Lexicon Prime Time II Model 95

Adjusting this delay is as easy as it gets - each feature has a dedicated knob, button or slider. It has a grand total of zero menus! The LED display gives info about each delay channel as well as modulation tracking (which can be a source of entertainment all it's own).

In addition to the sound quality and flexibility, the straightforward layout is one of the main reasons to get one of these units. This is one of the few effects devices capable of being played like an instrument. It can give a range of results from subtle chorus tonal coloring to radical detuned and feedback sonic transformations, and it's all at your fingertips with none of the typical feature obfuscation found in today's multi-fx units.

The Prime Time II was built around 1980, and is thus a very primitive digital device by today's 24bit and 32bit standards. But why does it still sound so good, and why do professionals rely on them every day? I haven't really investigated the circuits too much, but the Prime Time is definitely built to the very highest possible level available at the time. Remember this thing cost as much as a typical car when it came out, and was designed specifically for high-end studios. While the bit depth and sample rate aren't near what devices have today, the limitations were well understood, and the designers took great pains to minimize the way such limitations affected the sound. Lexicon seems to have lost such focus on their lower priced series of recent years, which boast better specs, but sound worse and are much harder to use than the Prime Time.

The maximum delay time is 2.56 seconds per delay line, which is an immense amount considering it was released before the age of the IBM PC. The device does decrease it's sample rate to achieve this, so full bandwidth delays have a limit of 1.28 seconds. The delayed sound is extremely smooth, and the filter works like it should.

The Prime Time features a modulation section with a sine and square wave LFO or external envelope following. This allows for extensive flange, chorus and detuning effects. The modulation is available no matter what the delay time is used, which can create some sounds no possible on any other delay unit I've ever used.

The unit has very little noise, but obviously can't match 24bit 96khz convertors found in current high end effects from Lexicon or TC Electronics. If Lexicon wised up and released a simple delay device with the same degree of manual control with modern convertors and DSP, they would not be able to keep them on the shelves.

This thing is nearly a quarter century old and still running (it's only a few years younger than me)! Prime Time's are built to last, and I expect to get another few decades of use from it.

Lexicon no longer supports the Prime Time Model 95, but a former Lexicon engineer named Jim Fabiano does. Full service and restoration of the Model 95 and other vintage Lexicon units are available by contacting him: http://www.jimfabiano.com/

My Prime Time II was serviced prior to my purchase of it, so I have no actual first hand experience with service and support. The fees look very reasonable to me though.

In my view, this is the best digital delay ever made. I've never used another delay that featured so many unique sounds, had the same ease of use, and was built with such high construction quality. I highly recommend anyone looking for a dedicated delay unit watching for one of these on eBay. The endless menu madness of modern FX boxes ends when you put one of these in your rack.

Again, modern effects unit designers would do well to study the way the Prime Time II functions as a basis for new products. I can imagine a modern device full MIDI, 24 bit 96khz version with digital I/O with the same highly functional dedicated controls finding it's way into many studios around the world to augment their existing Prime Times.