Now Available From Lexicon, PC Wave Drivers For Lexicon Studio

Reprinted in its entirety from Sound on Sound, July 1998Combining the famous Lexiconreverb sound with the latesthard disk recording technology,the Lexicon Studio systemshould win many admirers.MARTIN WALKER falls in love.LEXICON STUDIO RECORDING SYSTEMIt is a sign of the importance now beinggiven to audio recording systems based oncomputer soundcards that heavyweightindustry professionals like Lexicon are joiningthe fray. A few years ago, soundcards wereregarded by some companies as toys suitableonly for games -- and now look what they cando!As you might expect, the LexiconStudio is a fully professional recording system - all the audio circuitry is contained within anexternal rack-mounting case for optimum fidelity,and the main analogue inputs and outputs areat 4dBu levels on balanced XLRs. However,when compared to other recent systems, thereare two major difference s in the approach thatLexicon have taken. Rather than moving theirexpertise to the software plug-in market,Lexicon have incorporated their PCM 90 reverbhardware into the new Studio recording system,and such is the desirability of the 'Lexiconsound' that many musicians have been eagerlyawaiting the launch for this reason alone. We'renot talking about a simulation either. TheLexicon Studio uses exactly the same coreprocessing engine as the famous PCM 90,taken out of its original rack housing and graftedon to a PCI soundcard.The other major difference in theapproach taken by Lexicon is that of software.Many hard disk audio systems have beenlaunched over the last year or so, offering awide range of features and capabilities.However, while most of these new systemsare audio-only, many also use proprietarysoftware as the sole means of accessing thehardware. This is a significant area of concernfor many people using MIDI keyboards, synthmodules, or samplers, since it is vital for them tobe able to record and play back MIDI tracks aspart of the overall process of making music.Most such systems have options to sync aMIDI sequencer to the Audio software, but thisis not an ideal solution. Not only does it involverunning two pieces of software side by side ona single monitor screen, it also means possibleconflicts when relying on the Audio software tosupply tight timing for the MIDI software.Lexicon have neatly side-stepped thisproblem, as well as winning many people overin the process, by working closely withSteinberg to ensure that the Lexicon Studiointegrates well with their Cubase VST software(which already supports both Audio and MIDIin a single package). Existing Cubase userswill be very pleased to carry on using the samefamiliar package, rather than having to learnnew software from scratch. The other benefit ofworking with Steinberg is that a dedicatedASIO (Audio Stream Input/Output) driver isavailable from day one. This should ensuregood performance in VST, by minimising anylatencies (those annoying time delays betweendoing something and getting a reaction from thehardware).Lexicon are to be applauded forensuring good performance with Cubase VSTfrom the start, but initial shipments do notinclude a standard Win 95 Multimedia driver.This does mean that Cubase VST is the onlyapplication that can currently be used, althougha standard driver is expected "in the nearfuture" along with a driver for Apple Macintoshowners.INSTALLATIONFor the purposes of this review, StirlingAudio supplied me with a Pentium II 300MHzPC containing 128Mb RAM, and an internalUltra Fast Wide SCSI-3 hard drive (see'System Requirements' box). The Lexicon

Studio was boxed separately, so I still got thechance to try out the installation procedure.There are three main components to theLexicon Studio 12T system: the Core-32System PCI buss card is common to allsystems, and this has a daughterboard socketto attach the PC-90 Processor card; twosockets on its back panel allow a couple ofinterfaces to be connected simultaneously.There is also a 24-bit multi-channel digital signalbuss, which can communicate with otherLexicon cards to expand system processingpower. Although nothing much is being saidabout this at the moment, "expanding systemprocessing power" sounds suspiciously like aDSP farm to me. Who knows? The third part ofthe package is the LDI-12T Interface, a 1U-highrackmount box providing all the ins and outs.The Core-32 may be PCI, but unlikemany such cards it is a full 14 inches long. Thereview PC was fitted with an ATX formatmotherboard, which allows every slot to beoccupied by a full-length card, but anyonecontemplating installation onto a Baby-ATformat motherboard may not be so lucky -- myown motherboard cannot accommodate PCIcards longer than about eight inches, due to theposition of the processor heatsink.“ The Lexicon Studiouses exactly thesame coreprocessing engine asthe famous PCM 90,taken out of theoriginal rack housingand grafted on to aPCI soundcard.”Figure 1: Main VST Screen. Both Lexicon reverb modules can be used as either Channel effects (as shown here) oras Channel inserts. Notice that the Buss Output has been set to ‘PC-90 1’ and ‘PC-90 2’ in the VST Effects window, toroute Aux Sends 1 and 2 to the PC-90 hardware. The VST Master window shows the two active buses.

