Arturia releases LEXICON LX-24

[vitocorleone123]

I would never normally consider even demoing anything from Arturia but in quest of finding the ultimate software alternative to my oto bim bam I came across with this and thought to give it a go as nothing else has hit the bar so far.

Why is this reverb so good? What happened to Arturia? Is it just me? Anyone else with hardware reverbs got impressed? It’s got that something that immediate gratification but also sits in the mix like hardware reverbs do. I guess they implemented the saturation stage into this one very well? And it’s like my BAM it’s not harsh you don’t get ear fatigue like from most software reverbs. What’s this about? Really the only negative element is the latency.

I have a Mercury 7 and I'm not impressed with the Arturia. But I like it and have it. It's more configurable, but it also doesn't sound as good where it overlaps. I definitely like some other software reverbs better, but this in no way means the Arturia one is bad to me. I'm pretty sure I'll keep it installed long-term.

The new, free Solaris also sounds great.

[audiouser720]

Yeah, because it sounds more like a diffuse, filtered delay than a real reverb...

That is indeed it's strength, not being so diffuse. It's also one of it's weaknesses for sure. This is definitely not a desert island reverb plugin. It's more of a one trick pony but that trick is awesome and works in a lot of genres of music.

What do you think of Relab’s 480 in general and also in terms of how it envelopes around the sound and melts into the mix comparing to the 224?

I am of course aware that they are 2 completely different things but you have spoken so highly about LX-24 in terms of how it sits in the mix. I wonder if Relab 480 has the same properties but perhaps more of a desert island reverb? I have always found the 224 more interesting on synths at least. I have an OTO BAM which I love and I think the 224 is closer to that sound than the 480.

Relab 480 is probably the most accurate Lexicon emulation on the market. I could literally not tell it apart in their famous blind test they posted many years ago so in terms of accuracy, it's absolutely 100% spot on.

As a reverb, compared to the 224 it's quite different sounding. It's way more "realistic" and much more capable to be a go-to reverb. It's delay pattern and the diffused buildup is much denser yet has the same ability to be very unobtrusive to the original sounds frequency response (which is mostly Barry Blesser's "Lexicon sound" to my ears), that is, it just blends with or behind the sound without really altering the overall tonality.

As a choice, you just need to download both demos and go from there. The 224 is a much more signature type of sound whereas the 480 can sound quite modern and even be a bit sparkly and "sizzly" in a pleasant way. I just seem to really like the 224 sound, a lot.

My current most used reverbs are (in no particular order):

Arturia LX 24 (naturally I'm still in the honeymoon phase with it)
Liquidsonics Tai Chi
Liquidsonics Seventh Heaven (Bricasti clone)
Ariesverb (yes I still use it to this day but it's days are numbered as it wont be updated for M1 native)
UVI Plate (best super dense plate reverb ever made but a real CPU hog)
UVI Sparkverb (a peculiar own type of character to it that I like)
Valhalla Room and Vintage Verb (these need no introductions)
Valhalla Supermassive
Fabfilter Pro-R (very good for tucking in a bit of reverb room/hall realism behind a sound in mono)
Eventide Blackhole (I don't use this often but sometimes it's the perfect choice!)
Eventide SP2016, the new one (very unique character, usually on percussion and stabby synths)
Relab Sonig (amazing general purpose verb for many things!)
Audiority Xenoverb (versatile yet always unique sounding)
Native Instruments Raum (very unique sound texture to it's 3 algorithms)

Those are the ones I usually choose from. I always use a ton of reverb plugins in every project. It's not uncommon for me to have 6 to 10 different reverbs going, most of them at super subtle low levels (and usually very narrow or completely mono). Each doing their own thing.

Yeah, after dynamics plugins, reverbs are my 2nd passion. There's just something about a good reverb that is so satisfying.

I'm also in the process of extracting various reverbs from Reaktor ensembles. Some have rather unique designs it seem.

Sorry for the off topic. bmanic, I have listen to your LX-24 demos here and other places and just wanted to know do you use reverb as send or insert?

[bmanic]

Most often as a send but sometimes as insert when I need to keep things simple and organized. For instance if I just want to add a tiny amount of ambience or room to a sound (snares, kicks, individual simple instruments) then I always use them as inserts.

EDIT:

Actually, let me go a bit deeper on that. I think of it like this: If the reverb needs to become a part of the track, then I use it as an insert. Especially instruments that are recorded in mono that are too dry and need some "life" and ambience, then I always have the reverb as an insert because I consider it a part of the sound, like I would have recorded it with the reverb. Quite often I even render the reverb to the sound before continuing the mixing.

If the reverb will be "part of the song" and contribute to the overall ambience and feel of the whole thing, then I use it as a send.

When the reverb is as an insert, it usually gets heavily processed down the line together with the instrument it is working for. Whereas sends get much less individual treatment down the line as I usually have them parallel to most busses, except the mixbus (and my drum room sends are always feeding into the actual drum bus, that is one exception).

[martiu]

Can someone explain to me why so many people are crazy about Lexicon emulators?
From the short time i tried the Relab 480 it seems to me that it performs very well with shorter decay times but on longer it gets real big but dense, diffuse and dark almost boomy sounding.
Did i just needed more time to evaluate it well or that is the character of this particular reverb?

