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Hi all, so I discovered this week that Voice 4 on my Xpander has died and is skipping when playing. I don't believe its a dead voice chip as I switched the chips and couldn't replicate the issue on the switched voice channel. Both OSC and PW are failing the auto tune. So from the research i've studied online I could also try the following: Replace the capacitor at C449 as this seems to be a common capacitor that dies. This would be a 2.2 uF polarized electrolytic capacitor with a 50 VDC rating. And then recap further caps on that voice and the power supply. (I'm pretty sure that the power supply was recapped by a tech a couple of years ago though) I could also try replacing the D4051BC chips on that voice. I'm ok with a soldering iron but not by any means a qualified tech so I want to make sure i'm buying the correct capacitors, a local store sells this product: http://www.jaycar.com.au/2-2uf-50vdc-low-leakage-electrolytic-capacitor/p/RL6420 Would that be ok to use to replace the C449 capacitor? It seems like its the correct voltage and value but it doesn't say if its polarized. Also how many of these should I buy if I need to start replacing other capacitors on the voice channel? any advice greatly appreciated? D.

On my Xpander, each pair of oscillators are always a bit out of tune with each other. The amount of detuning is different on each voice, but consistent per voice, being off by +/-3 cents. The tuning procedure doesn't resolve the issue. Nor do hours of warmup time. Of course, it does create a nice analog slop to patches, but it just doesn't seem right. Any ideas on a cause, or solution?

Maplin order code: GL88V You get 10 fuses, which should last at least 10 years of mains surges. Right now, you can only pick up instore in the UK. But this info might help someone regardless. More technical description: 500mA Time Delay Glass 31mm Fuse 10 Pack <http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/500ma-time-delay-glass-31mm-fuse-10-pack-gl88v> * Link: http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/500ma-time-delay-glass-31mm-fuse-10-pack-gl88v *Cheers, Jeremy.

Hi, My Xpander conked out today, and now when you tune, it just whizzes the numbers 1-6 past mega fast, and therefore doesn't tune properly. I'm a bit upset to lose this expensive synth. I tried all Service Menu options and the RAM and ROMs test out fine. Does anyone know what to try to get it to tune again? Cheers, Jeremy.

Hey there, My xpander - which I got last year - has started doing odd behaviour, and I just want to float it past you guys to see if it is what I hope it is; or if not, help to narrow it down. I was using my xpander yesterday, generating kick-ass sounds as normal. Then after about 20 minutes, suddenly the patch name display just filled up with asterisks. The sound engine still worked - and I was able to continue editing my sound. I then went to change the patch at which point the whole thing hung. No sound being produced and the buttons did nothing. I then rebooted it. The thing sprung to life as per normal but no sound was coming out. I then turned it off and unplugged from mains and left it a while. A couple of hours later I replugged it and turned it on. Booted up but still no sound. After a hunch, I went into the voices page only to find all the voices were set to off -- I turned them on and the xpander was working as it should. Again, I played with it for about 40 minutes (really addictive synth that it is), and just as I was about to turn it all off, the displays just went blank and the leds went on solidly. I power cycled it, and this time it didn't boot - just stuck with the leds on and no display. I turned it off and left it about a minute; rebooted and it displayed the message of Resetting the Memory (patches won't be effected). I pressed yes, only for it to again lock with all the LEDs on and no display. I again unplugged and left it a couple of hours. Coming back, it again showed the Reset the memory display, but this time it then booted. After that, I turned it off and called it a night. I'm hoping this is a battery issue -- it looks like it's using the original battery and surely that thing has to be dying by now. I opened it up and the caps all look fine. Checking the battery voltage (albeit in circuit), it's at 3.2v - which seems fine, though that is not under load. Reading online, it looks like when the battery dies, it can do all kinds of odd things to the synth; though checking the schematics I'm not totally sure of how this would affect the system once it's booted (and has been running successfully for half an hour or so). I've ordered a new battery and will check the voltages with the system on later to see what's happening there (I might as well scope it, so I can also check for ripple). So does this sound like the likely cause? The only other thing I can think of (beyond the diodes around the battery and 5v line dying) is the psu giving spikes or drop outs -- which I'm really hoping it isn't. Mainly as the caps in those things can be pretty nasty. However, it is a Japanese unit and they seem to be known for having shitty PSUs. If it does end up being that (ugh), would just replacing the electrolytics be fine, or should I look at replacing the power supply entirely with a more modern design? Cheers, deano

