A 'Verb-al Agreement: Lexicon PCM Native Reverb Plug-in Bundle
Warning: nostalgia alert! In my early days of reading gear magazines in the late ’90s, I saw the Lexicon PCM 80 multi-effects and PCM 90 digital reverb units turning up in the studio lists for a lot of big-name drum ‘n’ bass and other electronic and rock artists I was paying attention to. Everyone who had those pieces had only the best things to say about them, and not much later, I heard for myself why Lexicon reverbs were often considered the finest digital reverbs, synonymous with the term “lush.” However, those single-unit beauties usually seemed out of reach price-wise to small-time studio schmoes like me.
Lexicon's Plate reverb, part of the PCM Native Reverb Plug-in Bundle
Lexicon’s technology — along with all digital audio technology — has progressed leaps and bounds over the decade-plus since the PCM 80 and 90, so it was infatuation all over again when I sampled the sweet sound of the PCM96 reverb/effects processor at the 2007 AES Show in New York. But again, with a retail price of $3,499, the PCM96 seemed about as attainable as a Swedish model at Comic Con.
I’M A PCM, AND THIS IS GETTING GOOD
So at last week’s AES Show at Manhattan’s Javits Center, Lexicon prompted plenty of beard-stroking with its introduction of the PCM Native Reverb Plug-in Bundle. For a retail price of $1,899, the bundle gives you seven of Lexicon’s high-end reverb algorithms with all the modern conveniences of a plug-in for Windows (XP/Vista/7) and Mac (10.4/10.5/10.6) in VST, Audio Unit or RTAS formats.
Along with seven reverb types — Vintage Plate, Plate, Hall, Room, Random Hall, Concert Hall and Chamber — you get hundreds of studio presets, which can be saved in a DAW-independent format to move from DAW to DAW with full parameter automation. Real-time graphical feedback includes the illustrated frequency stages for each algorithm; an EQ section for adjusting early and late reflections; input and output level meters; and more from the multi-functional center display.
PCM Native Reverb requires iLok USB key authorization.
UN-PLUG THE HARDWARE
Certainly, there are advantages to hardware units if you can afford them. For instance, without the DSP chips of the hardware units, will the PCM Native Reverb plug-ins reduce your computer’s CPU to a huddled mass whimpering for mercy? Possibly, if you don’t have a fancy new machine. And while the bundle’s street price is yet unknown, you could probably find an old PCM 90 on eBay for half of the $1,899 retail price of this plug-in bundle. But personally, I’d go with the updated sound of Lexicon’s latest algorithms.
And maybe I’m lazy, but for me, the conveniences of the modern DAW-and-plug-in workflow are like flat-screen TVs or heirloom tomatoes: Once you’ve sampled them, you can’t go back to the clunky old alternatives.