Lexicon MX500 Owner'S Manual Download Page 3

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Section Title

Manufacturer’s Name:

Lexicon

Manufacturer’s Address:

8760 S. Sandy Parkway
Sandy, Utah 84070, USA

declares that the product:

Product name:

MX500

Note: Product name may be suffixed by the letters-EU.

Product option:

None

conforms to the following Product Specifications:

Safety:

IEC 60065 (7

ed. 2001)

EMC:

EN 55013 (2001+A1)
EN 55020 (1998)

Supplementary Information:

The product herewith complies with the requirements of the Low Voltage
Directive 73/23/EEC and the EMC Directive 89/336/EEC as amended by
Directive 93/68/EEC.

Vice-President of Engineering-MI
8760 S. Sandy Parkway
Sandy, Utah 84070, USA
Date: April 2, 2007

European Contact: Your local Lexicon Sales and Service Office or

Harman Music Group
8760 South Sandy Parkway
Sandy, Utah
84070 USA
Ph: (801) 566-8800
Fax: (801) 566-7005

DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY

IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

Summary of Contents for MX500

Page 1: ...Owner s Manual MX500 Dual Stereo Surround Reverb FireWire Hardware Plug in ...

Page 2: ... not accessible an all pole mains switch with a contact separation of at least 3 mm in each pole shall be incorporated into the electrical installation of the rack or building FOR UNITS EQUIPPED WITH EXTERNALLY ACCESSIBLE FUSE RECEP TACLE Replace fuse with same type and rating only MULTIPLE INPUT VOLTAGE This equipment may require the use of a different line cord attachment plug or both depending ...

Page 3: ...2001 A1 EN 55020 1998 Supplementary Information The product herewith complies with the requirements of the Low Voltage Directive 73 23 EEC and the EMC Directive 89 336 EEC as amended by Directive 93 68 EEC Vice President of Engineering MI 8760 S Sandy Parkway Sandy Utah 84070 USA Date April 2 2007 European Contact Your local Lexicon Sales and Service Office or Harman Music Group 8760 South Sandy P...

Page 4: ... parts and labor will be covered up to a period of 1 year A Return Authorization number must be obtained from Lexicon Professional by tele phone The company shall not be liable for any consequential damage as a result of the product s use in any circuit or assembly 4 Lexicon Professional reserves the right to make changes in design or make addi tions to or improvements upon this product without in...

Page 5: ...s A B C 5 Store 5 System 5 Bypass 5 User and Factory LEDs 5 Program Number Display 5 Program Load 5 Power Switch 5 The rear Panel 6 Power Jack 6 Footswitch Input 6 MIDI In MIDI Thru 6 FireWireTM Ports 6 S PDIF Digital In Out 6 Balanced Analog Line Output Pairs 7 Balanced Analog Line Input Pairs 7 ABout the MX500 8 connecting the MX500 8 Surround Configuration Connections 8 Stereo Configuration Con...

Page 6: ...s Descriptions 21 Parallel vs Serial 21 Reverbs 21 Delays 25 dbx Dynamics 28 Modulated Effects 30 MX500 System menu 33 Using the MX500 as a hardware Plug in 39 Installing the MX EditTM and Hardware Plug in Software 39 Connecting the MX500 39 Using the MX500 Plug in Window 39 Controls 41 The MX EditTM Editor Librarian 43 Installing the MX Edit Editor Librarian Software 43 Quick Start 43 The MX Edit...

Page 7: ...er recording system as a hardware plug in Now you can add legend ary Lexicon reverbs and effects to your recordings without taxing your computer s CPU With a wide variety of configurations routings and effects to choose from the MX500 is definitely a useful tool both live and in the studio Included Items MX500 Dual Stereo Surround Reverb FireWireTM Hardware Plug in This owner s manual MX Edit Fire...

Page 8: ...n the mixer or a stereo line input or two adjacent line inputs if you like Aux Send 1 Aux Return 1 Aux Send 2 Aux Return 2 Made in the USA FUSE REPLACEMENT RATINGS 100V 120V 50 60Hz T 200mA L 250V 220V 240V 50 60Hz T 160mA L 250V 100V 120V 50 60Hz 18W THRU FIREWIRE A B A FRONT REAR FRONT REAR B A B Powering the Unit 1 Plug the included power cord into an A C outlet 2 Connect the power cord to the ...

