Hi! Which One should i get? Been getting different ideas. Thanks for your tips.

All of them.

PCM90 is reverb only but it does it nicely imo. The 70 and 80 have delays and modulation in addition to reverb. The PCM90 (and likely 80 assuming it is similar in character to my 90) sounds different than the PCM70 regarding the overall character of the box.

Thanks man!
In what ways you say "sounds different"? Any adjectives to describe?
Is the delay and mod fxs quite good on the 80?
Also: have you any idea where us possible to get some sound examples? YouTube is very unsatisfactory can't find much older PCMs there...
Thank you!

All great, the newer the greater the features.
The newer the cleaner and thats where taste comes in.

Also: real noob question: if some of the older PCMs are 18bit, will I run into problems with my RME AIO that runs only at 16 or 24 bit?
If I run everything through the analog ins outs, it should really matter, correct?? Thanks

No.

What do you need - a dedicated unit for reverb or a mutli-fx unit? I have not used a PCM70 or PCM90 so I cannot comment on them. I had a PCM80 for about 10 years and loved it. It was a wonderful unit. Sounded clear and transparent in an analogue way (not digital like an Eventide H8000FW, which I use frequently now for multi-fx). I also have a PCM96 which does not give me the same excitement that the PCM80 did. Anyway, the PCM80 (& PCM 81) is a multi-fx processor. It has excellent delays, flangers, choruses, and more. The pitch shifting is OK (not like an Eventide but useable anyway) and the reverb is quite useable too (not in the realm of a Bricasti which I use). The PCM80 is fantastic with keyboards - one of my favourites in fact. I have regretted selling it. I liked the "Deep Space" preset (which I recall is a long hall reverb with some modulation). I have not been able to find a similar sounding preset on the PCM96 (or Bricasti or H8000FW). Perhaps I am not adjusting the right parameters. There reverb plates and halls are fine too. With a bit of tweaking they worked with vocals. The delays and choruses are glorious - quite magical. You can do some deep programming with it to create some lush textures and whacky rolling flanging sounds. The electronic group "The Orb" used it a lot during the 90s. If you want to read more about the PCM80, I suggest you click on the following link (which is review from Sound On Sound):

Lexicon PCM80

The first few adjectives that come to mind on the 70 (when compared to the 90) is bright and clear. There is a lot of high end detail and there is a lot of clarity that sounds really good if you solo the wet signal. It is hard to explain but the 70 has an "in your face" sound that really grabs onto the signal you are sending/returning when you solo it, but blends nicely when you ease it into a mix. Totally digging it (only owned it for a few weeks now).

The 90 can sound pretty dark on some presets, but really deep and beautiful on others. My favorite right now is "storage warehouse" or something like that which is a medium room reverb and the 90 creates a big, open sound.

Imo, the 90 signals don't sound quite as clear and defined as the 70 when soloed, but they all sit nice when in the mix. In other words, each would have its strong points regarding specific uses. I plan to post some soloed clips in the near future, along with a Jim Williams modded LXP-15II. I think all 3 are great boxes.

Thanks everybody. I am tending toward the 80 as it seems the most flexible and excellent sounding. The SOS article I had read it glitters. I found a ytube vid on the 80 it's ok http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=83RY7M60Vd0#

By the way: I gotta throw the Roland Srv 330 in the discussion I have heard it and it sounds (to my ears) amazing. This vid is fantastic http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QbY3n3KWJdc#

Can anyone say how it compares?

I still need to hear the PCM 70
Seeker if you post something (ESP soloed) would be FaNtaStiC!!

One question would be why do want a Lexicon rack unit? It also depends on what musical use you are putting it to.

I spent a lot of time a while back looking into this. I actually got a Lexicon PCM 81. Fortunately, it had a fault. I say fortunately because I was able to return it. I didn't like it. It's hard to say why exactly but I just found it dull. I'm also wary about the build quality of these Lexicon PCMs. The PCM 70 may be better judging by what people say.

I use reverbs in two basic ways. Sometimes it's just a standard subtle room effect but often I like to use extreme ambient sounds. For the ambient sounds I found that Valhalla plugins were unsurpassed. I love those. More "realistic" reverb was more problematic. The PCM 81 failed to deliver for this. I didn't like any of the plugins. The Lex plugins are probably OK but expensive. Eventually I went with the Bricasti. That's expensive and I hesitated for a long time before buying it but it's a really great unit.

Another point is that I use Linux mostly for my DAW which limits my plugins anyway. I have a Macbook which I run the Valhalla plugins from. I also have the Eventide stomp boxes but not Space because that's covered by the other verbs I mention. These are my effects. It's possible that Eventide Space might cover some ground of a Lex PCM. This all depends on what you need it for.

The point being that I'd have liked to get a multi fx Lex PCM unit but I found it just didn't cut it at all.

I have both the 80 and the 90. They are quite robust in construction. I've had no problems with them at all.

The 90 was designed to have better reverbs than all of them. The 80 does the famous Lexicon Blue chorus, reverb and all sorts of cool delay effects.

Both these units are the real deal for me.

They might be quite robust. Many seem to have lasted for ages. I was a bit concerned though. I even looked inside the one I had. I just thought the parts weren't top notch. I think you have to be wary with old gear like this. If it breaks down you're screwed and you don't know how much abuse they've had.

Thinking back now, the problem with mine was the convertors so I had to test it digitally. It's possible the Lexicon convertors add some kind of character. I'd suggest if you primarily wanted good reverb then the 81 (which is what I had) is not the one to go for. The 90 may be a lot better. As far as I remember anything older than the 81 has no digital connection and the 70 is mono in stereo out which are all considerations. People seem to agree that the 70 has a cool sound. Sometimes with gear like this, as the tech moves forward, you get odd pieces that almost by accident retain some kind of uniqueness. Maybe the 70 is like this but I have no experience with it.

