[pauliejay]

Lexicon MX-200 Dual Reverb Effects Processor

[Schneibster]

How much did you purchase this item for? $170

Where did you purchase this item? Guitar Center

Is this item new or used? New

Features:

1. The finest digital reverbs on the planet, bar none- Lexicon's reputation in this area is well-deserved, and completely upheld by this unit
2. SPDIF in and out at 48kHz, switchable output either direct from the input A/D or from the processors- this allows units to be cascaded in either series or parallel, entirely in the digital domain and therefore entirely immune to noise of any type
3. Digital delay up to 5 seconds, analog, pong, and reverse delay- the analog is the best Echoplex emulation I have ever heard from a digital unit
4. All standard modulation effects, phase, chorus, flange, pitch, etc.- the flanger is a little funny, the controls don't quite work the way you would expect, and it may be a bit difficult to obtain some popular sounds, you can do it but it takes fussing around; but the chorus is absolutely magical, blows stomp boxes off the planet- has a de-esser and a compressor (neither of which I use but you never know) and a fantastic Leslie emulation, best I've heard
5. Two processors, which can be combined in series (first processor's output goes to input of second processor) or parallel (input goes to both processors, output comes from combination of both processors)
6. Midi sync delay times, or tap-tempo variable on front panel by desired note signature (you have to do a little math in your head, but they provide a table in the manual and you'll get used to it- basically, the time at center, which is 36, is the MIDI or tap tempo, and the knob ranges down to a quarter that much and up to twice that much; 36 is nominally a quarter note, 72 a half note, 0 a sixteenth note, 12 an eighth note, and 54 a dotted quarter note)
7. Every imaginable reverb type, with thoroughgoing parameter controllability and awesome quality- the spring reverb actually does things that the real high-quality long-box reverb on my amp will not, and this thing does a slap echo that you have to hear to believe; the plate reverb is absolutely wonderful, and does things to my sound that really make my axe sing
8. Remote control via MIDI control change, program change, and system-exclusive messages or USB 2.0 (from your computer); complete backup to a computer and restore in less than 10 seconds over USB 2.0 (software installation details below); plug-in software provides programmatic control from popular programs like Cakewalk, Cubase, and Logic Audio
9. Bypass footpedal control (buy your own pedals and cables, Boss FS-5U pedals work fine)- separate control for each processor; bypass button also on the front panel for each processor
10. TRS lo-Z stereo input and output, auto-switches to hi-Z TS when you plug a TS cable in, input auto-switches to mono if only left input is plugged in
11. 3 parameters for each processor, plus effect type, input level, and output mix level
12. 99 factory presets and 99 user presets, selected via knob on front
13. Input level LED display for easy input calibration
14. Test ("audition") sounds available to test settings during setup
15. "Wall-wart" power supply (included) for noise immunity- power supply is external to the case, minimizing the chance of interference

Construction:
1U rackmount, 4 3/4" deep; cast aluminum faceplate, sheet metal case, all connectors, knobs, and indicators are properly mounted and easily accessible (with one minor exception noted below). External "wall-wart" power supply, to minimize the intrusion of strong EM fields within the body of the unit. I/O is on the left (as you face the front) and footpedal connectors on the right, with SPDIF, MIDI, and USB in the middle and power on the extreme right. MIDI in and out/thru (this unit does not send MIDI, but will forward in "thru" mode). My one minor kvetch about this unit is that the footswitch connectors are on the back, making it inconvenient to connect the footpedals when the unit is rackmounted; however, frankly, I can't see a place on the front they could have put them. I'll be routing these connectors to a blank 1U faceplate, which also happens to be on the front of my 1U power supply for my external effects chains, thus conserving space in my rack. I may elect to do the same with the USB connector; time will tell on that one. I secured a power bar in the back of my rack, and secured the wall warts to it with tie-wraps, and this has worked fine for me.

