Sampler from Alesis, model Samplepad Pro  

For many people, Lexicon is the definitive brand name for digital reverberation units. With the EMT, Lexicon dominated the market in the 1980s, producing realistic reverberation simulations in a variety of formats ranging from simple rack-mount units like the PCM70 and Lexicon 200 to high-end units with LARC remotes, including the 224XL and 480L. Following their initial success, Lexicon developed its own digital reverb processor, the Lexichip, which allowed them to build cheaper and more compact effects processors. A new version of this processor, the Lexichip II, gave birth to the Lexicon PCM 80 and Reflex.   The Reflex is not only a reverb processor. It has a wide variety of programs and, unlike the Alex, a complete Midi specification allowing real-time control of parameters via Midi. Lexicons as old as the PCM70 offer Midi control, but the Reflex is the first to be offered in this price range. The Reflex is designed to be fast and easy to use with 16 presets and 128 user memories (Alex: 16 memories).  The front panel is very simple with a signal LED, Input / Mix / Output controls, (Mix varies the mix of effect and dry signal), a Store / Clear button, a Parameter / Learn button (to select the parameter to be edited or to enter APM - Advanced Programming Mode), a Value button (to edit this parameter), a digital display and a Register / Preset button to select a program. The Learn function allows you to patch the Midi signals to control a parameter. Enter APM mode by pressing and holding the Parameter / Learn button, select the parameter to be controlled, send a Midi message and the assignment is made. Each preset has up to 10 parameters that can be edited (Alex: 3), two from the front panel and the rest via the APM. The edited programs can be saved in one of the 128 user memories.

One of the features of the M-480 is that it actually has only 24 slices. The trick is that one slice processes two inputs at a time. Each of these inputs has a mono jack on the rear panel (line level -30dB), a dual potentiometer for gain and pan settings, a saturation indicator (LED), and a mute switch. Based on the principle that the timbre works more and more inside the sound generator (who mentioned the FTV of the S-770/D-70/MV-30?), the M-480 has no EQ stage. Instead, the emphasis has been on processing possibilities. Here, the M-480 has six aux sends. The first four are "post-fader", and the other two are pre/post switchable for the entire console. While the sends are exclusively mono (+4 dB), the returns are either mono or stereo (with +4/-20 dB switching), depending on whether one or two jacks are connected (cutoff jack detection). Three double potentiometers take care of the send levels, and three others take care of the return levels. These effect sends, as well as the general volume potentiometer, are therefore common to both channels of the same slot. Each of the slices then goes to one and/or the other of the two stereo outputs: master and sub. These outputs are accompanied by a pan and a volume (two independent knobs for the master and a double knob for the sub). As for the monitor output, it is duplicated by a headphone jack on the front panel, while including a double volume knob (no panning). The signals sent to it come from the master bus or the sub bus. In addition, each slice has a cue switch, equivalent to a solo function (mono and pre-fader) on this monitor output. While activating the solo function (represented by a LED) does not affect the assignments of the slices to the master and sub busses, it does disconnect the link between the master and sub busses and the monitor circuit. To end the routing, a "mute" switch cuts the output of the master bus, but not its sending to the monitor. One of the unique features of Roland consoles is the ability to "cascade" (chain) multiple Roland models. The M-480 is no exception, with 12 +4dB input jacks (master L/R, sub L/R, monitor L/R, aux 1-6) reserved for this purpose.