 6 voice synth, Oberheim figured there was no sense in having sustain capabilities, you would short out the polyphony right away.
I'm not 100% sure about this (lack of sustain pedal support), but I've never gotten it to work.
One major bummer is only one output, it's mono. I can see that with no effects that stereo might not be needed, but at least they could have put on L/R outs, maybe with some inserts (ala the Proteus series) for patching in an F/X unit. Also they could have implemented midi-Pan (which I know existing in the late 80's) along with L/R outs. That way you could pan between the two outputs via midi for a stereo effect.
Also - the display is very cryptic, it's an LED readout, that just shows patch numbers. There are a bunch of dedicated buttons for programming various functions (e.g. pitch bend range), but until you get it down, you have to have the manual to figure out what things like \_/ /_/ shown in the display mean.
No on board sequencer, arpeggiator, even demo.
It's analog, it kicks butt, what else do you need Mr. Whipple?
I'm giving it a low rating because you don't buy one of these for the features (which are fairly limited, you buy it for the sound quality)

Within the limitations of it's architecture (analog, 6 voices) this thing sounds fantastic. Show me another synth from 1988/89 that still makes your hair stand on end.
Not good for realistic instruments, that's not what it's about. Some of the string patches could fool some people, but forget about pianos and brasses, or woodwinds.
If you want realistic, get a sampler or sample playback unit.
Kicks serious butt for rock, not good for classical (unless you are talking about music concrete' or something like that), could rule for dance, but the filters are Oberheim (2 pole) instead of Moog (4 pole) so they are not as drastic.
Also no knobs, so I doubt many dance maniacs use these, unless they sample em.
Really great sound for old style prog rock, or stadium rock (some of the synth brass sounds will make you think you are Jonathan Cain of Journey).
NO EFFECTS - As I said.
If you audition one at a store, try and route it through an effect unit, it will sound much more contemporary. Given the cheap price of used effect units, you could throw one in the rack with it and have a pretty good combo.
It is VERY Expressive and sensitive - most of the presets have modulation routings to the filter and amp envelopes, or pitch.
If you listen to one, be sure to work the mod wheel, aftertouch, etc. You often get unexpected results.
I think the sound of this thing is a 10, but only for what it's good for. Since it's not a do it all product, and a lot of good analog emulations have come on the market, I'm knocking it back some because I don't want to mislead anyone.

Pretty much solid as rock, build quality wise.
I've had it wig out with thick midi data streams sometimes, but I think that was because it was trying to respond to controller data that didn't exist in 1989.
I would use it on a gig without backup, I've never had any kind of failure with it.
The front panel does get very hot though.

Pretty poor it seems.
Oberheim has been bought and sold so many times since I bought my Matrix 1000 that I lost track of who owns them now until I found out that Gibson does.
Frankly it's criminal that a company with such a rep and such great products could be so mismanaged. Analog stuff is popping out everywhere so what does Gibson do?
They import cheesy EuroTrash stuff (Viscount organ modules, etc.) and badge them as Oberheims!
If they (the parent company) had their act together, they would have re-released some of the Oberheim classics (SEM, OB-8) or at least come up with a modern version. The MX- Rack is very cool, but was released before it was ready, and has more or less been abandoned.
They still sell the Matrix 1000, but hardly ever advertise it, and have not updated it.
I've always loved Oberheims, and the Matrix 1000 was the only one I could ever afford. It's sad to say, but at this point Gibson has probably missed the boat, and by the time they get a new analog product out (if they are even planning one) the techno/dance analog synth craze will be gone.
The reps on the phone were very cool and friendly, but not much help.
I was trying to get a "Mark II" off/white front panel for my Matrix, as it makes them look like the old style classic 70's oberheims.
The guy I talked to said, yeh we can sell you one, we've got to wait til they make another batch of modules. I called again in a few months and it was like, oh yeah we can do that, I'll call you when they do.
They never did call back.
Never needed upgrades or repairs, I would be suspicous though, I think Gibson is just milking the name as long as they can and then they'll drop it like yesterday's news.
I'm giving a very low rating, not because the fine people at Oberheim are so lame, but because of the corporate mismanagment by their various owners over the years.
Another good example of a good thing screwed up by corporate america..