Sound: Awesome. When the unit is bypassed, you can't tell it's there, and the frequency response and distortion are +/- 1dB and <0.007% 20-20k. Input and output are up to +20dBu, at +4dBu nominal; the unit's extremely low noise and 24-bit resolution set a dynamic range of better than 108dB, and combined with its digitization rate of 48kHz, the unit provides better than CD quality sound (CDs are digitized at 44.1kHz, and generally have 20 bits of resolution on a good player). Other than the balky flanger (and you'll find that the major problem you have is setting the mix right- the flanger requires a higher proportion of "effect" sound to "dry" sound than you will expect, and this can put you in a situation that requires major resets of your mixer), the effects are excellent, with particular credit to the chorus and detune effects, which can create magical arabesques of sound when used freely; used judiciously, they will make any guitar sound fuller. My 335 sounds like a choir of angels; my 12-string is beyond description. The reverbs are the best in the business, and I have already noted the Leslie and the analog delay emulations above. I am still wrestling with whether to use the unit in-line, before I go to the mixer, or take pre- or post-fade outputs from the board and run the unit into other channels on the board; so far, the second seems to be the best way, considering my setup. To top it all off, I have a second unit, and have chained the two together with SPDIF, which as I noted above happens completely in the digital domain, and can be selected to be the dry input immediately after digitization or the wet output prior to conversion back into the analog domain. Since my digital recorder accepts SPDIF in, that means I can send the SPDIF output from the second effect directly to the recorder's mixer and work completely in the digital domain, for complete noise immunity and unparalleled dynamic range.

Ease of Use: Considering what it does, and the limitations of the packaging, I would say that it could hardly be easier. This is, however, a studio effect, and you need to be prepared to work with the unit a while in order to use its full potential. The software installs easily on Windows XP SP1, and fails appropriately and with useful error messages when the appropriate facilities (memory, disk space, USB 2.0) are not available. You also need to be (or become) familiar with the audible effects of various parameters for the effects, and (if you intend to use the unit in the digital domain) with SPDIF and digitization rate and resolution concepts. Nevertheless, this unit is easily managable on stage or in the studio with a little time spent coming to understand its settings.

Reliability: So far, excellent, but I have not had long experience, nor has the unit been available for very long in the marketplace. Overall, ratings for this manufacturer are good to excellent, and the unit is sufficiently well engineered that I do not expect to ever have a problem.

Overall: Incredible value for money spent. Lose your stomp-box flangers, phasers, choruses, and delays; this unit eats them all for lunch. And you get the best digital reverb there is, period. I am running two of these units, daisy-chained by SPDIF, and I have never spent $340 better when it comes to effects. I don't expect to ever need anything else to make all the sounds I want come out. Two units gives me a delay, a chorus, a reverb, and one free effect to use however I want (flange, phase, Leslie, whatever). I can arrange them massively parallel, or in series in whatever order I choose, or series-parallel with each pair of effects running in series but the two units in parallel, all without touching a single cable or plugging anything in. The only reason I'd ever get anything else is to go to true studio-quality 96kHz 32-bit; and I defy anyone but a highly-trained audio engineer using a hundred thousand dollars worth of analysis gear to tell the difference between this and that. Nor am I interested in the thousands of dollars that such studio-quality gear is likely to cost. For the person who isn't into rack-mount, this unit can be used as an in-line effect, plug your axe in this side and your amp in that side and it will work great. But if you do that, you're not getting all this unit has to offer; still, for $170, it's a good deal anyway, blowing just about any stomp box away. All you need is a good distortion pedal, a wah, and a stereo amp and a pair of speakers, and you're off and running. I thought the RP-200 was a pretty good deal, and I still think so, but these Lexicons absolutely rock.

Experience Level: Six months

[Schneibster]

Update: I have recently purchased a Takamine 12-string (I'll be reviewing it as soon as pauliejay sends the template) and I am running it direct to my sound board, then aux-looping through the Lexicons. The chorus and plate reverb absolutely ROCK with this setup; it sounds like a choir of angels. I also recently set my old "beach" ("beater-" the one I take to the beach and don't worry about much) 6-string acoustic up with Fishman under-saddle coaxial and under-bridge piezo pickups, mixed thru a Fishman Model G preamp I custom-modified to accept one on the tip and one on the ring, with a pair of pots to balance them and switches to turn each pickup on and off, and it also sounds wonderful (once I got the pickup balance right, and the placements and so forth) thru the Lexicons. The longer I use these two effects, the more respect I gain for them.