[sdiy] Matrix 1000/6R opinions and questions

[WeAreAs1 at aol.com]

Hello Harry,

The Matrix 6 is probably the more desirable of the two units, if by 
"desirable" you mean current resale value -- but it's usually not much price difference 
(about $200 for Matrix 1000; $300 for the 6R).  I think they made a lot more 
Matrix 1000's, too, so they're a bit easier to find.  The 6R uses the "wide 
body" CEM chips, and the 1000 uses the narrow profile chips.  On e of these is 
more readily available than the other, but I can't remember which (I think it 
was the wide ones that were getting more scarce - check with your sources on 
that).

When you put a Matrix 6 into calibration mode, it only needs to tune the 
master clock oscillators, so the two clocks will be in tune with each other (it 
may also tune the filters -- I'm not sure about that, though).  I don't think 
the synth will shut voices down if it can't tune the clocks (remember, each 
clock goes to ALL the voices -- there would be no point to shutting down 
individual voices).  However, there's an outside chance that it'll get stuck in 
calibration mode if it can't tune the clocks.  You could always just pull all the CEM 
chips out of their sockets and try putting it into tuning mode, and see what 
happens.  Obviously, it'd be a pain in the butt to have to rig up the synth so 
that the DCO's are active and routed through the CEM's only while it's in 
tuning mode.  

I don't think the Matrix 1000 even has to calibrate its master clock (I don't 
think it has voltage control like the 6R's clocks), so it might be the easier 
of the two for hacking.  On the other hand, there's a lot more room inside 
the 6R for additional circuitry.  The Matrix 1000 is pretty much packed to the 
gills inside.  And of course, you can fully edit your patches on the 6R, 
including very deep and complex modulation matrix routing.  This is not possible 
from the front panel of the 1000.

Several people, including some whose opinions I highly value, have told me 
they think the Matrix 6 sounds noticeably better than the Matrix 1000, but I 
suspect that the difference in sound is mainly a result of the two-clock DCO 
system, so you wouldn't really get that benefit in your case.

Do you have a plan for triggering the envelope generators?  What about 
velocity response?  Will this be done via MIDI, or just by using envelope followers?

Michael Bacich