[jamcat]

It's because Lexicon was the pinnacle of expensive, unobtainable rack gear in the late studio era. Million dollar studios and a million hit records can't be wrong. So you can rest easy knowing that if your music sucks, at least it's not your reverb's fault.

[vitocorleone123]

I ended up selling the Arturia because, while more configurable, the UAD 224 and Mercury 7 both sound better to me.

[Fleer]

Definitely different here. Arturia’s sound is what did it for me. And the GUI of course.

[JerGoertz]

Can someone explain to me why so many people are crazy about Lexicon emulators?
From the short time i tried the Relab 480 it seems to me that it performs very well with shorter decay times but on longer it gets real big but dense, diffuse and dark almost boomy sounding.
Did i just needed more time to evaluate it well or that is the character of this particular reverb?

Don't know what it is, but the Lexicon Random Hall algorithm from their PCM bundle is just head and shoulders above other "big, spacious" verbs I've heard.

Anyways, yes, Arturia

[bmanic]

To me "the lexicon sound" is the way it just blends really effortlessly, at leas the 480 and the modern 960 algorithms. Not so much the earlier PCM racks though.

.. and this vintage lexicon is a bit in between.

They have this uncanny ability of cancelling out frequencies, thus blending in very nicely with the original sound source, without poking out additional frequencies that then need to be dealt with. This is not at all the case with most reverbs, especially reverb plugins. Only a select few have this effortless blending and the Lexicon modeled stuff usually does this very well. Most notably Relabs 480 which was the first Lexicon to really do it magnificently well.

A modern reverb that has this similar effortless blending is Tai Chi from Liquidsonics and also his 480 Cart emulation. Not sure about the others though as I haven't tried them. Seventh Heaven doesn't do the blending but neither does the real Bricasti. That one is quite characterful and more of a "realistic" sounding reverb and thus there are bound to be some frequency buildup.

[audiouser720]

To me "the lexicon sound" is the way it just blends really effortlessly, at leas the 480 and the modern 960 algorithms. Not so much the earlier PCM racks though.

.. and this vintage lexicon is a bit in between.

They have this uncanny ability of cancelling out frequencies, thus blending in very nicely with the original sound source, without poking out additional frequencies that then need to be dealt with. This is not at all the case with most reverbs, especially reverb plugins. Only a select few have this effortless blending and the Lexicon modeled stuff usually does this very well. Most notably Relabs 480 which was the first Lexicon to really do it magnificently well.

A modern reverb that has this similar effortless blending is Tai Chi from Liquidsonics and also his 480 Cart emulation. Not sure about the others though as I haven't tried them. Seventh Heaven doesn't do the blending but neither does the real Bricasti. That one is quite characterful and more of a "realistic" sounding reverb and thus there are bound to be some frequency buildup.

How are you feeling about LX-24 after the honeymoon period? I remember you praising it a lot and highlighting that it does the blending thing very well.

The reason I particularly like lexi emus is because I use an OTO BAM space generation and always try to find a software substitute (for when travelling or for the rainy days). There is still a significant difference between ‘most’ plugin reverbs and high-end rack reverbs. To me LX-24 came closest to that sound, that’s the only reason I wanted it.

[bmanic]

Arturia LX-24 is still one of my go-to reverbs for anything that needs a vintage reverb vibe. It's also my go-to when just jamming with synthesizers in general. I just love the wobbly modulation and how it sounds.

I've acquired a few other reverb plugins since then, most notably Wave Alchemy Radiance, Glow and Dawn, but I'm still mostly using LX-24 for my synth explorations. I don't know why I like it so much.. but I do.

Reverb is very subjective though. There's no real technical aspects to it that could differentiate one from being "better" than something else, at least not in this day and age. All of the well received reverb plugins are at exceptionally high level of fidelity (low ringing, good modulation, great sense of space etc).

As for hardware vs high-end rack reverbs, I completely disagree. In my opinion the best reverbs are found as plugins. There are no hardware counterparts to Liquidsonics Tai Chi, FabFilter Pro-R, NI Raum, TR5 Sunset Studio, nor even the good old Ariesverb (which I still use to this day and still think is phenomenal!). I'd only use hardware rack reverbs if there are no alternatives, like working in a live scenario or if I'm working completely out of the box and the built in reverbs are too weak of the synths/samplers that I use (which is sometimes the case, for instance with MPC Live.. the built in reverbs there aren't great).

[Gam456]

Can someone explain to me why so many people are crazy about Lexicon emulators?
From the short time i tried the Relab 480 it seems to me that it performs very well with shorter decay times but on longer it gets real big but dense, diffuse and dark almost boomy sounding.
Did i just needed more time to evaluate it well or that is the character of this particular reverb?

It's take time to tweak and found the sweet spot. The 480 have a toon of setting.

That being said. The Eventide UltrareVerb is an amazing reverb, deep, rich, creative, powerful and 100 time easier than the 480.

[DCrown]

I compared Arturia to Relab. I prefer Relab.

[djanthonyw]

I compared Arturia to Relab. I prefer Relab.

Relab is a 480L emulation, but I find under the Arturia LX-24 the modern setting sounds quite similar to Relab's 480L.

[vitocorleone123]

I ended up replacing the Arturia 224 (well, replacing ALL Arturia software, but that's another tale) with the superior-sounding - to me - though with a worse UX, UAD version.

I also ended up replacing my Mercury 7 with a Mercury X.

If I read that the Arturia one sounds as good or better than UAD from lots of people I'd demo it again.