The M12 is legendary no doubt for its design, size and historical context. Sound is subjective as many other boards at the time did a great job in the analog sound department and for the price they're going for unless you are wealthy it makes no sense to invest in that machine as it does require maintenance and tuning, calibration etc. For three to four thousand dollars less you can get a Korg DSS-1 or DW8000. Those keyboards have wonderful analog, strings, horns, organs, electric pianos etc that go head to head with the M12. Makes no sense to waste money that way unless you can afford that luxury.
Rating: 2 out of 5
posted Friday-Jun-17-2011 at 23:01
Carl Goodhines
a professional user
from NY
writes:
I owned an M12, and MIDI't it to an Xpander to get the classic "18 voice" sound with 805. It had the best pads, analogesque strings, and "Zappa" trumpet sounds ever. The flexable modulations were definately a plus, as I didn't use a volume/control pedal. Our sound man mistakenly wired us up to one leg of 220, and the other to 110, and fried both of them. A costly fix, but I did it-just because of the love for both of these. I later traded them, with some othe things for an EII+, which I also loved, but wished I kept them and just forked over the cash. I haven't heard anything quite like them since, including the A6. Samples of them just don't sound the same. Nowadays, they demand steep prices-about the same as when they were new! I still have the factory cassette of stock patches if anyone needs to restore their memory. Can someone PLEASE come out with an authentic ANALOG synth with 24 individual oscillators?? I'd give it a "10", but you're only allowed 5 marks.
Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Sunday-Sep-12-2010 at 12:03
Kenny
from UK
writes:
I've had an M12 for the last twenty years. I bought it new and the UK price was evil. Looking back I think I could have made much better use of the money. At the time I could probably have bought six or seven minimoogs. I could have made a good start on a pension! I spent a lot of years as a professional musician and sound designer and I found the M12 to be very useful at times. Yes it's good at pads, but in truth its not any better than a Matrix 6R. Check out the standard 'Limuidz' pad on both if you don't believe me. O.K.; you can layer up two pads in two zones and still have six voices but that still doesn't justify the price tag then or now.
Where it shines is in the production of utterly weird multi-layered effects sounds. I've produced things on it that you can recall the patch and sit back for as long as you like and listen to the texture change continuously. It doesn't surprise me to read that it was made from very cheap components and I've always hated how slow it was but you can have a lot of fun with the modulation sources. I still use it (though not professionally anymore) and the only things wrong with it are that a couple of the buttons don't always work and the aftertouch produces random noise (but then it always did). Good, but not *that* good.
Rating: 3 out of 5
posted Monday-Feb-26-2007 at 04:52
analogue nutjob
a professional user
from 42
writes:
have used the matrix 12 on a number of occasions and i have to say it is a good synth but is a nightmare to program.it was good in its day and the trade off of not having dedicated dials and sliders to shape sounds was justified at the time but now it has been replaced with BETTER SYNTHS. the andromeda blows it out of the water but then the a6 blows most old analogues out the water if you know how to program. that cem guy makes mE laugh,he cannot evEN string a sentence together and is talking about being an authority on synths. the a6 destroys the matrix 12...it is time to move on,analogue synthesis has been given mdma powder and its called the a6
Rating: 2 out of 5
posted Wednesday-Jan-03-2007 at 15:17
cem melik
a professional user
from new york
writes:
my first word will be to the broken down amateurs comparing the Matrix-12 to Andromeda A6. It s funny.. it s a well known fact that A6 sounds very digital,thinny and crappy with its cheap chinese plastic outlook and IC s.. and M12 is the T-Rex of synths.. So please do yourself a favour, stop playing synths and start watering the flowers in the neighborhood as your new hoby A6 boys.. Analog world is a serious shit and absolutely not a Toyz for retarded Boyz .. Please.. !thats too much!
Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Monday-Jan-01-2007 at 02:40
