Lexicon MPX500 - Dual Channel Processor

Unit is very easy to use. Knobs are the digital endless rotatry type. Manual is small and only give you the Need To Know information. I have firmware ver 1.04

I can only speek about using the MPX500 with synths and samplers. The reverbs are alittle thin for a Lexicon. If it had another manufactures name on it, I would not have thought twice about this, but I expected better, fatter, less sterile reverbs from Lexicon.

The delays are wonderful and quiet even with generous amounts of feedback. The pitch shifter is good for an effects type shifter.

The flanger sounds a little weak, I've heard better in this price range. The unit follows MIDI clock very well for tempo parameters tied to MIDI clock.

The quality of the (24 bit) converters is good, a little better than you would expect in this price range. The unit can function as an extra stereo A/D (44.1 or 48K)with SPDIF out.

All I can say is the knobs feel solid and the power supply is built into the unit (+).

This would be a great unit for playing live! In the studio, it's just another average to good effects box. The sounds do complement my DP/2 rather well, so I'm keeping it.

It is easy to edit the mpx500. Up to sixteen parameters can be edited for each porgram. There are four knobs dedicated to that purpose and an "Edit Pages" button lets you flip between the four sets of four parameters. The display shows the current parameters corresponding to each knob. When on page one, the leftmost of these four knobs is referred to as the "adjust" knob. This is very similar (if not the same) as the "adjust" knob on the mpx100. Whereas the other knobs edit specific parameters, the "adjust" knob modifies several parameters at once. The parameters it modifies depends on the program being edited. As the manual indicates, an example would be that on several room and chamber programs, the "adjust" knob modifies the "liveness," which means it modifies decay, EQ, and early reflections all at once.
The manual lists the preset programs, with a description of each type, with some history around the type. For each program, the manual lists what the "adjust" knob does, in name only, (see below,) and what the tap button is set to. Some examples of what the "adjust" knob is set to: "Livenes" (as stated before); "MidRT" (no description), "Walls" (no description), "HighCut," (self explanatory, but no specifics). The manual states that a description of the "adjust" parameter pops onto the screen (where the other parameters normally are) when you turn the knob, but all that happens is that part of the screen goes blank. I hope this can be corrected with an OS upgrade, or at least Lexicon could post some descriptions on their web site. There is not a single reference to any of the other editable parameters in the manual either. You have to just go and fool with the unit to see what the parameters do. If this lack of information is intended, it seems there can be two possible reasons: Lexicon assume(s) the user already knows what they are, being familiar with Lex Lingo, which seems unlikely, this being a step down from most of their other units; OR, Lexicon figure(s) the user doesn't want to bother with details, and just wants to tweak and have fun. The latter seems more likely, as there are only 30 user programs, so if you want to get deeply into the parameters, you will only be able to have 30 at a time on the unit. This limit probably won't bother most people, myself included. I can always store them on the computer if necessary. It does seem ironic though: so easy to edit, but only 30 places to store those edits. It would be nice to be able to program the "adjust" knob to the parameters you want. This can be taken care of with midi though.
It is also quick and easy to go to a particular program. First, I wuld like to say that I like the navigation on the MPX 100. One knob to select the program type, and one knob to select the specific program. The mpx500 has just one knob, but it serves the purpose of both the knobs on the mpx100. You can twist the knob to go to the next program, but if you push the knob, you skip to the next program type. Quick and easy. The knobs are small like on the MPX 100, but have the definite detentes of the more expensive Lexicon units.
The mpx500 is geared to respond to midi CCs. All of the editable parameters, "adjust" included, plus Bypass and Tap can be programmed to respond to CCs. It is real easy to do as well, there being a "Learn" mode. You can also use midi for changing programs.
Setting the rythmic parameters of the MPX500 is real flexible. You can set the tempo with a discernable audio beat, or with midi clock, or you can tap it in directly. The current tempo is displayed on screen.
The System page allows you to configure the mpx500 to your own preferences, and it is very well thought out. Some highlights: You can set the "Mix Mode" (efx to dry signal ratio) to either global or each program, meaning if y

