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Old 03-22-2015, 05:47 PM   #1
mikeypee
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Default Thoughts on "Lexicon Alpha Desktop Recording Studio" ?

Hey guys,

I need to buy an audio interface for a second room and I'm wondering if any of you either have experience with this interface ("Lexicon Alpha Desktop Recording Studio"), or can recommend some other model. I already have the Scarlett 2i2 in my main "studio" room, and it's fantastic. I'll continue to do most of my recording on the Scarlett.

My requirements for this 2nd interface are:
- As dirt cheap as possible
- Good native ASIO drivers for live latency usage
- Output to quarter or eighth TS jack (which will go to normal computer speakers)
- Headphone jack

All I'm going to do in this second room is practice the piano pretty much. I have a MIDI keyboard with a USB out, so no MIDI-IN is required for the new interface.

Friggin "Asio4All" and my mobo soundcard have been crackling a lot no matter what settings I use (I'm on an i7 machine with no apps running and 24gb ram). All I want is low latency with no crackle... to be used with 1 piano VSTi and 1 instance of reaverb (yes, clicked the ZZ and LZ boxes or whatever).

So basically, I don't need the preamps to sound perfect, or to find a high quality interface to compete with the Scarlett I already have. I just need something that will let me practice piano.

Thoughts?

Thank you!
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Old 03-22-2015, 06:45 PM   #2
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Hey Mikey

I had one of these for quite some time. Loved it. Quite surprised at the warmth and airy clarity it somehow added to anything I put through it.

The only reason I replaced it was because I had severe GAS and bought an 18i20 that I didn't actually need. Hindsight being 20/20 I'd probably have stuck with the Alpha, but in the end I settled on a used Omega. Still have the 18i20. Must take some pics and get it listed.... but I digress.

I was using it on Win7, No issues at all. Recommended.
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Old 03-22-2015, 06:50 PM   #3
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Haha "GAS"? Is that like "gear faggotry"? (disclaimer: love gays... the term is just funny)

Thanks for the input. I'm looking for cheap phantom power supplies in case I want to use my condenser on this in the future ... but basically it looks pretty sweet!
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Old 03-22-2015, 07:03 PM   #4
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I think you should get a second 2i2. The Lexicon stuff is as old as original mbox and it wasn't high end back then.
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Old 03-22-2015, 07:11 PM   #5
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I actually had issues with my Omega... it was great at first, the sound was clean, etc. Then the knobs became touchy: either introducing noise when touched or not really working at all unless turned all the way up then back to a more normal level. The headphone out was also touchy and one side would sporadically cut in and out. I tried different cables/phones/usb cables which did not improve the situation. Granted, I had this unit for a number of years and it was not my main interface. I loved it when it worked, it just (eventually) became undependable.

Just one guy's experience. Other's may have had a much better time...
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Old 03-22-2015, 07:21 PM   #6
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G.A.S. = Gear Acquisition Syndrome....nothing biased about the term....

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Old 03-22-2015, 07:26 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fortunatefolks View Post
I actually had issues with my Omega... it was great at first, the sound was clean, etc. Then the knobs became touchy: either introducing noise when touched or not really working at all unless turned all the way up then back to a more normal level. The headphone out was also touchy and one side would sporadically cut in and out. I tried different cables/phones/usb cables which did not improve the situation. Granted, I had this unit for a number of years and it was not my main interface. I loved it when it worked, it just (eventually) became undependable.

Just one guy's experience. Other's may have had a much better time...
Make that two. Identical experience with Omega here. Plus I always had better luck with asio4all than the native driver.
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Old 03-22-2015, 07:33 PM   #8
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Hmmm okay thanks guys. What about the "M-Audio MobilePre"? It's on amazon for around the same price as the Lexicon plus a phantom power supply.
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Old 03-22-2015, 08:05 PM   #9
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Don't get anything M-Audio except Fast-Track Ultra, Profire 610, 2626 or the newer models.

Mobile pre is OLD OLD OLD junk.

Go with Focusrite.

EDIT - unless you're using a Windows XP system then maybe those are OK. Still, sound quality and stability of interfaces improved a lot around 2008.
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Old 03-22-2015, 10:15 PM   #10
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Nah I'm on a newish i7/Win7... I know you're right, and I definitely would prefer a second Scarlett. I'm just a cheap, cheap bastard, lol

Off to craigslist!
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Old 03-22-2015, 10:51 PM   #11
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What about this thing? It seems new-ish.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NWE79BY

(M-Audio M-Track Two-Channel USB Audio Interface)
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Old 03-22-2015, 11:15 PM   #12
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Yeah that looks pretty good. First released in Nov 2014 and it comes with a few Waves plugins as a bonus.

Only downside I see is that it's max sample rate is 48kHz.
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Old 03-23-2015, 03:04 AM   #13
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Hmmm..... I think that might be the one, then. If I ever go temporarily insane and start recording in 96k all the time, I'll just use my Scarlett.....

..... hmmmmmmm..............
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Old 03-23-2015, 12:12 PM   #14
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I have a Lexicon Alpha that is currently out on loan to a friend. I could never get it to do live-monitoring through Reaper, always seemed to have too much latency or perhaps the laptop wasn't good enough, but monitoring through the unit, sure. I can't say it ever gave me "warmth", but it worked.

More recently I got a better laptop (running Win 7, i7 core, 6 Gig RAM) and an M-Audio Fast Track and I can get latency at 5 ms if I don't run anything CPU-intensive. I'm using the Win 7 drivers, works better than ASIO4ALL.

At some point I'll get a Scarlett...
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Old 03-23-2015, 02:47 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ambiguation View Post
...

I had one of these for quite some time. Loved it. Quite surprised at the warmth and airy clarity it somehow added to anything I put through it.

...
yeah, well, an interface that "adds something" would be definetely out of the race within 1 minute ...
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Old 03-23-2015, 05:53 PM   #16
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Make that two. Identical experience with Omega here. Plus I always had better luck with asio4all than the native driver.
And three... though I have the Lexicon Lambda. Crackles when I move the volume knob, and ASIO4ALL drives the device much better meaning lower latency) than the native ASIO driver.
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