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I bought a Lexicon MX-100 off of ebay for $80. It sounds good, but it is unusually bright when compared to the straight signal. I haven't decided whether I agree or not with those on Harmony-Central that say it sounds tinny or tanky. In any case, I'm interested in what you all have to say. Does this (as described below) sound like it would improve the sound?
There are only 8 or 9 full size components on the board. I wouldn't choose to mess with any of those micro-mini, gnat sized caps and resistors, but the normal sized ones are fair game.
Does anybody know of a source for Lexicon schematics?
Product: Lexicon MPX 100 Dual Channel Processor
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 02/22/2001 at 04:28am by Chris Johnson
Email: none
Sound Quality : 8
Here's where it gets interesting. Nobody mentioned the S/PDIF output? The thing is, this is some very good chips coupled with some _very_ cheap analog parts in a little case for really cheap. The potential is amazing but you almost have to mod it, and it's a bitch to mod: all wave soldered parts. The input and output caps are awful and undersized, and this causes a lot of the complaints about 'tanky' sound: they're eating all the bass authority which gives rooms a convincing size and weight, and they sound cheap. I replaced these parts with big .39 polypropylene film caps and the sound became _much_ bigger and better.
Once you get past that stage (or if you don't care anyhow, or can't do difficult gear mods yourself) it also must be mentioned that this unit is potentially _the_ hot external A/D converter for an engineer on a budget. You can mod it, and the external wall wart power supply makes it possible to put some heavy RF chokes on the power supply cable to further sweeten it and clean it up, and the input gain is potentially really high- like 'mic preamp' high, at full crank. All you have to do is hit the bypass switch ('why a bypass?' This is why) and you patch the A/D converters straight through to the S/PDIF out. You then run that to your computer or recording device (direct, or with a cheap RCA/optical converter) and bam: instant dedicated outboard A/D converter for insanely cheap if you've ever priced those out. Even stock it's gotta outperform just about any soundcard stuck in the noisy environs of a PC- especially if you are running an optical cable to avoid the PC's noisy ground.
That said- I do like the reverbs, and especially the 'tape' delay effect. I can see why a lot of people disliked the tone of the thing- I had to fix it with mods, after all- but inherently this _is_ a great sounding unit hobbled with really really cheap parts. I give it an 8, stock, and think it's an easy 10 if you can upgrade the coupling caps.
Customer Support : No Opinion
I do like the company, both for making great reverbs and because I read a Usenet thread in which someone was asking about the S/PDIF- and it turned out the Lexicon people had designed it from the start intending to get 20-bit outboard dedicated A/D converters into people's hands! They built it with the intention that some people would use it just as a converter. I think that's very cool. I also think I've kinda obliterated any warranty I might have had, so it's a bit of a moot point for me...
Overall Rating : 10
I think I held off on this for a while, not wanting to reveal how awesome this unit is for the price (especially if you are very good with modding circuits). Then I realised, most people won't be doing that, and anyway there are others helpfully saying 'nah it sucks!' and keeping the price down, so I figured I'd chime in. I only found out about the A/D converter trick today- I'd pored over this thread when deciding to buy it and nobody'd mentioned that use. I can say this: I have rarely been so _delighted_ as when I realised that, not only did I have an outboard A/D converter already (I'm getting ADAT/edit and wanted something to mix ADAT down to that wasn't an ADAT converter), but it was the Lexicon that I'd taken apart, spruced up, and which I've been deliriously happy with the sound of ever since. Sort of discovering wonderful unexpected talents in something you were already completely happy with, and that you trusted a lot. So my overall rating is 'yeah!' but if you are a techie geek and comfortable modding tricky circuits (not _that_ many of us) then this unit is a 'Freaking YEAAAAHH!' because it's a _moddable_ dedicated 20-bit A/D converter as well as a neat reverb (and of course you could use it as the converter and sweeten things with a bit of reverb, which would give the digital output 24 bits of information to send to your PC)
So add me to the 'yay Lexicon!' crowd. I admit it ships with some cheap parts- but the _guts_ of it are solid, and the price can be _so_ good. As I speak there are a bunch on eBay not getting any bids at starting prices of $100. You could add an $80 RCA/optical adapter (overkill) and that would _still_ be a terrific price on a 20 bit outboard A/D, never mind reverbs. It's like the old VW Bug: it's not a Ferrari or a Rolls-Royce, but you can end up loving it possibly more for what it is and how unassuming the price was...
