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I'm looking for a good external reverb, and was at first expecting to hook it up via S/PDIF & then I saw these units with tthe USB connection and AU plugin host for controlling right from the DAW.

Does anyone have any experience with these. Particularly, how do they sound and how welll does the USB/AU plugin control feature work in DP.

Thanks.

I just got an MX 200 about a week ago. I have always liked Lexicon's sound and was excited about the USB connection, however as of yet I have not been able to get DP5.1 to recognize the Lexicon as a plug in. I was working in Peak a couple of days ago and noticed that it does show up as a plug in there so I have some more troubleshooting to do. I will let you know how it turns out.

Steve

Thanks for the feedback.

I agree, I have always loved the Lexicon reverbs. I was looking at the PCM91 when I saw these and thought that the USB feature would be so convenient for recalling presets for mixes...If it's not going to work I may as well just go with the PCM91 and connect it via AES/EBU.

If you get it to work, drop a post about it.

BTW, how do you like the sound - is it anywhere near the more expensive Lexicon units?

Interesting concept. I'm really liking hearing about more hardware plugins for how they give the CPU some breathing room.

There are some considerations for this, tho...

1. No digital connections? According to Lexicon, the USB does not transmit audio, so the analog I/O is the only option.

2. "Wall-Wart" power supply-- but I would hope the unit has no trouble drawing power from the USB port along with MIDI. Not a big deal, tho.

3. VST only. I suppose this is an issue largely for DP where VST support is rather indirect-- not impossible, but it seems late in the day for AU to be overlooked-- unless Lexicon knows something the rest of us don't...?

---digitalolive, are you using a Wrapper for DP? I don't have Peak, but I'd suspect that because of its acclaimed native support for VST that it would indeed *see* the 200 with no problems......... Logic would, too. DP may require VST Wrapper or similar. Just a guess.....

But, hoooo-weeee. I love the sound of Lexicon in general-- always have--- and I love the idea of hardware plugins big time.

I have an MPX550 permanently wired to my 828mkII's spdif I/O for a monitor 'verb and use in mixing. I have to confess I haven't been using it much for mixing since I got a Quad though... Altiverb's Lex 480 rocks and I can run many instantiations without any trouble.

Frodo wrote: 1. No digital connections? According to Lexicon, the USB does not transmit audio, so the analog I/O is the only option.

...

3. VST only. I suppose this is an issue largely for DP where VST support is rather indirect-- not impossible, but it seems late in the day for AU to be overlooked-- unless Lexicon knows something the rest of us don't...?

I don't think I wanna be brave enuf to tell Mr Frodo he is wrong... but...

according to Lexicon, http://www.lexiconpro.com/ProductDetail ... oductID=12,
the control software also comes in the AU flavor, and their MX400 has digital I/O (he was right about the MX200). I think I wanna MX400 for xmas.

It certainly is tempting - I have never found a reverb plug I like as much as my old Lexicon PCM60...which I (stupidly) sold many years back (along with a PCM41).

As I thought about it more and more I keep thinking that I may just bite the bullet and go for the PCM91. If I'm going to do Lexicon I think I'm willing to give up the USB/AU convenience for the higher end PCM series sound.

I mean, in the end it's all about the sound - not the convenience...right?

sdemott wrote: I think I'm willing to give up the USB/AU convenience for the higher end PCM series sound.

I mean, in the end it's all about the sound - not the convenience...right?

OK, maybe I is shtewpid, but what convenience do you lose? You get a gui/plug for editing, and the hardware handles all the processing. Esp. with the 400, it would seem to me that its got everything a boy could want?

AFAIK the PCM91 doesn't have the USB/AU abilities that the MX series does. I would love the convenience, but really think I would be unhappy going with anything less than the PCM91 reverb.

I like to spend the money once and just get what will be best (within reason) for the job. Too many "i'll get this fr now 'cause it's cheap" scenarios ended up costing me a lot more in the end.

But thats me...

oh, I get it, I thought you were saying theMXers lacked in terms of convenience. duh.

I guess that for my project studio set-up, I would be happy with something in the price-range of the MX 400. In fact, that's about all I could afford, so for me, the question is whether or not the MX400 is the best choice in that price bracket. Given that I do my stuff in surround, I think its my only real option if I want a hardware 'verb.

I'm glad to see this thread started, some of the ambiguities resolved, and some initial feedback, and look forward to more.

As I posted elsewhere this past summer, I ended up getting a Kurzweil Rumour for my reverb needs, and there's been no looking back. But it is a devil to program (I still haven't figured out how to access algorithms, of which there are quite a few, that are not already being utilised by one of the presets; as opposed to simply modifying all of the OTHER parameters and resaving as a user preset), and it never hurts to have another flavour of reverb available with different overall characteristics.

I know everyone is looking at this as a reverb unit, but I will also be curious to hear feedback on how good and flexible/programmable the digital delays are. I have not yet prioritised buying the PSP delay suite, partly because my current computer struggles even with the PCM 42 much less the others, and may bypass that solution altogether if the delays in this new Lexicon unit are up to vintage standards and are comparable in both their character and their parameterisation.

Just got the MX400 last night. The AU plug works well and the effect quality of the reverbs and chorii are really nice. Although it has digital i/o I didn't have 2 s/pdif ports on my 828mkII so I just set up 2 stereo effects send using analog outputs on the 828. So far the use of analog connections hasn't introduced noticable noise. I'll try and do a more indepth review later once I get to play with the programs but so far I'm very impressed. The fact that I can use the same configuration for live and recording is pretty sweet too. More to come.

Hey Mr Saint,

I would be particularly interested in what it can do with its faux surround (4 channels). For example - are there many pres for surround, and does it do much with surround delays, ala DP's own built in surround delay plug?

Since I started this I thought I'd chime in again.

After much research and listening tests I think I have decided against the Lexicon units and am now looking seriously at the t.c. electronic M3000.

The only thing that bugs me is that lack of digital sample rates above 48k (but the PCM 91 only hit 20-bit/48k on the digital outs, which turned me off almost immediately). The tce Reverb 4000 does 24/96 but that "luxury" will run me an extra $1k.

Once I pull the trigger on this I'll let everyone know what I end up with.

Sure, 3000 is a bigger number than 400, but what else would attract you to the M3000?

here's a review of the M3000:http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_tc_electronic_studio/
...has it changed in the last 7 years?

Here's another:http://www.infinitesound.com/m3000.htm

for what I do, the MX400 offers a lot more, but to each their own I guess.

The M3000 can be had quite a bit cheaper tho, so I suppose that's a consideration too.