After attaching the PC-90 daughterboard to the Core-32, installing the combinationinto the review PC was quite easy. Such isLexicon's attention to detail that disposableanti-static wrist straps are provided for safeinstallation of the circuit boards, as well as ascrew-on bracket to support the far end of thecard.Once the cards are in place, rebootingthe PC allowed Win 95 to detect the newhardware, and after inserting the appropriatefloppy disk, the drivers were installed with nofuss -- they take a single IRQ and one 64kbmemory range. Once the Win 95 desktopappeared, the PC-90 plug-in software wasinstalled from two further floppies, and that's allthere was to it. A demo version of Cubase VSTwas also included in the packaging, but mostpeople will want the full version, which willnormally come already installed if you arebuying a complete system.The LDI-12T Interface connects to theCore-32 back panel via a single proprietarymulti-way cable, and thankfully this is agenerous three metres in length, which is quitelong enough for the interface to be fitted inside a19-inch rack. Its 1U rack casing is only fourinches deep, and looks to be exactly the sameas that used for the Lexicon Alex and Reflex,as does the supplied 'wall-wart' external powersupply. The front panel (from left to right)features an on/off switch, followed by abalanced female XLR socket for Timecode In, apair of gold-plated coaxial phono sockets forS/PDIF In and Out, and then the analogue I/O:a pair of male XLR (balanced) sockets for Leftand Right outputs at 4dBu level, a pair ofgold-plated phono inputs (-10dBV level), and afurther pair of female XLR (balanced) inputs at 4dBu level.On the back panel you will find a pair of9-pin D-type connectors for ADAT Sync In andSync Out, a pair of optical (Toslink) sockets forAudio In and Out (these can be used as either8-channel ADAT format, or stereo S/PDIF), thesocket for the computer umbilical, a BNC WordClock Input (with 75 ohm termination), another9-pin D-type RS-422 Comm Port (to connect tovideo and audio devices capable of Sonyserial control), and finally the wall-wart socket,along with a cable tidy to stop the plug beingaccidentally pulled out.INITIAL SETUPMost of the external connection optionsare fairly obvious: digital connections can bemade either using the rear-panel Toslinksockets or the front-panel coaxial ones, foreasy connection to ADATs, DAT recorders, CDplayers or effects processors. Formatconversion is also available, so that you canfreely route between optical and coaxialdevices. I did miss a pair of unbalancedoutputs, but you can make up a special lead toachieve this, so it's not too much of a problem.As far as interfacing with Cubase VSTgoes, you simply need to select 'ASIO LexiconStudio' as your ASIO Device in the CubaseVST Audio System Setup window. This is myfirst experience of a hardware-specific ASIOdriver (there are very few yet available -notably the Korg 1212), and there are nobuffers to set up -- as soon as you select thedriver, a latency value of 47 millisecondsappears, which is a factor of 10 better than withmost recommended soundcard settings whenusing the ASIO Multimedia driver.Adjustments to routing are made insidethe Lexicon Studio Control Panel -- to find thisyou need to select Audio System Setup, andthen click on the ASIO Control Panel button. Tobe honest, you are likely to be using this Panelquite a lot initially, so it is useful to leave itopen, ready to be used directly from the Win 95Taskbar, rather than having to find it everytime.Figure 2: Ctrl I/O window allowsfull access to the hardware, forselecting inputs and outputs,digital options, and for setting upgain structure.

