Lexicon 224 Reverbarator W/ LARC Controller Maui Recorders Walter Becker John Neff

We are Eclectic Sounds / aka: eclsounds – a store front in Portland, Or. We are open 7 days a week from 11 – 5 PST (by appointment)

Previously owned by John Neff and Walter Becker / Steely Dan as part of Maui Recorders from early 1980’s until 2021. 

John sold us this piece as part of his retirement sale. 

In flawless operating condition with $3000 in repairs from Beamish in 2001. 

Will ship in rack case that John Neff used when Maui Recorders closed in the late 80’s. 

The LARC functions perfectly as well.

 

Unveiled at the AES Show in 1978, the Lexicon 224 was not the first digital reverb (that honor goes to EMT’s 250), but the 224 (and its 224X and 224XL cousins) was the most ubiquitous and popular high-end studio reverb in history.

The Lexicon 224 is an early digital reverb that was well known for its spacey, extra long decays. Vangelis was an early pioneer of the extra long decays using this unit, most famously in the Blade Runner soundtrack.

The reverb was conceived when Dr. David Griesinger, a nuclear physicist/musician/classical recording engineer, started working on a digital solution to reverb. Seeing EMT’s 250 encouraged him to merge a microcomputer with his reverb design.

He pitched his rough prototype to Lexicon, which bought the invention and brought Griesinger on board to help refine the product. One of Griesinger’s concepts for the new reverb was creating a separate control unit for parameter adjustment and program access.

The 224 reverberation system had a console-top controller with a four-rackspace brain, two inputs, four outputs and interchangeable programs to simulate chambers, plates and rooms. The 224 was “affordable” – meaning $7,500 with two programs or $7,900 with four programs.

But at half the price of EMT’s 250, the 224 was a hit. Eventually, the 224 evolved into the improved 224X and 224XL, which included the LARC (Lexicon Alphanumeric Remote Control), offering fingertip access to programs and parameters, dedicated function keys and a 24-character LED.

The Lexicon 224 used a fixed point processor, with a 16-bit word size. It was designed in the late 1970s using the best technology available, which at the time was the 8080 microprocessor, 12-bit converters (using DAC80 DAC IC), input transformers, and bucketloads of 74S/LS-series logic.

Although the converters themselves are 12-bit, a clever scaling circuit gives an extra 24dB of headroom by actively shifting the input gain. This gives a 16-bit conversion range overall, though precision is still only 12-bit.

Specifications
Released: 1978
Quantization: 12 bit
THD: 0.05%

 

 

 

( Due to people taking advantage of eBay / Reverb return policies; wanting to “try out and/or pilfer parts”  we can no longer take returns on used gear unless it arrives damaged. Sorry for this inconvenience. We test and guarantee all gear to be 100% working unless stated otherwise )