| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Audio electronics |
| Founded | 1971 |
| Headquarters | Woodbury, Orange County, New York USA |
| Key people | Francis Lee Chuck Bagnaschi |
| Products | Professional audio production equipment, Home theater equipment, Consumer audio, Car audio systems |
| Website | http://www.lexicon.com |
Lexicon is an American audio equipment manufacturing company founded in 1971 and owned by Harman International Industries. Lexicon's roots began in 1969 with the founding of American Data Sciences by MIT professor Dr. Francis Lee and engineer Chuck Bagnaschi who developed digital audio devices for medical heart monitoring.[1]
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Lexicon is held in extremely high regard in studios around the world as a manufacturer of effects units and other audio processing equipment, in particular digital reverb/reverberation units. The company was among the first to produce commercially available digital reverb equipment, beginning in 1978[2] with the Model 224. In 1986, Lexicon released the 480L (costing more than some cars), a successor of the 224XL. By this time they had built a reputation for realistic and controllable simulations of the audio response characteristics of spaces including rooms and concert halls, as well as providing high quality tools for the virtual creation of 'unrealistic' audio spaces, and other audio effects processing and manipulations. The 224XL and 480L are heard on thousands of songs and movies throughout the 1980s and '90s.
The PCM series was introduced as a smaller, more economical way to enjoy the Lexicon sound, particularly in live situations where the 480L was too cumbersome for a rack rider. First in the series was PCM60 released in 1984, followed a few years later by the Lexicon PCM-70, the latter adding multi-effects and a digital screen interface. David Gilmour from Pink Floyd used a Lexicon PCM-70 to store the circular delay sounds in songs such as "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and "Time" in the 1994 The Division Bell Tour.[3]
In the 1990s Lexicon continued to refine the PCM series with two new units, the Lexicon PCM-80 multi-effects unit and Lexicon PCM-90 digital reverberator, to replace the PCM70. They also introduced the consumer-level LXP series including the LXP-1, LXP-5, LXP-15 and the LXP-15II. Later, Lexicon would introduce the MPX range that was affordable enough for most all home recording enthusiasts.
Lexicon was a pioneer in the hard disk recording market, introducing the Opus system in 1988. This system feature 8 channels of disk I/O along with an integrated 12 channel digital mixer. In the following years, Opus was upgraded with EQ and console automation. In the mid 1990s Lexicon Studio and Core2 audio interfaces were introduced. They were notable in that they could be expanded with a Lexicon reverb daughterboard that was then accessible to the recording software.
In 2001, Lexicon released the high end 960L multi-effects unit with the LARC2 remote control device, a long-awaited successor to the famed 480L with LARC multi-effects unit.
In 2003, Lexicon's professional operations were relocated to the Salt Lake City area. Since then, they have introduced several I/O products for desktop recording (Omega, Lambda, and Alpha, along with the recently-introduced IOnix series). A new low-priced reverb series, the MX series was also introduced.
Most recently, Lexicon has refreshed continuation of the PCM series with new mid-level units, PCM96, PCM96 Surround, and PCM92 multi-effects processors.
Lexicon's latest reverb processors include "Hardware Plug-In" technology to further integrate their hardware with computer recording systems (DAWs). This provides the benefit of total recall and automation, while avoiding the risk of software piracy (common to native plugins).
In 1988, Lexicon developed LARES, an electronic processing system intended to give performance spaces a tailored acoustic experience. LARES uses microphones to pick up sound, central processing units to apply time-variant anti-feedback, delay and reverberation algorithms, and banks of loudspeakers to bring the enhanced audio signal back into the performance space. LARES Associates split away from Lexicon in 1995. Lexicon continues to benefit from its initial LARES research and development with the company offering a scaled-down and simplified microprocessor controller, the MC-12,[4] intended for auditory enhancement within home and professional listening spaces. The system is called Lexicon LIVE.[5]
Lexicon's first foray into home theater equipment was with its surround processor, the CP-1. Later, a CP-2 was released, followed by the CP-3 and the CP-3+. The CP-3/CP-3+ were the first of its home theater products to be THX certified.
With the arrival of Dolby Digital, the CP line had to be discontinued. It was replaced with the DC line, namely the DC-1 [1996] and the DC-2. It was at this point that the company introduced its revolutionary surround processing algorithm Logic 7. Logic 7 was notable for generating a convincing soundfield from seven loudspeakers when presented with either a stereo or 5.1 input.
After a while, Lexicon added the MC-1 to its lineup of the DC-1 and DC-2, and the MC-1 became its new flagship.
A few years later, Lexicon introduced the MC-12 and the MC-12b. The MC-12b was in all respects identical to the MC-12 except that it had balanced outputs in addition to the standard unbalanced ones. Shortly after this, Lexicon filled in the lower end of its product line by providing an MC-8 and an MC-4. They also produced a receiver, the RV-8.
In addition to surround processors, Lexicon also sells the LX and CX multi-channel home theater amplifiers and the RT-20 DVD player. Its discontinued NT line of amplifiers were rebadged Bryston amplifiers.
It was discovered in an Audioholics.com review on January 15, 2010 that Lexicon's BD-30 Blu-ray player (retail price $3500) contained internal components and chassis identical to the Oppo BDP-83 (retail price $500) and audiovisual testing indicated no changes were made in performance either.[6][7] Furthermore, it appears that this player was given THX certification (the first Blu-ray player with this distinction), despite failing fundamental THX tests. Currently, evidence of its certification has largely disappeared from the THX website after this was revealed.[8]