Lexicon MX300 Stereo Reverb Effects Processor?

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kr236rk

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Hi,

Want to use an MX300 for vocals in conjunction with an analogue mixer - Yamaha MG102c, can this be done please? I'd hope to run 1/4" analogue jacks to the mixer from the MX300. I feed the MG102 to my DAW by way of a digital interface - FastTrack USB.

Thanks :)
 
Brilliant! Thanks Mark - getting hold of an analogue mixer is the best thing I've ever done for the DAW, it is so flexible & fine tunable! Happy New Year to you & all Home Recordists!!

:D
 
Be sure to set the mix on the MX300 to 100% effect, with no "dry" signal coming through.
 
Ideally you'll want to find a way to record your voice dry, using the MX300 just for your headphone mix. There are plenty of good reverbs in your DAW and you can control things more precisely. For example, if you're going to edit levels or compress the vocal it will be much better to do it before reverb is applied.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
Ideally you'll want to find a way to record your voice dry, using the MX300 just for your headphone mix. There are plenty of good reverbs in your DAW and you can control things more precisely. For example, if you're going to edit levels or compress the vocal it will be much better to do it before reverb is applied.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that was more or less the intention, although I intended mixing the reverbed voice direct to the DAW. I find I actually sing better with reverb, it gives my voice more confidence I guess. But if I can hear the reverb while sending the raw vocal to the DAW that's ok too, I usually apply reverb directly to the vocal after I have captured it - then tweak it a bit with an equaliser.
 
confused :-o

Gosh, am confused now,

Managed to get the Lexicon set up okay - plugged mic to it then ran an xlr out to the Yamaha mixer, then a 1/4" jack out to my FastTrack DAW interface.

To begin with this seemed to sound okay, then I noticed a faint, high pitch whine in the background - and a lot of hiss. Juggling volume on interface, mixer and Lexicon managed to lose a lot of the background noise, but it did not compare to plugging the xlr dynamic mic straight to the mixer/DAW which is totally interference free [ but no efx :( ]. Am i doing something wrong?

Notice that the lexicon is a usb hardware, should i now be using it as my DAW interface, is that the problem?

Thanks
 
I tried a few times to use a reverb unit in the aux loop of my MG102. I always figured that mine was defective, it would either get a runaway feedback or be extremely noisy. I thought that I was smart enough to hook it up correctly, and always chalked it up to there being a defect in my aux loop. Could be that I was never smart enough :)
 
kr236rk said:
Gosh, am confused now,

Managed to get the Lexicon set up okay - plugged mic to it then ran an xlr out to the Yamaha mixer, then a 1/4" jack out to my FastTrack DAW interface.
Click to expand...

That's not how the Lexicon is meant to be used. Plug the mic into a mic input on the mixer, connect the Lexicon according to the above diagram, use the aux send/return controls on the mixer.
 
Have set the Lexicon by the manual, selecting mono 'L' in the set-up, and followed the wiring diagram exactly. The whining noise was sorted by inserting a stereo lead between the mixer and the interface, no idea why the stereo lead suddenly became an issue. However, I then found despite hooking up to the analg Lexicon ins & outs I was just microphoning straight through the mixer, the Lexicon was doing nothing, no effects, nup. This is what I loathe about digital equipment, you cannot buy something and use it out of the box. I got the Lexicon to work (without reading the manual) but with background noise - now I have studied the manual, eliminated the background noise - by trial and error - got decent sound - but zero reverb or anything else from the unit. It won't be impossible something got switched off in one of the many menus - off to the tube to do a bit of research :-|
 
bouldersoundguy said:
That's not how the Lexicon is meant to be used. Plug the mic into a mic input on the mixer, connect the Lexicon according to the above diagram, use the aux send/return controls on the mixer.
Click to expand...

Cripes thanks, I'll try again - that manual it comes with is useless - there is not one diagram for use with a microphone :-o
 
Look at the manual for the MG mixer. One thing that keeps me coming back to Yamaha: they usually go above and beyond on their manuals. Lots of setup info in there about signal routing.
 
Thanks guys - & sorry,

Had a brainstorm & did something completely different - but it works - no idea why? But good, clean levels in the software.

Anotated Lexicon_Mic_Configuration.webp

Don't know why it works - but it does - the trick was to a) plug the mic to the left channel, which I'd configured in the menu, then b) add another stereo lead to the set-up, this time between the Lexicon and the MG102c. It works, I microphoned through all the factory set efx and recorded the test at the same time - excellent sound quality.