OK. It seems I was wrong and the 80 has digital ins and outs. I think the 81 has 24 bit depth and the 80 is 18 bit. What are the other differences?

The 80 has an spdif digital in and out (not aes/ebu). The analogue ins and outs are 1/4 inch jack (not xlr). The Blue Chorus on the 80 is very nice. Beautiful in fact. I never had any issues with mine in the 10 years I owned it.

Thanks efflux for your extensive Post. Yes my needs for a reverb are similar to yours: I want primarily a good unit for applying "ambient" reverb to high quality acoustic and classical productions ( voice, piano and strings mostly) and I need a unit for wide more experimental Film Music and some "stadium" kind of rock productions. That's why I thought the PCM 80 as a multy fx unit might for now kind of suit both (im on a budget!).

Also: if the older digital ins outs are 16 or 18 bit, I won't really be able to interface them as I runs usually 24bit projects am I correct? I'd only be able to use analog insouts correct?

Does anybody have a sound clip of the 70 or 80 I'd really like to hear those!! Thanks all, L.

I'm working on a simple drum kit clip right now that will include all 3 of my Lex boxes, soloed in the effects bus (which can be misleading but I want to put it up anyway) and then unsoloed to demonstrate how they sit in the mix (most important imo). I think I'm just going to do a medium hall for each for now, but then plates and chambers at another time.

I'm a home recordist, and there are a lot of home recordists that want to hear this and not enough clips of them. I'm going to put it in another forum (too much gear...), but will post a link here when it's up.

Whether you get the 70, 80/81 or 90/91, you'll have a great unit with any of them.

Thanks Seeker sounds great you are taking time to do that. giving the mix context is also good.

Any chance of " on the fly" reverb on some acoustic instrument/vocals too??

Lol, not today. I'm trying to run my small architecture practice and play Mr. Mom while doing this. Got some clips up of some drums, though.

Battle of the Lexicons: PCM90/PCM70/LXP-15II drum clips

You can use the digital interface with 24-bit projects with no problems. You can also use either AES or S/PDIF formats--the PCM 80/81/90/91 will sort it out just fine. One way to think about it is that all digital interfaces are 24-bit. On the PCM80, only the upper 18 bits carry meaningful data. The only time this could conceivably be an issue would be with the 80 on your main buss, doing the wet/dry mix. Since you've probably got it on a send/return loop, you should experience no difficulty at all.

Hi thanks Seeker!

... Wow you're really juggling a lot of things!!!! And you still get around to making music?? Do you have some kind of site with some of your work up?

I'll listen to your clips and see how they fare.... Thanks again

The PCM-70 is more like a small and reduced version of the great LEX224.
Offers also some modulation and delay effects. But the reverb is the nice 224 sound.

PCM90/91 are small and reduced versions of the big Lex300. There are reverb specialists.
Sometimes there are overpriced...so look for the bigger an better sounding 300.

PCM80/81 should be the followers of the PCM70, but the reverb doesnt sound like 224. More like PCM90/91. They also offer multieffects like modulation and delays.

So at the end I would buy a Lex300 (better than PCM90 and just a little bit more expensive), a PCM70 for LEX224 sounds and maybe a PCM80/81 or a small MPX-1 if you needed. With Lex300 and PCM70 together you can get a lot of different effects.

Sudad G

I need some verb for vocals live. Nothing fancy but just good quality. I have an LXP-1 that was modded by Jim Williams but also was considering a PCM 70 or even the PCM90 which a friend has for sale. The fact that the 70/90 is rack mountable is nice, I guess the LXP-1 is also in a half space rack, but it has the wall wart ps, which for live always opens up avenues for problems. I'd probably opt to just toss the LXP-1 in a cord bag as opposed to racking it.

The rack mountable issues aside-is it worth going up to either the 70 or 90 for just basic reverb on vocals live (jazz/standards context) or just make due with the Audio Upgrades LXP-1 ?

Thanks.

The PCM90/91 will do the trick for live vocals. They often feature in racks for touring bands in NZ.

37 pages of PCM80/81 here, those users like it more because of the delays
Lexicon PCM80 & PCM81 Questions, Tips, Tricks & Solutions | The Gear Page
I'm very interested in digital diffusion and smear algorithm pseudo code please (probably only a few lines)

The 70 is the lex sound with bite.
The 90 is a different line of sounds, bit less bite, but still lexicon.
The 80 does not have the good reverbs like the 70 or 90, its an effects units not a reverb.

The 70 also has a great plate.

The 70 is mono in, stereo out

I would not consider the PCM 80 reverbs not as good as those in the 70 (have both). Different character for sure (that's why I have both), but a matter of taste mostly. For long "evolving/modulated/mixed with subtle delays" reverbs the 80 wins hands down obviously. I already wrote this, for today's incredibly low going prices it is a crime not buying a PCM 80- it has so much to offer, reverb department included. A wonderful, wonderful machine.

Best regards
Massimo

I’ve had pcm 70, 80, 81, 90, 300 and 224

The only ones left are the pcm70 and the 224 cos they did something the plugs couldn’t do ������*♂️

I even sold the pcm70 and purchased another one after I realized I missed it...

just kind of fell into a 70 today and l have to say im super impressed with it. l ran my machinedrum through it and was totally blown away by how much character it added. my test run turned into a full-blown track.