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-- Thoughts on chaining 2 Oberheim MX 1000's together

Thoughts on chaining 2 Oberheim MX 1000's together

If this thread title got your attention, you already know the instrument we're talking about. If not, here it is real quick.

http://www.vintagesynth.com/oberheim/mat1000.php

As far as sounds go, I really like what I hear. I havn't a clue with regards to durability (maybe you can chime in?) or if what I'm about to propose would be a good idea, but it seems like one.

I'm thinking about buying two of these units. They're 6 voice polyphony analog units, and with two that gives me 12 voices and I can create a stereo image. I've got a feeling it would be an insanely nice sound and it will cost between 600-700 to do it. They've got 800 ROM sounds with 200 extra banks for patching, but you have to use external software or buy an 6/6R (I will use external software) to program your own patches. My only concern here is durability. (I can always sell them back if I don't like the sound) - I don't want a piece of gear that loses voices easily or is known for malfunctioning a lot.

What do you guys think?

Re: Thoughts on chaining 2 Oberheim MX 1000's together

quote:

Originally posted by StephenWiley They've got 800 ROM sounds with 200 extra banks for patching, but you have to use external software or buy an 6/6R (I will use external software) to program your own patches.

I could never live with a synth that didn't have patch programming built into it. That's just me, though.

How about some sounds from that synth?

Re: Re: Thoughts on chaining 2 Oberheim MX 1000's together

quote:

Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles I could never live with a synth that didn't have patch programming built into it. That's just me, though.

I can. The software to program it is $10 - I'd rather use something new like that than the archaic front panels of a racked vintage synth.

Archaic front panels ftw.

quote:

Originally posted by orTof�nChiLd How about some sounds from that synth?

http://www.vintagesynth.com/audio/164.mp3

Keep in mind it's hard to discern quality from youtube

Oberheim MX 1000 + Roland D-50
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zccSrqIFmC8

Oberheim MX 1000 + Prophet VS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNy7UAZfIv8

Oberheim MX 1000 (playing basic sequences)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIXs...rom=PL&index=36


These are mono synths. I want to take two of them and plug one into a R and one into a L and use stereo imaging to create a really nice sound, plus I would have 12 voices. Analog, 12 voices, for $600-700 plus 800 presets and new software to operate the machine....Does it get any better? (you ******s better not steal my idea)

quote:

Originally posted by DjStephenWiley http://www.vintagesynth.com/audio/164.mp3 Keep in mind it's hard to discern quality from youtube Oberheim MX 1000 + Roland D-50 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zccSrqIFmC8 Oberheim MX 1000 + Prophet VS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNy7UAZfIv8 Oberheim MX 1000 (playing basic sequences) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIXs...rom=PL&index=36 These are mono synths. I want to take two of them and plug one into a R and one into a L and use stereo imaging to create a really nice sound, plus I would have 12 voices. Analog, 12 voices, for $600-700 plus 800 presets and new software to operate the machine....Does it get any better? (you ******s better not steal my idea)

wow those are some really nice sounds, i like

Bear in mind the sysex implementation in the Matrix 1000...

Why not buy one and see how you go?

I'd like to see if any TA's here have any experience with this particular machine before I jump in head first. I've never owned an Oberheim or a synth made from the 80's or early 90's. I'd like to hear some comments from people here who have or have used the mx 1000.

quote:

Originally posted by DjStephenWiley These are mono synths. I want to take two of them and plug one into a R and one into a L and use stereo imaging to create a really nice sound, plus I would have 12 voices. Analog, 12 voices, for $600-700 plus 800 presets and new software to operate the machine...

o_O

a stereo synth without any stereo effects is effectively mono (same thing coming out both outputs). i don't see what you are gaining from having two. you will not have 12 voices; you will have 6 voices per mono channel, unless you are happy to have some notes playing on the left channel and not the right lol. the only reason the matrix 6r has stereo out is because it is multitimbral. you could achieve this "stereo" you are talking about by just doubling up the input channel in your daw...

another thing to be aware of is that these oberheim synths are a bit slow/buggy with midi parameter changes etc.

quote:

Originally posted by DjStephenWiley you ******s better not steal my idea

i don't think you need to worry about that lol...