I am not sure how this has happened but when I am using my Matrix 12 in the single patch and I wish to go the the next patch (for example #23 to #24 or #25), the patch jumps to a multi patch. I can manually go to #23 or manually enter in #24, #25, #26, etc, but when I use the + or - on the keypad, it jumps to the multi-patch. What did I alter to change this setting?

Does anyone know what was updated in the current Matrix-12 ROMs? My Matrix-12 has: Voice ROM version 1.4 Main Board ROM version 1.1 I know that there is a Voice ROM version 1.6, and I am wondering if it's worth it to buy an image from Music Technologies Group and burn EPROMs for my old Matrix-12? Keith .:Music Technologies Group:. - EPROMs, OS's and BIN files for synthesizers and drum machines

Hi all! thanks for letting me in the group. My Xpander has this funny problem that stops me from saving patches to any location with the numbers 8 and 9 in it. When I hold the store button, the ** characters stay in place as opposed to being replaced by the numbers I'm typing. This isn't restricted to patches 80 - 99. 18 and 19 are similarly effected. It's not a mechanical issue with the keypad as I can use those numbers to load patches. I'm pretty sure it's not a battery or memory issue becuase I am able to dump patches to these locations over sysex. The machine is otherwise in good shape, there are no other issues with it that I am aware of. I've performed the usual soft reset, gone through the memory tests in the service page. Has anyone come across anything like this before? Any ideas on what to check for? Any help would be much appreciated!

Hello Xpander Users, Do any of you know if the Xpander (or M12) cassette patch specification has every been documented? I would like to know the following, at the very least: 1 Where the single patches are located in a cassette dump? 2. Where the multis are located in a in a cassette dump? 3. The frequencies for a 0 bit, and a 1 bit 4. Where the global data (if any) is located in a cassette dump? Any/all information that has been documented regarding the cassette patch dump format. I didn't see anything in the service manual nor the User manual, (nor would I expect that type of information to be in either manuals) Online searches didn't find any documented patch specifications, but that doesn't mean someone hasn't already done this. Thanks Tony

Hello list, The venerable Kid Nepro is still selling his (her?) Xpander/Matrix 12 patches via eBay[1] - 100 patches for (as little as) $20, that's just 20? per patch. Has anyone tried these patches? Are they worth the money? I imagine pulling them apart and seeing how they work could be educational. Obviously the patches you make yourself are the best ones... Cheers, John :^P [1] http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Oberheim-Xpander-Matrix12-Sounds-100-New-Patches-Sysex-Mac-Windows-/261968498063 -- John Pallister john@... john@...

hi to all, few days ago, i (my tech actually) restored my xpander with changing the battery, changing all capacitors, in the voice boards and in the PSU. now the xpander, after the autotune, it passes all 5 stages (sometimes, in a voice, the 'Res' tuning fails, but most of the times the autotune procedure works fine with '5 passes'). all 6 voices play fine apart from one problem: the 'lever 2', as modulation source, is not working at all. whenever i put 'lever 2' as a modulation source it does nothing, the lever 2 does not work. so, my modulation wheel does not work at all with the xpander. (btw, i thought that my xpander also had a problem with the lag section, but later i discovered that 'lag' is a standard modulation source in vco1 and vco2. so, now the portamento seems to be working ok.) but what could cause the lever2 problem ?pitchbend (lever1) , velocity, aftertouch, all work fine except 'lever2' (modulation wheel). (of course i have tested my modulation wheel with another synth and the wheel works fine.) thanks in advance for your help. best regards, Bakis.

