In part this was simply because it sounded so good and had a far deeper modulation matrix than anything ever seen in a self-contained "slab" synth. But there's also the fact that MIDI was new and the talk of the industry, and touring and session keyboardists wanted to advertise that they were now MIDI experts. Stacking an Xpander with your trendy DX-based setup was a bold way to make the statement.

This gave the Oberheim team confidence in the demand for a stand-alone, beefed-up take on the Xpander, and the Matrix-12 was born. It essentially fused two Xpanders with a velocity-sensitive keyboard that also sensed release velocity — a first at the time. It had all the analog fat for which Oberheim was famous, but could produce articulate bells, plucked sounds, wind instruments, and crystalline timbres that otherwise drew players to digital synths. It also didn't hurt that 12 voices raised the bar from the "pro" standard of six or eight.

Its price of nearly $6,000 made it an option only for accomplished professional musicians and studio owners, but they flocked to buy it and approximately over 1000 units were sold. Many are still in use to this day and it's rare to find an owner willing to part with theirs - that's where Matrix-12 V comes in.