Page 9: ...he mixer 6 Turn up the Aux Return 1 and 2 to the 12 o clock position or stereo line input faders to the 0dB position if you used that connection 7 To increase or decrease the amount of effect on the signal adjust the Aux Send level on the channel that you want affected Select and Load a Program Turn the Program Load knob to choose a program The Program Number Display flashes the number of the prog...

Page 10: ...d FireWireTM connectivity The LCD shows program and parameter editing information and System Menu settings 4 Page Select Knob Used to navigate the MX500 effects parameters and System menu 5 Exit Pressing this button will back you out one level of editing 6 Tempo Sets the delay time of delay effects 7 Effect Bypass Pressing this button bypasses or mutes the selected effects One of four bypass mute ...

Page 11: ...ory LEDs Indicate whether the selected program is User or Factory 13 Program Number Display Displays the number of the selected program 14 Program Load Selects factory and user programs Pressing this knob loads the program manually if program Auto Load is disabled When in the Program Screen press this knob to switch between factory and user program banks This eliminates the need to scroll through ...

Page 12: ...ditTM editor librarian software 5 S PDIF Digital In Out The S PDIF digital input accepts 44 1kHz 48kHz signals When the S PDIF digital input is selected and active the S PDIF LED on the front panel lights Important It is recommended that you do not connect any digital device to the MX500 s S PDIF inputs that transmits at sample rates other than 44 1 kHz or 48 kHz such as 96kHz Doing so can cause u...

Page 13: ...ecting Mono Left for analog output A or B in the System Menu Pairs are grouped and labeled as A Front Stereo and B Rear 7 Balanced Analog Line Input Pairs Left and Right active analog 1 4 TRS balanced line inputs If only a single plug is connected to the Left input the signal can be split and sent to both the Left and Right input paths by selecting Analog Mono L for input source A or B in the Syst...

Page 14: ...log input and output pairs Surround Configuration connections This configuration can load a single effect from either the User bank or the Factory bank Each bank contains 25 presets that work with this configuration The MX500 is the first processor in its class to provide true surround reverb processing The surround reverb algorithm always uses both output pairs A and B analog and S PDIF and can a...

Page 15: ... configures the MX500 as a single stereo input output processor utilizing input output pair A only analog or S PDIF Input output pair B is disabled when the Stereo configuration is selected S PDIF output A mirrors analog output pair B but input pair A can only be analog or digital selectable in the MX500 s System menu Connection Diagram Dual Mono In Dual Mono Out Dual Mono In Stereo Out Stereo In ...

Page 16: ...sources that will run through Program A this is the program shown in the top half of the Program Display which uses Effect 1 and Effect 2 connect to the A Left Right Front input and output pair Sources running through Program B this is the pro gram shown in the bottom half of the Program Display which uses Effect 3 and Effect 4 connect to the B Left Right Rear input and output pair Connection Diag...

Page 17: ...ne end of a FireWire cable to the MX500 s FireWire port and the other end to an available FireWire port on your computer Connection Diagram Digital Setup S PDIF S PDIF In S PDIF Out Made in the USA FUSE REPLACEMENT RATINGS 100V 120V 50 60Hz T 200mA L 250V 220V 240V 50 60Hz T 160mA L 250V 100V 120V 50 60Hz 18W THRU FIREWIRE A B A FRONT REAR FRONT REAR B A B If your digital audio system is not FireW...

Page 18: ... I O The MX500 is equipped with two S PDIF inputs and outputs S PDIF A and B Each S PDIF pair is the digital equivalent of analog input output pairs A and B As long as the MX500 is not in Plug in mode see page 12 the S PDIF outputs always mirror their analog output counterparts This allows you to plug in an analog input source and have it be output as a digital stream Note When the MX500 is in Plu...

