While finishing off the Boss VF-1 VST/AU builds, I have been working on an editor, controller for the Lexicon LXP-5. I thought I would build a new blog post to detail my work and provide updates.
I have worked out the majority of the sysex but there are a few things that are confusing at the moment. This includes the implementation of the channel which by the looks of it, is fused into the sysex string which in CTRLR, is represented by a yy. Should be easy enough to implement but I read elsewhere that the send comes after fixed sysex. I’ll have to double check.
The other areas of confusion include patch format for things like names. I’t really hard to make a build without the Lexicon Remote with a visual output but the reality is, I do not have enough coffess to buy one and after I have pulled this off, I won’t need one anyway. Therefore, it’ll be bumpy initiatally but when the data dumps come in, I’ll work it out.
That leads me on to the next question, dump. I could not find a dump button but a quick Google and I have found the sysex command.
I will continue to develop this project. I have a really fast workflow from the Boss units and I have been working on this alongside the Boss VF-1 project. As a result, I’m a lot further on that documented here. In fact, you are welcome to read through my earlier post here (link).
Next part of everything will be to start analysing the presets.
Okay, so the box is more complex than the surface will lead you to beleive. That’s a good thing. I can see there are some really nicely buried features in here and plenty to pull into the GUI.
Woooooah. The manual for the LXP5 is so detailed. They actually have all of the byte locations listed from the dump. This is brilliant. Took me months to work out every byte from the Boss units.
For the modulators, I want to try and make them meaningful but I do not have a Lexicon remote or a Lexicon LXP 15. Therefore, my approach will be to take an modulator such as ‘Delay 1 – Course’, get the top value of the midi parameter and then divide the value by that value. For example, 1040.4 / 127 and then multiplied by X (e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) depening on the position of the dial location. That should give a really good spread. I will need to do some research on the top level of Hz for modulators such as filter cuts but thankfully, due to this being made in 1989, there are lots of ghosts on the internet which have been able to reveal values not represented in the manual. I’ll cross reference enough to make judgements but if anyone has an LXP-15 or RMC, please let me know the increments. thanks!
For High Filter Cut, I found the value of 15kHz from the RMC manual found here (link).
Delay course 2 is quite odd in that it only goes up to 126 according to the manual. I’ll have to keep and eye out for ranges when creating values. For Feedback 2, my friend (who knows a lot more about Lexicon’s than I), pointed out that he did not think it could go 100% and recommended using 127 as the division. If you think this is not right, please let me know in the comments section. Turns out this was right, it’s mentioned in the RMC manual at 99% (with some vlaues round so I’ll leave it). Decay time is a strange one. The seconds division of 16 dials turns did not match. Reading through
4-12, I can see that steps are provided. I’ll have to translate this to the dial.
I can see AI is really useful here. Copilot “create a logarithmic frequency progression from 0 to 1350. Divide this into 32 evenly spaced steps starting from 0 and ending in 1350.”
CoPilot “create logorithmic values starting at 320hz to 15000hz and no higher than 15000Hz. Divide this into 16 evenly spaced steps starting from 320Hz and ending on 15000Hz”.
CoPilot “create 32 values going from a bass multiplier of x0.3 to x2.5”
CoPilot “create an logarithmic rate from 0.066 to 10 Hz. divide into 128 steps for a dial”.
For a quick tour:
The Unicon LSP-5 is now ready for testing. If you’re interested, please complete the request form below:
The Lexicon work is progressing nicely. I have been meaning to make regular updates but time has eluded me and as a result, the comments section is quite thin, despite a ton of work going into this project. Of late, interesting Lexicon work has involved writing LUA to control the channel number within the SysEx, building new dials and buttons to give the panel a cool vibe, working out SysEx dump commands and today, fixing up the overall look and feel of the panel.
One thing to note is the this project has been really interesting because there isn’t a LED readout and I do not own the Lexicon remote. Therefore, I have had to program this project in quite a weird and wonderful way. Essentially, I need to get the Lexicon exporting data correctly to my panel. After the export, I can then check it’s doing what I think it is doing. For example, I can rename a preset, move dials to the right and then send the save message. I flick out and then back into the preset to see it return all of my saved data and expected ranges.
Okay so this evening, I have written the system to load patches from 65 byte and 101 byte sysex files. This will help members of the Lexicon LXP-5 community share patches and it will be helpful for my own backups for tracks I have written.
For today, I am going to look at loading the factory SysEx from the dropdown combo, similar to the Boss VF-1 project. This means that I will code in SysEx strings directly into my project and then send the data to the Lexicon. Looking at how the Lexicon works, I will follow the VF-1 approach where I send SysEx values over by dial and load the SysEx string into the panel. At this stage, it should be easy to workout all of the values due to my mapping charts.
I managed to work out the different save routines for the patch preset and the system settings. Another really good step forward. Everything seems to be writing exactly as I want it to although some elements (a small range of extra fine tuning knob parameters) cannot be saved over midi. All in all, very good progress.
Worked out the bulk dump routine. Function has to be turned to Edit B in order to trigger the bulk dump over the midi command I am using.
Source and destination proved to be quite trigger because the ranges in the manual are detailed up to something like 72 for source yet upon loading in the panel, received ffffff scrambles. This was due to the range actually going up much higher (and this was mentioned in the manual) but what is in between? Would everything after 72 be off. I suspect so but will need to tread carefully.
Good progress by the end of today. I created the system for baking in the Lexicon facotry presets, into a combo menu. The reason why this is important is that it frees up the additional 128 menu spaces. SysEX loads from the combo menu and updates the panel. the panel then transmits out the necessary SysEx to the Lexicon making a match. Since the two are sync’d, it means you can then turn dials in the editor and everything is in the write place. All of the starting points and end points match. Tomorrow, I will enter all of the default factory sysex into the combo.
That was a tough evening. I had to work out how to place Bass Multiply in dial position 9 (x1.0) to get all of the factors aligned to unlock infinite reverb for the Lexicon LXP-5. The sequence included holding the Learn button, turning Function to Edit B, releasing Learn. Moving Select to position 3, turning Adjust to 9. Then, holding Learn and turning Function to User 1 and Select to position 1. Letting go. Watching the write LED flash green multiple times. I could then go to preset position 1 from my software and see the value I needed for Infinite Reverb! Hoorah and phew! No wonder this box needs a software editor to bring it into a modern mixing envirioment. It would be a pain to go through that again. In the editor, it is a simple as turn, turn, turn, turn done. Or load from a preset with these values in position. I think I may even save a preset to reduce it all to one click.
Hoorah! My new (old) chips arrived today! I plan to swap out HP chips inside my Lexicon hardware, with the KPs. After reading around in places such as GearSpace, this chip should make an audible boost in sound quality.
Latest work on the Unicorn editor includes a button to signify the maximum value is set on the Feedback 1 dial. The reason for this is to have a visual sign that the Lexicon is ready for the infinite loop to be active. Due to my memory not being the greatest (or more likely, the Lexicon is so incredibly fiddly due to now display), I created a new help page that details the settings need for infinite delay and infinite reverb. It saves having to reach for the manual and constitutes another workflow improvement that will help me get the most out of the Lexicon.