If it were lost or stolen, I would get another pretty soon, it's an indispensable part of my setup. Like I said, I'm usually on the lookout for another one, as I would really like to have a stereo, 12 voice unit.
I've been dabbling in keyboards for a while, over 10 years (I'm really a bass player), and bought and sold a lot of stuff over the years.
I bought the Oberhiem Matrix 1000 back in 1989 because I WANTED an analog synth module. People were foaming over M-1's and D-50's back then and thought I was a nut for buying it (why in the hell would anyone want an ANALOG SYNTH?) - I guess I'm getting the last laugh now that analog has come back with a vengeance.
I would say the Oberheim is the one old piece of gear I have that I REALLY like, most of my other stuff is just old (see my review here on Harmony Central of the DW-8000, and Kawai K-1), but the Matrix 1000 is OLD AND COOL.
Besides the Matrix 1000, other current stuff in my menagerie is:
ROLAND JV-90 synth (with a VE-JV1 expansion board, and a SR-JV-80 piano expansion board), a KAWAI K-1 synth, a KORG DW-8000 (with an Angel City Turbo mod expansion board), a YAMAHA CS-1x synth (a nice piece for the money, but it can't touch the Obie for balls and bite), an ALESIS D-4 drum module, and finally an EMU PROTEUS F/X module.
I think it's a pretty good endorsement of the Matrix 1000 to say that I bought the Proteus F/X in 1995, and I'm thinking about selling it, and that I bought the Matrix 1000 in 1989 and I'm keeping it.
WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THE MATRIX 1000
It's fat, huge, with real analog balls, it sounds "different", it's very compact, it's well built, although you can't program it from the front panel, it's pretty easy to work the other stuff (e.g. pitch bend, tuning, etc.), it's got a real strong output, it's reliable.
WHAT I HATE ABOUT THE MATRIX 1000
It apparently doesn't respond to sustain messages, the bank change via midi is very klugey, the display is primitive (even by late 80's standards), there is only a mono out, some of the presets have very widely different output levels, there are no built in effects.
I didn't really compare it to anything else, because at the time there was nothing analog out there. In 1989 people looked at you like some Cro-Magnon throwback when you told them you wanted an ANALOG synth. It was like telling the phone company you wanted a ROTARY phone damn it!
I wish it had a better display (the display is more 1980 than 1989) and at least a built in delay effect. That way you could use it for leads without having to run it through an outboard effect.
It's helped me make a lot of music, I use it still all the time. People are especially impressed by the weird, swirly pads it can do.
The thing I would close with is that although I love this thing, it is a very special box, and probably not for everyone.
If you already have the major synth food groups covered with several other keyboards or modules, then the Matrix 1000 is a great unit.
As an only module with a one keyboard setup though, you might want something more flexible, with more voices.
although it can do kick ass dance grooves, you have to program it by computer to to do this, and most dance people want instant gratification.
It has a distinct sound and signature though, and if you love the 70's/80's Oberheim sound (think of old Rush, Van Halen's "Jump', etc.) then this is the box for you.

Rack unit, 1000 Presets, 200 of them remote- editable (but not editable on the unit)

digital osc., all the rest analog (filters, ...) 6 voices, great MIDI implementation - everything can modulate anything - but only remote- editable, can be combined with a second unit as slave no onboard effects

ALL the classic analog pad sounds in superiour quality great brass sounds, no real instrument emulations, no lead sounds all the sounds preprogrammed for flexible MIDI- control (aftertouch, breath- controller, ...) you need an computer editor for full flexibility.

Never had any trouble (had it for 3 years)

A MUST for your analog pads sounds. Buy it for that and for nothing else, but for that purpose: I LOVE IT