Ok, thanks Karl. I'll just replace the electrolytics.

Thanx Tony the pictures help. You are right these are the caps I would leave alone. Polypropylene ( I called them polyprop for short) are one of the few capacitors to have no temperature drift. They rarely fail. Take a look at the voltage ratings of the polyprop caps in the back of the Xpander service manual. They are rated for much higher voltages then they would ever encounter in the Xpander ( some are rated for 1000 volts) and they are getting harder and harder to come by. There are alternatives but you are talking about big money. Also keep in mind these are precise caps used in the tuning and filter circuits. Replacing these with a part that is not exacty the same, would shurly result in tune fails. Not to mention if the tech forgets to clean the solder rosin off the board. The electrolytic caps are really the only type that are going to wear out. So imho I would not mess with em. btw the little brown bean looking cap ( Cx43)is a mica cap also hard to find and near indestructable Best Regards Karl

Happy New Year Xpander/M12 owners, For the sake of prevention, I want to replace the battery in my Xpander, as well as the caps on the power supply board. At the moment, the battery looks clean, no signs of leakage. For those who have replaced batteries, would you post the part # and vendor information? Are there any calibration settings that need to be backed up like on the OB-8, or does the battery just back up the patches? C3 is showing signs of deterioration, so I will just replace all of the electrolytic caps (C1, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7,C8, C9, C15). Do I also need to replace the non-electrolytics (C11, C1C13, etc) ? Do these degrade over time? After I get the battery & power supply overhauled, I'll start on the voice board, and will ask for advice when I get there. I know 1-2 of the voices failed auto tune, and sound a little squarely. I'll disable the good voices so I can focus on these. I know Karl, PeWe and others can diagnose which parts are likely to be bad just from the decryption of the symptoms. There are ceramic & other non-electrolytics on the processor board. Do these need to be replaced? Would you post high quality brands to use for the caps, I'd rather avoid the cheap stuff. Also, preferred vendors would be welcome. I'm OK with Digikey, Jameco, Mouser. If there are other components that should also be replaced do to degradation with age, please suggest them as well. Thanks for your advice!! Tony

I booted up my M12 tonight and can't get anything to pass tuning. Any ideas what I should check for? Likely a failed logic chip inside, but how would I debug?

My xpander is having a bit of a wobble- when I power on it goes to the reset page: it boots to 'reset memory? doesnt affect patches' Of course, it has killed my patches- the display is showing wonky characters and they are all over the place. Otherwise it is working fine once booted- passes all tuning tests and service tests. Everything seems fine... I even manually reset all patches to the Oberheim preset... same issue on startup. Any ideas? Might it be something simple like a battery? I hope so! A

Hi! I have a US version xpander, where the 'nasty little' transformer in the PSU PCB is MISSING. It's named Incon 8103. Does anyone have it for sale? Did anyone fitb Xpander with an alternative PSU? As most of you are fully aware of, it is quite a complicated part, putting out 6 different voltages! I hope this is the right forum for such questions, if not please give me a shout! Thanks Carl beck, OSLO

Maybe somebody can post a guideline how to make more snappier bass sounds on Xpander. Standard aproach like Saw Wave with Filter ADSR zero attack, short decay, zero sustain and release does not work quite like I want to hear it. Of course I have a minimoog here and I can get an outstanding result in 5 seconds, but I want to know, maybe this crazy modulation matrix on Xp can help to manage this ?

And get the gloss look on the Xpander ? Any tips, info greatly appreciated. Cheers, E

Always been a L-R-L-R-L-R guy, but have been play around with L2, R2, L2, R2, L2, R2, and L-M-R-L-M-R of late and just curious what others are doing for the best spread. (-)