Page 19: ...er Clock Source External Processor or Audio Interface S PDIF In S PDIF Out Made in the USA FUSE REPLACEMENT RATINGS 100V 120V 50 60Hz T 200mA L 250V 220V 240V 50 60Hz T 160mA L 250V 100V 120V 50 60Hz 18W THRU FIREWIRE A B A FRONT REAR FRONT REAR B A B If the Clock Source isn t changed to Digital when digital input sources are selected there will be synchronization problems between the incoming dig...

Page 20: ...ntil one of the effects in the Main Display is highlighted in the program you want to change Example If either Effect 1 or Effect 2 is highlighted turning the Program Load knob will change the program shown in the top half of the Main Display Program A If Effect 3 or Effect 4 is highlighted turning the Program Load knob will change the program shown in the bottom half of the Main Display Program B...

Page 21: ... the effect is selected its name is highlighted in the Main Display and three parameters become visible for the effect at the bottom of the Main Display The Edit Knobs can then modify these three top level parameters Fig A Note Dual Stereo programs feature a slightly different Program Screen which dis plays both program names When Edit Knobs A B and C are turned the three parameters of the selecte...

Page 22: ...me indicating which Edit Knob will modify its value 6 Turn Edit Knob A B or C associated with the parameter you would like to edit to change its setting When finished store the changes to the program if you would like them to be recalled Changing an Effect Each program offers a library of effects that can be used in the available effect mod ules This allows you to customize a preset with the effec...

Page 23: ...m the Program Screen you can select these in the Knobs Assign menu These assignments are individual to each program so you can customize specific parameters for each effect depending on the program 1 While on the Program Screen press the Page Select knob This will enter the Program Edit menus 2 Turn the Page Select knob until the Knobs Assign menu is highlighted 3 Press the Page Select knob to ent...

Page 24: ...ration can load a single effect or dual effect into Processor A and a single effect or dual effect into Processor B The User and Factory banks each contain 99 presets for this configuration Effect 1 3 1 Dual Mono Effect 2 4 L L R R Effect 1 3 Effect 2 4 L R L R 2 Cascade Effect 1 3 3 Parallel Effect 2 4 L L R R Effect 1 3 4 Mono Split Effect 2 4 L R L R Effect 1 3 L R L R 5 Stereo 1 Dual Mono This...

Page 25: ...tereo In Surround Out Front Front L R Rear Surround Reverb L R L R 2 Surround In Out Front Front L R Rear L R Rear 1 Stereo In Surround Out This routing option takes a stereo source connected to the Left A and Right A Front inputs processes them through the Surround reverb and sends it to all four outputs Note Only a single mix control for the Left Right front outputs is available with this routin...

Page 26: ...sn t light when changing tempo set tings with the Tempo button changes to tempo must be saved to the program if the changes are to be recalled later Bypass Buttons The MX500 is equipped with two bypass buttons Effect Bypass located near the Page Select knob and Program Bypass located near the Program Load knob Effect Bypass only bypasses the selected effect in the Main Display This lets you bypass...

Page 27: ...nnected by sending the entire signal through the effects device and then to an amplifier or mixer and is not blended with the unaffected dry signal This is the type of connection most often used for a compressor de esser equalizer and many modulated effects such as tremolo vibrato and rotary Reverbs Reverberation or reverb for short is the complex effect created by the way we perceive sound in an ...

Page 28: ...ith a true 4 channel input source and both front and rear output pairs each have their own wet dry mix control for precise control of dry audio and reverb adjustments in the surround field Plate Reverbs Stereo Small plate Large plate Vocal plate Drum plate A Plate reverb is a large thin sheet of metal suspended upright under tension on springs Transducers attached to the plate transmit a signal th...

Page 29: ... well as indi vidual instrument and electric guitar tracks Arena Reverb Stereo Arena reverb emulates a huge physical space such as an indoor sports venue or stadium The characteristics of Arena reverb are long secondary reflection times and a reduced amount of high frequency content Arena is a mostly mid and low fre quency dominant reverb and is an ideal selection for special effect type applicati...

