Anyone used both PCM70 and PCM91?

Seeker of Rock

Seeker of Rock

The One and Only
I'm curious about the sonic differences from someone who's heard or worked with them both. I've read that the 70 is more dense, I've read that the 91 instills a subtle magic to everything it is used on and nothing in the Lexi family except the 300, 960, etc. can touch it. Obviously a lot of opinions out there, and just wondering if some of you care to give some experienced opinions.
 
I guess a little more to my inquiry...I'm going to purchase another reverb unit, this one as the go to verb for overall tracks including vocals and guitars. I have a modified LXP-15II for drums already. I'm not into programming it right now, but that may change in the future, so quality Lexicon presets are what I will be using to get the best effect without stepping up to the top series with the LARCs. If I can save a little on a PCM70, cool. If the 91 is the way to go, then I'll save a little longer. Just looking for user experience if it is out there. :)
 
Okay, you called me out. I've used both, but it has been a long time since I used a PCM-70.

The PCM-91 is obviously much more recent, can still be purchased new, and parts can still be found for it if it needs repair. The PCM-70 is vintage digital at this point, having been out of production for quite some time. It's also noisier than the PCM-91. You'd be buying used on the 70, and I'm kind of down on used right now, as I've gotten burned a bunch of times on eBay.

The PCM-70 does have its fans, but I think it's more of a specialty piece now. So my opinion is go PCM-91 all the way. I use mine on almost everything, it's a very useful piece of gear.
 
Sonic, sorry for calling you out by name, but by now you know I consider you a great and honest source for advice. Noise is hard to say for me, but something I need to watch out for it seems....I still do a lot of analog things to digital and back before finally succombing to the digital realm with the final product. Yeah, I guess that is just babble. Just trying give you a view of my needs.

Not trying to promote songs in the wrong thread, but if you click this link http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=244666 and listen to "Wild-Eyed Jim's", even just the first part of it, this is pretty much what I do and how I do it. Hard disk recorder (HD24), Mackie 24.8 board, outboard gear, and guitars mic'd from their amps (the other stuff on there now is from one of my '80s bands recorded in another place and not really relevant to what I'm seeking advice on). A lot of the stuff that will come, some is not so 12 bar, but less instrumentation. Anyway, I'm not the cleanest writer/recorder in the world(and I like that), just so you know my style.

I guess I'm looking for that 'overall ambience' reverb to spread across the tracks as an effect. Any thoughts on whether one may be better for this?

As always Sonic, I value your wisdom. Sorry for calling you out specifically :o
 
I have used both many times. They are both cool units, but the PCM 91 and even 81 are in different leagues than the 70 in my opinion. The 70 is still a very useful tool, but nearly as versatile as the 91. The 91's also seem to have an almost third dimension as compared to the 70's.
 
Seeker of Rock said:
I guess I'm looking for that 'overall ambience' reverb to spread across the tracks as an effect. Any thoughts on whether one may be better for this?

As always Sonic, I value your wisdom. Sorry for calling you out specifically :o
Click to expand...

Don't worry about it, and thanks for the kind words!

I do tend to use a lot of different reverbs on different parts of the mix, but I'll often use the PCM-91 as the main reverb that kind of glues everything together. So as far as "overall ambience", I think the PCM-91 does it very well.
 
I've never used the pcm 70 but I had a pcm-91 for a while and wasn't too overwhelmed by it. I'm not saying it sounded bad, I used it quite frequently and quite liked one of the plates on it. I just think it really isn't worth the price. I was excited when I bought one used for $700 but only ended up keeping it for about six months. I honestly found myself using my TC m-one and Demeter spring reverb more frequently than the pcm-91 (not to mention using my warehouse space as a reverb chamber while mixing!). Once I found myself doing that I thought I'd be better of selling the pcm-91 and using that money to buy a really nice mic. I got $1300 for the 91 and am completely thrilled with my microtech-gefell um70. One of the smarter things i've done in my studio in a while!
 
You can find them for a lot less now though. I paid around $2,000 for my PCM-91 way back when. At current new prices I think they are a great deal.

I should also mention one of my other favorite fx boxes, the Kurzweil KSP8. While it has a different sound than the PCM-91, it is a high quality box that also has the advantage of having up to eight fx paths, not just the usual stereo or dual mono. I have the expansion board in mine, so it has eight inputs and eight outputs.

The less expensive option to the KSP8 is the Kurzweil Rumour, also a very fine sounding unit.

A lot of this is taste, as well. I really don't care for the M-One, although the M-One XL sounds better, in my opinion. I found the reverb tails in the M-One a bit metallic. They smoothed them out a bit in the XL version.
 
I had planned on a PCM91 and I think it is now confirmed. Just thought about the 70 because of the price. $700 someguy? That's quite a price. The dimensionality is what intriques me most about the 91 and I've heard a couple of people say that, as well as the factory advertising it in their descriptive write-ups. I'm going to be tracking digitally to an HD24 (once my little one-room studio is complete in another couple of months) as I couldn't seem to work out the faulty NR unit in my MSR, and I've heard the dimensionality of digital vs. analog is a little noticeable. So every little tool I can use to keep the "big" sound will help.
Thanks again for the great input. :) :) :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top