Lexicon Model 224 Digital Reverberator (1978)
The box that put a concert hall, a plate, and a chamber in a rack space.
Overview
Before the Model 224, convincing artificial reverb meant real estate. A plate was a sheet of steel in a frame. A chamber was a tiled room you gave up. Lexicon's 224 arrived in 1978 and collapsed all of that into a compact rack unit. It was steep, but it cost a fraction of what the alternatives demanded. According to Mix (October 2007, p.XX), the 224 listed at $7,400. That's affordable only in the relative sense, but it was a big change next to the EMT 250 that preceded it.
Lexicon's own advertising was bold. Studio Sound (September 1979, p.16) carried copy claiming the 224 delivered smooth, natural decay "without coloration, twang or boing," and that the unit was unmatched by any other system - electronic, digital or mechanical. That's marketing, and collectors should read it as such. But the substance underneath was real. The 224 was the first reverb with built-in control memory, so an engineer could store a setup and recall it with a push of a button instead of re-dialing by ear. Studio Sound (June 1979, p.12) highlighted exactly this, instant push-button recall of previously set effects, as the feature that set the 224 apart.
The parameters were the story. Bass and mid decay times were adjustable from 0.6 to 70 seconds, and pre-delay reached up to 256 milliseconds, per Pro Audio Seattle's advertising in Studio Sound (May 1980, p.XX). That covers the practical range of a working studio: a tight plate for a snare, a long hall for a ballad, and everything between. The programs shipped in the box included acoustic chamber, concert halls, and plates, and the ad copy was blunt that these "out perform the best mechanical plates made." Owners who compared the two would tell you the digital plate wasn't identical to a real EMT, but it was close enough, and it never needed tuning or a new driver.
The 224 came with a fixed set of basic reverb programs. DB Magazine (August 1980, p.55) reported the unit was available with 2, 4, or 6 programs, easily updated in the field by simple program plug-in, and shipped with extensive self-test diagnostics. That plug-in scheme is the detail that separates an early 224 from later revisions, and it's the first thing a buyer should check. A unit with the programs you want already installed is worth more than one that needs a plug-in you'll spend months hunting.
The 224 found its way onto real sessions fast. Recording Engineer documented Filmways owning six of the units and using them constantly in the studios and on the road with "virtually no problems." Pat Metheny told Mix (March 1980, p.XX) that he'd bought a 224 and was running drums and piano through it, punching up different programs song to song: Symphony Hall in Boston, Carnegie Recital Hall, an EMT plate, and an acoustic chamber.
The 224 didn't stay static. Lexicon issued a Version 3 operating system for modified 224 units, announced in Mix (November 1980, p.58) with an August 1980 introduction date. This third-generation software refined the reverb audio quality and improved the operator interface. Each program was now preset to Lexicon's recommended parameters while remaining editable. A 224 running the later OS is a different instrument from an early one, and collectors track the revision.
Then came the 224X, which Mix (May 1982, p.XX) described as keeping all the great features of the 224 while adding true 15 kHz bandwidth, increased processing power, and more sophisticated effects, plus a six-voice chorus program with adjustable level and delay per voice. Studio Sound coverage of the 224X put its adjustable reverb times at 0.6 to 70 seconds with 36 registers for storing settings. The trade ads gave it the "ultimate reverb" language.
The 224 is not a plug-and-play museum piece. It's a 1978 digital device with a plug-in program architecture, a revision history, and a price of admission that has never been cheap. Buyers should verify which programs are installed, which OS revision is running, and whether the unit has been modified for later software. The self-test diagnostics DB Magazine mentioned are worth running before any money changes hands.
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