As to the programs themselves. The mpx500 has 240 presets, half single algorithm, half dual algorithm. the single program types are as follows, with the number of each program type in parantheses: Plate(9); Gate(10); Hall(10); Chamber(10); Ambience(10); Room(10); Tremolo(5); Rotary(5); Chorus(5); Flange(5); Detune(5); Pitch(5); Delay, Echo(15); Special FX(15). As to the Dual programs: the routing on the dual programs is fixed, that is for eaample, on the Flange - Delay bank, the first six programs use Dual Stereo (parallel) and the remaining four use Cascade (serial). You can adjust the amount of each effect in the program with knob three. As in the single programs, there are up to sixteen total editable parameters available. The Dual Program types are as follows: Flange - Delay(10); Pitch - Delay(10); Chorus - Delay(10); Delay - Reverb(10); Flange - Reverb(10); Pitch - Reverb(10); Chorus - Reverb(10). (For the preceeding dual program types, the first six programs have dual stereo routing and the remaining four programs have Cascade routing.) The three remaining Dual types: MonoSplitDly(15); MonoSplitRvb(20); Dual Mono(16). The routing for these types is self-explanatory.
The "environmental" reverbs (hall, church, etc.) sound very smooth and realistic, and there is much flexibility in all the programs so you should be able to get just the effect you want, given the algorithms available. Very low noise, but there is a slight "tick" sound when the bypass button is pressed, though I had to turn things up above unity on the mixer to hear it. I wouldn't worry about it. Also, comparing this to the TC M-One, I noticed a slightly higher noise floor on the MPX500, but it doesn't seem too significant. It was really a torture test, just to compare the two.

VERY solidly built, in the People's Republic of China, for what it's worth. Internal power supply. If I ever gigged, I would not hesitate to use it without a backup. My experience with Lexicon products has been flawless.

Haven't dealt with them.

I play a mixture of stuff, classical to modern. It works with everything. I have a variety of synthesizers that this works with, through an aux send on a Mackie 1642 vlz pro. I also own a TC M-One, and they each have some positive features over the other. The MPX is more immediately editable, and has 240 preset programs, compared to 100 for the TC. The MPX is a bit more flexible in its system configuration. The TC, however, has a much more flexible routing and programming configuration, and 100 user programs, compared to 30 for the MPX. There is a difference in algorthims, where the MPX has Rotary, and the TC has Compression, limiting, EQ, and de-essing. The other algorithms are basically the same... I also could compare it to the Roland SRV 3030. (I have a review of it here at Harmony Central also.) Except for the reverbs, I think I would prefer the Roland. It has some unique algorithims for this price range, and is just as editable. But since my preferred feature is reverbs, I favor the MPX500. But personally, I may return the MPX500 and buy an MPX-1. It has the dual engine design and is much more editable, but is it worth the extra $200.00? And those knobs on the MPX500 keep speaking to me, "turn me, it's easy..." Oh, the agony of choice...

This unit is very easy to use. Four realtime knobs for editing parameters, and a button to scroll through the various pages of parameters. Think of it as an MPX-100 on steroids. The Lexichip is the same, but there are tons of parameters to tweek, but the only downfall is that the knobs are not as smooth as the "Adjust" knob on the MPX-100. But you can set the knobs to CC# and get a smoother result off of a different unit. All parameters are displayed on the screen as well as BPM, effects routing and more! The manual is a typical Lexicon manual, very easy to read and understand.

I use this processor primary for keyboards and drums with excellent results. The unit runs 24 bit in and out so there is no noise whatsoever. Reverbs are very clean and have a lot of the parameters you would find in the MPX-1, so you can really tweak out those verbs. However, it's still not quite the MPX-1, but if you can't afford that, the MPX-500 will not disappoint.

I have only had this unit a few days. I am pretty sure that they just came out, so I really can't comment on this too much, but given the quality and reliability of their others products, I can imagine you can expect the same from this unit. I would have no problem at all taking it out to a show, and not even think twice about it malfunctioning.

When this unit was announced at the AES convention, I called Lexicon to inquire about it. The person I spoke to was very helpful, and gave me some info on the units operation. Shortly after, I called back again to find out where the first ones were being shipped out to, they told me and I picked one up right away. Not bad at all!

I mostly play ambient music, but do venture out into other various styles of music. For me this unit is a must have! I have the MPX-100 as well as the MPX-1 and they all sound great together. I intially was planning to sell my MPX-100 for the MPX-500, but I am glad I didn't. The only reason I say that is that the edit knobs are not the same as the adjust knob on the MPX-100. I compared this unit the the new TC Electronic M-One, but personally, I thought the MPX-500 was way better. For $500 I think it's the best unit on the market today! Go buy one now!!