Page 30: ... or larger Low Spread settings result in a rapid onset of reverberation at the beginning of the envelope with little or no sustain Higher settings spread out both the buildup and sustain Size Size sets the build up rate of diffusion after the initial period which is controlled by Diffusion The Size control changes reverb sound from very large to very small Generally set this control to the approxi...

Page 31: ... feedback This turns a single repeat into a series of repeats each a little softer than the last Studio Delay Stereo The Studio Delay features up to 2 5 seconds of stereo delay and offers a built in ducker that attenuates the delay output whenever signal is present at the input This can be used to keep the original signal from being muddied up by delay repeats Mono Delay Mono In Stereo Out The Mon...

Page 32: ...ms and Tap 1 is set to 50 and Tap 2 is set to 100 Tap 1 time would be 250ms and Tap 2 time would be 500ms Narrow spacing of the tap percentages can widen the stereo image of the delay while wider tap spacing can create rhythmic delay lines Delay Controls Tempo The actual delay time as tapped in by the Tempo button or received via a MIDI clock source This time can be expressed as actual time millis...

Page 33: ...e louder an input signal must be for the ducking to take place Smear This parameter controls the amount of smear or signal degradation and frequency loss Particularly evident in the Tape Delay the higher the setting the more each delay repeat loses intelligibility compared to the original signal Tap 1 2 The Tap parameters provide independent control to the two delay taps in the 2 Tap Delay Each ta...

Page 34: ...essor then reduces the amount of output level by an amount determined by the Ratio For example if the threshold is set to 12dB and the ratio set to 4 1 then when signal exceeds 12dB the signal level above that amount only increases by 1dB to every 4dB of signal level above 12dB In this case an incoming signal of 4dB which is 8dB above the threshold would result in an output signal of 10dB or 2dB h...

Page 35: ...termining how quickly the compressor responds to increasing input level This should normally be set quite low to allow the compressor to react to sharp transients Release Release allows adjustment of the release time constant determining how quickly the compressor responds to decreasing input level This should normally be set long Short release times may cause an effect similar to pumping in an an...

Page 36: ...i tude of each channel in an alternating manner Rotary Mono In Stereo Out Wet Only Rotary speaker cabinets were designed to provide a majestic vibrato choir effect for electronic theater and church organs The most well known rotary speaker is the Leslie Model 122 which has two counter rotating elements a high frequency horn and a low frequency rotor with slow and fast speeds The sound generated as...

Page 37: ...trols Speed Sets the speed at which the modulated effect cycles Depth Scales the intensity of the effect This control affects the output of the LFO only It has no effect on the outputs of the individual waveforms Voices Controls the number of additional Chorus voices Regen Controls the amount of modulated signal being fed back into the input creating feed back Higher amounts add more resonance to ...

Page 38: ...ses the Doppler pitch effect that is created by the physics of a rotating speaker Shift 1 2 Determines the amount of pitch shift or detune shift from the original signal source Works best with individual notes Delay 1 2 Sets the delay time before the pitch shift or detune effect is heard in the Pitch Shift and Detune effects Feedback 1 2 Adjusts how much of the shifted signal is sent back through ...

Page 39: ...e configured These include Surround Stereo or Dual Stereo Configuration Program Auto Load Output Level and Factory Restore Changes made to these settings affect all programs in all Configurations Press the System button to access these menus Turn the Page Select knob to scroll up and down through the available menus Press the Exit button to exit the System Menu Configuration Use this menu to selec...

Page 40: ... Clock Source This option allows manual selection of either the internal or external clock source for the MX500 When set to 44 1kHz the MX500 utilizes an inter nal clock with a 44 1kHz sample rate When set to 48kHz the MX500 uti lizes an internal clock with a 48kHz sample rate When set to Digital the unit utilizes the S PDIF input clock source even if an analog audio source is used The MX500 only ...

Page 41: ...le you are recording To send unpro cessed audio out the MX500 digital outputs set the Digital Out A and Digital Out B options to Dry Turn Knob A to change Digital Out A and Knob B to change Digital Out B Note This feature is only available for signals brought into the MX500 via the analog inputs It has no effect on signals being received at the S PDIF In Digital in out signals are processed normal...

