Matrix-12 V
Programmable analog freedom.
Matrix-12 V resurrects the first programmable analog synthesizer in software form, enhancing its revered combination of modular flexibility, analog richness, and 15-mode filter with enormous new levels of creative freedom.
Enter
the Matrix
Extreme patching met 12 dual-oscillator voices in one of the most prestigious keyboard synths of the ’80s.
With 27 modulation sources, 47 destinations, 15 filter modes, and five envelopes, it combined the flexibility of a modular synth with the polyphony and programmability demanded by artists like Toto, Vangelis, Prince, and Herbie Hancock. How do you improve upon such an instrument? Matrix-12 V balances absolute authenticity with the flexibility modern music makers need - and then some.
You Can’t Sample This
Our True Analog Emulation® technology models the behavior of every circuit and how they interact. Matrix 12-V is one of its biggest achievements yet.
Your Everything Synth
Whether you make power-pop, electronica, R&B, hip-hop, or a fusion of styles yet to have a name, Matrix-12 V delivers head-turning sounds with remarkable ease.
An Ace in Your Hand
The Matrix could sound like virtually every other analog polysynth of the ’80s — and some digital synths — but no other synth could sound like the Matrix.
Own a Legend
A working Matrix-12 fetches five figures if you can find one. Matrix-12 V offers perfect accuracy at a tiny fraction of the cost, and with modern stability.
Analog in
a digital world
With digital synths like the DX7 and affordable sample-based keyboards just over the horizon, Tom Oberheim and company set out to show the world what a no-holds-barred analog machine could really do.
Echoing Oberheim’s earlier success with the SEM, the project began with a sound expansion module. This was 1984’s Xpander, which had six voices and the same signal path as the Matrix-12, which would arrive just a year later.
MIDI created a market for modules that could augment the capabilities that synth players already owned without adding the bulk of another black-and-white keyboard to their rigs. The Xpander was designed by engineers Marcus Ryle (who would later invent the Alesis® ADAT) and Michael Doidic, and became an instant hit.
Agent
of analog
Matrix-12 V puts your hands on more of the original’s parameters at once.
It’s a playground for quick tweaks during live performance and exacting sound design in the studio.
Because it applied digital control to analog tone generation, the Matrix-12 had three displays and many pages of functions but only six knobs. We thought a sound engine this sensational deserved a lot more.
01. Original Oscillators
We began with faithful models of the oscillators, which feature pulse, saw, and triangle waves, PWM, hard sync, FM, and noise.
02. 15 Filters in One
That’s right — multiple pass modes, multiple slopes, and even phase-shifting filters let the Matrix create tones other analog synths can’t.
03. Pushing the Envelope
Why settle for just volume and filter envelopes when you can have five assignable ones? Create sounds that evolve in interesting and unexpected ways.
04. LFO Flexibility
Explore 5 tempo-syncable LFOs ready to apply to anything - and that’s just the tip of Matrix-12 V’s modulation iceberg.
05. Modulation Central
Press any parameter’s button to see all the sources that modulate it, and work with up to six sources at once.
06. Ramp It Up
Four ramp processors are like extra one-stage envelopes you can apply to any signal.
Matrix
Reloaded
More modulation, built-in FX, and a powerful Multi mode make you the architect of amazing sounds.
We dove deep into what makes the Matrix-12 special, put every parameter of it within easy reach, and then freed its analog mind with some reality-bending upgrades.
Included in
V collection
Legendary Keyboards Reinvented
This instrument is also part of the V Collection -your complete dream line-up of the legendary synths, organs, pianos and more that made keyboard history. They’re modeled with the most advanced technologies for authentic realism, and enhanced with new creative options. Whether you use it as DAW plugins in the studio or standalone at gigs, V Collection puts the greatest keys of all time at your fingertips for instant inspiration.