GForce Software Oberheim Matrix-12 – Big, Official and Built for the 21st Century
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Oberheim’s finest hour receives its only official software version as GForce Software take on the Matrix-12, with the help of one of its original designers.
The year is 1985, and the synth world is going all in on the new digital craze, ushered in by the DX7. Yamaha is stealing a march on their rivals, players are demanding cleaner sounds, cleaner user interfaces and reliability. But some of the big names are determined that analogue still has a place. Oberheim were one such company, and a young Marcus Ryle had other ideas.
The Oberheim Matrix-12
One year earlier, Oberheim had released the Xpander, a big 6-voice analogue poly synth that sat on your desk. It was powerful, but as was the tradition back then, Oberheim decided to put two of them together to create a true monster synth, and so the Matrix-12 was born. This was their Prophet 10, their DX1 or their JX-10. But what the Matrix-12 had over all of them was THAT Oberheim sound
It was physically and sonically huge. Underneath its hood lay a synth that was immensely complex and insanely patchable. To all intents and purposes, it was a modular synth that had no physical cables. Routing was done via the rather large and complex front panel, resplendent with its vacuum fluorescent displays and a routing map printed on the panel itself.
The voice architecture was equally impressive, featuring 24 VCOs (2 per voice) and mutli-mode filters with fifteen individual modes. So, with their incredibly special relationship with today’s Oberheim, a relationship that seems them work closely with both Tom Oberheim and Marcus Ryle, GForce were probably the only company who could bring all of this to a present-day software recreation that gave us all of the original, and more.
The GForce Oberheim Matrix-12
Everything has been modelled to the nth degree, from the oscillators to the filters, envelope generators and VCAs with the sole intention of sounding exactly like a Matrix-12. But more than this, the intention has been to make the Matrix-12 fully up to date, so it also features full MPE compatibility and an interface that demystifies the original and makes the task of managing its complex routing a breeze.
And that’s the real beauty and benefit of a plugin version of the Matrix-12. That previously complex and often indecipherable patching system is now incredibly easy to understand. Given that Marcus Ryle was involved with the development of GForce’s recreation, one can only imagine that had he had this technology at his disposal 40+ years ago, this is exactly how he would have done it.
The GForce version of this beast offers up seemingly endless possibilities when it comes to sound design. This instrument will be incredibly inspirational to both players and sound designers alike. The sheer wealth of options on offer here will encourage exploration and enhance expression in a way that the hardware possibly couldn’t. Accessibility is the key here. The Matrix-12 has been fully demystified.
Enter the Matrix
You might think that the spirit of the original might get lost underneath all of the new capabilities that a plugin instrument can offer. But fear ye not. Everything that GForce have added feels natural and intuitive. Drag-and-drop modulation routing, visualisation on every module and having everything visible on screen at once make programming and understanding what is going on a breeze.
The GForce Oberheim Matrix-12 is a true powerhouse of a synth, just like the hardware version it emulates. Whilst other interpretations exist, this is the only official recreation and the only one developed with one of the original designers. It takes the significantly powerful structure of the original and enhances it in a completely respectful way, delivering improvements that are completely in line with how Oberheim would have done things back in the day.
The addition of MPE, an extensive FX section and a huge preset library, which also includes nearly 200 original Matrix-12 and Xpander patches, delivers a Matrix-12 for the 21st century. The visualisation of the interface and the benefits it brings over the original hardware paradigm cannot be overstated. The GForce Oberheim Matrix-12 will sit alongside their OB-E instrument as the finest software representations of Oberheim’s undeniable legacy.
More Information
The GForce Software Oberheim Matrix-12 is available now at an introductory price of £69.00/$83.99/€83.99 until December 5th, 2026, which represents a 30% discount, after which the price will rise to £99.99/$119.99/€119.99. A 14-day free trial is also available. Matrix-12 is compatible with both Windows and macOS as standalone, VST2, VST3, AAX and Mac-only AU versions
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