Page 42: ...program shown in the bottom half of the Main Display of the Program Screen Channels can be set from 1 16 All channels or Off Use Knob B to change MIDI Channel B settings MIDI Clock Sync The MX500 s MIDI input is able to receive and synchronize delay times via MIDI clock messages When set to On Tap Tempo is changed by incoming MIDI messages The Tempo button on the front panel will be disabled while...

Page 43: ... The MX500 features a footswitch input jack on the rear panel The lets you connect an optional 2 button footswitch for remote control of some of the MX500 s functions These global footswitch functions are as follows Bypass Bypass 1 Bypass 2 Bypass 3 Bypass 4 Tempo Tempo 1 Tempo 2 Tempo 3 Tempo 4 Program Up Program Down Program A Up Program A Down Program B Up Program B Down Adjust Knob 1 and 2 to ...

Page 44: ... Press and hold the Store button until the white progress bar has completely disappeared This will complete the restore procedure and the MX500 will be returned to its factory state MX500 System Menu 38 ...

Page 45: ...ireTM Connection Make sure the MX500 is powered up and connected to your computer with a standard FireWireTM cable Using the MX500 Plug In Window In your recording software open an instance of the MX500 plug in Dual Stereo A B Stereo or Surround depending on what is needed for the track bus You ll see an instance of the Program Editor window You can use the MX500 plug in software just as you would...

Page 46: ...nts In your track insert or aux bus select the plug in you want to use Dual Stereo A B Stereo or Surround When the plug in window opens click the arrow next to the program name dis play and select from any of the MX500 s User and Factory programs These are now loaded in the audio path Use the plug in editor panel to make necessary adjustments Loading Saving Plug in Presets Once you have made edits...

Page 47: ...he MX500 Hardware Plug in window Mouse Circular Place the cursor at the outer shadowed edge of a knob then click and hold the left mouse button The white indicator line on the knob jumps to the mouse cursor s position and follows the cursor as it moves around the circumference of the knob To make fine adjustments continue to hold the left mouse button down and move the cursor away from the knob th...

Page 48: ...the delay taps will occur at the rate displayed in the Delay Time value To change the tempo value simply place the mouse cursor over the Tempo button and left click twice to tap the tempo just as you would on the MX500 front panel The Tempo buttons on the MX500 and in the Program Editor window now flash at the new tempo If a non delay effect is loaded in the processor the Tempo button is dimmed an...

Page 49: ...ditional differences and features in the Mac version refer to the readme txt file on the CD Installing the MX Edit Editor Librarian software Refer to the included Software Installation Guide for instructions on how to install the MX Edit Editor Librarian software Quick Start When you first open MX Edit you will see the MX Edit Library on the left side of the MX Edit window with the MX500 icon at t...

Page 50: ...r icon to expand the Library and see the Factory or User program lists The Factory list is always the same as Factory programs cannot be overwritten the User program list represents the User programs currently saved in your MX500 hardware Note that there may be two tabs below the tool bar one for each processor in the MX500 depending on the MX500 s mode Each tab has its own list of programs Factor...

Page 51: ...System functions All changes that you make in the active Program Editor window are reflected in real time on the MX500 MX Edit and the MX500 are fully interactive so any changes made on the MX500 s front panel are reflected in real time in the MX Edit Program Editor window as well When you open a program the MX Edit Program Editor is updated with the selected program s name in the Program Name fie...

Page 52: ...the left mouse button down and move the cursor away from the knob the white line still follows the cursor no matter how far away it is from the knob Note that this control does not apply to Macs hold the Option key to make fine adjustments Mouse Up Down Move the mouse cursor to the center of a knob the knob is highlighted and the cur sor changes to a double headed arrow pointing up and down Click ...

Page 53: ... The program name will be highlighted type the new name into the text box Saving a Program to Disk If you make any changes to a program an asterisk will appear next to the program name in the Title Bar when the Program Editor is active Windows only The LED on the Store button on the MX500 s front panel also illuminates indicating a change from the loaded program To save a program to disk click Fil...