Regarding chaining these together....apparently you can chain up to six together. Here are some comments from vintagesynth.com


From one poster...
"One of the coolest things about this synth (and the Matrix 6 and 6R) is that they can easily be linked together...not just synced, but linked. Link two together and you have a 12 voice synth. Link three and you have 18 voices, etc. You can link up to 6 units together, making an unbelievable analog monster."


"I got two M1000s, but not to make a 12 voice synth out of it. The M1000 is mono and for me this is a big disadvantage. Now I lead midi through the first unit to the second, treat them as one stereo synth (pan extreme left and right, slightly detuned) and got a real fat cat! By the way: the Access hardware controller works pretty well. No access to every parameter but to the most important."

"I seem to remember the 1000 as well as the 6 and 6R had a unique "daisy chain" feature where you could share voices together. So, two 1000s linked to an M6 would give you a MONSTER 18 voice synth. I'm not 100% sure of this, can anyone confirm/elaborate?"


Description of the MX 1000 from vintagesynth.com
"The analog Matrix 1000 is essentially 1,000 Matrix 6 patches in a single-space compact rackmount MIDI module. It has the same synth architecture as the Matrix 6. Each of its 6 voices have two DCO's (digitally controlled analog oscillator), a low pass filter, 2 VCA's, 3 envelope gens, 2 LFO's, and 2 ramp gens. The sounds are plentiful and good enough, however if you want to edit your own, you'll need a Matrix 6/6R or some universal editor (such as MOTU's Unisyn) or Access' Matrix Programmer to externally edit parameters. You can also load sounds from the Matrix 6 via SysEx or software.

The Matrix 1000 provides an excellent source of pads, textures and ambient sounds. It has 195 "keyboard" sounds, 118 "strings", 130 "woodwinds & perc", 239 "synthesizer", 119 "bass", 74 "lead" and 125 "effects". For the price, there is no better way to find genuine analog Oberheim Matrix sounds in a compact and very in-expensive rack module that is loaded with more sounds than you'll ever need! The older versions of the Matrix 1000 have a black front-panel. The newer models in the '90's have a cream face-plate (pictured above). It has been used by Apollo 440, Juno Reactor, Moby, Cirrus, Fatboy Slim, Laurent Garnier, ATB, Depeche Mode, Future Sound of London, Pet Shop Boys, and Faithless."

I was going to get a Matrix 1000... it really didn't impress me all, though. But it could just be that the demos suck. Just get a Tetra. It'll sound just as good, I'm sure.

quote:

Originally posted by DjStephenWiley Regarding chaining these together....apparently you can chain up to six together.

Yes, but you will not get a 12 voices on the left AND right channels; you will get a 12 voice mono synth. Your thinking is totally flawed. These synths are completely mono. There is not a single thing within them that is stereo. There are 3 scenarios.

1. You link the synths so that incomming midi notes are distributed between the two synths. If you take one synth and pan it to the left, that is 6 voices on the left channel. If you take the other synth and pan it to the right, you will get 6 voices on the right channel. Thus, some notes will play on the left while the others will play on the right. This will obviously sound like crap.

2. If you don't link them to split the midi input among the voices, but you still pan the synths, you will just have the same 6 voices playing on the left and right. This is pointless and makes no sense. This is like recording a guitar (mono) and importing it on two separate channels in your DAW - two channels playing the exact same thing. If this is all you wanted to do, you could just have two channels in your daw taking input from the same mono input plug on your soundcard.

