Lexicon PCM81
 

Today I took ownership of a new multiFX unit.

Cycled through the presets....and after about 45 mins I suddenly got a heart attack inducing digital hash sound from my left speaker. Turned the unit off then back on....and it was ok for 15 mins. Then it happened again....and it scared the shit out of me. I have sensitive hearing and use a pair of Mackie HR824's about 4 feet away (not an ideal set up....but then again...this is just a hobby for me)

The truth is.....im really pissed off right now....and feeling pretty low. Im sick and tired of spending serious money on things only to then have all the fun destroyed by some fault/glitch. I phoned up Lexicon USA and reported my observations.......they recommended I send it back to my dealer and get a replacement.

Well, now that I've had this experience....im not sure I really want to get a replacement. This kind of thing puts me in a bad mood. This experience has revealed several 'facts': 1) since Lexicon outsourced production to China....quality has gone down 2) deminishing returns ($$$) begin to hit when you upgrade from the MP1X to the PCM range. Honestly, don't believe the hype......you get most of your bang for buck in the lower mid range units - above that, you start paying serious money for ever smaller gains 3) the PCM range sounds abit stale. Lexicon's marketing machine lead me to believe that there were some 'amazing' add on PCMCIA cards which expanded the system with more capability (17 algorithms, 300 presets to 40 algorithms and 800 presets). Being a self confessed preset user/tweaker (when it comes to effects) I was sold on this. Ah....but here came the final suprise - LEXICON don't make these cards anymore....and they are really FUCKING HARD to get hold of and they cost $$$.

Im going to send it back on Friday....and possibly ask for a full refund. Either that or I might opt for a 'lesser' effects unit such as the MPX1 and save some bucks for something else.

Can anyone here recommend a decent multiFX unit which won't leave me foaming at the mouth when i check my bank balance?

Thanks

DS

Im sorry man heard that sad experience, I mean it.
I know mostly of the electronics are made in China today day even Japanese brands or Europeans but anyways I recommend but made in USA or Europe products, hard to catch for some hardware, pay a little more but try that first.
Another thing, example... is maybe you have one Virus made in Germany but the components are made in "worldwide" especially China and Taiwan but they have better quality control for a finished product.

Sad experience.

Kurzweil Rumour Multi-Effects Processor

Kurzweil KSP 8

Eventide Ultra Harmonizer

TC Electronics Fireworx

TC Electronics S6000 ( he he he)

Yamaha PCM80 or 90

I like Lexicon's stuff, particularly their reverbs (probably my favourite digital reverbs), but I've never really forgiven them for the Core 2/XP debacle: http://reviews.harmony-central.com/r...on/Core+2/10/3
(not just the lack of xp drivers, but also their attitude, see some of the comments in that link) so I haven't bought any of their products since.

I'm all set to buy a Lexicon MPX-550 tomorrow, I'll let you know how it goes if it doesn't explode and send shards of shrapnel into my brain via the eardrums....

Eep, the PCM81 was going to be one of my purchases in the near future.. :/


-Annikk

About Lexicon in general, as I understand things to be (if anyone knows better feel free to correct me!)

They have a long proud history of making excellent pro audio gear. Back in the day Lexicons were THE reverb units - they had a distinctive character and feel that scored them places on almost every hit record in the history of recorded music (and reverb).

However, in more recent years they were acquired by a much larger electronics company called Harman International. Harman decided to fire most of Lexicon's R&D staff and basically slaved their reverb technology to home cinema type stuff. So in short although Lexicon reverb is still the same reverb as it always was, it is now being handled by a massive corporation with eyes only for profit. Lexicon's reputation is set to dwindle to meaninglessness until eventually they are just dissolved into the multinational like a graceful Ophelia beneath the waves.

This probably goes a long way to explaining their customer support issues. First off, Lexicon cared what we thought - Harman doesn't. Second, even if they wanted to give good support, write XP drivers, etc, they probably couldn't because they fired all the personnel who were capable of such things.
(so much anger..)

The R&D staff who lost their jobs disappeared into various other places. A few went to Line 6, but Brian and Casey (two of the top dudes) went and formed a new company with some guy called Tim. They called it BriCasTi, combining the first letters from each of their names. The Bricasti M7 is now imho the most awesome reverb unit on the planet - it looks like sex on a stick and the sound is unbelievable. It only costs £2,250!!! :p





Interesting discussion about Lexicon, Bricasti, and corporate greed here, including a post from Casey himself, sometime prior to the release of the M7 :>


-Annikk

TC Fireworx (multi-fx) has quite nice reverbs, also I use the TC M-One XL (primarily reverb, but also some multi-fx). I think the Fireworx reverbs are better than the M-One XL, but I find both very useful.

Another good combo is a TC D-Two delay and a TC M-One XL reverb. The character of them is defeinately diffeernt to thatt of lexicon - I think each apply different types of enrichment over the basic reverb algorythms, so I wont say one is beter than the other, they are just different.

In terms of general reverb quality, I would place both of these units above the MPX-1, however that doesnt nescessily mean you will like them more. I place both over any plugin reverb I have tried to date.

about multi fx i ve tried various units from low end to pretty high end stuff here my experience :

digitech studio quad : pretty cool 4 I/O unit really cheap n can be quite handy on stage , quality is ok

Ensoniq dp4 : this unit roxxx big time, 4 I/O too, this unit has caracter n good algos n lots of modulations in it , n it does disto very well, perfect for house, tekno, wonderful ensoniq chorus n flange nothing come close imo, if you can find a DP pro is even better! if you play guitar get the dp4 + its had front guitar input.

tc fireworx : crazy fx unit, m2000 rev algos, all the digital n analog i/o you ll ever need, very good converter, lots of controls n modulations, kind of box that does everything that the other dont ! this has a dark side of the moon preset lol. amon tobin use one for example :p

TC powercore : this is the big deal !! most realistic reverb you can find... system 6000 algos are dope, vss3 non lin dvr2 , MD3 !!!! i bought the MD3 package during xmas for half price i m the happiest man in the world lol, this is less hype than UAD but roxxx much better. its hard to explain as i m not really using it well but check out tc website , you can find pretty cheap powercore firewire on ebay, but i ll suggest investing into the powercore 6000 system, will save you a lot of money !!! from uk is like 2400e

was my lil 2 cents :p

Just because you mentioned the name . . .
 

Lexicon, i have some info. I grabbed one of the mixer/audio interfaces {I-ONIX U42S} and it works like a dream. Really, top quality sound I/O. Cool interface and design. It came with a vst reverb thing which hasn't blown me away, but this mixer ~ Yowch! Very nice! Here's a linkie;

http://www.lexiconpro.com/ProductInd...?ProductID=153

Makes my Virus purrrr . . .