One of the things I love in big studios is the amazing reverb units they have. When you get into the big leagues they are all running high end units like Lexicon’s 480s and 960s, or more recently, the units coming out of Bricasti. Without question these units are chosen for their sound quality; The sounds they produce are amazing. That level of sound quality comes at a price though. Back when Lexicon was selling it’s 960L reverb unit you could expect to pay around $20k for the privilege of owning one. TC Electronics makes a unit called ‘System 6000’ which was informally called ‘The Poor Man’s 960’ but it’s selling price was, and still is, $14k! I can’t imagine spending that kind of money on my whole studio build out though, so I have to look a little farther down market for a reverb to fit my needs.
In addition to ultimate sound quality, the ultra high-end reverbs tend to share another feature that is very rare in the lower end reverbs: They can all be run via a remote. The flagship reverbs from Lexicon and TC Electronics are run exclusively via remote and Bricasti makes two version of their reverb, one with front panel controls and one with out.
The granularity of the settings offered in these high end units makes a dedicated remote a must. So many parameters can be changed and edited that doing so via a small screen on a unit mounted in a gear rack would make it nearly impossible, not to mention uncomfortable, to get the setting you want perfect. Who wants to spend 10 or 15 minutes hunched over or on their knees trying to tweak a setting or audition sounds? The greater issue to my mind though is that you find yourself making important mix decisions well away from you usual mix position. You’re listening for subtle changes in the sounds coming from you speakers, while across the room and with your back turned. Surely a better solution must be out there.
Finding a reverb unit that could be used via a remote while also being affordable has proved to be a difficult task. Obviously, one option is to use a reverb plugin within your computer. You could then use the reverb and tweak settings via your mouse and keyboard. This will be a great options for many people and many of the reverb plugins sound wonderful. For me though, while I will use some computer based reverbs, having a couple reverb units in the rack is really the best way to accomplish certain tasks. With the Tascam M3700 and tape machines I have it’s quite possible that I will have a mix to do without the need for a computer and even if I do use the computer for a project the easiest and least complicated way to add reverb to a singer’s headphone mix is to use an outboard unit. Considering I’ll be building my studio around the Tascam M3700, having at least a few rack mounted reverbs is a must.
The search then for a unit that I could both afford and use via a remote was on! I started my search by looking up the names of the classic high end units from the late 70s and 80s that I’ve always lusted after on places like Ebay.com. Before Lexicon made the 480L, they made the 300L and their very first truly flagship unit, the 224. Even the 224 though, a unit released in 1978 is selling for upwards of $2000, which is more than I am willing to spend, especially on computer based gear in excess of 30 years old. Klark-Teknik’s DN-780, which was released around the same time, is down to ~$1200 but again, it’s too old for me to be investing in it.
In today’s market, if you’re looking for a solid unit built in the current century with a great reputation, the only option I see is Kurzweil’s KSP-8. Couple it with the RSP-8 remote and you’re good to go. It was discontinued a few years back but pops up on Ebay from time to time and sells for something around $1500. It’s new enough to be worth the investment but for me, still too much money. I’ll own one someday, but today isn’t that day.
Right now, I need a unit around $100, which is an unbelievably small amount of money for this kind of gear. I thought I was going to have to just bite the bullet and get something without a remote, at least for now, but instead I stumbled across a piece of gear that will suit me perfectly.
Lexicon, in the early 1990s released a line of gear to bridge the gap between the entry level reverbs and the high end gear with the prefix of ‘LXP’. They released three units, the LXP-1, basically a reverb, the LXP-5, basically a delay, and the LXP-15, which featured good algorithms for both reverbs and delays. The LXP-1 and LXP-5 are 1/2 rack units that could be setup side by side and the LXP-15 is a 1U item. What makes them interesting though is the another piece of gear called the Lexicon MRC. This unit, which is essentially a MIDI remote controller, has MIDI inputs and is programed to interface with the reverbs. Initially it was able to send commands to the LXP-1, LXP-5 and PCM-70 but with a firmware upgrade they added two way communication to the LXP-15.
Basically, you can setup the MRC to control up to 16 LXP-1, LXP-5 or PCM-70 reverb units with one way communication, from the MRC to the reverb. This would allow you to make changes and tweak settings from the remote but if you then changed a setting directly on the reverb unit the remote would be out of sync. With the firmware upgrade they removed the ability to interface with the PCM-70, left the one way communication with the LXP-1 and LXP-5 and added two way communication for the LXP-15. Since the MRC has only two sets of MIDI ports though you are able to control only 2 LXP-15s.
Since the LXP-15 was released at a time really predating the pervasive internet we are used to now, it’s pretty tough to find solid reviews of the unit. A few reviews are out there for the LXP-15 II but that unit is not compatible with the MRC. A few anecdotal reviews can be found on some audio forums though and tend to be favorable. Favorable enough for me to start looking around for some bargains at least.
A quick search on Ebay will turn up dozens of the LXP-15 units as well as the MRC controllers. I was able to pickup an MRC for less than $25 shipped and I’ve bought one LXP-15 so far for less then $70 shipped. Assuming it sounds good and interfaces well with the MRC, I’ll add a second unit when another good deal comes around. Most of the LXP-15s I’ve seen on Ebay have an ending price of closer to $150 but for the patient they can be had for less.
I’ll post about the sound and interfacing when I’m able to get things working.