Email withheld because I'm afraid of getting mobbed by people who want their 100s modded! O_O
There are only 8 or 9 full size components on the board. I wouldn't choose to mess with any of those micro-mini, gnat sized caps and resistors, but the normal sized ones are fair game.
Does anybody know of a source for Lexicon schematics?
Product: Lexicon MPX 100 Dual Channel Processor
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 02/22/2001 at 04:28am by Chris Johnson
Email: none
Sound Quality : 8
Here's where it gets interesting. Nobody mentioned the S/PDIF output? The thing is, this is some very good chips coupled with some _very_ cheap analog parts in a little case for really cheap. The potential is amazing but you almost have to mod it, and it's a bitch to mod: all wave soldered parts. The input and output caps are awful and undersized, and this causes a lot of the complaints about 'tanky' sound: they're eating all the bass authority which gives rooms a convincing size and weight, and they sound cheap. I replaced these parts with big .39 polypropylene film caps and the sound became _much_ bigger and better.
Once you get past that stage (or if you don't care anyhow, or can't do difficult gear mods yourself) it also must be mentioned that this unit is potentially _the_ hot external A/D converter for an engineer on a budget. You can mod it, and the external wall wart power supply makes it possible to put some heavy RF chokes on the power supply cable to further sweeten it and clean it up, and the input gain is potentially really high- like 'mic preamp' high, at full crank. All you have to do is hit the bypass switch ('why a bypass?' This is why) and you patch the A/D converters straight through to the S/PDIF out. You then run that to your computer or recording device (direct, or with a cheap RCA/optical converter) and bam: instant dedicated outboard A/D converter for insanely cheap if you've ever priced those out. Even stock it's gotta outperform just about any soundcard stuck in the noisy environs of a PC- especially if you are running an optical cable to avoid the PC's noisy ground.
That said- I do like the reverbs, and especially the 'tape' delay effect. I can see why a lot of people disliked the tone of the thing- I had to fix it with mods, after all- but inherently this _is_ a great sounding unit hobbled with really really cheap parts. I give it an 8, stock, and think it's an easy 10 if you can upgrade the coupling caps.
Customer Support : No Opinion
I do like the company, both for making great reverbs and because I read a Usenet thread in which someone was asking about the S/PDIF- and it turned out the Lexicon people had designed it from the start intending to get 20-bit outboard dedicated A/D converters into people's hands! They built it with the intention that some people would use it just as a converter. I think that's very cool. I also think I've kinda obliterated any warranty I might have had, so it's a bit of a moot point for me...
Overall Rating : 10
I think I held off on this for a while, not wanting to reveal how awesome this unit is for the price (especially if you are very good with modding circuits). Then I realised, most people won't be doing that, and anyway there are others helpfully saying 'nah it sucks!' and keeping the price down, so I figured I'd chime in. I only found out about the A/D converter trick today- I'd pored over this thread when deciding to buy it and nobody'd mentioned that use. I can say this: I have rarely been so _delighted_ as when I realised that, not only did I have an outboard A/D converter already (I'm getting ADAT/edit and wanted something to mix ADAT down to that wasn't an ADAT converter), but it was the Lexicon that I'd taken apart, spruced up, and which I've been deliriously happy with the sound of ever since. Sort of discovering wonderful unexpected talents in something you were already completely happy with, and that you trusted a lot. So my overall rating is 'yeah!' but if you are a techie geek and comfortable modding tricky circuits (not _that_ many of us) then this unit is a 'Freaking YEAAAAHH!' because it's a _moddable_ dedicated 20-bit A/D converter as well as a neat reverb (and of course you could use it as the converter and sweeten things with a bit of reverb, which would give the digital output 24 bits of information to send to your PC)
So add me to the 'yay Lexicon!' crowd. I admit it ships with some cheap parts- but the _guts_ of it are solid, and the price can be _so_ good. As I speak there are a bunch on eBay not getting any bids at starting prices of $100. You could add an $80 RCA/optical adapter (overkill) and that would _still_ be a terrific price on a 20 bit outboard A/D, never mind reverbs. It's like the old VW Bug: it's not a Ferrari or a Rolls-Royce, but you can end up loving it possibly more for what it is and how unassuming the price was...
Email withheld because I'm afraid of getting mobbed by people who want their 100s modded! O_O
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