Lexicon I-ONIX U42S

M

mixinstrings

New Guy
I'm taking a hard look at this interface and I was looking for some input on the preamps in this unit. they are listed as follows

dbx® 60V high-voltage, ultra-low noise microphone preamps on all 4 channels

Im not expecting them to rival pres that cost thousands of dollars but I'm looking to make a solid decision on my interface purchase.

I like the layout and that fact that it has 8 LED meters per channel. I'd like to see phantom power buttons for each channel but this unit has buttons that turn on 2 mics at a time. no biggie

Any feed bck on these mic pre's

Product: I-ONIX U42S | Lexicon Pro
 
I haven't had any experience with that particular model, but the one thing that has disappointed be about the Lexicons I have had exposure to is that their preamps tend to be a bit on the weak side when it comes to the amount of actual amplification they provide. Based upon the published specs, it appears that this model is not a lot different, with a maximum gain of 55dB.

Now, this does not make them bad preamps, necessarily; it just means that for some less-sensitive mics and even some average-sensitivity mics, you may not get the recording level you might expect.

G.
 
thanks for that info Glen. what type of gain levels should I be looking at? there are so many interfaces out there its ridiculous. I'm looking for something with at least 4 inputs with decent pre's and midi that i can run a set of powered monitors from in the $300ish range. are there any stand outs or are they all pretty equal in that price range?
 
Personally, I wouldn't want a preamp that delivered less than 60dB of maximum clean gain, and 65dB of clean gain would be even better. If I were wanting to use some of the less-sensitive mics like some of the LDDs out there like a Shure SM7, or with a decent high-qualty ribbon like an AEA or a Royer, which by design are lower sensitivity mic designs, something in the 65-70dB range would be nice.

I'm not sure of all the exact models these days, but in the inexpensive price ranges I find it hard to go wrong with most of the Tacam or Presonus products.

G.
 
I have the Lexicon U42S and here's my review:
https://homerecording.com/bbs/gener...-computers/lexicon-u42s-usb-interface-278519/
The Volume control issue has been fixed but I'm not sure how you get the "fixed" version. It's also not friendly with the Internet running while you track or mix. If you're using Sonar be sure to adjust your manual latency offset - I set it to 1000 and I get no lags.
I also recorded a bunch of tracks (mic/line) - see my last few in the sig link. I find it does a better job than the pre's in my cheapo mixer so I mic into it and line out to the mixer for "live" . The pre's are super clean and have no color that I can hear.
 
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