There are four main pages in the ControlPanel. The first is Ctrl I/O, and this is fairly selfexplanatory, providing access to functions of theLDI-12T Interface. There are two pairs of gainfaders -- one for the A-D converters, and the otherfor the D-A ones. These can be set at any valuebetween -96dB and 12dB. The nominal positionof 0dB represents unity gain between XLR input toXLR output, where 4dBu is 14dB below digital fullscale. For the phono inputs 0dBcorresponds to -10dBV, 14dB below digital fullscale. These values are fairly standard andsensibly chosen to give you a useful amount ofheadroom. Each pair of faders can be gangedtogether, using a small button.Also on this page are switches to selectwhich of the various Input and Output sockets onthe Interface are to be used, along with SCMSsettings (copy-protection can be used or ignored),and a De-Emphasis switch for the analogueoutput. Finally, clicking the Turbo Mode boxenables full 32 channel capability (this settingdefaults to off, with 24 channels available at44.1kHz and 21 at 48kHz sample rates, and willgive higher quality, glitch-free audio with slowermachines such as 166/200MHz Pentiums).The second page is Reverb, and thisallows a wide variety of sources and destinationsto be routed to each of the two PC-90 DSPengines. These include 12 inputs from the LDI-12T(two analogue, two S/PDIF, and eight Toslink), 12outputs of the same persuasion, along with fourAux sends (Aux Send 1 L and R, and Aux Send 2L and R), and four Aux returns of the same variety.“ .controllingVST using theLexicon Studiofelt much morelike using ananaloguemachine – nowonder thatSteinberg are sokeen for othersoundcardmanufacturersto develop ASIOdrivers.”This versatility allows the PC-90 to bepatched directly to an input or output signal,as well as within Cubase VST in the normalmanner of plug-ins. It is even possible tocreate a cascaded reverb using both PC-90engines in series. However, althoughcomprehensive, this is one area in whichsome sort of graphic patchbay would help - it can initially be confusing until you getyour head around the alternatives.Thankfully, a default routing is set forLexicon Studio (shown in Figure 3), allowingyou to us e the PC-90 straight away, as anAux effect in Cubase VST.The third page is for Punch Record(with its own Mix level fader). This is a veryuseful feature that allows you to bypassthe normal Cubase monitoring, and directlypatch any selected combination of LexiconStudio input signals through to one of theLexicon Studio hardware outputs duringrecording (you will need to select GlobalDisable for Cubase monitoring in its SystemSetup window). This overcomes anannoying problem with all Win 95 audiorecording packages -- that there isinevitably a latency between the inputsignal and the playback of previouslyrecorded tracks during recording. Onplayback every track will be perfectly insync, but if you listen to an input signalafter it has passed through the softwarebuffers, it will sound delayed, and even thelow latency figure of 47ms can be tricky toFigure 3: The Reverb window is where the routing of thetwo PC-90 modules takes place, and the options arecomprehensive, to say the least!

work with. Of course, you could achieve the sameend by monitoring the input using an external mixer,but Punch Record allows you to do it with directconnections.The final Control Panel page is Timecode,and here you can enable timecode reading, selectthe timecode source, as well as displaying itscurrent type, validity, and value. The LDI-12Tuses a MIDI driver to convert the LTC (LongitudinalTimeCode) supplied by its front-panel XLR socketinto MTC (MIDI TimeCode).IN USEGiven the number of inputs and outputs onoffer, it takes a short while to get to grips with audiorecording, but I soon had some tracks recorded. Icouldn't measure noise figures using my normalsoftware of choice due to the lack of a Win 95driver, but audio quality was subjectively excellent.The main signs of the dedicated ASIO driver werethe almost immediate Play/Stop response (theMultimedia driver, in comparison, typically takeshalf a second to fill up its buffers before anythinghappens) and the snappy response of recordingand playback level meters (which reflected theactual signals much more closely). In fact,controlling VST using the Lexicon Studio felt muchmore like using an analogue machine -- no wonderthat Steinberg are so keen for other soundcardmanufacturers to develop ASIO drivers.To check that multitrack recording wasworking correctly, an ADAT was patched in usingoptical cables, and an existing 8-track ADAT taperecorded directly onto the PC's hard drive usingCubase VST. Once the routing was configured,and the ADAT data selected as the word clocksource within VST, this worked very well, althoughsome clicks were noticed during the transferprocess. However, this didn't happen during furthertests with a different ADAT machine, so theproblem seems unlikely to be due to the LexiconStudio. When employed in a larger digital system,using a mixer such as the Yamaha 02R or 03D, youcould use its word clock output connected to therear panel BNC word clock input of the LDI-12T,and select this as the word clock source, to providecentralised clocking for everything.PC-90 SOFTWAREOK, so I've left the best bit till last.Since the PC-90 uses exactly the samecore processing engine as the PCM 90, thereverbs and effects sound just as good,and its front-panel display will look veryfamiliar to any Lexicon owner. There aretwo reverb plug-ins available from withinCubase VST (Machine 1 and Machine 2),and there are five algorithms available foreach: Ambience (to add space around thesound), Chamber (particularly useful withvoice), Concert (very clean halls), Room,and Inverse (for gate and special effects).Two new banks, each of 50 presets, havebeen created for the PC-90, although Isuspect that many libraries of other effectswill be quickly transported to the computerformat.Using the PC-90 was a revelation.Switching it into circuit took no moreoverhead than the simple Wunderverb3plug-in supplied free with Cubase VST,and for all practical purposes you havesimply connected your VST channels to apiece of external hardware. For anyonewho has not used a Lexicon reverb before,the overwhelming feeling is of clarity -- a100% wet signal sounds just as clear asthe direct one, with no metallic colourationduring long decays, and it was a treat tohave such a variety of quality reverbs ontap inside a PC. The other thing to note isthe sheer variety of sounds on offer. Mostreverbs only offer a handful of controls, buthere there are up to 24 (depending on thealgorithm). Scrolling through the two newbanks of 50 presets created for the PC-90shows its versatility. There are thestandard rooms, halls, and churches, andbeautifully clean they are too, but otherspecial effects like Synth Hall (with pitchmodulation) and CyberVerb (using theInverse algorithm with staggered delays)show just what can be achieved. Mind you,I doubt that I need to convince anyone ofthe benefits of using a Lexicon reverb!Figure 4: PC-90 reverb module. This familiar-looking PC-90 plug-in is modeled on itshardware equivalent, and should make a lot of people happy.