Page 54: ...ings are sent to the computer and saved to a file When an archive is restored the MX500 is configured exactly how it was when you archived it This allows you to not only create safety backups but create unique configurations for various purposes For example you might want to create a setup specifically for that gig you re playing on the weekend but still keep all your favorite studio presets intac...

Page 55: ...49 MX500 MX500 ...

Page 56: ...e Program Mapping Bank Select X 0 MIDI CC 32 Value 0 Factory Value 1 User System Exclusive 0 0 Lexicon Editor Only Sys Ex channel follows MIDI channel except when MIDI channel is set to Off where Sys Ex channel then re ceives on all channels System Common Song Position Song Select Tune X X X X X X System Real Time Clock Commands X X 0 X MIDI clock can set Delay Tempo 0 Yes Mode 1 OMNI ON POLY Mode...

Page 57: ...Decay Diffusion Reverse Pre Delay Decay Diffusion Spring Pre Delay Decay Boing Studio Delay Tempo Delay Time Feedback Ducker Threshold Tap Tempo Mono Delay Tempo Delay Time Feedback Ducker Threshold Tap Tempo Tape Delay Tempo Delay Time Feedback Smear Tap Tempo Pong Delay Tempo Delay Time Feedback Tap Ratio Tap Tempo Modulated Delay Tempo Delay Time Feedback Modulation Depth Tap Tempo Reverse Dela...

Page 58: ... Tap Tempo 2 Tap Delay Tempo Delay Time Feedback Delay Type Tap Tempo Modulated Delay Tempo Delay Time Feedback High Pass Filter Tap Tempo Tape Reverse Delay Tempo Delay Time Feedback Pan Tap Tempo Chorus Speed Depth Voices Pre Delay Flanger Speed Depth Regen Waveform Phaser Speed Depth Regen Waveform Tremolo Panner Speed Depth Phase Waveform Rotary Speed Stereo Spread Drive Rotor Minimum Vibrato ...

Page 59: ...evel Room Reverb Spread RT High Cut High Cut ER Time ER Level Ambience Reverb Spread RT High Cut High Cut Stereo Studio Delay Low Pass Ducker Level Ducker Thresh Mono Delay Low Pass Ducker Level Ducker Thresh Pan Pong Delay Low Pass Ducker Level Ducker Thresh Tap Ratio Tap Swap 2 Tap Delay Tap 1 Level 1 Pan 1 Tap 2 Level 2 Pan 2 Modulated Delay Low Pass Mod Depth Tape Reverse Delay Smear Chorus Wa...

Page 60: ...18 Surround Hall Bypass Mix Front Mix Rear Routing Pre Delay Mid RT Size Bypass MIDI CC Effect 1 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Surround Hall RT High Cut High Cut Bass Boost Frequency Bass Boost Diffusion ER Time ER Level MIDI CC Effect 2 29 30 31 Assign A Assign B Assign C MIDI CC Map ...

Page 61: ...55 MX500 Programs Dual Stereo Programs ...

Page 62: ...56 Programs Stereo Programs ...

Page 63: ...57 MX500 Programs Surround Programs ...

Page 64: ...formance Effects Bypassed Frequency Response 10 Hz 20kHz 0 dB 0 5 dB THD N 0 0019 10Hz 20kHz Dynamic Range 109 dB A weighted A A Crosstalk Typical 80 dB 20Hz 20kHz Digital Input and Output S PDIF Connectors Dual RCA phono S PDIF Sample Rate 44 1 or 48kHz 16 and 24 bit Frequency Response 10Hz to 22kHz 0 5 dB 48kHz FireWireTM Connectors 400 Mbit IEEE 1394 Sample Rate 44 1 48 88 or 96kHz 16 and 24 bi...

Page 65: ...59 MX500 ...

Page 66: ...60 ...

Page 67: ...61 MX500 ...

Page 68: ...0 South Sandy Parkway Sandy Utah 84070 U S A Phone 801 568 7660 Fax 801 568 7662 MX500 Questions or comments Email us at customer lexiconpro com or visit us at www lexiconpro com Part Number 18 0475 A Copyright 2007 Lexicon ...

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