3. Use it how they were meant to be used - linked together as a 12 voice MONO synth.

If you want to beef up the stereo field of these synths, you use stereo effects. The synths have none onboard, so you must use plugins or other hardware. Repeating the same sound or playing notes on alternating channels is silly. Think about it.

quote:

Originally posted by echosystm Yes, but you will not get a 12 voices on the left AND right channels; you will get a 12 voice mono synth. Your thinking is totally flawed. These synths are completely mono. There is not a single thing within them that is stereo. There are 3 scenarios. 1. You link the synths so that incomming midi notes are distributed between the two synths. If you take one synth and pan it to the left, that is 6 voices on the left channel. If you take the other synth and pan it to the right, you will get 6 voices on the right channel. Thus, some notes will play on the left while the others will play on the right. This will obviously sound like crap. 2. If you don't link them to split the midi input among the voices, but you still pan the synths, you will just have the same 6 voices playing on the left and right. This is pointless and makes no sense. This is like recording a guitar (mono) and importing it on two separate channels in your DAW - two channels playing the exact same thing. If this is all you wanted to do, you could just have two channels in your daw taking input from the same mono input plug on your soundcard. 3. Use it how they were meant to be used - linked together as a 12 voice MONO synth. If you want to beef up the stereo field of these synths, you use stereo effects. The synths have none onboard, so you must use plugins or other hardware. Repeating the same sound or playing notes on alternating channels is silly. Think about it.

I appreciate the response, but as I said earlier I would be making a stereo field and have the software to do it. With the new advanced software programming for this, I don't understand how you could pass up a 6 voice or 12 voice analog synth even if it is just mono. As I said, creating a stereo field is not terribly hard, and will certainly breed some new, and likely badass sounds.

I'm going to start with 1 and go from there. If I feel I need the extra voices (and I probably will) then I'll link up another one for 12 voices. I'd like to have at least 24 voices, but linking 4 of them would seem somewhat silly.

For a cheaper option, you can just record a single mono synth with slightly different settings and pan the recordings:

http://jbj.raceriv.com/sounds/other/polymoog.wav

Whats a stereo synth good for anyway? I only ever use the stereo field for effects and unison anyway. As far as unison goes, you could split the synths down the middle and run 6 voices playing the same thing on each side with slightly different tuning. Voila. But I really don't see the point of this.

It's voices mostly, although it would be neat to try and create a really nice stereo field with the two. It's about voices mostly because I'm an atmospheric freak, and they of course have to more voices

quote:

Originally posted by echosystm 2. If you don't link them to split the midi input among the voices, but you still pan the synths, you will just have the same 6 voices playing on the left and right. This is pointless and makes no sense. This is like recording a guitar (mono) and importing it on two separate channels in your DAW - two channels playing the exact same thing. If this is all you wanted to do, you could just have two channels in your daw taking input from the same mono input plug on your soundcard.

it shouldn't be a problem to get stereo sound from two panned synths. especially because they are analog synths. there will be enough difference/inaccuracy to get a stereo effect. afterall exactly this effect is used on a lot of tracks with natural instruments and voices.

Anybody here ever owned or played with the MX 1000 or the 6?

I've read about a few glitches here and there, but that's somewhat to be expected with archaic analog gear I suppose. It can't be that bad or people wouldn't still be chasing them down.

My biggest concern is the sounds, texture, and what I can expect. I've never heard an Oberheim in the flesh. I can't walk into GC and try one of these out obviously, and youtubes never do a synth justice, and of course there are little to no sounds of it online (and they're not really of any substance) - I know with only 6 voices I'm not going to be able to create huge pads, but I imagine some fat ass leads and bass can be pumped out of this thing.

Maybe I should just track 6 of these machines down, rack them all on a single rack, chain them, and go to town.

quote:

Originally posted by StephenWiley Maybe I should just track 6 of these machines down, rack them all on a single rack, chain them, and go to town.

You haven't got one and you're already thinking six? Without hearing quality audio demos? Grab one, and see if it will work for you in your music. They're quite cheap, I see them on eBay fairly regularly.

It was a joke - There usually are 1-2 on eBay. Wish I had my paycheck was there is one up right now that looks brand new for around $300

I've never owned one, fiddled with one once or twice.

They are notorious for the sysex implementation I believe.

Maybe try a post over at VS, GS or HC would garner quite a few responses from users?

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