The hardware PCM 90 does provide access tomany more parameters than the PC-90, butLexicon told me that future PC-90 softwareupdates may well add more if users demand it.The current interface only has three parametersvisible at any one time, so some algorithmsneed eight display pages in total. I can't helpthinking that here is a missed opportunity toprovide an alternative software interface whichshows more (or all) of the controlssimultaneously, as well as using a graphicapproach, with a flowchart for each algorithm.Yes, I know it's the sound that is important andthat most people will tweak the presets, buthere's the chance to make existing Lexiconowners green with envy, and possibly gainsome more potential customers.SUMMARYThe fact that the D-A converters are only 20-bitis less important, since the majority of audioends up as 16-bit in the final master, and youare normally using these converters formonitoring, rather than as part of the recordingchain. However, when using Cubase VSTv3.55, recording is currently restricted to 16-bitresolution. The forthcoming Cubase 4.0/24(initially for the Mac from June 98, and then laterin 98 for PC) will remove this restriction,allowing full 24-bit recording, as well as a hostof new features.The main limitation of this version is thelack of standard Win 95 drivers (and Macones). Both of these are promised within a fewmonths, and then the Lexicon Studio could beused with any Audio MIDI sequencer, albeitwith greater latency.“ Lexicon are to be applaudedfor ensuring goodperformance with Cubase VSTfrom the start.”Lexicon seem to havedesigned a system that hasa very useful balance offeatures. For many peoplewho work with tape-based8-track recorders such as the ADAT or DA88,moving the data to a computer-based systemfor editing and mixdown is ideal, and for nearlyall such applications a couple of high-qualityreverbs will always be needed. Implementingreverb functions in software demands a greatdeal of processing power, and the better thequality of the reverb, the more DSP power itnormally consumes. By building in a pair ofhardware reverbs, offering the legendaryquality of the PCM 90, Lexicon have created awinning combination, since all of your computerpower remains free to run more channels ofaudio, or a wider selection of other lessintensive plug-in effects.By opting to integrate their system withCubase VST, many people who have alreadydevoted a large amount of time learning theSteinberg software can immediately achieveuseful work, without starting at the bottom ofyet another software learning curve. Thepeople who grumble about timing and latencyproblems with VST are unlikely to have used apowerful PC with hardware-specific ASIOdrivers and built-in reverb hardware, such asthe Lexicon Studio. If they did, they would finda system with huge power and fewcompromises, which should win over themajority of doubters.Lexicon's audio hardware is also wellthought out. By providing 24-bit A-Dconverters, as well as internal 24-bit resolution,you are assured of high audio qualityrecordings.Lexicon intend to specifically support othersequencers, to provide optimum results apackage at a time. Personally, I think theirapproach is sensible, given the many potentialproblems when using a universal driver.Overall, I think Lexicon have a definite winneron their hands in the Lexicon Studio 12T, and Isuspect that they may be initially hard-pressedto keep up with demand.COMING SOON.For anyone requiring more extensive I/O. there willbe a larger Lexicon Studio system available in thefuture incorporating the LDI-16S (16-channel)interface. This offers eight sets of balancedanalogue inputs and outputs, S/PDIF and WordClock connections, plus a 8-channel TDIFconnection for a Tascam DA-88 or DA-38 digitalrecorder.The following optional screw-in modules willalso be made available: AES-8 – this provides an additional eightchannels of AES/EBU digital ins and outs (withreal-time sample conversion between any pair).MDM (Modular Digital Multitrack) – this providesanother TDIF connection and two ADAT opticalones, as well as ADAT sync.STC-1 – this is a timecode reader/generatorthat generates LTC, and reads and generatesVITC

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTSPC TWEAKSAlthough Lexicon recommend a minimum of aPentium 166MHz processor and 64MB RAM, Ithink most people spending over 2500 on theaudio sub-system would be best advised tobudget for a PC containing a Pentium IIprocessor. Running Steinberg’s Cubase VST,a good recommendation would be a Pentium II266 or even 300MHz processor, 64MB RAM,and an 8GB SCSI hard drive. This should giveyou between 24 and 32 audio tracks, with 64EQs, eight average plug-in effects, and o

Opcode VisionDSP with Lexicon Studio! You’ll see much more information about this great development in the next issue of the Studio Monitor! Already, Lexicon has a strong complement of software developers working on direct drivers for use with Lexicon Studio. With an obvious strong partnership with