The whining noise was caused by the mono jacks, when I replaced them with stereo jacks - perfect sound. Total mystery, I only have one stereo lead because I never use them, I had to cobble the other one together from bits and bobs :-o

;)
 
kr236rk said:
Thanks guys - & sorry,

Had a brainstorm & did something completely different - but it works - no idea why? But good, clean levels in the software.

View attachment 95646

Don't know why it works - but it does - the trick was to a) plug the mic to the left channel, which I'd configured in the menu, then b) add another stereo lead to the set-up, this time between the Lexicon and the MG102c. It works, I microphoned through all the factory set efx and recorded the test at the same time - excellent sound quality.

The whining noise was caused by the mono jacks, when I replaced them with stereo jacks - perfect sound. Total mystery, I only have one stereo lead because I never use them, I had to cobble the other one together from bits and bobs :-o

;)
Click to expand...

*Deleted*

Great that you've got what you wanted out of it :)
 
Last edited:
Thats true. I should pay more attention.

(Deleting my previous post to save confusion, if there isn't enough already for the OP)
 
diagram

Thanks Mark for the recent post,

Part of my problem is I never used advanced analg mixing equipment back in the day, so I am still wrestling with the 'send' concept.

My 'new' set-up works but it does not give me as cleaner signal as the straight mic, probably for the reasons you outline for inputs/outputs being unbalanced. Can we go by your diagram one more time please, this time with specific reference to the xlr dynamic mic I am using.

mixer-reverb unit set up.webp

I am assuming that all the jacks from your diagram are mono - is this correct?

There is one lead coming from the *send* socket - where does this plug into the Lexicon please?

There are two leads, L+R Returns on mixer, with jacks going into them, presumably both coming from the 1/4" outputs from the Lexicon - is this correct please?

Where precisely does the xlr mic plug in please, if not into the Lexicon then where on the MG102c please?

And finally, how do I run a lead from the mixer to my interface, which socket on the mixer will I use to do this? My speakers / phones come off the interface so I need to have this in the chain or I cannot hear what is going on - or indeed record the results on my pc.

Thanks again ;)
 
some success :)

Thanks Mark,

You wrote: "Connect one each 1/4" to 1/4" cable (either TS or TRS type plugs on won't matter) from the STEREO OUT jacks L/R to the corresponding L/R jacks on your interface"

This was the only bit which caused some head scratching, my interface has two single inputs, one xlr and one 1/4". So I attached a stereo splitter to the STEREO OUT jacks L/R from the mixer. The splitter joins into a single 1/4" socket and I attached a mono jack lead to this, and ran it to the 1/4" converter on the interface xlr IN socket.

That got me the best result so far but there was still a very faint whining in the background. This seems to have something to do with plugs? I swapped the stereo splitter from the mixer's STEREO OUT jacks L/R for a mono splitter. The single mono lead coming from this was unacceptable so I replaced it with a single stereo 1/4" lead.

This got me the best result so far. By manipulating the AUX control for the mic, I could raise my voice into the amber -6 zone on the Lexicon which is where the clip occurs in my DAW recording software. I forgot to manipulate the controls for the mixer STEREO OUT jacks though, which are set at 12 o clock.

The whine is almost inaudible but it is still there - using a stethoscope - this must have something to do with funnelling the double mixer STEREO OUT jacks L/R down into one OUT jack?

Alternatively, the interface recording level is still a bit too high, but I don't think it's that. The DAW audio recording line looks optimal, very healthy.

Any ideas please?

Many thanks - as before! ;)
 
Update: the whine stops when I pull both mixer STEREO OUT jacks L/R. I found that bi-passing the Lexicon - using the mixer channel 1 Mic IN and OUT to the interface, the whine was still there, until I pulled both the STEREO OUT jacks L/R, then the whine stopped. Then I tested the mic straight into the interface, no mixer or Lexicon, that worked fine. It seems to have something to do with those stereo out jacks?

Still getting a good result but it is not as good as it should be.
 
inputs

Thanks Mark,

The interface has one XLR socket for mic and one 1/4" line-in for instruments. I ran a single lead from the L STEREO OUT from the mixer to the interface, a mono lead gave interference, a stereo lead didn't - am running a 'silent test' now so I can compare the solo dynamic mic to the mic through Lexicon/mixer for background noise.

I too had wondered about the Lexicon usb connectivity but how could I run a usb interface (for instruments) and a usb sound processor unit (for mic) at one and the same time please - plus sync them both with the DAW recording software?
 
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