I think what is special about the PPG is:
The sound: always has this high end buzz when open the filters that makes the sound expensive. Together with the 2044 filter that thins out the sound when the resonance is cranked up (actully, it is the Q on the PPG, not resonance) and the wavetable synthesis with these stepping Wavetables the sound is very difficult to create with anything else. And for a digital synthesizer it is amazing warm sounding and heavy on bass if you want it to.
The GUI: is pretty nice, even you have to get used to the cryptic 40x2 character display. Also the resolution of parameters is very course, but therefore instanlty accessable via the numberpad and knobs.
The Looks: this is just the most beautiful synth in my studio. You feel like a little boy with the big knobs and buttons.
There is a slight difference between the Matrix-6 and the Matrix-12. Whereas the sound is different and the featureset is slightly different (especially the Filter section and VCOs instead of DCOs), the GUI is so much better on the Xpander/M12. You choose a section (OSC1, Filter, etc.) and go from there with maximum of two pages total (there is a seperate page two button for that). It is like turning to your Modular and work on the Oscillator, Filter, Amplifier and connect everything together via your virtual patchcables (by pressing the button under your destination and assign a source with amount). I really like that interface and in part, it is better than the PPG approach, stuffing certain material (switches and low resolution parameters) in the display and the rest with you control by designated knobs (Access is doing the same with the Virus but I think that there is a little too much stuff cramped into the Menue structure).
We should not forget, that the Virus can do alot of the Oberheim sounds, even the filter is tuned more in soundwise in the direction of Roland, IMHO.
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