Lexicon PCM96

Reviews | Lexicon PCM96
88
the only criteria
you need to decide
on are the sound
of the reverbs
themselves and
whether or not it
suits the way that
you work.
As with the SSL Matrix that I
reviewed a few issues back, this unit
marks the beginning of manufacturers
bringing the advantages of the analogue
and digital worlds ever closer and as
such can only be a good thing.
having the big graphic interface and
saving the setting with your song. A very
useful feature which works well,
although it will only have one set of
inputs and outputs. However, using it as
a plug gives one extra feature, namely
that you can double your inputs and
outputs. When streaming over fi rewire
the PCM96 can run two independent
stereo programs on two insert points or
up to four separate mono’s.
As an analogue unit, it does have
the possibility of running more than one
program at a time, but unless you are
running it as two monos, it’s still just
one unit. The plug-in version effectively
doubles up the unit.
Processor power
The modern audio world places
enormous emphasis on the fl exibility of
recording systems. So much of our
processing is now done ‘in the box’ and,
particularly if you are running native,
this puts a lot of strain on our
computers processors. Good reverb is
processor heavy, so anything that can
remove this from the equation is
defi nitely very welcome.
However, when you look at the
Lexicon and its pretty hefty price tag
other factors do come into play. There
are a lot of good software reverbs out
there like Altiverb and IK Multimedia’s
CSR which come in considerably
cheaper than the PCM96 and which
being exclusively software-based, give
install counts only dependant on your
computers CPU.
Buying a unit like this requires
plenty of justifi cation and you have to
look at your personal needs. If you
regularly use a hardware unit live or in
recordings through an analogue or
digital console, the PCM96 will give you
excellent results and slot right in to your
setup. If you also tend to mix ‘in the
box’ it will open up possibilities for you
that other purely hardware or software
units simply can’t do.
Tail of time
That Lexicon have been at the top of
the digital reverb market for 30 years
should tell you something about the
quality of the algorithms they use. This
is a very fi ne unit that stands pretty
much alone. My gripes about the
installation process will probably be
redundant by the time you read this so
ALTERNATIVES
TC PowerCore X8
£1,115
With eight DSPs and the
VSS3 System 6000 reverb
algorithms, it’s fl exibility for
other plug-ins and
processing make this a
good option for other
processing, but it won’t
work without a computer.
tcelectronic.com
IK Multimedia CSR
£199
Modeled after classic reverb
units and sought-after
gear, but limited to software
with all the uglies of latency
and CPU issues.
tcelectronic.com
Good reverb is processor heavy, so
anything that can remove this from
the equation is very welcome
DSP Confi gurations
The PCM96 has many different DSP confi gurations as both a freestanding unit and a
plug-in. Here is a brief description of them:
VERDICT
BUILD
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VALUE
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EASE OF USE
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VERSATILITY
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RESULTS
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A great sounding and very
adaptable unit marred only by an
awkward setup.
As a plug-in you lose
the cascade function
but gain two inputs
and outputs
DSP plug-in
As a hardware unit,
effects can be
cascaded
DSP hardware
FMU206.rev_lexicon 88 12/9/08 2:35:26 pm