Lexicon Omega audio Interface

[ferran rc]

Does anyone use the Lexicon Omega?

 

I can buy one at a very good price, and I wanted to know some user opinions...

It can record 4 channels at the same time. Has anyone tried it? How is the latency? And the audio quality?

Are the drivers stable?

 

Thanks very much in advance!

Ferran

[Mark Schmieder]

This was discussed here a couple of months back, but that might be hard to find given the limited capabilities of the search engine.

 

My recollection is that the conclusion was that this is not a very worthwhile device, based on track record but not based specifically on this new device. I think the criticisms were aimed both at driver stability as well as preamp quality -- the latter of which might not matter, depending on your front end for recording (i.e. do you have another mic preamp).

 

Regardless, there are better deals out there in terms of quality and bang-for-buck, and some were offended that the Lexicon branding did not bring with it some of their fine reverbs as part of the package.

 

You may be aware that Harmon consolidated this summer and closed down Lexicon. It's just a random brand name now; all development is in Orange County CA from a core engineering group that works on all of the Harmon-bought brands like dbx. Forget the history of that brand name; it's not the same company anymore.

[SK]

I have the Lexicon Lambda which is a step from the Omega... almost identical. I can't compare it to every interface out there, and it depends on what you're using it for... but it was a good choice for recording my Roland FP. I've had no problems with it, and I did try some other brands that did not work as well for me.

 

... and some were offended that the Lexicon branding did not bring with it some of their fine reverbs as part of the package.

Regardless of what company owns it now, both the Omega and Lambda DO come with a cool Lexicon reverb plug-in.

[ferran rc]

Thanks very much Mark.

 

I've also seen the Focusrite Saffire LE and the Presonus Firebox.

They are more expensive, but have very good reviews...

 

Does anyone know if is it possible to recors 4 channels at the same time with the Saffire LE or the Firebox?

[SK]

ferran, I also tried the Presonus Firebox, and while it has more channels, I preferred the Lexicon for my purposes. But then again, I don't know what you're using it for.

 

And of course there are better interfaces, but I'm fine with this one.

[ferran rc]

I want it basically to record some keyboard tracks in my computer and make some music...

 

Thanks for your opinions!

 

[Mark Schmieder]

Haha, I said "fine", not "cool". The criticism was that it didn't include even a single high-end reverb, and that the quality of the included reverb was below that of a typical mid-range Yamaha mixer.

 

YMMV :-).

[SK]

Fine. Well, I have the interface and while I'd never call the reverb great or "the best", I found it to be better than an average mixer. It's done the job for my purposes. He asked for "user opinions" - if he was looking for high end stuff, I wouldn't have commented.

 

Regardless, there are better deals out there in terms of quality and bang-for-buck...

Maybe suggest some of those better deals. I can't suggest anything since I'm not using any of it now - I've been doing my stuff in an outside studio for a while.

[Mark Schmieder]

Sorry, I'm having to be very quick these days and am just not finding the time to go back and edit, refine, or augment my posts. I didn't mean to come off sounding extreme about the Lexicon. It's just that it got a LOT of bad press on Gearslutz for reliability issues. But that's all second-hand information, after all. I just thought maybe it was relevant that the core team is gone.

 

Steinberg does have a couple of new items that get great reviews and seem built like a tank, and it looks also like Yamaha (their current owner) has forced them to "open up" a bit in terms of compatibility and requirements. I recommend looking into them, as they're new and getting a good buzz. But I have no personal experience with them. They ARE on my radar though, as Good Buys.

 

Otherwise, some of your good bang-for-buck items include MOTU's smaller form factor interfaces, which have been revised quite recently and use the same converters as their 828 and 896 series. They also now include effects plug-ins.

 

My other thought was some of TC Electronic's small form factor interfaces, which come with excellent stripped-down versions of some of their Powercore plug-ins. But you do need to do some background check on each individual model, due to some driver issues that may or may not have been fully resolved by now.

[SK]

No problem, Mark. We're both just trying to be helpful to anyone reading this.

 

The tech reviews I read on the Lexicon were the reason I got it. I didn't just walk into the store and say "What's this? I'll take it!"

 

It had the stereo XLR inputs I needed, and the unit worked well and very simple to use. The reverb plug-in is effective.

 

I didn't want to get locked into buying more expensive stuff or all one brand like Digidesign ProTools. I tried a Tascam and a Presonus Firebox first before making the decision, and actually preferred the Lexicon for recording my particular digital piano sample.

 

For reference, all my solo digital piano recordings in the Reharm Room were done with the Lexicon. Sure, the quality is better on some than others (my fault), but it's a fair demo of what it will do.

[bloodyMary]

I've got the basic model, lexicon Alpha. Latency-wise, I can go down to 5ms with new drivers.

 

It's a solid device with good build quality, silent inputs/outputs, the preamp is okay for me, though I don't have much exp. with different preamps. It sounded fine for recording demos.

 

 

Lambda/Omega might have worse latency, I remember reading this up at Lexicon forums.

 

Overall, it works fine for me (I'm recording keys and vocals, running some soft synths).

 

 

 

[mate stubb]

I had an Omega. Could never get the drivers to make it work on my dedicated XP music box. Returned it.

[marczellm]

Deciced to resurrect this old thread. I have a Lexicon Omega and it worked fine for some years but then it started malfunctioning. After maybe half an hour into the recording session it disconnected from the computer. Later that interval shortened down all the way to two seconds. Now when I plug it in, Windows always complains about not recognizing the device. The front panel LEDs usually do not make it to the end of the boot sequence.

 

Has anyone encountered that problem and managed to fix it? Any recommendations for a replacement? I need at least 2 stereo inputs for my two keyboards, one or two mic/line inputs, USB to the computer, monitor and headphone output.