When it comes to Lexicon, I have been hanging back in the weeds, waiting for a reverb/effects offering that would appeal nicely with live sound applications. There wasn’t a lot of hoopla about the Lexicon MX300 Effects Processor when I spotted it at the winter NAMM show, but it looked perfect for what a mid-priced effects unit for live sound applications should be.
The Gear
Let’s talk about the panels first. For the live sound engineer, the Lexicon MX300 looks like a “Goldilocks” kind of multi-effects offering. Not too few presets, not too much price.
Looking at the front panel, the MX300 starts off with the requisite input gain control and dual four LED bars for a digital -24 dB, -12 dB, -6 dB and 0 dB before clip indications. Then comes the digital LED activity indicators for S/PDIF and USB, followed by the backlit monochrome Liquid Crystal Display and Page/Select encoder control to browse through the menus. Three buttons for Exit, Tempo and Bypass are co-located with three smaller encoder controls for editing parameters on any peculiar effects patch. A segregated Program section contains another large encoder control for patch selection by Store, System and Bypass buttons. Two LEDs are placed next to a dual seven-segment numeric LED display for indicating whether a factor or user-programmed effects patch is in use.
The back panel of the Lexicon MX300 is all business with XLR and TRS phone connectors for analog stereo signal inputs and outputs. The S/PDIF connectors are the usual RCA phono jack style, and the MIDI in and through connectors are the DIN five-pin style. Besides the USB-B connector for computer interfacing, an additional TRS phone jack is included for various purposes, including tap tempo and program changes.
Now let’s focus on the brains that drive this train. The Lexicon MX300 architecture is standard fare with a central processor commanding dual DSPs for effects generation. What I really like about the MX300 is that you can software patch the DSP processors in series or parallel without mechanical switches. The MX300 contains 10 categories of reverbs, seven categories of delays and seven modulated effects types that can be mixed and matched within the stereo/mono and series/parallel routings.
But no normal sound person would ever go straight to unique patch programming without taking a gander at the factory preset patch listings. The 99 factory patches are about half reverb blends and half everything else. I auditioned each patch with a mic, mixer and headphones; some of my favorites were the tight plate, live hall, big snare, Sizzlin’ ‘60s delay and drum delay.
The Gigs
My general take on the Lexicon MX300 is that this multi-effects processor is a really good middle-of-the road effects unit and great value for the bucks. My good cues were the internal power supply, plenty of input signal range (+24 dBu) and plenty of nice low-distortion processing. I really could not find any flaws with the MX300, but I might be more tempted to create my own “special sauce” patches for vocal plates, vocal halls and percussion ambiance.
What it is: Multi-effects processor.
Who it’s for: Providers with deep ears and shallow pockets.
Pros: Price, flexibility, quality construction.
Cons: Nil.
How much: $295 SRP
Web site: www.lexiconpro.com
